If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him. JN 14:23
EXODUS 22:20-26 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
Our God is a God of compassion, He is full of tender love, slow to anger, and rich in mercy. Whoever calls to You O Lord, will be saved. All who are unjust to the poor, the widow, the orphan, the helpless, the sick, the voiceless, the marginalized, those whom the world casts out of view and ignores, whose rights are trampled upon and upon their misery the ungodly grow fat and sleek. These O Lord You will strike down and punish severely. Not a tear, nor even a sigh of the widow and the orphan escapes Your notice and You O Lord will hasten to comfort for You are their champion, their shield, and their protector. Migrants who escape persecution, poverty, war, and violence and seek refuge are to be treated kindly and generously. This is the command of the Lord and cannot be taken lightly.
“You must not molest the stranger or oppress him, for you lived as strangers in the land of Egypt. You must not be harsh with the widow, or with the orphan; if you are harsh with them, they will surely cry out to me, and be sure I shall hear their cry; my anger will flare and I shall kill you with the sword, your own wives will be widows, your own children orphans.”
Beloved, let us never forget to show the poor and the disadvantaged the compassion that we ourselves have received from You. What is given to us is to be shared. We are only Your stewards of the gifts we have been given - may we not be put to shame when we stand before You to give an account of our stewardship.
“If you lend money to any of my people, to any poor man among you, you must not play the usurer with him: you must not demand interest from him. If you take another’s cloak as a pledge, you must give it back to him before sunset. It is all the covering he has; it is the cloak he wraps his body in; what else would he sleep in? If he cries to me, I will listen, for I am full of pity.”
PSALM 17(18):2-4,47,51 ©
I love you, Lord, my strength,
my rock, my fortress, my saviour.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise,
when I call I am saved from my foes.
My God is the rock where I take refuge;
my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.
The Lord is worthy of all praise,
when I call I am saved from my foes.
Long life to the Lord, my rock!
Praised be the God who saves me,
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed.
He has given great victories to his king
and shown his love for his anointed.
I love you, Lord, my strength.
1 THESSALONIANS 1:5-10 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
There is nothing more powerful than the visible witness of the people of God who live the Gospel in sincerity and truth. When we put into practice Gospel values in all circumstances even when it is inconvenient or difficult placing all our faith, hope, and trust in You then our witness will edify those around and they too will desire to know You and love You.
St. Paul boldly tells those to whom he preaches the Good News to imitate him because he imitated You closely. His preaching was effective because the life and power of the Holy Spirit present in him opened the hearts of those who heard him to receive the Word of Truth and to believe. Which of us can say with the same conviction of St. Paul imitate me as I imitate Him. The churches that St. Paul and his companions founded wherever they went on their missionary journey we alive and vibrant with the life of the Holy Spirit.
If only we Christians in this day and age lived our faith boldly and visibly in the public square unafraid of the consequences and ready to shed our blood for Your sake and the sake of the Gospel those around us would also break with idolatry, be converted and become servants of the real, living God. Multitudes upon multitudes would wait for Your return and the conversion of the whole world to You would hasten Your coming again in glory.
Eternal Father, for the sake of Jesus' sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world and renew once again the face of the earth.
MATTHEW 22:34-40 ©
The commandments of love
The commandments of love
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’
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