Tag: imitatingchrist

Posted in "Follow Me", CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, LENT 2021, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on PEACE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Day Two of our Lenten Journey – 18 February – In the cross alone, is the hope of life

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Day Two of our Lenten Journey – 18 February – Thursday after Ash Wednesday, Readings: Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Psalms 1:1-2, 3, 4 and 6, Luke 9:22-25

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis CRSA (1380-1471)

In Your Light Lord, we see light

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me” – Luke 9:23

To many the word seems harsh; “Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus”… (Mt 16:24) Why do you fear then to take up the cross, the way that leads to the kingdom? In the cross you are saved, revived, protected. In the cross you are showered with sweetness from on high, your mind is strengthened, your spirit rejoiced. In the cross is virtue’s sum and perfect holiness. In the cross alone, is the hope of life eternal, the soul’s salvation. So take up your cross and follow Jesus and you will enter eternal life… For if you die with Him, you shall also likewise live with Him. If you are His companion in punishment, so shall you be in glory.

Everything is founded on the cross… There is no other way to life, nor to true inner peace… Walk where you will, seek what you will, you will find neither a loftier way above, nor a safer way below but only the way of the Holy Cross.

Plan as you will, arrange as you see fit; all you will ever find is suffering, you cannot help but bear and so you will always find the cross. You will either have bodily pain or mental and spiritual affliction. Now God will leave you, again your fellow will provoke you and what is more, you will often weigh heavy on yourself. There is neither remedy to free you, nor comfort to ease you… For God will have you learn to endure affliction with total submission to Himself and become more humble… You must endure with patience everywhere, if you would be at peace within and earn the lasting crown.
(Book II, Ch 12:1,2,3-4)

Posted in "Follow Me", JANUARY month of THE MOST HOLY NAME of JESUS, LENT 2021, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on COURAGE, QUOTES on PATIENCE, QUOTES on PERSEVERANCE, QUOTES on the DEVIL/EVIL, The HOLY NAME, Thomas a Kempis

Ash Wednesday – 17 February- Day One of our Lenten Journey

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Ash Wednesday – 17 February- Day One of our Lenten Journey

Imitating Christ with Thomas à Kempis CRSA (1380-1471)

In Your Light Lord, we see light

“HE WHO follows Me, walks not in darkness,” (John 8:12) says the Lord.
By these words of Christ, we are advised to imitate His life and habits, if we wish to be truly enlightened and free from all blindness of heart.
Let our chief effort, therefore, be to study the life of Jesus Christ.
(Book 1, Ch 1:1)

DISCIPLE: IT IS the mark of a perfect man, Lord, never to let his mind relax in attention to heavenly things and to pass through many cares as though he had none; not as an indolent man does but, having by the certain prerogative of a free mind, no disorderly affection for any created being.

Keep me, I beg You, most merciful God, from the cares of this life, lest I be too much entangled in them.
Keep me from many necessities of the body, lest I be ensnared by pleasure.
Keep me from all darkness of mind, lest I be broken by troubles and overcome.
I do not ask deliverance from those things, which worldly vanity desires so eagerly but, from those miseries which, by the common curse of humankind, oppress the soul of Your servant, in punishment and keep him from entering into the liberty of spirit as often as he would.

My God, Sweetness beyond words, make bitter all the carnal comfort that draws me from love of the eternal and lures me to its evil self, by the sight of some delightful good in the present.
Let it not overcome me, my God.
Let not flesh and blood conquer me.
Let not the world and its brief glory deceive me, nor the devil trip me by his craftiness.
Give me courage to resist, patience to endure and constancy to persevere.
Give me the soothing unction of Your spirit, rather than all the consolations of the world and in place of carnal love, infuse into me the love of Your Name.

Behold, eating, drinking, clothing and other necessities that sustain the body are burdensome to the fervent soul.
Grant me the grace to use such comforts temperately and not to become entangled in too great a desire for them.
It is not lawful to cast them aside completely, for nature must be sustained but Your holy law forbids us to demand superfluous things and things that are simply for pleasure, else the flesh would rebel against the spirit.
In these matters, I beg, let Your hand guide and direct me, so that I may not overstep the law in any way.
(Book 3 Ch 26:1-4)