Showing all posts by Elija

In 3 Minutes for God the Father

THE LOVE OF GOD PRECEDES US

Author ElijaPosted on

‘If the soul seeks God, much more does her Beloved seek her’ (St. John of the Cross).

We must always be attentive to the Lord and seek Him in everything. This is the language of love, and it is God Himself who invites us to do so: “Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you!” (Mt 7:7). If we follow the inner invitation of our Father, our soul will have set out on the path prepared for her. “Our heart is restless until it rests in you”, exclaimed Saint Augustine, whose deep search for God we know from his Confessions.

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In Biblical Meditations

THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Jn 20:11-18): “The Risen One appears to Mary Magdalene”                              

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Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rab-bo′ni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Mag′dalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

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In 3 Minutes for God the Father

GOD’S CONCERN IS MINE

Author ElijaPosted on

“God’s concern is mine.  Nothing that concerns Him is foreign to me.”  (St Bernard of Clairvaux).

These are the words of a soul aflame with love, who has already come very close to our Heavenly Father and whom He has filled with His love. The intimacy between St Bernard and our Father is palpable, and we recognise this profound relationship in another beautiful sentence in which he invites his brothers to draw near to the Father. In this loving invitation, which we will hear next, we see how he had made God’s cause his own, because we know very well that our Father longs ardently for all people to be close to Him, to know Him, to honour Him and to love Him. Then He will be able to give them all that He has in store for them.

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In Biblical Meditations

THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN (Jn 20:1-10): “The empty tomb”

Author ElijaPosted on

Now on the first day of the week Mary Mag′dalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

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In Reflexion

VIA CRUCIS – XIV. Station: “Jesus is laid in the tomb”                                   

Author ElijaPosted on

 

 V. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)

R. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

“When Pilate learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Mag′dalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.” (Mk 15:45-47).

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In 3 Minutes for God the Father

INEXHAUSTIBLE JOY

Author ElijaPosted on

“Thou hast put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound” (Ps 4:7).

Earthly pleasures, though they may stimulate and even delight our senses, pass quickly and then have to be repeated. Spiritual pleasures, on the other hand, leave a deep impression on our soul and are capable of shaping it. If we seek earthly pleasures too intensely, we run the risk of becoming dependent on them and seeking spiritual joys less and less. Therefore, while we may enjoy “grain and wine”, we should do so only to the extent that they do not become too valuable to us and we do not lose sight of the true joys.

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In Reflexion

VIA CRUCIS XIII. Station: “Jesus is taken down from the Cross”                                   

Author ElijaPosted on

 

 V. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)

R. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

Once again we meet Mary on the Way of the Cross, as well as at the Fourth Station and at the foot of the Cross.

God wanted her Son, whom she bore, to be placed on her lap again after His death, before He descended into the Kingdom of the dead to announce the Good News to those who awaited Him there, so that they too might receive the grace of Redemption.

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In 3 Minutes for God the Father

NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO NOR PRACTICING SLANDER

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“Calumny only harms those who take it to heart” (St. Francis de Sales).

One of the most terrible offences that we humans inflict on each other is slander. In other words, it is the very common vice of speaking ill of other people. If we look at it more closely, it is a kind of psychological homicide against the person in question. Unfortunately, it is not just something that happens from time to time. We have even witnessed a kind of ‘public execution’ of people through the media and, nowadays, through the Internet.

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In Reflexion

VIA CRUCIS – XII. Station: “Jesus dies on the Cross”                                   

Author ElijaPosted on

 

 V. Adoramus te Christe et benedicimus tibi (We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee)

R. Quia per Crucem tuam redemisti mundum (For by Thy holy cross Thou hast redeemed the world.)

“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46).

“It is finished” (Jn 19:30).

These are two of the words we hear from the mouth of Jesus before He expired, according to the testimony of the Gospels.

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