Tag: matthew 19:13-21

Posted in "Follow Me", APRIL -MONTH of the RESURRECTION and the BLESSED SACAMENT, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on CHILDREN, Quotes on SALVATION, QUOTES on SIMPLICITY, QUOTES on the CHURCH, QUOTES on THE MYSTICAL BODY, The RESURRECTION, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 20 July – “Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come to Me, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for such. ” – Matthew 19:14

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 20 July – “The Month of the Most Precious Blood” – St Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537) Confessor – Isaias 58:7-11, Matthew 19:13-21 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come to Me, for the Kingdom of Heaven is for such. ” – Matthew 19:14

REFLECTION – “What a great and wonderful gift God has given us, my brethren! On this, the day of Easter, day of Salvation, the Lord rises again and gives resurrection to the world. … We are His Body (1 Cor 12:27) … and His Members rise with Him; He makes us rise from death to life. In Hebrew the word “passover” means a passing over … and what a passing! From sin to righteousness, from vice to virtue, from age to infancy. Yesterday, sins’ decay set us on a decline but Christ’s Resurrection gives us rebirth in newborn innocence!

Christian simplicity makes childhood its own. Children are without rancour, ignorant of deceit, not daring to strike. So, this child whom the Christian has become, does not fall into a rage if someone insults him, does not resist, if something is taken from him, does not return blows, if someone strikes him. Our Lord even demands us to pray for our enemies, give up our tunic and cloak to anyone who would steal it, turn the other cheek to those who would slap it (Mt 5:39). The childhood of Christ surpasses human childhood. …

To the Apostles, who were already mature, adult men, the Lord said: “Unless you turn and become like little children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 18:3). He returns them to the origin of their lives, encourages them to rediscover their childhood, so that these men, whose vigour is declining, may be born again to innocence of heart.” – St Maximus of Turin (Died c420) Bishop, Father of the Church (Homily 58 for Easter).

PRAYER – O God, the Father of mercies, by the merits and intercession of St Jerome, whom Thou willed to be the helper and father of orphans, grant that we may faithfully guard the spirit of adoption which makes us Thy sons both in name and reality.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, FATHERS of the Church, GOD the FATHER, QUOTES on FAITH, The KINGDOM of GOD / HEAVEN, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 20 July – ‘ … The children in question are ourselves. …’

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 20 July – “The Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus” – St Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537) Confessor – Isaias 58:7-11, Matthew 19:13-21 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

“Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come to Me: for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” – Matthew 19:14

REFLECTION – “The role of Christ, our Teacher, is, as its name suggests, to be the guide of children. But, we have yet to consider, what children Scripture is talking about and then, to give them their Teacher. The children in question are ourselves. Scripture draws attention to us in a great many ways, making use of various images to refer to us and highlighting the simplicity of faith in many different shades.

It is said in the Gospel: “The Lord was standing on the shore… and He said to the disciples – who were fishing – ‘Children, have you caught anything?‘” (Jn 21:4-5). It was His disciples whom He called ‘children.‘ “People brought children to Him that He might lay His Hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them but Jesus said: ‘Let the children come to Me and do not prevent them; for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.’” (Mt 19:14). Our Lord Himself clarifies the meaning of these words when He says: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 18:3). This has nothing to do with being born again but puts forward the simplicity of the child for our imitation…

We can, indeed, call ‘children‘ those who only know God, their Father – newborn in the strict sense… There are some persons who have made progress in the Word, whom He calls to detachment from earthly concerns, so as to listen only to their Father as children do. This is why He tells them: “Do not worry about tomorrow; sufficient for each day is its own evil” (Mt 6:34). See how He exhorts us to free ourselves from earthly cares, so as to cleave only to our Father! Whoever carries out this command is indeed an infant, a child for God and for the world, since the latter considers him wholly ignorant and the former is an object of care.” – St Clement of Alexandria (c150- c215) Father of the Church, Theologian and Philosopher, Professor who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. (The Pedagogue I, 12, 17).

PRAYER – O God, the Father of mercies, by the merits and intercession of St Jerome, whom Thou willed to be the helper and father of orphans, grant that we may faithfully guard the spirit of adoption which makes us Thy sons both in name and reality.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).

Posted in "Follow Me", DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ON the SAINTS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on DISCIPLESHIP, QUOTES on GREED, WEALTH, QUOTES on POVERTY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 20 July – If you would be perfect … Matthew 19:21

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 20 July – “The Memorial of St Jerome Emiliani (1486–1537) Confessor – Isaias 58:7-11, Matthew 19:13-21

“If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.” – Matthew 19:21

REFLECTION – “After his parents’ death … when Anthony was about eighteen or even twenty years old …) he went into the Church when it happened that the Gospel was being read,and he heard the Lord saying to the rich man: “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven.” It was as if the passage were read on his account. Immediately Antony went out from the Lord’s house and gave to the townspeople the possessions he had from his forebears. And selling all the rest that was portable, when he collected sufficient money, he donated it to the poor, keeping a few things for his sister.

But when, entering the Lord’s house once more, he heard in the Gospel the Lord saying, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow” (Mt 6:34), he could not remain any longer but going out he gave those remaining possessions also to the needy. Placing his sister in the charge of respected and trusted virgins, and giving her over to the convent for rearing, he devoted himself from then on to the discipline rather than the household, giving heed to himself and patiently training himself ….

He worked with his hands, though, having heard that “he who is idle, let him not eat” (2 Thess 3:10). And he spent what he made partly for bread and partly on those in need. He prayed constantly, since he learned that it is necessary to “pray unceasingly” (Lk 21:36) in private. For he paid such close attention to what was read that nothing from Scripture did he fail to take in, rather, he grasped everything and in him the memory took the place of books. … All those then, who were from his village and those good people with whom he associated, seeing him living thus, used to call him ‘God-loved‘, and some hailed him as ‘son‘, some as ‘brother‘.” – St Athanasius (297-373) Bishop of Alexandria, Father and Doctor of the Church – Life of Saint Anthony, the Father of Monks, 2-4

PRAYER – O God, the Father of mercies, by the merits and intercession of St Jerome, whom Thou willed to be the helper and father of orphans, grant that we may faithfully guard the spirit of adoption which makes us Thy sons both in name and reality.Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).