Nov 26 Sun - Christ the King

 

Nov 26 Sun

Christ the King

This feast shows us Jesus as the supreme sovereign before a society that seems to live with its back turned to God. Christ came to establish his reign, not with the strength of a conqueror, but with the kindness and gentleness of a shepherd. With this solicitude the Lord sought out men scattered and alienated from God by sin. And because they were wounded and sick, he healed them and bound up their wounds. He loved them so much that he gave his life for them. The Kingdom established by Jesus Christ comes to reveal the love of God, and acts as a leaven and sign of salvation to build a more just, fraternal and supportive world, inspired by the Gospel values of hope and future beatitude.

 

Christ appears surrounded by power and glory, and by all his angels, to judge all men of all times. It has often been said that a person is worth what his heart is worth. "At the sunset, you will be examined and asked about your love." Indeed. Jesus will not ask us for the money earned, nor for the social prestige acquired, nor for the professional success conquered, but for the affective and effective love for others: "You gave me to eat...; You did not give me to eat...".

 

What food for thought in these words of the Lord! Let us think about those "no, never, and no" omissions… About what we should have done or said and didn't do or didn't say… What did not deserve even a minute of our attention… The services we rendered half-heartedly or unwillingly… The alms devoid of a smile, a kind word... An understanding silence, a timely advice… The forgiveness that we did not know how to express… The conversation on religious matters that human respect froze on our lips... The help denied to those in need of material goods, an immense field where the Christian heart could have been poured out!

Dozens of daily occasions to extend our hands, in service, to those around us, and in whom the Lord is!

 

Today's feast is like a foretaste of the second coming of Christ in power and majesty, the glorious coming that will fill hearts and wipe away every tear of unhappiness. But at the same time, it is a call and a spur for the gentle spirit of Christ to permeate all earthly realities around us. We collaborate in the extension of the reign of Jesus when we try to make the little world around us, the one we frequent every day, more human and more Christian; when we give ourselves totally to this Great King.

 

If I observe eternity with the eyes of Faith, there you are, seated at the right hand of the Father.

If I glance back at the history of men, I find you establishing a “before” and an “after”.

If I contemplate your Love to the extreme, I recognize the Perfect Man.

If I look around, I find you in the Tabernacle, in the Gospel, and in the little ones.

If I were to enter the Seventh Mansions of prayer, I’d find you in the inner part of my own intimacy.

If I dream of happiness, I think of you.

If I scrutinize my future, I hope to find you, and look at you, face to face, beyond the threshold of death.

Truly, you are the King of the Universe, whether we crown you or sit you on the dock.

And on the last day you will come to close history, resurrect the dead, and examine us precisely about love.

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Nov 25 - How to live presence of God

 

Nov 25 Sat
St. Josemaría advised us to dedicate each day of the week to a solid devotion as a help for our presence of God. “Sunday, for example, is good for praising the Trinity: glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Spirit. I tend to add, and glory to holy Mary. And... a childish thing, of which I'm not ashamed: to St Joseph too..."

“On Mondays, we can pray for the holy souls in purgatory. There we find souls who are dear to us ... Besides, we see all of them as our friends, our brothers and sisters, since they are almost already crowned with the laurels of heaven, almost enjoying the Love of God: they need a final purification. They're good intermediaries to help us conquer in the little things that make up our normal day of work..."

“And Tuesday? I dedicate it to the Guardian Angels. You can say whatever you want to them, since you're not bound by formulas."

“And Wednesday? It's St Joseph's day."

“On Thursdays, many acts to honor the holy Eucharist: spiritual communions, acts of reparation... Now more than ever, our Lord is offended in this sacrament of Love ..."

“On Fridays, ‘Hail, Holy Cross, our only hope!’ And we feel a pang of conscience for complaining about some suffering or other. What is our suffering next to our Lord's? Greet him on the Cross, offer him words of love: I won't flee from you, I'll embrace you. As soon as we embrace the Cross, and love it, there is no longer difficulty, nor dishonor, nor calumny, nor slander, nor sickness, nor anything. Everything becomes agreeable, nothing is burdensome. For the Cross is not yours or mine but Christ's. As I wrote to you many years ago about my poor experience as a priest, which is abundant: then it is he, Christ, who bears the Cross; it no longer weighs on us. How good it is on Fridays to remember the Cross of Christ!"

