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If every call to Christ and His righteousness is a call to suffering, the converse is equally—every call to suffering is a call to Christ, a promotion, an invitation to come up higher.
... Charles Brent (1862-1929)
(How do you meet Christ in your sufferings?)
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HOS 14:2-10; PS 51:3-4, 8-9, 12-13, 14 AND 17
MT
10:16-23
Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But 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.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to
another.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.”
USCCB Lectionary
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Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain,
2018 (3rd ed.) ____________
Matthew 10:16-23 (Persecutions to come)
Because the early Church experienced persecution from Jews and Gentiles,
Jesus’ warning in today’s reading offered words of consolation and hope. Persecution is to be expected even from family members, Jesus explains, but the consolation of the Spirit will be given to those in need.
• Do you believe that people today would crucify Jesus if he were to come among us in person as he
did years ago?
• How have you been persecuted for Christ’s sake during the past week?
• Pray for the grace of endurance. Paperback, Kindle and eBook
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God and I: Exploring the Connections between God, Self and Ego, by Philip St. Romain, 2016 (2nd
ed.) ____________ Chapter 7: The Journey to Belonging: The Ego-God Relationship Theosis: Being-in-Love
If the Ego and its natural strivings is no obstacle to relationship with God, then all we ever need do is turn to God, just as we are, and it is enough. There is no need to annihilate the Ego or “overcome duality” to know God. Indeed, we cannot really be sure that doing so would bring us to God, at any rate. The only proof that one has truly met God is that one’s life is changed for the better because of it, and there are countless Egoic humans walking around the planet
today who would testify that this is the case with them. Their witness might not satisfy the skepticism of a hard-core atheist, but they know what they know about who they were and who they are now. . . They did not find God so much as God found them, and will continue to transform them in the divine life as long as they consent to this process, which God will never cease encouraging. Hardback, paperback, eBook and free preview versions.
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