Jan 14 Wed - Do I long to see God?

 

Jan 14 Wed
Do I long to see God?
Man, rise up! Set aside your preoccupations for a moment. Cut yourself off for a time from your turbulent thoughts. Cast aside, now, whatever may be your heavy responsibilities and put off your burdensome business. Make a little space free for God, and rest for a little time in him.

Enter the inner chamber of your mind; shut out all thoughts. Keep only the thought of God, and thoughts that can aid you in seeking him. Close your door and seek him. 
Then, speak now, with your whole heart! Speak now to God, saying, I seek your face; your face, Lord, will I seek.

And come you now, O Lord my God, teach my heart where and how it may seek you, where and how it may find you.

Lord, if you are not here with me, where shall I seek you when you are absent? And if you are everywhere, why do I not see you present? Truly, you dwell in unapproachable light. But where is that unapproachable light, or how shall I come to it? Or who shall lead me to that light and into it, that I may see you in it? Again, by what signs, under what form, shall I seek you? I have never seen you, O Lord, my God; I do not know your face.

What, O most high Lord, shall this man do, your son, but now an exile far from you? What shall your servant do, anxious in his love of you, and cast out far from your presence? He is breathless with desire to see you, and your face is too far from him. He longs to come to you, and your dwelling-place is inaccessible. He is eager to find you, but does not know where. He desires to seek you, and does not know your face.

Lord, you are my God, and you are my Lord, and never have I seen you. You have made me and renewed me, you have given me all the good things that I have, and I have not yet met you. I was created to see you, and I have not yet done the thing for which I was made.

And as for you, Lord, how long? How long, O Lord, do you forget us; how long do you turn your face away from us? When will you look upon us, and hear us? When will you reveal yourself to us and show us your face? When will you come closer to us?

Look upon us, Lord; hear us, enlighten us, reveal yourself to us. Remain with us, that it may be well with us. Without you, everything is so harsh for us. Have compassion on us for our efforts and strivings towards you, since we can do nothing without you.

Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me when I seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, nor find you unless you reveal yourself. Let me seek you while I long, let me long for you while I seek you. Let me find you by loving you and love you while I keep on finding you.
From the "Proslogion" of St Anselm

Jan 13 Tue - Is our Redemption from evil still being carried out?

 

Jan 13 Tue
Is our Redemption from evil still being carried out?

For centuries, the Chosen People centered its hopes on the coming of the Messiah, the Redeemer. Christ did come, and yet evil remains. He came to free us from evil, but He wants our free cooperation in shaking off its fetters. Therefore, a hope that remains at the purely human level makes no sense.

Christ has not failed, because the teaching of Christ enriches the world today. Yet God has willed that men should be free. It is we men who are unwilling. The Redemption is taking place at this very moment. And you and I are co-redeemers.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. From the time that Jesus took on our human nature, the Father's plan for the redemption of mankind has moved towards its perfect fulfilment. Since He was God, and since any action of his on our behalf was of infinite value, Christ was able to save us, breaking the bonds with which the devil had enslaved us. And since He was man, He could expiate for our sins in his own body: Taking a human nature, He took our sins upon himself. Those sins can no longer cause us to despair. God himself has drawn near to us, and what we were incapable of doing on our own, Christ has done for us.

“Listen to what Jesus tells us in St John's Gospel: For this I was born, for this I came into the world, to give testimony to the truth, to free mankind from the slavery of sin."

If difficulties sometimes make us weary and tempt us to lose hope, let us remember that God, though Lord and architect of the whole world, who created and set in order every single thing that is, was something more than loving towards mankind; He was long-suffering as well. So, He has always been, and is still, and shall ever be: merciful, kind, slow to anger, and true. There is none so good as He. God is always moved to compassion at the sight of our wretchedness. “God has a special love for what is humble in creation. This has consoled me. God looks on me with love when I do what I can. He loves your defects, if you get up after every fall, if you fight, if He sees your goodwill, your efforts. Sanctity is nothing other than struggle, my children."

