Tag: john8:51

Posted in CATECHESIS, DOCTORS of the Church, LENT 2023, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on CONSCIENCE, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, St Francis de Sales, The LAST THINGS, The PASSION, The WORD

Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 26 March – DEATH

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Lenten Journey with St Francis de Sales – 26 March – Passion Sunday – Hebrews 9:11-15, John 8:46-59 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“… By means of His death,
… they, who have been called,
may receive the eternal inheritance,
according to the promise,
in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Hebrews 9:15

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
if anyone keep My word,
he will never see death.”
John 8:51

DEATH
St Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
Doctor Caritas

“CONSIDER THE UNCERTAINTY of the day of your death. One day, my soul, you must depart from this body. When will it be? In winter or summer? In town or country? At home or afar? During the day or the night? With or without warning? As a result of illness of accident? Shall I have a chance to go to Confession? Shall I be assisted by a Priest? Will I be prepared? Unhappily, I know the answer to none of these things. Only one thing is certain – that I shall die and sooner than I imagine.”

Consider that then, the world will come to an end, as far as you are concerned. You will have no more part in it. It will turn upside down before your eyes, for worldly joys and pleasures and the things you loved in vain, will turn into empty dreams and shadows.
Fool that I am to offend God for the sake of such trifling vanities. I have forsaken God and for what – for nothing!
On the other hand, devotion and good deeds will be seen as desirable and delightful and you will ask yourself – why did I not take this beautiful and pleasant path of everlasting joy?
At that hour, your sins – which at the time seemed so small – will appear as vast as mountains and your devotions truly small. …

Pray to God and cast yourself into His arms.
O my God, take me into Thy care on that terrible day; may all other days be sad, if only that single day will be a happy one!
Thank God for inspiring these resolutions and offer them to Him, imploring Him to grant you the grace of a Happy Death, through the merits of His Son and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints.
Carry with you always a small Happy Death Crucifix, properly blessed, to obtain a Plenary Indulgence at the hour of death and meditate upon it often.” – (Introduction to the Devout Life – Excerpt from The Fifth Meditation on Death).

The Complete Fifth Meditation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Muoe86JLRA

WHAT IS A HAPPY DEATH CRUCIFIX?
A Crucifix which displays the “Skull and Crossbones” preferably at the Feet of Jesus.
“The skull and bones have many symbolic meanings. All Catholics are encouraged to meditate on the “Four Last Things – Death and Judgement, Heaven and Hell” so that they will live in a state of grace and prepare themselves for Heaven.
The skull is a great reminder of human mortality. Jesus Christ was Crucified on Golgotha – “the place of the skull,”
There is a tradition that Christ, the New Adam, Who conquered sin and death, was Crucified on the gravesite of the first man, Adam, who brought sin and death into the world through his disobedience to God.
The skull is a symbol of Adam’s grave.
Most important of all, the skull and bones are placed beneath Jesus’ Feet, to show that He triumphed over death and sin on our behalf.”

Posted in CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, LENT 2022, LENTEN THOUGHTS, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, The WORD

Passion Sunday – 3 April – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – What does “Christ” mean but to die in the body and receive the Breath of Life?

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Passion Sunday – 3 April – Our Lenten Journey with the Great Fathers – Hebrews 9:11-15, John 8:46-59.

“Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord; teach me to do Your will.” – Psalm 142:9-10

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
if anyone keep My word,
he will never see death.”

John 8:51

WE SEE THAT DEATH is gain, life is loss. Paul says: For me life is Christ and death a gain. What does “Christ” mean but to die in the body and receive the Breath of Life? Let us then die with Christ, to live with Christ. We should have a daily familiarity with death, a daily desire for death. By this kind of detachment our soul must learn to free itself from the desires of the body. It must soar above earthly lusts to a place where they cannot come near, to hold it fast. It must take on the likeness of death, to avoid the punishment of death. The law of our fallen nature is at war with the law of our reason and subjects the law of reason, to the law of error. What is the remedy? Who will set me free from this body of death? The grace of God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

WE HAVE A DOCTOR to heal us; let us use the remedy He prescribes. The remedy is the grace of Christ, the dead body, our own. Let us then be exiles from our body, so as not to be exiles from Christ. Although we are still in the body, let us not give ourselves to the things of the body. We must not reject the natural rights of the body but, we must desire, before all else, the gifts of grace.

WHAT MORE need be said? It was by the death of One Man that the world was Redeemed. Christ did not need to die, if He did not wish to but He did not look on death as something to be despised, something to be avoided and He could have found no better means to save us, than by dying. Thus His Death is Life for all. We are sealed with the Sign of His Death – when we pray, we preach His Death, when we offer Sacrifice we proclaim His Death. His Death is Victory; His Death is a Sacred Sign; each year His Death is celebrated with solemnity by the whole world.” – St Ambrose (340-397) Bishop of Milan, Great Father and Doctor of the Church (An excerpt from his work, On the death of Satyrus [Saint Ambrose’s brother])

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on OBEDIENCE, The LAST THINGS, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 3 April – Death

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Quote/s of the Day – 3 April – Passion Sunday – Hebrews 9:11-15, John 8:46-59.

