Don’t show off

https://t.me/eph2atha/14 - click here to listen to the recording 

Jn 14:1-4

https://t.me/eph2atha/9  - click here so to listen the recording 

The requisites to become children of the Heavenly Father

The originality of being a Christian is not on how many prayers one have said, or how knowledgeable of the Bible...

IT'S ALL IN THE LOVE FOR THE ENEMIES...
      Love your Enemies
         Pray for those who persecute you.... That you may be children of your heavenly Father!

It will never be easy, that's why it's not easy to be a Christian.
He who brings a necklace cross thinks to be a Christian, surely isn't what he thinks to be so. Being a Christian is not what we imagine in praying, because many times people pray without having the consciousness of being children of the Heavenly Father.

People see the external part but God sees the heart.
Love for enemies is the real challenge. Jesus said there's no advantage loving those who are lovable.

Christians will be more authentic and credible, by professing less words and blah blah blah....
     more love to those who have caused hurts and humiliations...
     more prayers for those who persecuted and criticized...
     more positive thoughts to those who are suspicious and doubtful to our goodness...

If we can't have this kind of love, so let's insist more to God to heal our brokenness and sinfulness.  Let's not be judgmental to others who don't come to our churches. Unless we turn to be more coherent, we will never see the joy of being Children of the Heavenly Father who cares for those who are bad and good people.
 

From the Gospel according to Matthew
MT 5:43-48
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Love that completes

The strangeness of the Lord

The Lord stood with Moses and proclaimed His name

- - - Then .... "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company.  This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own."

The paradox of exhortation 

To the Christians of Corinthians, St. Paul did important recommendations which is also valid for us today, thus we should practice it each day, until we will be experts:

«Brothers and sisters, rejoice.

Mend your ways, encourage one another,

agree with one another, live in peace,

and the God of love and peace will be with you.»

The total love

The Father at the perfect time offered His son in exchange of the salvation of the world. The Son revealed the love of the Father into the world. But not all understood such Total Love. This is the only path that will reconcile us to the Father, no religious practices can save the world; except love. Love that drives out fear; love that brings light to those who are in the dark; love that feeds the hungry and gives water to the thirsty; love that restores the dignity to the one who unjustly condemned; love of the truth; love of honesty and with no corruption; love of simplicity with no vainglory and narcissism; love of sharing and with no publicity; love with no if’s and why’s; love so to share the love of the Father to the Son in communion with the Holy Spirit.

——————-

First reading from the Book of Exodus

EX 34:4B-6, 8-9

Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him,

taking along the two stone tablets.

Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there and proclaimed his name, "LORD."

Thus the LORD passed before him and cried out,

"The LORD, the LORD, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity."

Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship.

Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company.

This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own."

 

Second reading from second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

2 COR 13:11-13

Brothers and sisters, rejoice.

Mend your ways, encourage one another,

agree with one another, live in peace,

and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

All the holy ones greet you.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ

and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to John

JN 3:16-18

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,

but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

The disgust to RELIGIOUS PEOPLE

Scribes are those people who know so well the Law and the Holy Scriptures. They have authority of understanding and interpreting the Word of God in the temple. But according to Jesus, they are dangerous, one has to be mindful and be smart in looking at them and in imitating them. On this gospel of Mark chapter 12, verse 38 - 40, there are serious accusations that Jesus made clear:

1. These religious people, expert of the Word of God, like to be seen by the way they dress that gives the claim of authority from the people.

2. They love to be greeted in the public places. - where people might see them and really admire how influential and respected they are by the society.

3. They always want to have the important places: "seats of honor in syngogues", places of honor at banquets.

But.....
4. They devour the houses of widows - the helpless ones who can't defend themselves.

5. As a "pretense" they recite "LONG PRAYERS"... as if God will listen them more coz they pray with so many words.

The conclusion of Jesus is His consideration: THEY WILL RECEIVE A VERY SEVERE CONDEMNATION.


Mark 12:38-40

Denunciation of the Scribes.^* 38In the course of his teaching he said,^p “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, 39seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. 40They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.” 

The Poor Widow’s Contribution.^* 41He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.^q Many rich people put in large sums. 42A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. 43Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. 44For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” 

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

No one can profess who is Jesus unless he is inspired by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3B)

The most renowned king David talked about the future messiah, as so far as under the  inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the only one who can bring us to Jesus. There are no Pastoral Strategies and magical prayers, or any pilgrimages that can give a true experience of the love of Jesus.