We need to give Christ a chance to make use of us, to be His word and His work, to share His food and His clothing in the world today. If we do not radiate the light of Christ around us, the sense of the darkness that prevails in the world will increase.

To ensure that our voice reaches Jesus above the noise caused by our many sins, let us go to Mary. God has made her the repository of his Mercy. Through her intercession, we pray: All-powerful God, renew us constantly and free us from our slavery to sin.

Jan 12 Mon - Why do I sometimes feel empty, even though I have done many things?

 

Jan 12 Mon
Why do I sometimes feel empty, even though I have done many things? 

Human life is characterized by a constant movement that drives us to do, to act. Nowadays, speed is required everywhere to achieve optimal results in a wide variety of fields. How does Jesus’ resurrection shed light on this aspect of our experience? When we participate in his victory over death, will we rest?

Faith assures us: yes, true rest is found in God. Entering God’s repose means peace and joy, not mere inactivity.
So, should we just wait, or can this change us right now?

We are absorbed by many activities that do not always leave us satisfied. A lot of our actions have to do with practical, concrete things. We have to assume responsibility for many commitments, solve problems, and face difficulties. Jesus too was involved with people and with life, not sparing himself, but rather giving himself to the end.

Yet we often perceive that too much doing, instead of giving us fulfilment, overwhelms us, takes away our serenity, and prevents us from living to the fullest what is truly important in our lives.

Sometimes, at the end of days full of activities, we feel empty. Why? Because we are not machines, we have a “heart”; indeed, we can say that we are a heart.

The Evangelist Matthew invites us to reflect on the importance of the heart, quoting this beautiful phrase of Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21).

We must reflect on this because in the numerous commitments we continually face, there is an increasing risk of dispersion, sometimes of despair, of meaninglessness, even in apparently successful people.

Instead, when we look at life with the Risen Jesus, we find access to our “restless” heart, yearning for fulfillment. St Augustine writes: “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

Restlessness is the sign that our heart does not move by chance, without a purpose or a destination, but is oriented towards its ultimate destination, the “return home.”

The authentic approach of the heart does not consist in possessing the goods of this world, but in achieving what can fill it; namely, the love of God, or rather, God who is Love.

This treasure, however, can only be found by loving the neighbor. Our neighbor asks us to slow down, to look them in the eye, sometimes to change our plans, perhaps even to change direction.

No one can live without a meaning that goes beyond what passes away. The human heart cannot live without hope, without knowing that it is made for fullness, not for want.

Jesus Christ, with his Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection, has given us a solid foundation for this hope. In Christ, life will continue to triumph in daily life. This is Christian hope: let us always bless and thank the Lord who has given it to us!
Excerpts from Pope Leo XIV

Jan 11 Sun - How can Jesus be present in the world?

 

Jan 11 Sun
How can Jesus be present in the world?
Last Sunday, in the Epiphany, the Magi met a Child, in need to be wrapped in swaddling clothes. His Mother, Our Lady, was always there because she gave birth to him. There is a transition, from her most pure womb to this material world; from being still hidden to being visible in the manger.

Today is the Baptism of Our Lord. In his Baptism, the Blessed Trinity declares that he is God, the Son of God, “my Beloved Son…”. Our Lady is not there, because Jesus is God, was God, and will be God forever. He proceeds from the Father, uncreated, not made, consubstantial with the Father. There is no transition from not being to being, but continuity. He, simply, IS.

Two feasts form a single story. The Epiphany tells us that He has a human nature. The Baptism tells us that he is God. God and Man in a single Person.

Let us go to the cave of Bethlehem and, with faith and simplicity, and from the depths of our hearts, let us adore Jesus, promising him that we will always follow his star.

Let us trust that Jesus is the true light that will bring us the happiness we seek in the things of this world. For only Christ alone will fill the longing for happiness that we seek.

