When the Spirit of truth comes
he will lead you to the complete truth,
and he will remind you of all I have said to you. JN 16:13, 14:26
HOSEA 14:2-10
My Soul's Beloved,
I am unworthy, my faith is as weak as a flickering weak, I do not deserve Your love and Your infinite patience with my constant and pitiful moaning and groaning that continues despite all your promises. Day after day, morning after morning, You assure me that in the end, all will be well, instead of being encouraged, I allow my sorrow to throw a pall over my soul. Yet You continue to comfort me with words of infinite tenderness.
The Lord says this:
– I will heal their disloyalty,
I will love them with all my heart,
for my anger has turned from them.
I will fall like dew on Israel.
He shall bloom like the lily,
and thrust out roots like the poplar,
his shoots will spread far;
he will have the beauty of the olive
and the fragrance of Lebanon.
They will come back to live in my shade;
they will grow corn that flourishes,
they will cultivate vines
as renowned as the wine of Helbon.
What has Ephraim to do with idols any more
when it is I who hear his prayer and care for him?
I believe my Beloved, help my little faith.
PSALM 50(51):3-4,8-9,12-14,17
Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offence.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.
Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.
A pure heart create for me, O God,
put a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
nor deprive me of your holy spirit.
Give me again the joy of your help;
with a spirit of fervour sustain me,
O Lord, open my lips
and my mouth shall declare your praise.
My mouth shall declare your praise.
My Soul's Beloved,
All that You warned the Twelve that they would suffer they did. All that occurred came as no surprise to them because they were Yours and all that the Master endured at the hands of sinners they would as well. The Twelve and every disciple who came to the knowledge of Truth and followed the Way that leads to Life is a sign of contradiction in the world. We are sheep in a world of rapacious wolves that bay for our blood. The minions of Satan who have taken possession of the souls of a vast majority of people in the world will not rest until they destroy all that Wisdom teaches of goodness, beauty, and truth.
Your Church O Lord is built high on a hilltop and sheds light on a quickly darkening world. As long as she stands the darkness will not overcome her for You have assured her that the gates of hell shall never prevail against her.
There are entire nations O Lord where Christians are smothered, persecuted, cast out, and denied basic human rights. They are murdered, imprisoned, and hauled before courts on trumped-up charges and they are slaughtered along with their children. But they remain steadfast in the face of the worst possible dehumanizing acts taken against them by the slaves of evil. These O Lord know that no matter what evil does to their bodies they cannot destroy their soul. Body and soul they entrust to Your care and You will raise them up in glory - of this they are certain and this is why they endure faithfully to the end.
But what of us O Lord? We who live comfortable lives and seek our creature comforts diligently. We who hold ourselves aloof and untouched by the misery of our fellow Christians, our brothers, and sisters. We are one Body in You O Lord and what any member suffers the Body as a whole suffers as well. Take away our indifference O Lord and let us raise our voice, unafraid, no matter the consequences, for those whose lives are endangered simply because they confess You as Lord, as the Son of God, as the Messiah, as the One who is to come again in glory. And when our time comes O Lord and we will have to face persecution, help us to remain faithful to the end. If we are called to shed our blood, may we do so joyfully, and may our blood be the seed of armies of Christians who will come to the knowledge of truth and be saved.
‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved. If they persecute you in one town, take refuge in the next; and if they persecute you in that, take refuge in another. I tell you solemnly, you will not have gone the round of the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.’
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