The presumption to be religious and to be devoted is the worst enemy of the work of the Third Person of the Holy Triune God.  Because it gives an idea of a pre-packed options of God in which He in His Wisdom and Glory has to submit to a mediocre vision and practice, by reducing it all to moral doctrines of “do’s and don’ts”. 

———

Mark 12: 35

As Jesus was teaching in the temple area he said, “How do the scribes claim that the Messiah is the son of David?

36

David himself, inspired by the holy Spirit, said:

‘The Lord said to my lord,

“Sit at my right hand

until I place your enemies under your feet.”’

37

David himself calls him ‘lord’; so how is he his son?” [The] great crowd heard this with delight.

Pope Francis on Pentecost 2020

Three enemies of self-giving

However, in this gift of self, the Pope noted there are three enemies: narcissism, victimhood and pessimism.

Narcissism, the Pope said, makes us concerned only with how we can profit from it. In this time of the pandemic, the Pope lamented the tendency to think only of our own needs, to be indifferent to those of others. 
Victimhood, he said, is equally dangerous. Victims complain every day about their neighbours – that no one understands them, no one experiences what they experience and everyone is against them. In the present crisis, he noted, we are experiencing how ugly victimhood is. 
Pessimism is an unending complaint that “nothing is going well in society, politics, the Church…”.  A pessimist gets angry with the world, but sits back and does nothing. In the current crisis, the Pope said it is damaging to “see everything in the worst light and to keep saying that nothing will return as before”. 

Famine of hope

“When someone thinks this way,” the Pope observed, “the one thing that certainly does not return is hope.” “We are experiencing a famine of hope,” he said, “and we need to appreciate the gift of life, the gift that each of us is.” “We need the Holy Spirit, the gift of God who heals us of narcissism, victimhood and pessimism.”

 https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2020-05/pope-francis-pentecost-homily-unity-self-giving.html

Being Catholic

The basic truth of Catholic faith is not how many masses we have participated and how many times we confessed? Or are you divorced or not; or how many sanctuaries you have visited; or how many rosaries you have said; or how many relics that you have gathered; or how much money you have given for the feasts; or how many priests and bishops you have known.

The basic truth of our being CATHOLIC is this :

John 17:20-26

20 (Jesus) “I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.  22 And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23  I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.

24 Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.  25 Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me.  26 I made known to them your name and I will make it known,  that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.”

"HOLY SPIRIT MAKE MY HEART OPEN TO THE WORD OF GOD, MAKE MY HEART OPEN TO GOODNESS, MAKE MY HEART OPEN TO THE BEAUTY OF GOD EVERY DAY". POPE FRANCIS

Protected by the word of God

Consecrated in the truth

The truth is the word of God, the truth that shatters the lies of the prince of this world, whose work is : Power, Glory and Wealth. Many are blinded and turned into the wrong path, because the father of lies know where to confound the people who started to do good things but ended up for complice and adulatory spirituality: obsequious, unctuous and parasitic; thus, turned to be self-referential Church, preoccupied only for its own spiritual life.

Protected and kept from the Evil one, by consecrating them in the Truth. The Word is the Truth, and the Word is God, and such Word became “flesh and dwell among us”.  This means to say, the first way to fight the Devil is by knowing the Truth of the Word of God, that remains in us: in our minds and hearts, and not just recite prayer formulas which are not based in the Word of God.

A traditional Christian is a half-cooked believer. A Christian should know the Word of God so to be “consecrated to the Truth”.  He should know this Spiritual Warfare condition, and being Consecrated in the Truth of the Father.  Moreover, knowing the Word of God implies becoming One and United: Jn 17:11b Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.” The term “devil”, diabolos , division! The work of the devil is to divide, and create divisions; while a Bible based Christian will always find the Path of Communion and Unity.


Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 17,11b-19.
11b Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. 12 When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.  13 But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. 14 I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.  15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. 17Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world.  19And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.

Hope, the prayer of the Messiah

The attitude of faith comes from the knowledge that behind the actual reality there’s a spiritual dimension. That everything is not just what it seems, because Jesus says: « 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. » Jn 17:7-9

The real hope that we have is that Jesus prays for us because we are of the Father, given to Jesus.

