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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2013 19:21:42 GMT
May we all Listen, Follow, and therefore Live forever
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2013 17:04:44 GMT
Sunday, 28th April, 2013 - 5th Sunday of Easter
John 13:31-35
When Judas had gone Jesus said:
'Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and in him God has been glorified. If God has been glorified in him, God will in turn glorify him in himself, and will glorify him very soon. 'My little children, I shall not be with you much longer. I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have loved you, you also must love one another. By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.'
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2013 13:05:40 GMT
Sunday, May 05, 2013 - Sixth Sunday of Easter
John 14: 23 - 29
23 Jesus answered him, "If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. 25 "These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. 28 You heard me say to you, `I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.
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Post by hibernicus on May 3, 2013 17:20:37 GMT
We may not see Jesus, but He is with us nonetheless, and through Him we have conquered the perils that seem so great. The role of the Holy Spirit in guiding the Church is revealed in the later history of this passage; for quoted in isolation it could support the view that Jesus was not God in the fullest sense, and many bitter theological and political conflicts were necessary to arrive at the true understanding.
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Post by Deleted on May 10, 2013 19:27:33 GMT
Sunday, 12th May, 2013 - The Ascension of the Lord
Luke 24:46-53
Jesus said to his disciples: 'You see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.
'And now I am sending down to you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.' Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy; and they were continually in the Temple praising God.
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Post by hibernicus on May 13, 2013 20:20:40 GMT
Luke's shorter account of the Ascension (compared to the beginning of Acts). Note the emphasis on the forgiveness of sins, which is a strong claim to divine power, and the emphasis that being a Christian and preaching the Word are inseparable. I have a post on another thread about Kierkegaard, whose 200th anniversary took place within the last week, and this quote from an article on him may be relevant here: www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/05/kierkegaardrsquos-burning-witnessEXTRACT If Kierkegaard’s Christianity creates dilemmas for the secular, it has proven equally vexing for his fellow believers. Kierkegaard was scandalized by the state of Christianity in his day, especially as expressed by the official Lutheran Church of Denmark. He assailed what he called the latter’s involvement in “Christendom”—a flabby, self-assured idea of Christian civilization, which went along to get along—with authentic Christianity, which was far more demanding. He looked around and saw not serious Christians but a mass of people who assumed they were Christians simply because they were born into a supposedly Christian country and belonged to the state Church. He was particularly scandalized by the leading Danish clergy, who rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty, and promoted superficial religion—trapped in a “jovial mediocrity”—even as they professed to be “witnesses for Christ.” In a series of polemical blasts, Kierkegaard contrasted this easygoing lifestyle with genuine Christianity: When one sees what it is to be a Christian in Denmark, how could it occur to anyone that this is what Jesus Christ talks about: cross and agony and suffering, crucifying the flesh, suffering for the doctrine, being salt, being sacrificed? No . . . in Denmark, Christianity marches to a different melody, to the tune of ‘Merrily we roll along, roll along, roll along’—Christianity is enjoyment of life, tranquilized. At the heart of his attack upon “Christendom” is a repudiation of the notion that the Church can elevate society merely by its existence, and that all Christians have to do to transform society is build up Christianity’s collective numbers. Kierkegaard replies: “No, no, no!” Real change, real progress begins with the individual, not with any kind of “statistical Christianity” which places size over substance: Any reformation which is not aware that fundamentally every single individual needs to be reformed is an illusion. The individual stands alone. The ethical reality of the individual is the only reality. It is not doctrine which ought to be revised . . . it is existences which should be revised. There can be no reform of the Church, much less society, he declared, unless individual hearts and minds are first converted to the gospel. Otherwise, “our whole way of life” would amount to nothing but “stuff and nonsense.” For confronting the establishment of his time, Kierkegaard was denounced as being vitriolic and accused of creating division—much like those today who call their fellow Christians to account. Kierkegaard was misunderstood in his time, and still is today. He once wrote in his journal, “People understand me so little that they do not even understand when I complain of being misunderstood.” The two biggest misconceptions about Kierkegaard have to do with his attitude toward the Church, and his general disposition. Because he rebuked the Church so sternly, some people think he was trying to subvert it. On the contrary, says scholar Howard Johnson, Kierkegaard was a “loyal son of the Church,” who “like St. Thomas Aquinas,” or any other theologian until recent times, was “so living in the sacramental, ecclesiological reality” of Christianity that it would never have occurred to him to try to “topple altars.” His critique was constructive, not destructive: His attack arose only when he felt the Church was in a wrong way a part of the culture, succumbing to a culture instead of relating itself to eternity. . . . Kierkegaard never attacked the Church qua Church. . . . The center of his dislike was a marriage of convenience, wherein the government was more than willing to pay clerical stipends and provide for the maintenance of Church fabrics out of the public treasury in return for the modest, reciprocal favor that, on political and social issues, the Church remain irrelevant and confine itself to “Quiet Hours.” The second misconception is that Kierkegaard was a perpetual malcontent, the “gloomy Dane,” who could only protest and never find peace and solace. In fact, the moment he committed himself to Christ, unreservedly, Kierkegaard found that peace which was the source and strength of his whole life... END
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2013 18:24:43 GMT
Sunday, May 19, 2013 - Pentecost Sunday
John 20: 19 - 23
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you." 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2013 18:36:23 GMT
Sunday, 26th May, 2013
John 16:12-15
Jesus said to his disciples:
I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the Spirit of truth comes he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He will glorify me, since all he tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: All he tells you will be taken from what is mine.
