Serve Christ In The Poor

Blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy, says the Scripture. Mercy is not the least of the beatitudes. Again: Blessed is he who is considerate to the needy and the poor. Once more: Generous is the man who is merciful and lends. In another place: All day the just man is merciful and lends. Let us lay hold of this blessing, let us earn the name of being considerate, let us be generous.

Not even night should interrupt you in your duty of mercy. Do not say: Come back and I will give you something tomorrow. There should be no delay between your intention and your good deed. Generosity is the one thing that cannot admit of delay.

Share your bread with the hungry, and bring the needy and the homeless into your house, with a joyful and eager heart. He who does acts of mercy should do so with cheerfulness. The grace of a good deed is doubled when it is done with promptness and speed. What is given with a bad grace or against one’s will is distasteful and far from praiseworthy.

When we perform an act of kindness we should rejoice and not be sad about it. If you undo the shackles and the thongs, says Isaiah, that is, if you do away with miserliness and counting the cost, with hesitation and grumbling, what will be the result? Something great and wonderful! What a marvellous reward there will be: Your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will rise up quickly. Who would not aspire to light and healing.

If you think that I have something to say, servants of Christ, his brethren and co-heirs, let us visit Christ whenever we may; let us care for him, feed him, clothe him, welcome him, honour him, not only at a meal, as some have done, or by anointing him, as Mary did, or only by lending him a tomb, like Joseph of Arimathaea, or by arranging for his burial, like Nicodemus, who loved Christ half-heartedly, or by giving him gold, frankincense and myrrh, like the Magi before all these others. The Lord of all asks for mercy, not sacrifice, and mercy is greater than myriads of fattened lambs. Let us then show him mercy in the persons of the poor and those who today are lying on the ground, so that when we come to leave this world they may receive us into everlasting dwelling places, in Christ our Lord himself, to whom be glory for ever and ever.

Amen.

Death -- The Reason For His Coming..

The story of each man is told in two brief markings: born--such a date; died--such a date. In the life of only One of all who have lived on this earth, dying was the reason for His coming.

Though He came to die, it was not for the sake of dying. Whenever there is suffering, death or even a humiliation mentioned, there is always the counterpoint of glory, victory and exaltation. Divinity shines forth whenever His human nature is humbled. This intrinsic relationship runs all through His life.

If He was born of a humble maid in a stable, there were angels of heaven to announce His glory. If He lowered Himself to companionship with an ox and a colt in the manger, there was a shining star to lead Gentiles to Him as King.

If He was hungry and tempted in the wilderness, there were angels to minister unto Him. If His Blood poured forth in Gethsemane it was beacuse His Heavenly Father reached Him a cup. If He was arrested because His Hour had come, there were tweleve legions of angels to liberate Him if He did not will to offer His life for men.

If He humbled Himself as a sinner to receive the baptism of John, there was a Voice form Heaven to proclaim the glory of the Eternal Son who needed no purification. If there were townspeople to reject Him and throw Him over a cliff, there was the Divine power to walk through the midst of them unharmed.

If He was nailed to a Cross, there was a sun to hide its face in shame and an earth to quake in rebellion against what creatures did to its Creator. If He was laid in a tomb, there were angels to herald His Resurrection.

Though death was the reason for His coming, it was the ransom of us all. The payment was His Precious Blood. For no other man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him-- the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough-- that he should live on for ever and not see decay. --(Ps 49:7-9)

Communion - Third Day

Are you a follower of Jesus or just a distant admirer?

