Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,
you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is,
sitting at God’s right hand. COL 3:1
ACTS 4:23-31
My Soul's Beloved,
We know how to ask, and when we do, we will receive all we ask for and more. You have shown us the Way, and the Apostles walked in it. Martyrs, holy men, and women for 2000 years have witnessed to the power of life in the Holy Spirit and of laying down and surrendering our will and our life in the service of our God and King, O Lord, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, and the Eternal Word of the Father. Nothing that the enemies of Truth do to us must surprise us, for this is the way of the world and those who reject Truth in its fullness.
Teach us to pray with boldness and confidence as the Apostles did after the arrest of Peter and John. Persecutions will come, as You have assured us they will. If Your enemies among the Jewish authorities and Pilate and his cohorts under him treated God as they did, we can expect nothing less. Let us rejoice if we are considered worthy of suffering for Your sake and for the sake of the Gospel.
Beloved, most of us live our lives in fear, and work tirelessly for temporal goods and happiness in material things, in luxury and ease. None of these will get us to heaven. Unless the Kingdom of God is food and drink to us, we cannot be your witnesses. But we are baptised, we have received the Holy Spirit, we are strengthened with the Holy Eucharist, and we have been given all we need to set the world on fire with love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Give us new signs and show us new wonders, O Lord, and let the number of the faithful increase so that the fire of your love will sweep across nations and all will fall prostrate in worship before the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
Why this arrogance among the nations,
these futile plots among the peoples?
Kings on earth setting out to war,
princes making an alliance,
against the Lord and against his Anointed.
‘This is what has come true: in this very city Herod and Pontius Pilate made an alliance with the pagan nations and the peoples of Israel, against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, but only to bring about the very thing that you in your strength and your wisdom had predetermined should happen. And now, Lord, take note of their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ As they prayed, the house where they were assembled rocked; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly.
PSALM 2:1-9
Blessed are they who put their trust in God.
Why this tumult among nations,
among peoples this useless murmuring?
They arise, the kings of the earth,
princes plot against the Lord and his Anointed.
‘Come, let us break their fetters,
come, let us cast off their yoke.’
‘I tell you most solemnly,
unless a man is born from above,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.’
‘I tell you most solemnly,
unless a man is born through water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God:
what is born of the flesh is flesh;
what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not be surprised when I say:
You must be born from above.
The wind blows wherever it pleases;
you hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going
That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’
Why this arrogance among the nations,
these futile plots among the peoples?
Kings on earth setting out to war,
princes making an alliance,
against the Lord and against his Anointed.
‘This is what has come true: in this very city Herod and Pontius Pilate made an alliance with the pagan nations and the peoples of Israel, against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, but only to bring about the very thing that you in your strength and your wisdom had predetermined should happen. And now, Lord, take note of their threats and help your servants to proclaim your message with all boldness, by stretching out your hand to heal and to work miracles and marvels through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ As they prayed, the house where they were assembled rocked; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to proclaim the word of God boldly.
PSALM 2:1-9
Blessed are they who put their trust in God.
Why this tumult among nations,
among peoples this useless murmuring?
They arise, the kings of the earth,
princes plot against the Lord and his Anointed.
‘Come, let us break their fetters,
come, let us cast off their yoke.’
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord is laughing them to scorn.
Then he will speak in his anger,
his rage will strike them with terror.
‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’
the Lord is laughing them to scorn.
Then he will speak in his anger,
his rage will strike them with terror.
‘It is I who have set up my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.’
I will announce the decree of the Lord:
The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.
Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.’
The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son.
It is I who have begotten you this day.
Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations,
put the ends of the earth in your possession.
With a rod of iron you will break them,
shatter them like a potter’s jar.’
Blessed are they who put their trust in God.
JOHN 3:1-8
My Soul's Beloved,
JOHN 3:1-8
My Soul's Beloved,
Little did Nicodemus know that the whole world would know about him because he dared to come to You by night to speak with You. He knew that You came from God, for no one, as he rightly commented, could perform the signs that You did if God were not with You. But he was weak as we all are and did not have the courage of his convictions like so many through the ages. They count the cost and find it too high, like the rich young man in the Gospel. But to give credit where it is due, he did come with Joseph of Arimathea, another Pharisee, at last to anoint Your Body with spices before Your burial. It is quite possible that both of them became Your most ardent followers and disciples after Your resurrection.
Thank You, Beloved, for the Gift of the Sacrament of Baptism through which we, as members of Your Body, become sons and daughters of God. What a tragedy it is when parents, for whatever reason, withhold this grace from their children. Have mercy, O Lord, and grant that those in our own families may receive the wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit and baptize their children before it is too late.
‘I tell you most solemnly,
unless a man is born from above,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.’
‘I tell you most solemnly,
unless a man is born through water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God:
what is born of the flesh is flesh;
what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not be surprised when I say:
You must be born from above.
The wind blows wherever it pleases;
you hear its sound,
but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going
That is how it is with all who are born of the Spirit.’
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