Rich man and Lazarus

2 Thursday Lent, (March 24, 2011):

"Lazarus was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom".

Gospel Reading: Luke 16:19-31.

The name Lazarus means ‘God is my help’. Despite a life of misfortune and suffering, Lazarus did not lose hope in God. His eyes were set on a treasure stored up for him in heaven.

The rich man, however, could not see beyond his material wealth and possessions. He not only had everything he needed, he selfishly spent all he had on himself. He was too absorbed in what he possessed to notice the needs of those around him. He lost sight of God and the treasure of heaven because he was preoccupied with seeking happiness in material things. He served wealth rather than God.

Sometimes we serve our work rather than the God within. In the end the rich man became a beggar! Do we know the joy and freedom of possessing God, the God within, as our true and lasting treasure? Those who put their hope and security in heaven and the God within will not be disappointed (see Hebrews 6:19)?

Lk 5:27-32 “Leave all and follow me." Lent 1st Sat.M

Fri, 11 March, 2011 16:36:57

[Dom Donald's Blog] Lk 5:27-32 “leave all and follow the Lord”

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From:	Fr Donald ... View Contact
To:	nivardmcglynn@yahoo.com

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1st Saturday Lent 2011

The call of Matthew

In today’s Gospel, Luke 5:27-32, Jesus says: “I have come to call sinners”. Matthew we overjoyed to be one of the first to answer the call. He at once gave a party to celebrate the occasion.

As sinners, like, Matthew, we can make our own the prayer of St Augustine: "Lord Jesus, our Saviour, let us now come to you. Our hearts are cold; Lord, warm them with your selfless love. Our hearts are sinful; cleanse them with your precious blood. Our hearts are weak; strengthen them with your joyous Spirit. Our hearts are empty; fill them with your divine presence. Lord Jesus, our hearts are yours, possess them always and only for yourself." (Prayer of Augustine, 354-430).

What does it mean to “leave all and follow the Lord”? Bede the Venerable, a 7th century church father comments on Matthew’s conversion to discipleship: “By ‘follow’ he meant not so much the movement of feet as of the heart, the carrying out of a way of life. For one who says that he lives in Christ ought himself to walk just as he walked, not to aim at earthly things, not to pursue perishable gains, but to flee base praise, to embrace willingly the contempt of all that is worldly for the sake of heavenly glory, to do good to all, to inflict injuries upon no one in bitterness, to suffer patiently those injuries that come to oneself, to ask God’s forgiveness for those who oppress, never to seek one’s own glory but always God’s, and to uphold whatever helps one love heavenly things. This is what is meant by following Christ. In this way, disregarding earthly gains, Matthew attached himself to the band of followers of One who had no riches. For the Lord himself, who outwardly called Matthew by a word, inwardly bestowed upon him the gift of an invisible impulse so that he was able to follow.” Are you ready to forsake all for Christ?

"Lord Jesus, our Saviour, let us now come to you: Our hearts are cold; Lord, warm them with your selfless love. Our hearts are sinful; cleanse them with your precious blood. Our hearts are weak; strengthen them with your joyous Spirit. Our hearts are empty; fill them with your divine presence. Lord Jesus, our hearts are yours; possess them always and only for yourself." (Prayer of Augustine, 354-430)

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Posted By Fr Donald to Dom Donald's Blog on 3/11/2011 04:36:00 PM

Accept my works if you cannot accept my words

Jesus made two claims in his response to his enemies: He was consecrated by the Father to a special task and he was sent into the world to carry out his Father's mission. Jesus challenged his opponents to accept his works if they could not accept his words. One can argue with words, but deeds are beyond argument. Jesus is the perfect teacher in that he does not base his claims on what he says but on what he does.

Jesus shows us the way to walk the path of holiness. He anoints us with his power to live the gospel with joy.

The Father in Jesus and he in the Father

John 10:31-42

Servile love acts like a domestic servant who is hired to clean out dirty jugs. A child loves a father not with a mercenary love, that is, for any advantage to be had from him. Nor does a child fear to offend a father for dread of punishment, but only for the father's goodness and love.

So it is nature and the power of love that compel a true child to love and serve a father. Nothing else deserves to be loved except in God; but to love all creatures in him and for him is to love the Father.

Jesus says that we must understand that the Father is in him and he is in the Father.

St Catherine of Siena

Fr Nivard's Blog 24 March 10

Monday 15th. March 2010

MEDITATION OF THE DAY John 4:43-54.

The royal official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

We are not alone in the hour of death; we have nothing to fear in the hour of death: because when th e time comes Christ identifies himself with us so closely that fear gives way to trust and anguish to peace. He has lived all of our lives, died all of our deaths; to all of us he has given his peace. It is in the hour of death that our fear, our anxiety, our loneliness, will end ...

Death is too big a thing for anyone of us to face alone. It separates us, for a time, from those we love on earth. It is difficult for us earthbound, rooted crea­tures to want heaven; it is impossible for us to realize what the glory of God will be to us. It is loving God, and that only, that can make heaven, heaven. Here imagination does not help us: we cannot really imagine ourselves loving the "Supreme Spirit" - we even want to cling to our human frailties and comforts, to our human weakness.

It is now that Christ takes over. He has died all our deaths on the cross; now we are going to die his; it is Christ in us who surrenders to God. It is not with our own heart and our own will that we can long for God, but with Christ's. And Christ has given his heart and will to us. In this is the supreme mercy that comes to us in the hour of death ...

Now I love God with Christ's will, with Christ's heart, with Christ's trust; and because he has taken whole possession of me, in the hour of my death I shall at last love my friends too with his love.

Caryll Houselander (+ 1954) was a British mystic, poet, and spiritual teacher.
Magnificat Missalette