“And Saturday? We go to our heavenly Mother, our Lady!"

St. Josemaría made it clear that there is no obligation to follow this particular path, but he added: “What no one should do is to neglect presence of God. If a person does not have presence of God, he won't go well: he won't be mortified, won't be spiritual, nor zealous, nor eager to work. On the other hand, by making this effort, we find ourselves conversing with God at every moment of the day: we live as contemplative souls."

St. Josemaría also said: “Place on your desk, [beside the computer], in your room, in your wallet..., a picture of our Lady, and look at it when you begin your work, while you're doing it, and when you finish. She will obtain, I assure you, the strength to turn your task into a loving dialogue with God."

https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/6032513924634609626?hl=en-GB&tab=jj

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Nov 24 - Repentance

 

Nov 24 Fri
For some, God’s command ‘to repent’ has a very heavy and dark connotation. But can repentance lead to something good?

The Hebrew word we translate as 'repentance' is teshuva (תשובה, pronounced "teshoo-vah") and it has a deeper meaning. Teshuva is more than a feeling of guilt or regret; it comes from the verb 'to return'.

Interpreting 'repentance' as ‘being sorry’, makes it sound like more of a feeling than taking action.

But the biblical teshuva, instead of being a state of mind, merely a feeling, it is a decision. It is deciding to turn away from where you are headed, and moving back toward God.

It’s not adjusting our course, but completely turning back around –physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

After realizing his wretchedness and filth in the swine farm, the Prodigal son decided to leave off the pigs. Did he simply go “somewhere out of here”? No. He went to “his father’s house”!

But the process of repentance only makes sense if there is a place we can return to: to God. That was made possible thanks to Jesus, the Messiah. He opened the doors for us to return to the Father (Joel 2:12). He is the Way to the Father…whoever sees me, sees Him.

Whenever you decide to turn around, move toward your Father God; enter his merciful and compassionate heart.

God says: I am the one who reproves and disciplines all those I love: so, repent in real earnest. Look, I am standing at the door, knocking. If one of you hears me calling and opens the door, I will come in to share his meal, side by side with him.

Look at all the events of today as opportunities that Christ gives you to demonstrate your love for Him, and for your brothers, the people. Jesus, I do not want to scatter the graces and gifts that you have given me! Lord, allow me to gather with you. I want to help you; I want to be always at your side, working with you.

“My child, God's grace is plentiful. If at times you have not been very faithful, he continues to watch over you lovingly. Just like a mother who forgets her children's unkindness when a child returns to her affectionately, so too, Jesus forgets what we've done badly when in the end, we go to him with love." Our small daily defeats should help us to trust more in God, and less in ourselves. They help to make us more humble. “High above the storm clouds, we have the sun of divine grace and the smile of our Mother, the Morning Star. And we'll overcome everything, whether in sea or in sky, and we'll be peaceful, happy."

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart …”

Don’t we all need new beginning today? Everyday?

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Nov 23 Thu - Christ is present in the Eucharist

 

Nov 23 Thu
In the tabernacle, Christ himself is present in the Holy Eucharist.
Since Christ's coming to earth, the Church is truly the place of God's presence among men. The center of our churches and chapels is the tabernacle. Christ himself is really present in the sacrament of the Eucharist, with his Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.

Moreover, on the altars of our churches the sacrifice of the new and everlasting Covenant is renewed in the unbloody immolation of the sole victim of Calvary.

Each church is the house of God; Jesus is there, sacramentally present. It is not surprising, therefore, that we make every effort to adorn our churches in the most dignified way possible, and that we take great care of them.

To reach God, we need to make use of our senses and emotions. Therefore, we need images to assist our devotion, and everything should be clean and attractive. St. Josemaría, “Sacred art should lead us to God and respect holy things. Its goal must be to foster piety and devotion. For many centuries religious art was the best art because it followed that rule, respecting its intrinsic purpose. But the modernistic images are so often caricatures."

A Christian can find God anywhere, because he always bears him within himself. His soul in grace is a temple of the Holy Spirit. “Your ordinary contact with God takes place where your fellow men, your yearnings, your work and your affections are. It is in the midst of the most material things of the earth that we must sanctify ourselves, serving God and all mankind." But to do so, we must always show great refinement and love towards Jesus in the tabernacle, where he has wanted to remain hidden, waiting for us like an eternal lover.