But how can I, wretched as I am, approach Jesus?
Saint Josemaría told us:

“I am moved by this angel who crawls ‘on all fours’ to approach the newborn Jesus.
A spiritual being with perfect intelligence, love, will, and freedom understands that he can only approach the mystery of the Infant God by crawling along the wise path of humility."

Our Lord shows Himself to us when, with the light of the Holy Spirit, He makes us grasp that He is at our side as we go along our path through life; and He is asking us, as He asked John, to bear witness to him. Each of us must bear witness to Christ. This is what He wants us to do: to get to know him, and then to share with others the saving news that we have found him.

St. Josemaría tells us: “All my children are Christ passing through the world. You are not known. Yet, all over the world, friends and colleagues at work are discovering Christ in your brothers, in you. Afterwards, they too will bring Christ to other hearts and minds. You are Christ passing along the street. But you must walk in his footsteps."
“Now, do you understand the greatness of your mission?"

Jan 10 Sat - What is the mystery of death?

 

Jan 10 Sat
What is the mystery of death?
The mystery of death has always raised profound questions in human beings. The desire for life and eternity that we all feel for ourselves and for the people we love makes us see death as a sentence, as a ‘contradiction.’

For some, death seems to be a kind of taboo, an event that must be kept at a distance; something that must be spoken of in hushed tones, so as not to disturb our sensibilities and peace of mind. Often, for this reason, people even avoid visiting cemeteries.

Is death really the last word on our lives? Only human beings ask themselves this question, because only they know that they must die. But being aware of this does not save them from death; rather, in a certain sense, it "weighs" on them more than on all other living creatures.

Considering this aspect, one might then think that we are paradoxical, unhappy creatures, not only because we die, but also because we are certain that this event will happen, even though we do not know how or when. We are aware of it, and yet powerless.

Death is not opposed to life, but rather is a constitutive part of it, as the passage to eternal life, and it gives us a foretaste, in this time still full of suffering and trials, of the fullness of what will happen after death.

The evangelist Luke seems to capture this foreshadowing of light in the darkness when, at the end of that afternoon, when darkness had enveloped Calvary, he writes: "It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was beginning" (Lk 23:54).

The lights of Saturday, for the first and only time, announce the dawn of the day after Saturday: the new light of the Resurrection. Only this event is capable of illuminating the mystery of death to its depths.

Only the Resurrection is capable of illuminating the mystery of death to its full extent. In this light, and only in this, what our heart desires and hopes becomes true: that death is not the end, but the passage towards full light, towards a happy eternity.

The Risen One has gone before us in the great trial of death, emerging victorious thanks to the power of divine Love. Thus, He has prepared for us the place of eternal rest, the home where we are awaited; He has given us the fullness of life in which there are no longer any shadows and contradictions.

Only in light of Christ’s Resurrection can one be able to call death our “sister,” as St. Francis did, while concluding that waiting for death in the hope of Jesus' Resurrection preserves us from the fear of disappearing forever and prepares us for the joy of life without end.

Praying, understanding what is beneficial for the kingdom of heaven, and letting go of the superfluous things that bind us to ephemeral things is the secret to living authentically, with the awareness that our time on earth prepares us for eternity.
Excerpts from Pope Leo XIV's catechesis.

Jan 9 Fri - Can I fulfill myself within society?

 

Jan 9 Fri
Can I fulfill myself within society?

A well-ordered society requires the presence of three essential relationships:
- man's connection to the world,
- to one another,
- and to God.

A young man approached his pastor to complain about the many mediocre souls he’s forced to keep company with at Mass. “Is there a parish somewhere,” he asks, “where people are actually saints? Would you please direct me to it?”

Suppressing a smile, the kind pastor tells him that, of course, there is such a parish. “Only you must remember,” he advises the young man, “that from the moment you join such a parish, its perfection will be diminished by your membership in it.”

