Prayer is the best weapon we possess, the key that opens the heart of God. -- Meditations by Padre Pio Even when Gods will does not correspond to your own desires, it is always beneficial for you. -- St. Arnold Janssen As I see it, we shall never succeed in knowing ourselves unless we seek to know God: let us think of His greatness and then come back to our own baseness; by looking at His purity we shall see our foulness; by meditating upon His humility, we shall see how far we are from being humble. There are two advantages in this. First, it is clear that anything white looks very much whiter against something black, just as the black looks blacker against the white. Secondly, if we turn from self towards God, our understanding and our will become nobler and readier to embrace all that is good: if we never rise above the slough of our own miseries we do ourselves a great disservice. -- St. Teresa of Avila 188. The Church has realized that the need to heed this plea is itself born of the liberating action of grace within each of us, and thus it is not a question of a mission reserved only to a few: “The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and by love for mankind, hears the cry for justice and intends to respond to it with all her might”. In this context we can understand Jesus’ command to his disciples: “You yourselves give them something to eat!” (Mk 6:37): it means working to eliminate the structural causes of poverty and to promote the integral development of the poor, as well as small daily acts of solidarity in meeting the real needs which we encounter. The word “solidarity” is a little worn and at times poorly understood, but it refers to something more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mindset which thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all over the appropriation of goods by a few. -- Evangelii Gaudium Tuesday (August 19): Who can enter the kingdom of heaven? Scripture: Matthew 19:23-30 23 And Jesus said to his disciples, Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 25 When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, Who then can be saved? 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. 27 Then Peter said in reply, Lo, we have left everything and followed you. What then shall we have? 28 Jesus said to them, Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And every one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my names sake, will receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. 30 But many that are first will be last, and the last first. Meditation: Was Jesus really against wealth (Matthew 19:23)? And why did he issue such a strong warning to the rich (as well as to the rest of us who desire to be rich)? We know that Jesus was not opposed to wealth per se, nor was he opposed to the wealthy. He had many friends who were well-to-do, including some notorious tax collectors! One even became an apostle! Jesus warning reiterated the wisdom of the Old Testament: Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is perverse in his ways (Proverbs 28:6; see also Psalm 37:16). Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist (Proverbs 23:4). We are all poor beggars in need of God Jesus seems to say that it is nearly impossible for the rich to live as citizens of Gods kingdom. The camel was regarded as the largest animal in Palestine. The eye of the needle could be interpreted quite literally or it could figuratively describe the narrow and low gate of the city walls which was used by travelers when the larger public gate was locked at night. Normal sized people had to lower themselves to enter that gate. A camel would literally have to kneel and crawl through it. Until we humbly kneel before the Lord and acknowledge our total need and dependence on him, we will not find true peace, security, and happiness that can sustain us now and forever. Only God alone can satisfy our deepest need and longing. Augustine of Hippo reminds us that we are all poor beggars of God. Even though you possess plenty, you are still poor. You abound in temporal possessions, but you need things eternal. You listen to the needs of a human beggar, yet you yourself are a beggar of God. What you do with those who beg from you is what God will do with his beggar. You are filled and you are empty. Fill your empty neighbor from your fullness, so that your emptiness may be filled with Gods fullness. (Sermon 56,9) Possessions can create false security and independence Why is Jesus so cautious about wealth? Wealth can make us falsely independent. The church at Laodicea was warned about their attitude towards wealth and a false sense of security: For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing (Revelations 3:17). Wealth can also lead us into hurtful desires and selfishness (see 1 Timothy 6:9-10). Look at the lesson Jesus gave about the rich man and his sons who refused to aid the poor man Lazarus (see Luke 16:19ff). They neglected to serve God. Only those who put their trust in God and who depend on him, and who share what they have with those in need, will find true peace, security, and happiness which lead to everlasting life and joy in Gods kingdom. Where is your treasure? The Scriptures give us a paradox - we lose what we keep and we gain what we give away. Generosity will be amply repaid, both in this life and in the age to come (Proverbs 3:9-10, Luke 6:38). Jesus offers us an incomparable treasure which no money can buy and no thief can steal. The thing we most set our heart on is our highest treasure. Material wealth will