“I think that God looks with special affection on persons who put love into everything related to worship, and who make sure that churches are dignified, decorously maintained and cleaned, and that the altars are sparkling, and the sacred vestments are well kept. God will look upon them with special affection, and He will more easily overlook their weaknesses, because they show by those details that they believe and love."

Somehow, our chapels should be icons of the house of Nazareth, where we can tell St Joseph: “Joseph, a blessed and happy man, to whom it was granted to see and hear God, whom many kings desired to see and hear, but neither heard nor saw. And not only to see and hear him, but to carry him in their arms, kiss him, clothe him, and guard him: pray for us.” Let’s ask our Lady to teach us how to show Jesus the same refinement and love that she showed Him at Nazareth, and throughout her whole life.

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Nov 22 Wed - Perseverance is a grace from God, which requires our full response.

 

Nov 22 Wed
Perseverance is a grace from God, which requires our full response.

God, who called us, will give us the means to respond faithfully to his successive calls, until our very last breath. Say, The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

What are the enemies of perseverance?
Thinking, “I am doing enough, no need to exert more effort.”

Then, lukewarmness and inconstancy in the apostolate.
Sometimes, it is bad example of our best friend, who weakens and doesn't respond to grace...

“At other times concupiscence disguises itself as refinement, poetry or even spirituality: not long ago I encountered and wept over a spirituality of this type, poor soul! It tries to make us believe that dedication to God is a state of mind, a passing situation that is too lofty for us..."

At other times, the temptation is cowardice: “I'm weak. I know myself. It's true that, thanks to God's mercy, I don't offend him as a rule. But... these daily struggles!: always on the edge of the precipice. I'm afraid to give myself... and then fall. I'm not worthy to give myself entirely to God."
That humility has only the appearance of humility. You think you are exceptional: that you alone have to struggle or, at any rate, that the struggles of others are not like yours.
“What is happening to you, happens to everyone. And it will go on like that until the end of your mortal life, so that you may not become proud."

What are the means to be faithful? Our Lord gives us his grace to persevere. He only asks us to use them.

In the first place, to be truly prayerful souls.
We attain this with the norms of piety, by having a plan of life. “I can tell you that a person who fulfills the norms, who struggles to fulfill them, in health and in sickness, in youth, in maturity and in old age, when the sun is out and when storms are raging, when it's pleasant and when it's hard, that person is predestined, if they persevere to the end.”

“Those norms could be prayer, presence of God, friendship with the Blessed Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and with the Mother of God, Daughter of God and Spouse of God, and with St Joseph, whom I call our Father and Lord and whom it makes me so happy to think about, and with our Guardian Angel."

Besides leading a life of piety, we have to flee from occasions of sin, guard our heart, and never give in to insincerity, the "dumb devil".

Devotion to our Blessed Lady will help us to be very faithful to our Christian vocation.

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Nov 21 Tue - All honest human occupations are paths to holiness

 

 

 Nov 21 Tue
All honest human occupations are paths to holiness.
St. Josemaría: “The spirit of Opus Dei expresses the beautiful truth that any worthy and noble human work can be made divine. Every lawful profession, whether intellectual or manual, whether deemed important by people or not, is compatible with Christian morals."

“In God's service, no job is of lesser importance: all are very important. The importance of a job depends on how each person carries it out: the seriousness they bring to it, and the love for God they put into it."

We need to remind Christians of this reality.
“There is an inexplicable, centuries-long gap, during which it was, and continues to be, virtually unknown that people could seek Christian perfection by sanctifying their ordinary work, each in their own profession and state in life."

Our mission is to transmit this divine message: our everyday, ordinary, perhaps humanly monotonous, work is a sure path to holiness when carried out for God.

Yet rectitude of intention is needed to sanctify our work truly.
“A recommendation for you: never lose your upright intention. Years ago, I visited the cathedral of Burgos accompanied. Climbing to the top of one of the towers, we could contemplate the cresting of the noble edifice. As is common in Gothic churches, the top is adorned with many bas-reliefs and statues, which formed a veritable lacework in stone. These were not just sketched out, but finished down to the last detail, despite being unseen from below. After pointing them out to those accompanying me, I would always comment: if those who carried out this work were alive today, they could be in Opus Dei, since they worked facing God, not men."

