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There's nothing more contradictory than an unenthusiastic Christian. The Bible tells us that God loves us so much, in fact, that God gave his only son so that all who believe in him will have everlasting life. Nothing not even death can separate us from God's love! If we really believe that, we can't help but
overflow with joy!
- Ronald Newhouse
(Ask the Spirit to enkindle in you a passion for the Gospel this day.)
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RV 14:1-5; PS 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6; LK 21:1-4
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your
face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the
God of Jacob.
USCCB lectionary
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"She from her want has given what she could not afford." –Luke 21:4
There's an old joke about a man who leaves
Church complaining to his son about the lousy music, the pastor's poor homily, the stone-faced parishioners, and all the other things he dislikes about his Church. At that point, the son pipes up and says: "Gosh, Dad, I thought it was a good show for a quarter!"
One who is stingy and miserly with God "brings ruin on himself" (Sir 14:9). He or she is the real loser, not the Lord, Who has everything. In one sense, we get from our relationship with the Lord what we put into it (2 Cor
9:6).
Jesus, however, is especially interested in "all-giving." He declares: "None of you can be My disciple if he does not renounce all his possessions" (Lk 14:33). We can't give all until we have given up all. We don't just give our possessions; we give our needs, our "wants," our desires. The poor widow gave from her want (Lk 21:4). What is your "want"? Do you want wealth, financial freedom, a new car, sexual fulfillment, popularity, or vacations? Renounce these and give them all up to
Jesus.
At this level of "all-giving," we have given what we "could not afford" (Lk 21:4): our money, energy, hopes, means of support, lifestyle. When we give all, we are then empty; we "have no more" left (Jn 2:3). Jesus then fills us with a miraculous superabundance of His new life (see Jn 2:5ff) which comes only when we've emptied ourselves (see Phil 2:7). When we give it all to Jesus, He gives it all to the Father, Who fills us with new life, so through Him we "may be all in all" (1
Cor 15:28).
PRAYER: Father, use me according to Your will. I am all Yours.
PROMISE: "They are pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes." –Rv 14:4
mycatholic.com
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A Christian Understanding of the Soul, by Philip St. Romain - from Caring for the Self, Caring for the Soul 5. The Soul and the Fall
When the spiritual soul was first given, its contact with the Divine was such that it was infused with divine energy so completely that the animal, vegetative, and physical levels it contained were also taken up into the immortality. With the Fall (severed relationship with God), however, the soul
maintained its spiritual nature, but it was no longer capable of fully receiving and expressing the divine energy. Consequentially, the body lost the immortality infused into it by divine energy and became destined for death.
Pdf eBook
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