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The purpose of religion, at any rate, the Christian religion, is not to get you into heaven but to get heaven into you.
- Frederick Ward Kates (1910-1987), A Moment Between Two Eternities, New York: Harper & Row, 1965
(An old saying has it that "heaven begins on earth, or it does not begin at all." What glimpses of heaven have you noticed lately?)
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1 COR 15:12-20; PS 17:1BCD, 6-7, 8B AND 15
LK 8:1-3
Jesus journeyed from one town and village to another,
preaching and proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.
Accompanying him were the Twelve
and some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities,
Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza,
Susanna, and many others
who provided for them out of their resources.
USCCB lectionary
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Reflection on the Scripture
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“If Christ was not raised, your faith is worthless.” —1 Corinthians 15:17
Jesus is raised from the dead, and He has promised to also raise from the dead those who live for Him. This is the major revelation of the Christian faith. If Jesus is risen, then He is God. If He is God, then all His revelations, claims, and promises must be true. If Jesus has not risen, then He is not God, and Christianity must be a sham. We are therefore not forgiven our sins (see 1 Cor 15:17). We are not born again. We
are not children of God. We are not free, pure, or holy. “Those who have fallen asleep in Christ are the deadest of the dead” (1 Cor 15:18). If Christ is not risen, “we are the most pitiable of men” (1 Cor 15:19), life is meaningless, there is no hope for us, and we are doomed.
“But, as it is, Christ is now raised from the dead, the First Fruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:20). In the splendor of the risen Christ’s divine glory, we live a radically new life, as children of God, partakers in the divine nature (2 Pt 1:4), and as the Lord’s royal, priestly, and holy family (1 Pt 2:9). We are saved, redeemed, chosen, and called to be holy as the Lord is holy (see 1 Pt 1:15-16). We
live in final victory, while we wait with Jesus for His enemies to be put beneath His feet (see Heb 10:12-13). Although we still take up our crosses each day (Lk 9:23) and share in the sufferings of Christ (Phil 3:10), we live the love, joy, and freedom of Christ’s risen life on earth and we look forward to living the perfection of that life face-to-face with Jesus in heaven.
With ever stronger faith, live the risen life to the full.
Prayer: Father, strengthen my faith in Jesus’ Resurrection and show me ways that this faith is being subtly undermined.
Promise: “The Twelve accompanied Him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and maladies.” —Lk 8:1-2
Presentation Ministries
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Abandonment to Divine Providence
- by Jean-Pierre de Caussade
BOOK II,
CHAPTER III. THE TRIALS CONNECTED WITH THE STATE OF ABANDONMENT
SECTION V. The Life of Faith
The fruit of these trials. The conduct of the submissive soul.
Why then seek You in any other way than that by which You desire to give Yourself? Why, divine Love, seek You under any other species than those which You have chosen for Your Sacrament? The less there is to be seen or felt so much the more scope for faith and obedience. Do You not give fecundity to the root hidden underground, and can You not, if You so will, make this darkness in which You are pleased to keep me,
fruitful? Live then, little root of my heart, in the deep, invisible heart of God; and by its power, send forth branches, leaves, flowers and fruits, which, although invisible to yourself, are a pure joy and nourishment to others. Without consulting your own taste, give of your shade, flowers, and fruit to others. May all that is grafted on you receive that indeterminate sap which will be known only by the growth and appearance of those same grafts. Become all to all, but as to yourself remain
abandoned and indifferent. Remain in the dark and narrow prison of your miserable cocoon, little worm, until the warmth of grace forms you, and sets you free. Then feed upon whatever leaves it offers you, and do not regret, in the activity of abandonment, the peace you have lost. Stop directly the divine action would have you stop, and be content to lose, in the alternations of repose and activity, in incomprehensible changes, all your old formulas, methods and ways, to take upon you those
designed for you by the divine action. Thus you will spin your silk in secret, doing what you can neither see nor feel. You will condemn in yourself a secret envy of your companions who are apparently dead and motionless, because they have not yet arrived at the point that you have attained; you continue to admire them although you have surpassed them. May your affliction in your abandonment continue while you spin a silk in which the princes of the Church and of the world and all sorts of souls
will glory to be attired.
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