Thirst for Holiness
We are asked to be holy because God is holy and as children of God we need to thirst for holiness just we read in one of the psalms:
"As the deer longs for streams of water,
so my soul longs for you, my God.
My soul thirst for God, the living God
when shall I go to see the face of God?"
What is it that we have if we love the Lord? we want to be filled with his joy; we want to try to do his will; to be at peace on the inside; we have the thirst to love him as he love us; to be one with the Father and my own greatest wish is not to be separated from him as I'm too weak to live without him.
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What then is holiness? Archbishop Fulton Sheen described it as: "Christ living in me so that his mind possesses my mind and I am governed by his truth. That is holiness. He's in my will and all things I do are pleasing to him. He's in my body, so that my body becomes a tabernacle. Holiness is not only Christ in me, it's making Christ known to others. it's being loveable. it's making Christ loveable. When others see us, they see Christ".
Think about it.... don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?.... Yes weak as the body may be, yet we hold a treasure, not made of gold, in an earthen vessel.....!
Saturday 28 April 2012
Do not fear.....
.for I have overcome the world... which world? sin, and death....? Fear not, ... fear not... these are comforting words from the Lord who has overcome the world through his Passion, Death and Resurrection. It was love which made him undergo all that he suffered for the sake of fallen humanity. His bitter agony, the unjust trial, the scourging, crowning with thorns, the mockery, denials, dehumanization - were the extra miles the Lord went to reveal the Father's unconditional love and his obedience till the end. Time does not heal, it's love that heals and with love he overcame.
Fear not, listen to his cry calling out to you by name.... Can you not hear his call? be still and contemplate his Passion and ask for the grace to hear and understand his love and faithfulness.
All that He desires is that we turn to Him in repentance so that the Father can heal us through the Wounds of His Beloved Son Jesus Christ for by His stripes we have been healed............
St. Paul also reassures us that we can conquer trials overwhelmingly through him who loved us as he is convinced that neither death, nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor any creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
However there is one thing we must fear, be afraid of the one who after killing the body has the power to cast it into hell. Therefore take courage do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more.... A disease may kill the body but not the soul........
No human power can destroy what makes up our true worth. It can only put an end to our earthly life. God has power over body and soul. He alone can deliver the whole human person to hell or call him to blessedness. God is by our side.... we need not be afraid. If God is for us who can be against us......?
.for I have overcome the world... which world? sin, and death....? Fear not, ... fear not... these are comforting words from the Lord who has overcome the world through his Passion, Death and Resurrection. It was love which made him undergo all that he suffered for the sake of fallen humanity. His bitter agony, the unjust trial, the scourging, crowning with thorns, the mockery, denials, dehumanization - were the extra miles the Lord went to reveal the Father's unconditional love and his obedience till the end. Time does not heal, it's love that heals and with love he overcame.
Fear not, listen to his cry calling out to you by name.... Can you not hear his call? be still and contemplate his Passion and ask for the grace to hear and understand his love and faithfulness.
All that He desires is that we turn to Him in repentance so that the Father can heal us through the Wounds of His Beloved Son Jesus Christ for by His stripes we have been healed............
St. Paul also reassures us that we can conquer trials overwhelmingly through him who loved us as he is convinced that neither death, nor life nor angels nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth nor any creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
However there is one thing we must fear, be afraid of the one who after killing the body has the power to cast it into hell. Therefore take courage do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more.... A disease may kill the body but not the soul........
No human power can destroy what makes up our true worth. It can only put an end to our earthly life. God has power over body and soul. He alone can deliver the whole human person to hell or call him to blessedness. God is by our side.... we need not be afraid. If God is for us who can be against us......?
Friday 6 April 2012
"Father, forgive them, they know not what they do".
It is not wisdom that saves, it is ignorance. If we knew what we were doing when we crucified the Lord, we would never be saved. It is only in the ignorance of what we do when we crucify him that we come within the faint of hearing the cry 'forgive..'. Do you hear that cry ...forgive? Spend some time at the foot of the Cross, during this Holy week and listen with your heart to that cry that continues to ring through the ages. If the Lord continues to cry out 'forgive........' why are we not hearing it? why do we keep record of wrongs, ..... why do we carry so much pain in our hearts? Around the foot of the cross were groups of people: those in deep sorrow participating in the suffering of Jesus and others who mocked and taunted Jesus to come down from the cross. Back to the scene, where do we find ourselves today? The 'good thief' recognised his sinfulness and asked to be remembered.... while those who were without sin mocked /jeered and yelled insults at Jesus. Through his death on the Cross, Jesus reconciled the world to God whether one believes or accepts, nothing can change this truth for God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. The question is where do you stand at the foot of the Cross of Jesus? ... see the sinless suffering/dying for the sinner, oh what type of love is this that will not let us go? Out of His opened side, gushed forth blood and water as a fount of mercy....are still there? listen and hear another cry.....' I thirst...........' not for water but for the souls of those who will not believe/accept his unconditional love.......will you accept His forgiveness for the sins you committed through ignorance and quench his thirst today? Jesus died for our us while we were still sinners so can we also forgive and love each other?
It is not wisdom that saves, it is ignorance. If we knew what we were doing when we crucified the Lord, we would never be saved. It is only in the ignorance of what we do when we crucify him that we come within the faint of hearing the cry 'forgive..'. Do you hear that cry ...forgive? Spend some time at the foot of the Cross, during this Holy week and listen with your heart to that cry that continues to ring through the ages. If the Lord continues to cry out 'forgive........' why are we not hearing it? why do we keep record of wrongs, ..... why do we carry so much pain in our hearts? Around the foot of the cross were groups of people: those in deep sorrow participating in the suffering of Jesus and others who mocked and taunted Jesus to come down from the cross. Back to the scene, where do we find ourselves today? The 'good thief' recognised his sinfulness and asked to be remembered.... while those who were without sin mocked /jeered and yelled insults at Jesus. Through his death on the Cross, Jesus reconciled the world to God whether one believes or accepts, nothing can change this truth for God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. The question is where do you stand at the foot of the Cross of Jesus? ... see the sinless suffering/dying for the sinner, oh what type of love is this that will not let us go? Out of His opened side, gushed forth blood and water as a fount of mercy....are still there? listen and hear another cry.....' I thirst...........' not for water but for the souls of those who will not believe/accept his unconditional love.......will you accept His forgiveness for the sins you committed through ignorance and quench his thirst today? Jesus died for our us while we were still sinners so can we also forgive and love each other?
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