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Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

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“Nothing is worthwhile if we are not close to Our Lord”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/05/17 at 9:27 AM
Mary, your Mother, will bring you to the Love of Jesus. There you will be, with joy and peace. And you will be always “brought”, because on your own you would fall and get covered with mud: you will be brought onward, brought to believe, to love, and to suffer. (The Forge, 677)

Mary and Joseph ‘had gone a whole day’s journey before they made enquiry for him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances. When they could not find him, they made their way back to Jerusalem in search of him.’ The Mother of God, who looked for her Son so anxiously when he was lost through no fault of her own, and experienced such great joy in finding him, will help us retrace our steps and put right whatever may be necessary when, because of our carelessness or our sins, we have been unable to recognize Christ. With her help we will know the happiness of holding him in our arms once more, and telling him we will never lose him again.

Mary is also the Mother of knowledge, for it is with her that we learn the most important lesson of all, that nothing is worthwhile if we are not close to Our Lord. All the wonders of this earth, the fulfillment of our every ambition, all this is worthless unless the living flame of love burns within us, unless there is the light of holy hope giving us a foretaste of never-ending love in our true homeland in heaven. (Friends of God, 278)

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Baptism of the Lord by Fr. Reid

In 05 Homilies by Fr. Reid on 2011/05/05 at 4:04 PM

• When Jesus died on the cross, Scripture records that, among other incredible phenomena like an earthquake and the splitting of rocks, the veil in the Jewish Temple was torn in two.

• This is incredible because that veil was a 60 foot tall, 4 inch thick piece of material that hung as a barrier between the Holy of Holies, which was the dwelling place of God, and the rest of the Temple: the domain of man.

• The veil was meant not only to demarcate the holiest place of the Temple, but also, in a sense, to symbolically demonstrate the utter separateness between God and man, i.e., that because of his sinfulness, man is unfit for the presence of God. Read the rest of this entry »

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Who “WAS?”

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/05/03 at 12:33 PM

“Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed…” (Luke 24:32)  The disciples on the way to Emmaus said:  “Who WAS”!

They said so and so do we often say forgetting that just as on the road to Emmaus, Jesus is alive and by our side at this very moment.

This is a discovery which enlivens our faith and revives our hope, a finding that points to Jesus as a joy that is ever present: Jesus is, Jesus prefers, Jesus says, Jesus commands now at this very moment.  (A. G. Dorronsor, GOD AND PEOPLE).

Today is the feast of St. Philip.  Our Lord said* to him: “He who has seen me has seen the Father”. (John 14:6-14)  He reveals that God is with us. By contemplating Christ’s Sacred Humanity we can reach the Blessed Trinity.

*We can use the past tense in reference to Jesus when we are talking about him in a historical fact like he lived in Nazareth.  Whatever he said in a historical sense  also applies eternally because He is divine.   Jesus lives…as He was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.

Jesus lives!  Do not forget that Jesus is always present with His power and His mercy.

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“Jesus came to reveal the love of God to us”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/04/30 at 8:23 AM
Christ ascended the Cross with his arms wide open, with the all embracing gesture of the Eternal Priest. Now he counts on us – who are nothing! – to bring the fruits of his Redemption to all men. (The Forge, 4)

Let’s apply this lesson to everyday life, to our own life. For the ordinary life of a man among his fellows is not something dull and uninteresting. It is there that the Lord wants the vast majority of his children to achieve sanctity.

It is important to keep reminding ourselves that Jesus did not address himself to a privileged set of people; he came to reveal the universal love of God to us. God loves all men, and he wants all to love him — everyone, whatever his personal situation, his social position, his work. Ordinary life is something of great value. All the ways of the earth can be an opportunity to meet Christ, who calls us to identify ourselves with him and carry out his divine mission — right where he finds us.

God calls us through what happens during our day: through the suffering and happiness of the people we live with, through the human interests of our colleagues and the things that make up our family life. He also calls us through the great problems, conflicts and challenges of each period of history, which attract the effort and idealism of a large part of mankind. (Christ is passing by, 110)

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“The Risen Christ is Our Companion”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/04/29 at 12:48 PM
The Master passes very close to us, again and again. He looks at us… And if you look at him, if you listen to him, if you don’t reject him, He will teach you how to give a supernatural meaning to everything you do… Then you too, wherever you may be, will sow consolation and peace and joy. (The Way of the Cross, Eighth Station, 4)

In the middle of his daily work, when he has to overcome his selfishness, when he enjoys the cheerful friendship of other people, a Christian should rediscover God. Through Christ and in the Holy Spirit, a Christian has access to the intimacy of God the Father, and he spends his life looking for the Kingdom which is not of this world, but which is initiated and prepared in this world.