Yes, the story is apocryphal, but that’s not the point. In fact, the perfect Church would be so pure that no human being could be a part of it. Only angels need apply.

Christ's thirst for souls remains as wide as creation itself. His Mystical Body must be no less generous than Him. God’s offer of salvation is extended to all, sinners included. Indeed, to disdain a Church that desires the company of the impure would amount to surrendering the entire sacramental mission of the Church, wiping out whole redemptive possibilities envisioned by Christ, who came to save all that has been created. Civilization, part of the order of creation, is sick and needs to be healed like all things.

Such a strategy will necessarily include, especially, the least morally pleasant people—ourselves. Didn’t Christ come primarily for people like us?

If only those as pure as driven snow are invited to the Church, the Church would be abandoning not only the poor, who are especially in need of grace, but civilization as well, which grace can use to assist the poor in coming home to God.

By the poor, we mean those who are spiritually disadvantaged—people lacking in the stuff of heroism, their souls steeped in mediocrity and sloth.

We must contribute to creating an order in which personal fulfillment is possible, and this should happen in the midst of the world.

Even the most spiritually destitute among us, people whose energies and lives are consumed by material and sensual pursuits, have been called to prayer, however tepid or episodic the effort may be.

A city that does not allow for gainful and honest employment is an inhuman city. This extends to the entire order of interpersonal relations rooted in justice and love; this is man in relation to other men.

Finally, there is the order of adoration, of man in relation to God. Once again, if the city does not make any provision for its citizens to pray, to talk to God, it would be an inhuman city. At the end of the day, therefore, no decent or sane city can remain hostile or indifferent to those things that aim at the perfection of the human personality, which necessarily includes access to God and the salvation He has promised.
With excerpts from Regis Martin

Jan 8 Thu - Why is there a variety of Eucharistic Prayers?

 

Jan 8 Thu
Why is there a variety of Eucharistic Prayers?

The variety of Eucharistic Prayers in the Roman Missal reflects a deliberate development in the Church's liturgical tradition, aimed at enriching the celebration of the Mass, fostering deeper participation by the faithful, and highlighting diverse aspects of the mystery of salvation. Historically rooted in the ancient Roman rite's single Canon, this multiplicity was introduced following the Second Vatican Council to address pastoral needs, avoid monotony, and align more closely with the richness found in Eastern liturgies, all while preserving the essential unity and validity of the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

In the Roman rite, the first part of the Eucharistic Prayer, known as the Preface, has acquired many different texts through the centuries. There were twenty Prefaces in the missal at the time of Pope John XXIII. 

The second part of the Eucharistic Prayer, known as the Canon, assumed an unchanging form. By contrast, the oriental liturgies have admitted a certain variety in their Anaphoras. After the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI added three more Eucharistic Prayers, keeping the very venerable Roman Canon.

The First Eucharistic Prayer (or Roman Canon) is called Roman because it originated in Rome at the end of the fourth century. It developed its present form during the pontificate of Gregory the Great in the seventh century and has had no significant changes since then.

It consists of fifteen prayers often described as “tiles in a mosaic.” We may look at all fifteen and see their total effect, or we may go line by line and enjoy each prayer. 

This Eucharistic Prayer may be used on any day. It is particularly fitting on days when there are special texts for the prayers Communicantes…[In union with the whole Church...] and the prayer Hanc igitur… [Father, accept this offering...].

The Second Eucharistic Prayer is the most ancient Anaphora. It follows closely the Anaphora of Saint Hippolytus, written about the year 215. It is vigorous and clear, and has a solid biblical and theological background. Its features make it particularly suitable for weekdays. Although it has its Preface, it may also be used with other Prefaces.

The Third Eucharistic Prayer is rich with overtones of ancient Alexandrian, Byzantine, and Maronite Anaphoras. It expresses the doctrine of the Eucharist as the sacrifice of Christ in an especially clear way. It gives prominence to the Holy Spirit, naming him four times. Its use is particularly suited to Sundays and holidays. It may be said with any Preface.