If I am speaking to you somewhat bluntly, it is because I myself want once again to make a very sincere act of contrition, and I would like each one of you to do the same. As we call to mind our infidelities, and so many mistakes, weaknesses, so much cowardice –each one of us has his own experience– let us repeat to our Lord, from the bottom of our hearts, Peter's cry of contrition: "Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you, despite my wretchedness!" And I would even add, "You know that I love you, precisely because of my wretchedness, for it leads me to rely on you, who are my strength: For you, O God, are my strength." And at that point let us start again.

That is how our life should be. We shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes, but we have to be ready to rectify them, whenever necessary. In this way we will bring joy to our Lord, and his Blessed Mother. “Be faithful, very faithful, in all the little things. If we try to live thus, we shall also learn to run trustingly into the arms of Mary, as children of hers."

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Nov 20 Mon - We are co-redeemers with Christ

Nov 20 Mon
We are co-redeemers with Christ.
The Church makes present to all ages the fruits of Christ's death on the Cross. All the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, unite us to his Passion. But God wants us to be united also to his mission. He has called us to be co-redeemers. For this union to be fruitful, the personal sacrifice of each of us is needed. Saint Josemaría: “In this mystical body, if you and I fulfill our duty joyfully, even when it is hard; if we overcome ourselves, with a smile that is sometimes a mortification; then you and I will win God's grace abundantly for souls.”

To be a Christian means being united to the Cross. St Paul tells us: “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church.” To co-redeem with Christ, we have to be united to our Lord on the Cross, and not avoid sacrifices in daily life. “Being a Christian is not simply a way to personal gratification; it implies a mission...”

“Being a Christian is not something secondary; it is a divine reality that takes root deep in our life. It gives us a clear vision, and strengthens our will to act as God wants. So, we learn that the Christian's pilgrimage in the world must express itself in a continuous service in many ways, varying with each person's circumstances, but always motivated by love of God and of our neighbor.

Being a Christian means forgetting petty objectives of personal prestige and ambition, and even possibly nobler aims, like philanthropy and compassion for the misfortunes of others. It means setting our mind and heart on reaching the fullness of love which Jesus Christ showed by dying for us.”

“Some people tend to see Christianity as a collection of devout practices, failing to realize the relation between them and the circumstances of ordinary life, including the urgency to meet the needs of other people and remedy injustice. I would say that anyone who has that attitude has not yet understood the meaning of the Incarnation. Perhaps without wanting to, some people regard Christ as a stranger in the world of man.”

“Others tend to imagine that in order to remain human, we need to play down some central aspects of Christian dogma. They act as if the life of prayer, the continual relationship with God, were fleeing from responsibilities and forsaking the world. But they forget that it was none other than Jesus who showed us the extreme to which we should go in love and service. Only if we try to understand the mystery of God's love - a love which went as far as death - will we be able to give ourselves totally to others and not let ourselves be overcome by difficulties or indifference.”
We must reach eternal joy by way of suffering.

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Nov 19 Sun - What am I doing with my life?

 

Nov 19 Sun
The liturgy of the Church reaches the end of the liturgical year encouraging us to consider the last things, the eternal truths, which are of great benefit for our soul. The Second reading of the Mass (1 Thess 5:1-6) tells us that the Lord's encounter will come as a thief in the night, unexpectedly.

The Gospel also teaches us (Mt 25:14-30) that life on earth is a time to administer the Lord's inheritance, and thus gain Heaven, happiness forever. The parable tells us about a man who left the care of his goods to his employees, while he was absent. Its meaning is very clear: The servants are us; talents are the conditions with which God has endowed each one; the time of the master’s absence is our life; the unexpected return is death; The rendering of account, judgment; the entering the banquet, Heaven.

We are not owners, but administrators of some assets which we have to account for. Today, we wonder if, when we may stand before the Lord, we will bring our hands full, and say: "Look, Lord, I have tried to spend my life working in your estate. I've had no other end than your glory.”

One of the servants hid the talent entrusted to him: "Wicked and lazy servant,” he is called by his master… He was lazy, he lacked love. The opposite of laziness is precisely diligence, which means to love. Love gives us wings to serve the one we love. Laziness, the fruit of disloyalty, leads to increasingly greater disloyalties.
 
In this parable, the Lord condemns those who do not develop the gifts they have received, and those who use them for their own whim, instead of serving God and their neighbor.

