The one who sees the beauty of holiness, or true moral good, sees the greatest and most important thing in
the world... Unless this is seen, nothing is seen that is worth seeing: for there is no greater true excellence or beauty.
... Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), Treatise concerning Religious Affections [1746]
(Pray for the grace to see the goodness in yourself and others.)
|
JER 31:31-34; PS 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
MT 16:13-23
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea
Philippi
and he asked his disciples,
"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Simon Peter said in reply,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so I say to you,
you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
Then he strictly ordered his disciples
to tell no one that he was the Christ.
From that time on, Jesus
began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you."
He turned and said to Peter,
"Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do."
Reflection on the Scriptures |
Today's reading from Jeremiah is very clear in stating that such confidence is misleading, that there is another and complementary Law, a New Covenant to complete the Mosaic covenant. This is the law of the Spirit, calling us not to what we must do but to an attentiveness and generosity that allows us to follow God in every situation, not only
those spelled out in the Law. This is a different sort of obedience, not a blind obedience but a mature and personal one which seeks a God who never stops leading us forward.
We Christians live not in absolute obedience to a written Law, especially not one spelled out in such detail; as much as we can and as imperfect as our efforts may be, we put ourselves
in the hands of our Father, imitate His Son, and follow the Spirit. This calls for very personal prayer, the kind of poverty of self which the Beatitudes call for (Matthew 5:1-12), and a life rooted in the cardinal virtue of hope.
- by Chas
Kestermeier, S.J.
Revelations of Divine
Love - by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 51
“He is the Head, and we be His
members.” “Therefore our Father nor may nor will more blame assign to us than to His own Son, precious and worthy Christ” And thus hath our good Lord Jesus taken upon Him all our blame, and therefore our Father nor may nor will more blame assign to us than to His own Son, dearworthy Christ. Thus
was He, the Servant, afore His coming into earth standing ready afore the Father in purpose, till what time He would send Him to do that worshipful deed by which mankind was brought again into heaven;—that is to say, notwithstanding that He is God, even with the Father as anent the Godhead. But in His foreseeing purpose that He would be Man, to save man in fulfilling of His Father’s will, so He stood afore His Father as a Servant, willingly [186] taking upon Him all our charge. And then He
started full readily at the Father’s will, and anon He fell full low, into the Maiden’s womb, having no regard to Himself nor to His hard pains.
The white kirtle is the flesh; the singleness is that there was right nought atwix the Godhead and Manhood; the straitness is poverty; the eld is of Adam’s wearing: the
defacing, of sweat of Adam’s travail; the shortness sheweth the Servant’s labour.
|
|
|