The Fourth Eucharistic Prayer provides a fuller summary of the history of salvation. It borrows some elements from the Eastern liturgies, and even from the liturgy of the synagogue. It is a profoundly biblical prayer that recounts the main events in the history of salvation and links this history to its center: Christ. This Eucharistic Prayer has a fixed Preface; therefore, it cannot be used when a Mass has its own proper Preface. 

There are other Eucharistic Prayers for special occasions: three Eucharistic Prayers for Masses of children, two for Masses of reconciliation, and the so-called Eucharistic Prayer of the Swiss Synod for Masses of ecclesial gatherings.

Jan 7 Wed - Do Catholics worship the saints?

 

Jan 7 Wed
Do Catholics worship the saints?
We adore the divine Person of Jesus and His human nature, because He is the Son of God. We venerate the martyrs and saints with love and fellowship.

We, the Christian community, assemble to celebrate the memory of the martyrs with ritual solemnity because we seek inspiration to follow their example, share in their merits, and be aided by their prayers. Yet we erect no altars to any of the martyrs, even in the burial chapels where they rest.

No bishop or priest, when celebrating at an altar where these holy bodies lie, has ever said, “Peter, we make this offering to you,” or “Paul, to you,” or “Cyprian, to you.” No, what is offered is always offered to God, who crowned the martyrs. We offer in the chapels where the bodies of those He crowned rest, so that the memories associated with those places will stir our emotions and encourage us to greater love for both the martyrs we can imitate and God, whose grace enables us to do so.

Thus, we venerate the martyrs with the same love and fellowship that we extend to the holy men of God still among us. We sense that the hearts of these latter are just as ready to suffer death for the sake of the Gospel, yet we feel more devotion toward those who have already emerged victorious from the struggle. We honor the country’s heroes, and those who are fighting on the battlefield of this life, but we honor with greater confidence those who have already achieved the victor’s crown and live in heaven.

However, the veneration strictly called “worship,” or latria, which is the special homage belonging only to the divinity, is something we give—and teach others to give—to God alone. The offering of a sacrifice belongs to worship in this sense (that is why those who sacrifice to idols are called idol-worshippers). We neither make nor instruct others to make any such offering to any martyr, holy soul, or angel. If anyone among us falls into this error, he is corrected with sound doctrine and must either mend his ways or be shunned.

The saints themselves forbid anyone to offer them the worship they know is reserved for God, as is clear from the case of Paul and Barnabas. When the Lycaonians were so amazed by their miracles that they wanted to sacrifice to them as gods, the apostles tore their garments, declared that they were not gods, urged the people to believe them, and forbade them to worship them.

Yet the truths we teach are one thing; the abuses thrust upon us are another. There are commandments we are bound to uphold; there are breaches of them we are commanded to correct, but until we correct them, we must, of necessity, tolerate them.
Excerpts from Saint Augustine, year 563.

Jan 6 Tue - As a Christian, am I a priest and teacher?

 

Jan 6 Tue
As a Christian, am I a priest and teacher?

Through Baptism, all Christians participate in Christ's threefold office: King, Priest, and Teacher.

“Apostles are Christians who feel grafted on to Christ, identified with Christ, through Baptism; enabled to fight for Christ, through Confirmation; called to serve God with their activity in the world, through their participation in the royal, prophetic, and priestly functions of Christ, which enable them to guide others to God, to teach them the truth of the Gospel, and to co-redeem them through their prayer and their expiation."

Christians who are ready to serve are guides, teachers, and priests to other people; they are, for those people, other Christs, ‘alter Christus’, or rather, as I usually say to you, Christ himself, ‘ipse Christus’.

They are guides because, in sharing in the kingship of Christ, they must bring all things of the earth to God by serving others as Christ did. By this service of theirs, Christians strive, gently but with authority, to establish Christ's kingdom on earth.

