They were all looking for a king
To slay their
foes, and lift them high;
Thou cam'st, a little baby thing
That made a woman cry.
- George MacDonald (1824-1905)
(Be open to the God of surprises.)
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ACTS 6:8-10; 7:54-59; PS
31:3CD-4, 6 AND 8AB, 16BC AND 17
MT 10:17-22
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors
and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my
name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved."
UCCB Lectionary
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Reflection on the Scriptures |
Jesus never hesitated to tell his disciples what they might expect if they followed and served him. Here Jesus says to his disciples - This is my task for you at its grimmest and worst; do you accept it? This is not the world's way of offering glory, honor, and success. After the
defeat at Dunkirk during World War II, Churchill offered his country "blood, toil, sweat, and tears." Suffering for the name of Jesus Christ is not the message we prefer to hear when the Lord commissions us in his service. Nonetheless, our privilege is to follow in the footsteps of the Master who laid down his life for us. The Lord gives us sufficient grace to follow him and to bear our cross with courage and hope. Do you know the joy and victory of the cross of Jesus
Christ?
"Lord Jesus, your coming in the flesh to ransom us from slavery to sin gives us cause for great rejoicing even in the midst of trials and pain. Help me to patiently and joyfully accept the hardships, adversities, and persecution which come my way in serving you. Strengthen my faith and give me courage that I may not shrink back from doing your will".
DailyScripture.net
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The Ascent of Mount Carmel, by St. John of the Cross E. Allison Peers Translation. Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1935785982/?tag=christianspiritu
BOOK THE FIRST Wherein is described the nature of dark night and how necessary it is to pass through it to Divine
union; and in particular this book describes the dark night of sense, and desire, and the evils which these work in the soul.
CHAPTER XII Which treats of the answer to another question, explaining what the desires are that suffice to cause the evils aforementioned in the soul.
6. I am not writing here of the other natural desires which are not voluntary, and of thoughts that go not beyond the first movements, and other temptations to which the soul
is not consenting; for these produce in the soul none of the evils aforementioned. For, although a person who suffers from them may think that the passion and disturbance which they then produce in him are defiling and blinding him, this is not the case; rather they are bringing him the opposite advantages. For, in so far as he resists them, he gains fortitude, purity, light and consolation, and many blessings, even as Our Lord said to Saint Paul: That virtue was made perfect in weakness. [194]
But the voluntary desires work all the evils aforementioned, and more. Wherefore the principal care of spiritual masters is to mortify their disciples immediately with respect to any desire soever, by causing them to remain without the objects of their desires, in order to free them from such great misery.
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