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Post by hibernicus on May 21, 2013 20:09:25 GMT
Another reminder of the inexhaustible richness of God and that Jesus's presence did not end with the Ascension but continues through the Church guided by the Holy Spirit.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2013 21:00:23 GMT
Sunday, 2nd June, 2013
Luke 9:11-17
Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.
It was late afternoon when the Twelve came to him and said, 'Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here'. He replied, 'Give them something to eat yourselves'. But they said, 'We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people' For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, 'Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty'. They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.
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Post by hibernicus on May 30, 2013 22:00:58 GMT
And once again we see the limitless power and riches of God - as boundless as His love. And the Apostles still don't quite get it - do we?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2013 18:01:30 GMT
Sunday, June 09, 2013 Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 7: 11 - 17
Soon afterward he went to a city called Na'in, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a large crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep." And he came and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say to you, arise." And the dead man sat up, and began to speak. And he gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all; and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has arisen among us!" and "God has visited his people!" And this report concerning him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2013 9:46:57 GMT
Sunday, June 16, 2013 Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Luke 7: 36 - 50
One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house, and took his place at table. And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was at table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner." And Jesus answering said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." And he answered, "What is it, Teacher?" "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he forgave them both. Now which of them will love him more?" Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, to whom he forgave more." And he said to him, "You have judged rightly." Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little." And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this, who even forgives sins?" And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2013 14:08:45 GMT
Sunday, 23rd June, 2013
Luke 9:18-24
One day when Jesus was praying alone in the presence of his disciples he put this question to them, 'Who do the crowds say I am?' And they answered, 'John the Baptist; others Elijah; and others say one of the ancient prophets come back to life'. 'But you,' he said 'who do you say I am?' It was Peter who spoke up. 'The Christ of God' he said. But he gave them strict orders not to tell anyone anything about this.
'The Son of Man' he said 'is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.'
Then to all he said,'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it.
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Post by hibernicus on Jun 22, 2013 18:02:19 GMT
We all lose this life eventually, and up to a certain point in our lives we all think we are immortal - possibly more so in developed societies at the present time, where peace, modern medicine and sanitation, and a higher standard of living insulate us from death until far later in life than in the past or in poorer countries. As you get older, one of your regrets is to see how much you could have done but did not. One of the more chilling scenes in the Brian Desmond Hurst/Alistair Sim adaptation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL is where Scrooge sees the ghosts of misers floating around a beggar-woman with a child in her arms; they weep and mourn and long to help her but are unable to do so, because they neglected helping others when they were rich and strong and healthy, and now they are poorer than the poorest living man on earth. (A Catholic might see in this a reference to the sufferings of Purgatory, since the damned have no concern for anyone except themselves and therefore would not feel compassion however ineffective. Dickens of course did not believe in Purgatory, and was probably thinking of the parable of Dives and Lazarus, which it is sometimes suggested refers to Purgatory since the fact that Dives feels concern for his brothers suggests he is not as utterly closed in on himself as the truly damned.) One of the great questions of our time is whether suffering is utterly meaningless. We will all suffer, and in the end we will die. BY embracing his sufferings Jesus bears witness that suffering and death can be overcome if we embrace them in His name, and it is His grace, expressed most clearly in his self-revelation and in His cross, that will allow us to do so. It was His Cross and His Holy Name that raised St Damien to give himself for the lepers. It was his Cross and his Name that led SS Thomas More and John Fisher to promote learning and justice, to give a model of how a priest and how a family man should live, and in the end to abandon all they had in this world to bear witness against a tyrant - a tyrant being one who sets himself up in the place of God - and to embrace the Cross. And in sharing His Cross they shared His Resurrection, and gained more than all they had lost.
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