Christians are also teachers because they share in the teaching office of Christ. They have been sent by God to be living witnesses to the truth, and to teach, by word and example, the truths necessary for salvation.

Finally, Christians are priests to others, since, by Baptism and Confirmation, they have been clothed with the great dignity of mediating between the Creator and His people. As we read in St Peter: You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

This priesthood, which is essentially distinct from the ministerial priesthood, prompts us to offer our bodies and souls as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.

A Christian's dignity is great indeed. God the Father sealed you in Baptism, Christ the Lord confirmed you, and the Spirit himself has come as a pledge to your heart. To respond as we should to God's great love, we must use all the powers of our souls so that the gifts God has bestowed upon us bear fruit. Our spiritual priesthood requires us to offer God spiritual sacrifices - the sacrifice of ourselves, in the first place - in union with the perfect Sacrifice of the Altar.

We must also strive to imitate Christ the Teacher and be eager to spread good doctrine. Detached from earthly possessions, and with our hearts fixed on God, we will fight to place Christ the King at the summit of all human activities and lead all things to him.

Sin abounds all over the world, but more abundant still is the reparation we want to offer God in union with Jesus Christ. If we ask our Lady, she will win from her Son the grace and strength we need to enable us to fulfill our mission faithfully.

Jan 5 Mon - Should the Church move with the world or move the world instead?

 

Jan 5 Mon
Should the Church move with the world or move the world instead?
There are some neo-liberal or so-called “progressive” Catholics who are uncomfortable with evangelization. The reason is that they have abandoned theology for ideology. They don’t think in terms of affirming the Faith or making disciples because they are obsessed with politics, not the saving of souls. Those who favor ideology over theology always see things in terms of Right and Left, not right and wrong. This is the root of the problem. 

All this talk of Right and Left is, quite frankly, not right but wrong. To see things in terms of Right and Left, instead of right and wrong, is to abandon a virtue-oriented understanding of society in favor of a political and pragmatic understanding of society. It is to embrace a faithless “Enlightenment” and to abandon the indissoluble union of faith and reason, which is the hallmark of Christendom.

To see things in terms of Right and Left, instead of right and wrong, is to abandon a virtue-oriented understanding of society.

Catholics do not belong on the Right with the Nazis and Fascists, nor on the Left with the Marxists and socialists. The National Socialism of the Nazis (“far-right”) and the international socialism of the Marxists (“far-left”) have a shared belief in socialism, a belief in Big Government command economies.

The Nazis (“far-right”) and the “rainbow” sexual relativists (“far-left”) have shared philosophical roots in the will to power. The former collectivizes this will in the state; the latter individualizes it in the quest for “self-empowerment.” Neither view is compatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In brief and in sum, the secular “Left” and the secular “Right” share common philosophical roots in the Enlightenment and its rejection of Christendom. None of this has anything to do with the light of the Gospel.

Christians need to jettison the language of Right and Left, which is oriented horizontally on a worldly and relativist axis. Instead, we need to see reality, including political reality, in terms of right and wrong, which is oriented vertically on a moral axis leading upward to Heaven and downward to Hell. It is saints, not politicians, who make the world a better place; and it is sinners, including politicians, who make it a worse place.

If we reorient the world, including the politics of the world, in terms of right and wrong, we will be orienting it in the right direction, which is toward God. The way that we do this is to try to become saints ourselves, by the grace of God, and to strive to persuade others to want to become saints. This is the only way to make the world a better place. There is no other way. 

“We do not really want a religion that is right where we are right,” wrote G. K. Chesterton. “What we want is a religion that is right where we are wrong. We do not want… a Church that will move with the world. We want a Church that will move the world.”
Excerpts from Joseph Pearce

Jan 4 Sun - What is the first requirement to be an apostle?

 

Jan 4 Sun
What is the first requirement to be an apostle?
To be apostles of Christ, we must let him live in us.

