In today's Gospel, John 14: 15-21, Jesus speaks about His returning to heaven. He ascend to His Father and send us the Holy Spirit, "another Advocate to be with [us] always, the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees me nor knows him. But," he says to us, "you know him, because he remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. In a little while," he says to us, "the world will no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live. On that day, you will realize that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you."
What a promise! And how real! All around us and within us new life is emerging every day. We wake up renewed from sleep! Our life has been restored during sleep! We wake up with new energy, a new zest for life, a new hope, new faith, deeper love because "another Advocate" has been sent to us in the Spirit, a "Spirit of truth" and life whom the world cannot accept, because it neither sees the Spirit of God nor know God's Spirit.
How do we grow in knowledge of God's Spirit within us and around us? By spending time in solitude, seeking God's face within and around us and in others and in the events of our lives; by spending time in prayer and in reflection upon the Scriptures--the Holy Bible--and the Scriptures of our lives and of the events of our lives! God is in both and in all of life, hidden from the naked eye, from the eyes that simply look at problems and how to solve them without bringing them to God or asking for God's help!
Let us remember that Jesus is in God the Father and you and i are also in the Father, as St. Paul tells us: We live and move and have our being in God. Let us also remember that Jesus dwells in our very being itself and if Jesus dwells there so, too, does God and Father and God the Spirit, as they are one in love and truth and life!
Showing posts with label God's Indwelling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's Indwelling. Show all posts
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
God's Mercy Is Forever
In today's first reading, Ezra 9: 5-9, the prophet comes before the Lord filled with shame and too confounded to lift his eyes to the Lord. Why? Because, he says, "our wicked deeds are heaped up above our heads and our guilt reaches up to heaven." Ezra acknowledged God's mercy, leaving a remnant of the people to rebuild the Temple. "For slaves we are," Ezra says, "but in our servitude our God has not abandoned us; rather he has turned the good will of the king of Persia towards us. Thus he has given us new life to raise again the house of our God and restore its ruins...."
As we listen to the news each night and also examine our own consciences, it is obvious, if we are honest with ourselves and about the news we hear, that our wickedness also "reaches up to heaven." We, too, throughout any given day, become slaves to sin and selfishness, to being unjust and deceitful in how we deal with our neighbors here or abroad. As with the Israelites, God is merciful toward us, as well! Every day, God gives us life anew and new opportunities to rebuild the "house of our God," to restore the ruins created by unjust, deceitful, greedy, selfish actions towards others, all of creation, and the earth itself. And God comes to us in His mercy in many ways throughout the day and especially at every Catholic Mass, when we offer, in the the Holy Eucharist, the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ to God the Father in atonement for our sins against humanity and the Earth. Yes, God's mercy comes down to us every single day, as it did in the day of Ezra , the prophet.
Thank you, God, for your awesome Presence among us! Thank you for being merciful to us! Thank you for not abandoning us in our efforts to rebuild the house of God, that is, to restore the beauty of each human being, Temples of the Holy Spirit, that, by our selfishness, greediness, injustices and deceitfulness have been wounded.
As we listen to the news each night and also examine our own consciences, it is obvious, if we are honest with ourselves and about the news we hear, that our wickedness also "reaches up to heaven." We, too, throughout any given day, become slaves to sin and selfishness, to being unjust and deceitful in how we deal with our neighbors here or abroad. As with the Israelites, God is merciful toward us, as well! Every day, God gives us life anew and new opportunities to rebuild the "house of our God," to restore the ruins created by unjust, deceitful, greedy, selfish actions towards others, all of creation, and the earth itself. And God comes to us in His mercy in many ways throughout the day and especially at every Catholic Mass, when we offer, in the the Holy Eucharist, the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ to God the Father in atonement for our sins against humanity and the Earth. Yes, God's mercy comes down to us every single day, as it did in the day of Ezra , the prophet.
Thank you, God, for your awesome Presence among us! Thank you for being merciful to us! Thank you for not abandoning us in our efforts to rebuild the house of God, that is, to restore the beauty of each human being, Temples of the Holy Spirit, that, by our selfishness, greediness, injustices and deceitfulness have been wounded.