“Amen, amen, I say to you,
if anyone keep My word,
he will never see death.”

John 8:51

“Each and everyone of us,
at the end of the journey of life,
will come, face to face
with either one,
or the other
of two faces…
And one of them,
either, the
merciful face of Christ
or the
miserable face of Satan,
will say,
“Mine, mine.”

May we be Christ’s!”

Ven Fulton Sheen (1895-1979)

Posted in LENT 2020, LENTEN PRAYERS & NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Lenten Reflection – 2 April – Only What You Will or Will Not

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 2 April – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Readings: Genesis 17:3-9, Psalm105:4-9, John 8:51-59

“Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.”

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death.”...John 8:51

Daily Meditation:
Come to us, free us, help us and guide us.

“See, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah … I will plant my law within them and inscribe it in their hearts.   I will be their God and they shall be my people … All shall know me, from the least to the greatest, says the Lord.

The Israel of old was already called the Church of God while it was on pilgrimage through the desert.   So the new Israel, as it makes its way in this present age, seeking a city that is to come, a city that will remain, is also known as the Church of Christ, for He acquired it by His own blood, filled it with His Spirit and equipped it with appropriate means, to be a visible and social unity.   God has called together the assembly of those, who in faith, look on Jesus, the author of salvation and the principle of unity and peace and so has established the Church to be for each and all, the visible Sacrament of this unity which brings with it salvation.” … An excerpt from Lumen Gentium, #9.

Seek the Lord and his strength,
seek his presence continually!
Psalm 105:4

john-8-51-thursday-of-the-fifth-week-lent-11-april-2019 and 2 april 2020

Intercessions:
Christ our Lord came among us as the light of the world,
that we might walk in His light and not in the darkness of death.
Let us praise Him and cry out to Him:
Let Your word be a lamp to guide us.

God of mercy, help us today to grow in Your likeness,
– that we who sinned in Adam, may rise again in Christ.
Let Your word be a lamp to guide us,
– that we may live the truth and grow always in Your love.
Teach us to be faithful in seeking the common good for Your sake,
– that Your light may shine on the whole human family, by means of your Church.
Touch our hearts to seek Your friendship more and more,
– and to make amends for our sins, against Your wisdom and goodness.

Closing Prayer:

Only What You Will or Will Not
By Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471)

Grant me Your grace,
most merciful Jesus,
so that it may be with me
and work with me
and persevere with me to the end.
Grant that I may always want
and desire that which is
most acceptable and pleasing to You.
Let Your will be mine
and let my will always follow Yours
and be in perfect accord with it.
Let me always will or not will,
the same with You
and may I not be able to will
or not will
anything, except
what You will or will not.
Amenonly-what-you-will-nor-will-not-thomas-a-kempis-16-sept-2019 and 21 jan 2020

Posted in LENT 2019, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on the CROSS of CHRIST, The HOLY CROSS, The PASSION, The WORD

Lenten Reflection – 11 April – Where is your sin?

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Lenten Reflection – 11 April – Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent, Year C

The Readings:
Genesis 17: 3-9; Psalms 105:4-5, 6-7, 8-9; John 8:51-59

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death.”...John 8:51john 8 51 - thursday of the fifth week lent 11 april 2019.jpg

Pope Francis

8 April 2014

“…The heart of God’s salvation is His Son who took upon Himself our sins, our pride, our self reliance, our vanity, our desire to be like God.   A Christian who is not able to glory in Christ Crucified has not understood what it means to be Christian.   Our wounds, those which sin leaves in us, are healed only through the Lord’s wounds, through the wounds of God made man who humbled Himself, who emptied Himself.   This is the mystery of the Cross.   It is not only an ornament that we always put in churches, on the altar, it is not only a symbol, that should distinguish us from others.   The Cross is a mystery, the mystery of the love of God who humbles Himself, who empties Himself to save us from our sins.

Where is your sin?   Your sin is there on the Cross.   Go and look for it there, in the wounds of the Lord and your sins shall be healed, your wounds shall be healed, your sins shall be forgiven.   God’s forgiveness is not a matter of cancelling a debt we have with Him.   God forgives us in the wounds of His Son lifted up on the Cross.   May the Lord might draw us to Himself and that we might allow ourselves to be healed”.where is your sin - pope francis - 11 april 2019.jpg

Daily Meditation:
Come to us, free us, help us and guide us.
We pray more intensely now, just a week before Holy Thursday.
We desire more and more that we might be free.
Sorrow leads to profound gratitude,
when we experience the depth of unconditional love offered us.
The gratitude of a loved sinner leads to great generosity.

Christ is the mediator of a new covenant so that since he has died,
those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance promised to them.
The Entrance Antiphon – Hebrews 9:15

Closing Prayer:
Lord,
all I want is to be faithful to You in my life,
but so often I fail.
Free me from my many sins
and guide me to the life I will share with You.
I wait for Your promise to be fulfilled
with great hope in my heart
and Your praise on my lips.

May the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil
and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.