“And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him." The Magi were the first Gentiles to adore the Child. They represent all the millions and millions of people throughout the centuries who need to fall down at the Redeemer's feet.

Now that two thousand years have gone by, we look around and see a world that is very distant from God. We could be tempted to pessimism because so much remains to be done. But we should reject this thought immediately. “Is it because in twenty centuries nothing has been done? In these two thousand years, much work has been done. I don't think it would be fair or objective to discount the accomplishments of those who have gone before us.

“On other occasions, there have been mistakes, making the Church lose ground, just as today, there is loss of ground, fear, and a timid attitude on the part of some, and at the same time, no lack of courage and generosity in others. But, whatever the situation, the human race is being continually renewed. In each generation, it is necessary to go on with the effort to help men realize the greatness of their vocation as children of God, to teach them to carry out the commandment of love for God and neighbor."

“Christ has taught us in a definitive way how to make this love for God real. Apostolate is love for God that overflows and communicates itself to others. The interior life implies a growth in union with Christ, in the bread and in the word. And apostolate is the precise and necessary outward manifestation of interior life. When one tastes the love of God, one feels burdened with the weight of souls. There is no way to separate interior life from apostolate, just as there is no way to separate Christ, the God-man, from his role as Redeemer."

For a Christian, apostolate is something instinctive. It is not something added onto his daily activities and his professional work from the outside. … We have to sanctify our ordinary work, we have to sanctify others through the exercise of the particular profession that is proper to each of us, in our own particular state in life.

It is we Christians who obstruct Jesus' redemptive plans, because at times we don't act as he hopes we will. So, on this great feast, let us carefully contemplate the Epiphany scene and learn from those wise men from the East, who humbly kneel before the Child in Bethlehem.
You can tell him: "Lord, take away my pride; crush my self-love, my desire to affirm myself and impose myself on others. Make the foundation of my personality my identification with you."

Jan 3 Sat - Who loved me first?

 

Jan 3 Sat
Who loved me first?
- God loved me first.

My God, truly you alone are the Lord. Being with you is our salvation. To serve you is nothing else but to be saved by you!

O Lord, salvation is your gift and your blessing. What else is salvation but receiving from you the gift of loving you or being loved by you?

That, Lord, is why you wished that the Son at your right hand should be called Jesus, that is to say, Savior, for He will save his people from their sins, and there is no other in whom there is salvation. He taught us to love Him by first loving us, even to the point of death on the cross. By loving us and holding us so dear, Jesus stirred us to love Him who had first loved us to the end.

You first loved us so that we might love you – not because you needed our love, but because we could not be what you created us to be, except by loving you.

In many ways, you spoke to our fathers through the prophets. Now in these last days you have spoken to us in the Son, your Word; by Him the heavens were established, and all their powers came to be by the breath of his mouth.

You did not spare your own Son but delivered him up for us all. He also loved us and gave himself up for us.

This, Lord, is your Word to us, this is your all-powerful message: while all things were in midnight silence (that is, were in the depths of error), He came from his royal throne, the stern conqueror of error and the gentle apostle of love.

Everything He did and everything He said on earth, even enduring the insults, the spitting, the buffeting – the cross and the grave – all of this was actually you speaking to us in your Son, appealing to us by your love and stirring up our love for you.

My God, you did not want to force your love on men’s hearts, since you created them; men must rather desire it. And this, for the further reason that there is no freedom where there is compulsion, and where freedom is lacking, so too is holiness.

You wanted us to love you, then, we who could not have been saved had we not loved you, nor could we have loved you except by your gift. So, Lord, you first loved us: you are first to love all those who love you.

Thus, we love you because you loved us first. You are the one supreme good and ultimate goodness. Your love is your goodness, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son! From the beginning of creation, He hovered over the waters – that is, over the wavering minds of men – offering himself to all, drawing all things to himself. By his inspiration and holy breath, by keeping us from harm and providing for our needs, He unites God to us and us to God.
Excerpts from William of Saint-Thierry