I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life

Today's Gospel is such a wonderful passage.  It is such a Pauline Bible verse. Jesus reveals His all inclusive name, stating that He Is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Blessed James Alberione chose this title to be specially honored in our Pauline family because it is the one Christ gives Himself and it covers everything that He is, not just one aspect.  I love that and I always get a little chill when this reading comes up. 

John 14:1-6

1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. You trust in God, trust also in me.
2 In my Father's house there are many places to live in; otherwise I would have told you. I am going now to prepare a place for you,
3 and after I have gone and prepared you a place, I shall return to take you to myself, so that you may be with me where I am.
4 You know the way to the place where I am going.
5 Thomas said, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how can we know the way?'
6 Jesus said: I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Commit to the Lord

Psalm 37: 5-9  NSRV

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your vindication shine like the light,
    and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
    do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
    over those who carry out evil devices.

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
    Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For the wicked shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

Lectio Divina

As Paulines we should consider reading Sacred Scripture, daily, according the Pauline form of Lectio Divina.  This is a simple, but effective three-step approach:

1)      “Engaging with and understanding Scripture by using our mind (TRUTH)

2)     Applying Scripture to our lives by mobilizing our will and listening to God’s voice that guides us (WAY); and

3)     Opening our heart to the Word, in order to be changed by it (LIFE).”

From a article, Lectio Divina Paulina, written by Zsolt Nagykaldi, HFI in the HFI Concord April-June 2019

Love is Patient...

Today's second reading is one of my favorites. Every time I read or hear it, I get something new out of it.  Every time I read or hear it, I realize that it is just as relevant today as it was when it was written.  It helps to clarify just what true, authentic love is and how it can be shown.  I think this is a clarification that is desperately needed in our current times.

God bless...

1 Cor 13: 1-13

1If I speak in human and angelic tongues^* but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.^a2And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.^b3If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.^c

4^* Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated,^d5it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,^e6it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.^f

8^* Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.9For we know partially and we prophesy partially,10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.11When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.12At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.^g13^* So faith, hope, love remain, these three;^h but the greatest of these is love.

Never Let Evil Talk...

Never let evil talk pass your lips; say only the good things men need to hear, things that will really help them. Do nothing that will sadden the Holy Spirit with whom you were sealed against the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, all passion and anger, harsh words, slander, and malice of every kind. In place of these, be kind to one another, compassionate, and mutually forgiving, just as God has forgiven you in Christ.

                              ~Ephesians 4: 29-32

Unity in the Body

Unity in the Body.

Brothers and sisters, I, then, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

~Eph 4: 1-6

Who Deliver Me...

Who Will Deliver Me From This Mortal Body

The First Reading for today, October 27, 2017, always gives me hope.  (Romans 7: 18-25)

Brothers and sisters: I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do  it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Those Who Walk With God...

Brothers and sisters:

I kneel before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory

to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self,

and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;

that you, rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones

what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine,

by the power at work within us,

to him be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus

to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

                         ~Ephesians 3: 14-21