There is not room for Death,
Nor atom that his might
could render void:
Thou - Thou art Being and Breath,
And what Thou art may never be destroyed. ~Emily Bronte
(The
risen Christ: our true Foundation.)
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ACTS 2:36-41; PS 33:4-5, 18-19, 20 AND 22
JN 20:11-18
Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and
saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
She said to them, "They have taken my Lord,
and I don't know where they laid him."
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?"
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
"Sir,
if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni,"
which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
'I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.'"
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
"I have seen the Lord,"
and then reported what he
had told her.
UCCB Lectionary
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Reflection on the Scriptures |
Mary's message to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, is the very essence of Christianity. It is not enough that a Christian know about the Lord, but that we know him personally. It is not enough to argue about him, but to meet him. In the
resurrection we encounter the living Lord Jesus who loves us personally and shares his glory with us. The Lord Jesus gives us "eyes of faith" to see the truth of his resurrection and his victory over sin and death (Ephesians 1:18). And he opens our ears to recognize his voice as we listen to the "good news" proclaimed in the Gospel message today.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the foundation of our hope - the hope that we, too, who believe in him will see the living God face to face and share in his everlasting glory and joy. "Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy. As the outcome of your faith you obtain the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9). Do you
recognize the Lord's presence with you, in his word, in the "breaking of the bread," and in his church, the body of Christ?
"Lord Jesus, may I never fail to recognize your voice nor lose sight of your presence as you open the Scriptures for me and speak your life-giving word."
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 XV
Wherein are expounded the remaining lines of the aforementioned stanza
. . . . oh, happy chance! — I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest
2. For to this end the soul profited by going forth upon a dark night’ — that is, in the privation of all pleasures and mortification of all desires, after the manner whereof we have
spoken. And by its house being now at rest’ is meant the sensual part, which is the house of all the desires, and is now at rest because they have all been overcome and lulled to sleep. For until the desires are lulled to sleep through the mortification of the sensual nature, and until at last the sensual nature itself is at rest from them, so that they make not war upon the spirit, the soul goes not forth to true liberty and to the fruition of union with its
Beloved.
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