We must seek Christ in the word and in the bread, in the Eucharist and in prayer. And we must treat him as a friend, as the real, living person he is — for he is risen. Christ, we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews, “holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Christ, the risen Christ, is our companion and friend. He is a companion whom we can see only in the shadows — but the fact that he is really there fills our whole life and makes us yearn to be with him forever. “The Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him who hears say, Come. And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price… He who testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming soon. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” (Christ is passing by, 116)

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Resurrection of Jesus

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/04/25 at 1:39 PM

    The most concise definition/explanation of the Resurrection can be found in the Glossary  of Joseph Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI) JESUS OF NAZARETH, Part Two) Ignatius Press

“The entrance by Jesus, following his death on the Cross, into an entirely new form of life that lies beyond the order of natural biological generation, resuscitation, and  dying and that includes a transformed bodily dimension of existence, possessing physical and spiritual aspect. (Mt. 22:30; 1 Cor. 15:42-44, 50-54; Luke 24:39; Jn 20:24:24-27)

“The Resurrection is the Father’s vindication of Jesus’ divine sonship and validation of the believer’s faith in Jesus’ redemption of sinful humanity.”  (Acts 2:24; Rom.1:4; 1 Cor. 15: 14, 17)

“It is also the pledge of  ‘first fruits’ of a general resurrection, the beginning of a new kind of humanity to be realized in the age to come.”  (1 Cor 15:23)

“The Resurrection of Jesus in not the mere passing of a spirit into the next life or a miraculous resuscitation to mortal existence, as with Lazarus.  It is an entirely new mode of bodily existence.”

For a spiritual and scholarly expansion, see chapter 9, Jesus’ Resurrection from the Dead.

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“He has triumphed over death”

In 01 Daily Meditations on 2011/04/25 at 1:32 PM
Easter Octave – Monday: “He has triumphed over death”.
The risen Christ, Christ in glory, has divested himself of the things of this earth, so that we men, his brothers, should ask ourselves what things we need to get rid of. (The Forge, 526)

“Christ is alive.” This is the great truth which fills our faith with meaning. Jesus, who died on the cross, has risen. He has triumphed over death; he has overcome sorrow, anguish and the power of darkness. “Do not be terrified” was how the angels greeted the women who came to the tomb. “Do not be terrified. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here.” “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Easter is a time of joy — a joy not confined to this period of the liturgical year, but to be found really and fully in the Christian’s heart. For Christ is alive. He is not someone who has gone, someone who existed for a time and then passed on, leaving us a wonderful example and a great memory.

No, Christ is alive. Jesus is the Emmanuel: God with us. His resurrection shows us that God does not abandon his own. He promised he would not: “Can a woman forget her baby that is still unweaned, pity no longer the son she bore in her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” And he has kept his promise. His delight is still to be with the sons of men.
(Christ is passing by, 102)

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ΧΡΙΣΤΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΙ (CHRIST IS RISEN)

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/04/23 at 9:39 PM

ΑΛΙΘΩΣ ΑΝΕΣΤΙ (HE IS RISEN INDEED)  Greek being the cultural language of Rome until its fall, this is the greeting and response the Christians exchanged at Eastertime.  It is still the greeting used by the Greek Orthodox.  Say that to any Greek restaurant owner,  and you will bring joy to him.  



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Mount of Olives Psalms

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/04/22 at 3:35 PM

The early church began to recite the Psalms with new insight, having recognized Jesus as the new David.  They heard Christ speaking through the Psalms.  They recognized the unity between the two Testaments which Jesus had consistently demonstrated.

On the Mount of Olives, Jesus prayed the Psalms of which he was the subject.  “Jesus’ utterly personal prayer and his praying in the words of faithful, suffering Israel are here seamlessly united.” J. Ratzinger

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Sweet Nails, Sweet Tree

In 06 Scripture & Theology on 2011/04/22 at 3:34 PM

“Sweet nails, sweet tree, where life begins.”  Hymn, Crux Fidelis

St. Augustine, as he ponds the Psalms 21, 11, 8  considers the question of: “Why, so much suffering?” and concludes that all was done in order to redeem us; we have been ransomed.

If you gaze at a crucifix, you will be moved to begin to understand.  The redeeming act of Christ was for you, and you can truly say: Jesus Christ “loved me and gave himself up for me.” (Gal. 2:20)

Pascal  heard him say to him: “Those drops of blood I shed for you.” (Pensees, VII)

All through history, people look upon the disfigured face of Christ, and there they recognize the glory of God.”  J. Ratzinger