I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, says the Lord;
No one can come to the Father except through me. JN 14:6
EPHESIANS 1:1-10
My Soul's Beloved,
Today St. Paul reinforces this truth of which I am already aware but have not truly contemplated and allowed to sink into the very fabric of my being. I am Yours. I was created by God for a singular purpose and that purpose is to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him, and to be happy with Him in this life and forever in the next. All I need to be happy is to remember to whom I belong in time and in eternity. God has loved me with an everlasting love, God laid down His life for me so I may not die but live an abundant life of grace, joy, blessing, and hope. God has poured His Spirit into my heart so I can be alive in the love of God. I can do all things in You, my Beloved, because You strengthen me and uphold me by Your Holy Spirit.
You chose me, Lord and You chose not just me but every member of my family as well as those that are far from You and those that are near and I believe in Your promise and Your assurance that You will bring them all back into Your fold. This is my peace, my joy, and my belief that in the end, we will all be together as members of Your Body, and together we will rejoice and be glad and sing Your praises and worship You face to face. There will be no more death, parting, or sorrow, but we will be all in all in You, Christ Jesus.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
He has let us know the mystery of his purpose,
the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning
to act upon when the times had run their course to the end:
that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens and everything on earth.
PSALM 97(98):1-6
The Lord has shown his salvation.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
Jesus said: ‘Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building.
‘And that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all.
‘Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’
When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
He has let us know the mystery of his purpose,
the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning
to act upon when the times had run their course to the end:
that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens and everything on earth.
PSALM 97(98):1-6
The Lord has shown his salvation.
Sing a new song to the Lord
for he has worked wonders.
His right hand and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
The Lord has made known his salvation;
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
has shown his justice to the nations.
He has remembered his truth and love
for the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
the salvation of our God.
Shout to the Lord, all the earth,
ring out your joy.
Sing psalms to the Lord with the harp
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
with the sound of music.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
acclaim the King, the Lord.
The Lord has shown his salvation.
LUKE 11:47-54
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
The natural progression and perfectly logical conclusion of all the events recorded in salvation history ought to bring every honest thinker and lover of truth to the conclusion that the Catholic faith is the only faith that embodies the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth. All the mystery, beauty, goodness, and truth about God is found in the Church which You founded on Peter.
It is rightly said that when one wants to hold on to cling to one's overt and covert sins. One who clings stubbornly and deliberately to their own version of the truth because they are afraid that an honest search for it can only lead to where they do not wish to go. To be authentically Catholic is to joyfully embrace the cross. To root out, with God's grace alone, all the imperfections that keep us from being Your true disciples. To deny oneself daily, to crucify one's will daily, to seek the greater good always, to lay down one's life moment by moment, hour by hour, day by day, for a lifetime is impossible with divine aid.
The road to eternal life is narrow and hard and few choose to walk in it. But little by little, the world will realize that there is only the Way of the Cross by which we can enter the Kingdom and there is only one door - You O Lord that gives us entrance to Your Church, Your Body, Your Spouse. No matter how we fool ourselves and how successful we are in fooling ourselves we do so at the cost of our salvation.
Jesus said: ‘Alas for you who build the tombs of the prophets, the men your ancestors killed! In this way you both witness what your ancestors did and approve it; they did the killing, you do the building.
‘And that is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles; some they will slaughter and persecute, so that this generation will have to answer for every prophet’s blood that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.” Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all.
‘Alas for you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge! You have not gone in yourselves, and have prevented others going in who wanted to.’
When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees began a furious attack on him and tried to force answers from him on innumerable questions, setting traps to catch him out in something he might say.
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