There is the difference between the Man from Nazareth and other great people you can think of. The Christ is God and all others, no matter what their deeds, are but actors on the stage for a brief time and then exiting.
Though Jesus was aware of His divinity, His own people equally unaware? He had to know whether the apostles had any inkling of whom they were traveling with. He wanted to know that the three years of hard work was worth the toil.
So, He put the question to them, "Who do you say I am?" Imagine the immense joy when Peter acting as spokesman for the others told Him He was "the Son of the living God."
Surely neither Peter nor any of the apostles could have given a precise theological explanation of that accolade. But every mother's son of them knew in his guts that the highest human terms one could think of were totally inadequate to categorize their Leader. He was an original.
It is not enough to learn what others, even apostles, say about the Teacher. One could write an encyclopedia about the Christ and still not be a card-carrying Christian. One might spellbind one's friends by telling them about all the thousands of volumes written on the eternal Galilean and still not be a believer. Jewish theologians have written beautifully on Jesus, but they do not believe.
To each baptized, Jesus leans over and whispers, "But YOU...who do YOU say I am?" That question will never go away.
It is our turn to step up to the plate and take a swing. The Nazarene must forever be one's discovery. Our knowledge of Him can never be something that stays in a closet. It must be outed. Christianity does not mean memorizing the Nicene Creed or the Apostles Creed. Rather, it does mean knowing our Saviour.
Governor Pilate asked Jesus if He was in fact the King of the Jews. Christ, though exhausted and barely able to stand, shot back a query, "Does this question come from you or have others told you about me?" (John 18:34)
When St Paul was writing to young Timothy, he did not write, "I know what I have believed." Rather he said, "I know WHOM I have believed." (2 Timothy 1:12)
We must join to our belief John's text of Christ that says, "Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do." Like Christ, we must turn the community about us upside down. True faith produces a life full of actions, not a head full of facts; Christ came not to make us feel good but to do good.
If we bypass the question "Who is Christ?" by saying, "Let's talk about me instead!", we trivialize Christ's challenge to us.
So, are you a follower of Jesus or just a distant admirer?

Who Am I...?

Who really am I ? Am I only dust, which shall return to the earth ... or just a fleeting shadow... or one, whose days are like grass, here today and gone tomorrow?

O God what is man that you are mindful of him.... You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honour. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet......

You are what you believe you are.... You have been created in the image of God.... You are a child of Almighty God... You have the DNA of the Most High.... God's fingerprints are all over your body... You are royalty!!!!! (read Psalm 139:13-16)

Believe what you are...

I am the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13)
I am the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)
I am a child of God (John 1:12)
I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of Christ’s life (John 15:1,5)
I am a friend of Christ (John 15:15)
I am a salve of righteousness (Romans 6:18)
I am enslaved to God (Romans 6:22)
I am a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him (Romans 8:17)
I am accepted by Christ (Romans 15:7)
I am a saint (1Corinthians 1:2, Ephesians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, Colossians 1:2)
I am a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells in me (1Corinthians 3:16, 6:19)
I am joined to the Lord and am one spirit with Him (1Corinthians 6:17)
I am a new creature in Christ (2Corinthians 5:17)
I have become the righteousness of God in Christ (2Corinthians 5:21)
I have been made one with all who are in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)
I am no longer a slave, but a child and an heir (Galatians 4:7)
I am free in Christ (Galatians 5:1)
I am chosen, holy, and blameless before God (Ephesians 1:4)
I am redeemed and forgiven by the grace of Christ (Ephesians 1:7)
I am seated in the heavenly places with Christ (Ephesians 2:6)
I am God’s workmanship created to produce good works (Ephesians 2:10)
I am near to God by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13)
I am a member of Christ’s body and a partaker of His promise (Ephesians 3:6, 5:30) (Hebrews 3:1)
I am a citizen of heaven (Philippians 3:20)
I am chosen by God, and I am holy and beloved (Colossians 3:12)
I am a stranger to this world in which I temporarily live (1Peter 2:11)
I am one of God’s living stones being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5)
I am a member of the chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Here I Am Again

Here I am again, can’t remember when
I heard Your voice, and felt Your touch

But I know You’re here, You are always near when I call
Here I go again, asking You to send deliverance, for things I’ve done
O forgive me Lord, I need Your love again
I’ve proclaimed Your word in righteousness, shared the truth to men
So help me Lord not to lose the only race I‘ve got to win
Arise and set me free, break the power of my enemy
Lift me high on the mountain top
Where You alone are God

Round and round again, always seem when
I think I’ve gone from weak to strong
I find a way to forget to praise Your name
So in my life again, purify and cleanse me from my sin,
Only then will I understand I can never win without You

So arise and set me free, break the power of my enemy
Lift me high on the mountain top
Where You alone are God