shackle us to this earth unless we guard our hearts and set our treasure in God and his everlasting kingdom. Where is your treasure? Lord Jesus, you have captured our hearts and opened to us the treasures of heaven. May you always be my treasure and delight and may nothing else keep me from giving you my all. * * * * * * * Pray for peace, deepen your resolve to achieve it –Pope Francis 2014-08-18 Vatican Radio “And so ‘No’ to an economy of exclusion, ‘No’ to an economy of selfishness, without ethics, ‘No’ to the spirit of materialism. ‘No’, ‘No’, ‘No’. And a ‘yes’ to a personal encounter with Jesus whom we want to carry always with us. ‘Yes’ to the cry of the poor, the needy and the lonely and ‘yes’ to the world that eagerly waits for us”. With these words Oswald Cardinal Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay and President of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences seemed to summarise how well the Church in Asia had absorbed the words of Pope Francis during his visit to South Korea. It is as if Cardinal Gracias had gone round asking each of the 10 million youth, who participated in the five days Daejeon experience, for their impressions on the papal visit. Cardinal Gracias goes on, “we leave the place with memories of Daejeon and Korea. We are grateful to you Most Holy Father for having been a true, loving and gracious father to us”. The last few days of Pope Francis’ visit to South Korea have been remarkable. During the visit, he has said many wonderful things. Nevertheless, as Vatican Radio’s correspondent, Sean Lovett, who was among those who travelled with Pope Francis to Korea said in one of his reports to us, the word “peace”, was the one most often repeated in the local articles and media stories reporting on Pope Francis’ visit. This is in part, because the Pope himself used the word, “peace” most frequently in his speeches. It is also because for South Korea peace is at the heart of a nation still officially at war with its neighbour – North Korea. But come to think of it, the whole world and not Korea alone needs peace. The Guardian UK newspaper last week quoted Dominique Shorten who is the head of emergency fundraising at Save the Children. Shorten says, “we have four emergency appeals open at the moment – Syria, Gaza, South Sudan and (Central African Republic) CAR – which is unprecedented, particularly as they’re all focused on conflict”.To this list one could easily add the conflict ignited by the Islamic State in Iraq, conflicts in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Congo DR, Somalia and Libya. The list could actually still go on. One is then justified in asking as did the Guardian UK last week, “Gaza, Ebola, Iraq…are we approaching disaster overload?” The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because the more the world seems to hear of these disasters, the more the world’s sensibilities and empathy seem blunted. No, because as Pope Francis has reminded us again and again in Korea and elsewhere we simply cannot give up on peace. Surely, Pope Francis did not only have in mind Korean youth when he said, “I think it is especially important for us to reflect on the need to give our young people the gift of peace”. Speaking to diplomats and Government officials accredited to South Korea, Pope Francis said, “Korea’s quest for peace is a cause close to our hearts, for it affects the stability of the entire area and indeed of our whole war-weary world”. During this whole apostolic trip, Pope Francis seems to be keenly aware of the hurdles that lie in the way of peace. He told his audience, “the quest for peace also represents a challenge for each of us and in a particular way for those of you dedicated to the pursuit of the common good of the human family through the patient work of diplomacy. It is the perennial challenge of breaking down the walls of distrust and hatred by promoting a culture of reconciliation and solidarity. For diplomacy, as the art of the possible, is based on the firm and persevering conviction that peace can be won through quiet listening and dialogue, rather than by mutual recriminations, fruitless criticisms and displays of force”. Pope Francis continues by saying “peace is not simply the absence of war, but “the work of justice” and justice, as a virtue, calls for the discipline of forbearance; it demands that we not forget past injustices but overcome them through forgiveness, tolerance and cooperation. It demands the willingness to discern and attain mutually beneficial goals, building foundations of mutual respect, understanding and reconciliation. May all of us dedicate these days to peace, to praying for it and deepening our resolve to achieve it”. In the end that is what many took away from the visit of Pope Francis to South Korea -a message of peace. As aptly said by Cardinal Gracias to Pope Francis on the last day of the 6th Asian Youth Day, “we have been awakened from the soporific slumber that engulfed us. In this slumber our eyes were closed to the joy of the Gospel, our minds clouded from seeing the beautiful vision of the Kingdom of God and our hearts dulled to experience the warmth of Jesus’ love for us. But now after these five days in Daejeon we have rekindled our passion for the Gospel, revitalized our youthful spirit, and understood more deeply our baptismal consecration and the meaning of true discipleship”. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. -- 1 John 4:18-19
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 04:19:28 +0000
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