Blessed are those who,
with a noble and generous heart,
take the word of God to themselves
and yield a harvest through their perseverance. LK 8:15
DANIEL 3:14-20,24-25,28 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
Faith like these three young men in the Book of Daniel is the kind of faith that is of the Holy Spirit and can transform the world. Not only in the era before You have men and women been prepared to die rather than renounce their faith in God but continues through the course of history. Having found the Pearl of Great Price, which is Yourself O Lord, martyrs gladly go to their death to keep it.
Those with great power like King Nebuchadnezzar are easily flattered into believing their commands must be obeyed at all costs and if thwarted are prepared to take barbaric measures to crush insubordination. This is currently happening all over the world. A powerful minority seeks to abolish not just common sense, but divine wisdom and to do away with all that is true, good, and beautiful.
By the power of the Holy Spirit let us stand firm in our faith and be prepared to undergo all persecution, tribulation, and die if necessary, rather than sell our soul to the devil. The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. If we are granted the great privilege of dying for You who died for us may we not hesitate but go to our death gladly just as Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and so many countless martyrs through the course of salvation history. Grant us the grace to die to ourselves daily as we prepare for eternal life so we can receive a share in Your glorious resurrection.
‘Did we not have these three men thrown bound into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’ ‘But,’ he went on ‘I can see four men walking about freely in the heart of the fire without coming to any harm. And the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: he has sent his angel to rescue the servants who, putting their trust in him, defied the order of the king, and preferred to forfeit their bodies rather than serve or worship any god but their own.’
DANIEL 3:52-56 ©
You are blest, Lord God of our fathers.
Blest your glorious holy name.
You are blest in the temple of your glory.
You are blest on the throne of your kingdom.
You are blest who gaze into the depths.
You are blest in the firmament of heaven.
To you glory and praise for evermore.
JOHN 8:31-42 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
Concupiscence has ruined us. The choices we make daily, hourly, moment by moment tend towards the flesh, the world, and the devil. If we made Your Word our home as so many saints did, we would find it easy to choose wisely, to choose life rather than death. We call ourselves Your disciples, members of Your Body which is the Church You founded, and yet we disobey her teachings, we water down her doctrines, we pick and choose what we believe, we are swayed by the culture we live in and we are attracted by the gaudy tinsel and the strident noise of the world that the wiles of the Enemy constantly lures us with.
Urging the Jews around You to learn the truth that has the power to liberate, they countered that they were not slaves but free. You pointed out that we are slaves when we are bound by sinful habits and the chains of this kind of slavery are hardest to break.
‘I tell you most solemnly,
everyone who commits sin is a slave.
Now the slave’s place in the house is not assured,
but the son’s place is assured.
So if the Son makes you free,
you will be free indeed.’
We fool ourselves into believing that we are saved because we are baptized but baptism is only the first step - we are called to live holy and virtuous lives. We must obey the two great commandments or else we will separate ourselves from the love of God. Cafeteria Catholics treat the doctrines of the Church like a buffet from which they pick and choose what suits their spiritual palate. We keep all the Ten Commandments and when we don't we commit a grave sin, a mortal sin, the consequence of such sins is death to the soul.
We are guilty of the sin of presumption when we take our salvation for granted as You rightly pointed out to Your hearers:
‘If you were Abraham’s children,
you would do as Abraham did.
As it is, you want to kill me
when I tell you the truth
as I have learnt it from God;
that is not what Abraham did.
What you are doing is what your father does.’
you would do as Abraham did.
As it is, you want to kill me
when I tell you the truth
as I have learnt it from God;
that is not what Abraham did.
What you are doing is what your father does.’
Within the Church, are many divisive voices that cause confusion and disunity among the faithful. All division is the work of Satan who never sleeps but works tirelessly to destroy it. We are grateful O Lord, for Your assurance that the gates of hell will never prevail against Your Bride, the Church.
We were chosen by God to belong to the Church You founded not on our merits but on Your goodness and mercy. May we always remember that to those to whom much is given much is required. Let us embrace the fullness of the faith we have received as a gift in all its beauty, truth, goodness, and splendor.
God is our Father. You are our Brother and Friend, and the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Helper, and Guide. We believe, O Lord, and by believing we are saved.
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