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Making All Things New
In today's second reading, Revelation 21: 1-51, John tells us that he sees "a new heaven and a new earth...I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, God's dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people and God Himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed way.' The One who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.'"
The veil was lifted from John's eyes. It is not lifted from ours. We know by faith what John saw in this vision. The day will come when the veil will also be lifted from our eyes, but not now! You and I will eventually be privy to this "new heaven and new earth." You and I also know in faith that God dwells here on earth, is always here, and dwells in your very being and in mine! God is my God and yours! You and I belong to God, as did John! You and I also know, in faith, that God is making "all things new," including you and me.
As we enjoy spring, we can, in fact, see God making all things new! What a glorious God!
The veil was lifted from John's eyes. It is not lifted from ours. We know by faith what John saw in this vision. The day will come when the veil will also be lifted from our eyes, but not now! You and I will eventually be privy to this "new heaven and new earth." You and I also know in faith that God dwells here on earth, is always here, and dwells in your very being and in mine! God is my God and yours! You and I belong to God, as did John! You and I also know, in faith, that God is making "all things new," including you and me.
As we enjoy spring, we can, in fact, see God making all things new! What a glorious God!
Saturday, April 13, 2019
God Chooses Us
In today's first reading, Ezekiel 37: 21-28, the Lord tells His chosen people through the prophet that He is going to bring them back from exile, that they will no longer be two nations, but one, that the Temple will be restored; in fact, God's sanctuary will be with them forever. "No longer shall they defile the selves with their idols, their abominations, and all their transgressions. I will deliver them from all their sins of apostasy, and cleanse them so that the may be my people and I may be their God...[T]here shall be one shepherd for them all....My dwelling shall be with them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
WOW! God is not only speaking to the Israelites. He is speaking to you and me! You and I, by virtue our baptism, when we died and rose with Christ, belong to God. We were delivered from becoming slaves to sin. We were cleansed of our sinful inclinations--sin has no ore power over us. Like Jesus, who fell many times and got up and continued on to Calvary where He triumphed over Satan and destroyed the power of death, so, too, we, through Christ and in Christ and for Christ get up when we fall into sin, rise to new live in Christ over and over again. God dwells in us, just as God dwells in the land of Israel, in the sanctuary restored in Jerusalem when the people returned from exile.
God in us; we in God, just as Jesus lives in the Father and the Father lives in Him! We are God's dwelling place! As "possessions" of God, God changes us, redeems us, transforms us, cleanses us, purifies us, makes us holy, as He Himself is holy. Every time we fall into sin, God picks us up and restores us to Himself! Never does God abandon us.
Lord, may I not abandon You. May I stay close to You always, taking time out of each day to seek Your face above all, to be restored to grace, to be strengthened by You in the Eucharist, in basking in Your love in quiet time with You, in times of quiet prayer and reflection upon the Scriptures and in growing in love of my neighbor, my family members, the members of my religious community and fellow sojourners on the way to everlasting life with You. I ask this in Jesus' name! Amen!
WOW! God is not only speaking to the Israelites. He is speaking to you and me! You and I, by virtue our baptism, when we died and rose with Christ, belong to God. We were delivered from becoming slaves to sin. We were cleansed of our sinful inclinations--sin has no ore power over us. Like Jesus, who fell many times and got up and continued on to Calvary where He triumphed over Satan and destroyed the power of death, so, too, we, through Christ and in Christ and for Christ get up when we fall into sin, rise to new live in Christ over and over again. God dwells in us, just as God dwells in the land of Israel, in the sanctuary restored in Jerusalem when the people returned from exile.
God in us; we in God, just as Jesus lives in the Father and the Father lives in Him! We are God's dwelling place! As "possessions" of God, God changes us, redeems us, transforms us, cleanses us, purifies us, makes us holy, as He Himself is holy. Every time we fall into sin, God picks us up and restores us to Himself! Never does God abandon us.
Lord, may I not abandon You. May I stay close to You always, taking time out of each day to seek Your face above all, to be restored to grace, to be strengthened by You in the Eucharist, in basking in Your love in quiet time with You, in times of quiet prayer and reflection upon the Scriptures and in growing in love of my neighbor, my family members, the members of my religious community and fellow sojourners on the way to everlasting life with You. I ask this in Jesus' name! Amen!
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