Tag: ssymeonthenewtheologian

Posted in CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, FATHERS of the Church, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on UNITY/with GOD, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 20 May – ‘ … one body with Christ.’ John 17:21

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 20 May – “Mary’s Month” – Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 22:30; 23:6-11, Psalm 16:1-2, 5, 7-11, John 17:20-26 and the Memorial of Blessed Columba of Rieti OP (1467- 1501)

“That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me and I in thee; that they also may be one in us. ” – John 17:21

REFLECTION – “The body of Christ’s Church, harmonious result of the coming together of His saints from the beginning of time, reaches its perfectly balanced and integral constitution, in the union of the children of God, the firstborn whose names are written in heaven ( cf Lk 10,20)… Our Saviour-God Himself shows us the indissoluble and indivisible character of union with Himself, when He says to the Apostles: “I am in the Father and the Father is in me; you in me and I in you” (Jn 10,38; 14,20). And He spells this out even more clearly by adding: “I have given them the glory you gave me, that they may be one as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one.” And again: “That the love with which you have loved me may be in them and that I also may be in them”…

How marvellous this inexpressible condescension of the love God bears for us, He who is the friend of man! (Wsd 1,6). That which He is. by nature with regard to His Father, He grants us to be, by adoption and grace in His own regard… The glory given to the Son by the Father, the Son in His turn gives to us through divine grace. Even better: just as He is in the Father and the Father in Him, so will the Son of God be in us and we in the Son through grace, if we desire it. Having once become like us, through the flesh, He has made us sharers of His divinity and incorporates us all in Him. In addition, the divinity in which we participate by this communion, is not divisible into separate parts but, it necessarily follows, that we too, once we have become inseparable from it in truth, are inseparable from the one Spirit, making up one body with Christ. ” – St Symeon the New Theologian (c 949-1022), Greek Monk – Ethics 1, 6-8

PRAYER – God of mercy, You have filled us with the hope of resurrection by restoring man to his original dignity. May we who relive this mystery each year come to share it in perpetual love. May the Mother of Our Lord stand with us as we gaze upward to her Son and may the prayer of Bl essed Columba, be a support in our troubles. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

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Posted in CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, DOGMA, ONE Minute REFLECTION, The MOST HOLY & BLESSED TRINITY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 27 April – “I and the Father are one.” – John 10:30

Posted on by AnaStpaul

One Minute Reflection – 27 April – Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter, Readings: Acts 11:19-26, Psalm 87:1-7, John 10:22-30

“I and the Father are one.” – John 10:30

REFLECTION – “Sent out, issuing from the Father,
the Word came down and dwelt
wholly within the Virgin’s womb.
Wholly in the Father, wholly in that virginal breast,
He, Whom nothing can contain, was wholly in all things.
While remaining what He was, He assumed the form of a slave (Phil 2:7)
and, when He had been sent into the world,
He became a man in every way. …

How are we to state, what to all angels,
archangels and created things,
is impossible to explain?
It can be thought truly, yet not by any means expressed
and indeed our minds cannot understand it perfectly.
God and man and man-God, how can He also be
wholly Son of the Father
in so inseparable a way?
How has He become the Virgin’s Son and come into the world?
And how is it, that He has remained impossible for anything to contain? …

Now you will become silent,
for even if you wished to speak
your spirit would find no words
and your chattering tongue, is reduced to silence. …

Glory to You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
divinity impossible to grasp, indivisible in nature.
We worship You in the Holy Spirit, we who possess Your Spirit
because we have received Him from You.
Beholding Your glory, we do not cast about unrestrainedly
but it is in Him, in Your Spirit, that we see You,
O Father unbegotten and Your only-begotten Word
Who comes forth from You.
And we adore the Trinity, without division or confusion,
in His simple divinity, majesty and power.” – Symeon the New Theologian (c 949-1022) Monk – Hymn 21

PRAYER – Lord God, grant Your people constant joy in the renewed vigour of their souls. They rejoice because You have restored them to the glory of Your adopted children, let them look forward gladly to the certain hope of the resurrection. Draw us constantly to Your Son, Jesus, our Lord, teach us to know Him and may the prayers of our Blessed Mother , guide us amidst the storms of this mortal life. We make our prayer through our Resurrected Christ, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen, alleluia!

Acts 11: 19-26
19 Now they who had been dispersed by the persecution that arose on occasion of Stephen, went about as far as Phenice and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none but to the Jews only.
20 But some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they were entered into Antioch, spoke also to the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus.
21 And the hand of the Lord was with them and a great number believing, were converted to the Lord.
22 And the tidings came to the ears of the church, that was at Jerusalem, touching these things and they sent Barnabas as far as Antioch.
23 Who, when he was come and had seen the grace of God, rejoiced and he exhorted them all, with purpose of heart to continue in the Lord.,
24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith.
And a great multitude was added to the Lord.
25 And Barnabas went to Tarsus to seek Saul, whom, when he had found, him, he brought to Antioch.
26 And they conversed there in the church a whole year and they taught a great multitude, so that at Antioch the disciples were first named Christians.

Gospel: John 10: 22-30
22 And it was the feast of the dedication ,at Jerusalem: and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.
24 The Jews , therefore, gathered around about him and said to him:
How long dost thou hold our souls in suspense? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly.
25 Jesus answered them: I speak to you and you believe no,: the works that I do in the name of my Father, they give testimony of me.
26 But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep.
27 My sheep hear my voice: and I know them and they follow me.
28 And I give them life everlasting and they shall not perish forever and no man shall pluck them out of my hand.
29 That which my Father has given me, is greater than all and no-one can snatch them out of the hand of my Father.
30 I and the Father, are one.