Let us examine ourselves how do we use our time; if there is punctuality and order; if we devote due attention to family duties; if we develop a fruitful apostolate; if we seek to spread the Kingdom of Christ in souls and in society with the talents received.

Our life is short: Thus, we must make good use of it until the last moment, grow in love, in service to God. To make good use of the time is to do what God wants us to do at that time. To make good use of the time is to live the present moment fully, putting our head and heart on what we do, even if humanly speaking it seems insignificant, without worrying excessively for the past, without worrying about the future.

When our life ends, it should be like a knitted tapestry, beautifully finished: Our Father God will look at it, smile, and enjoy seeing a well-finished work, the result of having used well our life, our time each day, hour after hour, minute after minute. 

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Nov 17 Fri - Unity

 

Nov 17 Fri
Opus Dei is an ‘unorganized organization’, firmly united.
"You know very well, my children, that our apostolic work doesn't have a specialized purpose. It includes every specialization, because it is rooted in the diversity of specializations of life itself. For it exalts and raises to the supernatural order all the services people offer one another in the heart of society, and turns them into an authentic work for souls.”

“Therefore, in the Work, all situations of present-day society are to be found. Intellectuals and businessmen, professionals and craftsmen, entrepreneurs and laborers; people in diplomacy, commerce, farming, finance, the humanities; journalists, people in the theater, cinema and the circus, sportsmen. Young and old, healthy and sick. It is an unorganized organization, wonderful like life itself; a true and authentic specialization of the apostolate, because every honest and noble human vocation becomes apostolic, divine."

St Josemaría called the Work a wonderful "unorganized organization", because while all members are united by a very small common denominator – the Catholic faith and fidelity to our charism and Norms – in everything else we are totally free. He wrote: "We are not a closed institution where everyone seems to be obliged to think the same way, to act like a herd. Rather, we are a specific divine organization, with the apparent disorganization of all living organisms. This is especially suited to secular institutions, where everyone's personality is fostered."

If personal freedom is important in the Work, so too is unity in the few areas that make up our "common denominator". During the ceremonies of the consecration of the oratory of Pentecost in Villa Tevere, St. Josemaría said: "In Opus Dei, we have present those words of Jesus, ‘consummati in unum’ (all perfectly one), so that all our hearts form a single heart… Those words from Scripture should become a reality among us: Multitudinis autem credentium erat cor unum et anima una (the company of the faithful were of one heart and one soul)."

Unity is what makes our apostolate, and our life, effective. "Therefore, above those double doors, I've had inscribed the system, the method, the only way to ensure our life abounds in supernatural fruit: omnes perseverantes unanimiter in oratione (all persevering unanimously in prayer)."

Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. Unity makes us effective; it ensures that, as free beings, we complement rather than hinder one another's efforts. And by divine will, the foundation for our unity, the cornerstone of the entire Work, the root of its apostolic fruitfulness, is the Prelate of Opus Dei. Unity for us means being united to him, to his intentions and desires. 

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Nov 16 Thu - Loving others in Christ

 

Nov 16 Thu
"To love is not so much to speak; to love is to live. One can speak about love all day long, and not love even once". Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Once during an interview, she was asked: "Could you tell us what truly love is?"
She promptly answered: "To love is to give oneself. God has so much loved the world that he gave us his Son. Jesus has loved so much the world, he has loved you so much, he has loved me so much, that he gave his life for us. He wants that we love as he loved us. And so now, we must love until it hurts. True love is to give, to give until it hurts.”

Saint John Paul II spoke of the "law of gift" written in our human nature: Human accomplishment and happiness are reached only when we live this "law”: when we give ourselves.

It is a paradox, if we give ourselves to God and to our neighbor, the results are our accomplishment and happiness. If we focus on our happiness and accomplishment (in a selfish way, "me first"), then we reach neither happiness nor self-accomplishment.

"Love always detaches the person from himself, and leads one towards the other. Love is the final gift of oneself to the other. When we stop giving, we stop loving; when we stop loving, we stop growing; but only in growing we reach personal accomplishment. If we do not love, we do not open ourselves to receive life from God. It is through love that we meet God.”

The practice of charity (by the personal apostolic activity) is within everyone's reach in all phases of life. It is the priestly and "pastoral" vocation of every ordinary Christian, man and woman. Every one of us has the mission to be a carrier of Christ's love. "God loves the world so much that he placed me and you to love the world, to be his love, his compassion. It is a certainty that you and I can reach to be that love and that compassion".

