Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, GOD ALONE!, ONE Minute REFLECTION, QUOTES on LOVE, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, QUOTES on the CHURCH, The HEART, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 18 September – ‘ … What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? …’

One Minute Reflection – 18 September – “The Month of The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary and The Holy Cross” – St Joseph of Cupertino OFM Conv (1603-1663) Confessor – 1 Corinthians 13:1-8; Matthew 22:1-14 – cripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/

Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?” – Matthew 22:12

REFLECTION – “But you, my friends, since you have already come into the house of the marriage feast, our holy Church, as a result of God’s generosity, be careful lest, when the King enters, He finds fault with some aspect of your heart’s clothing!

What do we think is meant by the wedding garment, dearly beloved? For if we say it is Baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love? That person enters the marriage feast but without wearing a wedding garment, who is present in the holy Church. He may have faith but he does not have love. We are correct when we say that love is the wedding garment because this, is what our Creator Himself possessed, when He came to the marriage feast, to join the Church to Himself. Only God’s Love brought it about, that His Only-Begotten Son, united the hearts of His chosen, to Himself. John says “God so Loved the world that He gave His Only-Begotten Son for us.” – St Pope Gregory the Great (540-604) Father and Doctor of the Church – (Sermons on the Gospel No 38).

PRAYER – O God, Who willed that all things be drawn unto Thy Son, when He was raised above the earth, mercifully grant, by the merits and example of Thy seraphic Confessor Joseph that, having been raised above all earthly desires, we may be found worthy to come unto Him. Through the same 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).