Jesus was sent for us, so to save us. To break the bondage of sin in us that brings doubt and death. Many times we want to grasp things but as we push harder, the more it turns to be so difficult, as if drifting to a quicksand. The more we want to escape the worst it turn to be because it turn to be our trap.

Our savior prayers and asks the Holy Spirit to move in us and guide us. The Holy Spirit who speaks what He heard from the Son and the Father. The Holy Spirit will bring us to a new consciousness, the knowledge of God, the words of God, there salvation, the protection that the Father will offer through the Consoler, the Third Person of the Holy Trinity:

« 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by  that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.» Jn 17:10-12

The hour, the time, the eternal life

The hour has come. It’s not the chronological time (Kronos) but opportune time (Kairos), the time of salvation, the time of grace. The time that we come to realize the Eternal Life, which is the knowledge of the Only True God.
Knowing God, is not a matter of religion but of love. Making known the love of God, is the measure of the accomplishment of the work. God’s work is salvation: in Hebrew, the precise term is Ieshua, which means God saves; translated as Jesus.
God saves, because He loves. He loves the broken nature of man, but He refuses the arrogant and the hypocrite. The time of God meets the brokenness of man that needs healing and salvation. Healing that comes from the love of the Father, through the words of Jesus that gives life.
The words of Jesus are the words of the Father, the words of eternal life. So beware to those words given that are not from the Father but words according to the wisdom of men. The words of the Father brings eternal life, not just intellectual thought of a charlatan. The words of the Father are the words of Jesus that give hope and freedom from every anguish. The words that consoles because it’s empowered by the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.

From the Gospel according to John
JN 17:1-11A
Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said,
“Father, the hour has come.
Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you,
just as you gave him authority over all people,
so that your son may give eternal life to all you gave him.
Now this is eternal life,
that they should know you, the only true God,
and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
I glorified you on earth
by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.
Now glorify me, Father, with you,
with the glory that I had with you before the world began.
“I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world.
They belonged to you, and you gave them to me,
and they have kept your word.
Now they know that everything you gave me is from you,
because the words you gave to me I have given to them,
and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you,
and they have believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me,
because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine,
and I have been glorified in them.
And now I will no longer be in the world,
but they are in the world, while I am coming to you.”

Saying goodbyes

Every end is a new start

Accepting the loose of a beloved person, a friend or a relative, will never be an easy fact to accept. It changes us. Our way of seeing things, our way of perceiving life and our way of getting into relationships. It’s either it turn us to be better person or a bitter one. Jesus before His ascension, left an important message to His disciples and it’s also valid for us. Saying goodbyes truly it’s hard, but when you know that your beloved is in the hand of God, so you may be sorry for not seeing him like before, but your heart is happy that he’s in the hands of the Father. He is with our Lord and Savior. The assurance is this: “our sorrow will turn into joy”, because, He is and always be; He is and reigns forever; He is because He is our Eternity in the glory of the Father. 

It's not easy, but we have to learn how to accept it

It's healing and it's freeing. When we know how to accept the loose, it's easier to love again. It's not replacing. Because if that was been a true love, you can never replace that person in life. You just learn how to live better, with the best memories of that beloved who gave you a lot of lessons in living. You were never been enslave to that love, so you nothing to feel bad if you love again. Love again is broad, it's not necessarily like before, or limited only towards a man or a woman. It can be towards something, a kind of an interior calling to do, a mission to accomplish.

The ascension of Jesus was the start of the Mission of the Church

 The "mystical body" of Christ. Me and you. Us with the gerarchy. Us with the People of God: Pope, bishops and priests.  We need to learn that the mystical body is in action where we are in. Where there's hunger, sickness, pain, injustices, despair, fear, etc. There me and you, are called to bring the love of the Crucified but Resurrected, who sits in the right hand of the Father, as our Lord and savior.

-------

John 16:16-20

16"A little while, and you will see me no more; again a little while, and you will see me." 17Some of his disciples said to one another, "What is this that he says to us, `A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and, `because I go to the Father'?" 18They said, "What does he mean by `a little while'? We do not know what he means." 19Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him; so he said to them, "Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, `A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'? 20Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.