The ones that have more hunger, more thirst for God, and for His love, these are the ones to whom we own more … the ones closer to us. "How can we love Jesus in today's world? Loving him in your spouse, in the children, in your neighbor, in the poor". In fact, the ones with whom we live are the ones that need him more. Then the open circle of our love for God, and then our family, will welcome all your neighbors. 

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Nov 15 Wed - Listening to God's Voice: Consciences have to be formed

 

Nov 15 Wed

Listening to God's Voice: Consciences have to be formed, not just followed. Acting in accord with one’s conscience is important, if that conscience is informed by the voice of God.

 

Some think that conscience is listening to their own voice, rather than listening to the voice of God as he has revealed himself in Scripture and in Tradition.

 

It is important for us to form our conscience, especially in our own time, when people are told, “Well, just follow your conscience,” Most people today do not even know what conscience is, much less that they are called to form their conscience.

 

“It is essential that we help people to understand that conscience is the voice of God living within the human heart (Gaudium et Spes,16).” They must quietly listen for that voice and open their hearts to it.

 

If one rejects God, then his conscience becomes deadened and hardened, because he denies that there is even a voice –His voice–to listen to.

 

We must make people realize, and understand, that one’s conscience can become hardened, can become deadened, and can be erroneous, when it is not faithful to God and to the truth.

 

We also have to examine our conscience daily. Our struggle to be worthy of the Lord's blessing must not be vague. We have to know ourselves thoroughly. We need a clear awareness of our personal weaknesses, our besetting sins, in order to tackle them effectively and so improve.

 

Although we try to keep close to Jesus Christ throughout the day, and want to seek our Lord in all our actions, we often fail. “We all need to be aware of our lack of objectivity whenever we judge our own conduct. You too." In our examination of conscience, we discover faults and omissions in fulfilling our commitment of love. We see that we are still not humble enough, that our heart is attached to created things, that our apostolic zeal is still imperfect. Why is this so? What is the reason for so much carelessness?

 

Through the examination of conscience, we get to know ourselves as we are, as sinners. Then we will be able to decide on the human and supernatural means we need to use in order to improve.

 

We cannot leave the acquisition of this self-knowledge for some unspecified time in the future. It is urgent, today and now. On it depends our making the best use of the time our Lord gives us. We cannot forget that we know neither the day nor the hour when we will have to render an account to God. If we wish to stand at Jesus Christ's right hand on that day, we need to fight now.

 

“God is always ready to give us his grace, especially at a time like this –grace for a new conversion– a step forward in our lives as Christians."

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Nov 14 Tue - Psalm 2 - Apostolic responsibility

 

Nov 14 Tue
Reflections on Psalm 2 (6) TUESDAY
The fact of being children of God should fill us with a sense of apostolic responsibility.
He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury.
 “How righteous is God's anger, how just his ire, and how great his clemency!”

I have set my king
on Sion, my holy mountain,
I will tell of the decree of the Lord.
The Lord said to me, “You are my son,
today I have begotten you”.
“The kindness of God our Father has given us his Son for a king. When he threatens, he becomes tender; when he says he is angry, he gives us his love. ‘You are my son’: this is addressed to Christ – and to you and me, if we decide to become another Christ, Christ himself.”

“Words cannot go so far as the heart, which is moved by God's goodness. He says to us: ‘You are my son.’ Not a stranger, not a well-treated servant, not a friend – that would be a lot already. A son! He gives us free access to treat him as sons, with a son's piety and I would even say with the boldness and daring of a son whose Father cannot deny him anything.”

True, many people are bent on injustice. But the Lord insists:
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
“That is a strong promise, and it's God who makes it. We cannot tone it down. Not for nothing is Christ the redeemer of the world; he rules as sovereign, at the right hand of the Father. It is a terrifying announcement of what awaits each man when life is over – for over it will be. When history comes to an end, it will be the lot of all those whose hearts have been hardened by evil and despair.”

But God, although he can conquer, prefers to convince people:
Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
with trembling kiss his feet,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled....

“This deed is the working of salvation, the kingdom of Christ in souls, the manifestation of the mercy of God.”
Blessed are they who take refuge in him.
“We Christians have the right to proclaim the royalty of Christ. Although injustice abounds, although many do not desire the kingdom of love, the work of salvation is taking place in the same human history that harbors evil.”

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