Those blessed ones of thine... shall rejoice according as they shall love; and they shall love according as they shall know. How far they will know thee, Lord, then! And how much they will love thee!
- St. Anselm (1033-1109), Discourse on the Existence of God
(Love and knowledge complement each other; to know God is to love God, and to love God is to know God.)
|
JER 17:5-10; PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6
LK 16:19-31
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied, 'My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing
who might wish to go from our side to yours
or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him
to my father's house,
for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said,
'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.'"
ave them do to you.
This is the law and the prophets."
Reflection on the Scriptures |
. . . what does it look like to truly follow Jesus? Today’s Psalm provides crystal clarity to that question. We must avoid the council of the wicked and stop following the way of sinners. We must delight in the law of our Lord and keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus - day and night. We must never forget that there are eternal consequences for our choice of whether to follow God or
to follow the ways of the world. It isn’t something we can fake, as the initial Luke passage reminds us – God knows our hearts and keeping His word requires total commitment.
If all this were not clear enough, today’s Gospel story of the rich man and Lazarus provides further truth as we ponder whether to totally commit to God or to the world. This story provides an incredibly stark reality for the consequences of that choice. We can choose the world and the terrifying future of the rich man’s destiny of an eternity filled with anguish with no hope for escape, or we
can choose God and look forward to Lazarus’ destiny of eternal comfort in God’s presence. As this story explains, these consequences hold true regardless of what we are currently facing in our lives. Our choice, not our circumstances, determines the outcome.
So where does all this lead us in this time of self-examination and reflection? Is it possible that we too have walked away from His astonish gift of salvation & agape love? Are we living our lives with a heart fully committed to Jesus? Or have we allowed the world to seep into our heart and replace true allegiance to our Father with allegiance to the lies of sin and
death?
Dear Heavenly Father, examine my heart and help me to flush out all that hinders my total commitment to You. Give me the courage and discernment of Jeremiah to confidently follow your will for my life. Cleanse me of all the worldly influences that have crowded out my true and total commitment to You.
In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.
by Larry Hopp
Revelations of Divine Love
- by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 56
“God is nearer to us than our own soul”
“We can never come to full knowing of God till we know first clearly our own Soul”
I had, in part, [experience of the] Touching [of God in the soul], and it is grounded in Nature. That is to say, our Reason is grounded in God, which is Substantial Naturehood. [Out] of this Substantial Naturehood Mercy and Grace springeth and spreadeth into us, working all things in fulfilling of our joy: these are our Ground in which we have our Increase and our Fulfilling.
|
|
|
