Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 1781509 times)

cassini · « **Reply #85 on:** January 01, 2025, 11:46:05 AM »

Fr Sean again.
Wisdom to Bring You Happiness in 2025

This New Year marks the end of the first quarter of 21st century. The beginning of each year brings new hope that is realized only by those who have faith in God because hope flows from faith, not wishful thinking. For some, 2025 will mark their beginning in the womb; for others it’ll be their last year on earth. One thing is certain for the followers of Jesus, namely that God makes everything work for our good if we act according to His design (Rom 8:28). The Holy Spirit advises us that, “If it should be God’s will that you suffer, it is better to do so for good deeds than for evil ones” (1 Pt 3:17). Suffering is inevitable but with Jesus residing in our heart we emerge from it better rather than bitter.

On New Year’s Eve people usually wish each other happiness. But how many realize that happiness is impossible without God? The wisdom of St. Thomas reminds us that whatever can be taken away from us can’t make us happy. Only God can’t be taken away from us against our will and therefore He alone can make us happy. We can reject Him ourselves but no one can separate us from Him. The wise person seeks what he or she desires only where it can be found. A wise person doesn’t seek gold in a piece of lead. The wise person seeks happiness by lovingly obeying God who is the only source of human fulfilment that lasts. Jesus, God’s Word-become-man, assures us that, “The heavens and the earth will pass away but my word will not pass away” (Mt 24:35). It’s foolish to invest in what doesn’t last.

This year the Church concentrates on the Gospel of Luke. To be wise in 2025, we would do well to read and reflect on this Gospel along with reading the Wisdom Books in the Old Testament (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus/Sirach, and Psalms). In these Holy Scriptures we grow in our knowledge of God’s wisdom as He teaches us how to live in freedom, justice, peace, and love. Here we find the divine truths to live by that are guaranteed to help us make wise decisions. But knowing God’s Word isn’t enough in itself. We must let it form our attitude towards God, ourselves, and our neighbour. Without formation there’s no transformation and so we don’t change for the better. How many people identify as Catholic but don’t practice the Faith? How many are baptized but live pagan lives? How many who call themselves “Catholic” but do not attend Holy Mass every Sunday? Why are some in the Church trying to change her to suit their own disordered desires? The answer is that they haven’t let God’s Word direct their spirits and do not benefit from God’s wisdom. Formation comes about when we build our life daily on what Jesus tells us through His Church’s Apostolic teaching in Word and Sacrament. Thus we become transformed into intentional children of God who live as His faithful sons and daughters. It’s important to ask whether the way we’re living is based on information that’s true or false. Will it lead me to happiness or misery in the long term?

As I said earlier, a wise man or woman is one who lives in a manner that brings him or her happiness. What is happiness? It’s the state of well-being mentally, spiritually, emotionally, morally, socially, and physically. The Dictionary defines wisdom as, “the ability to recognize or judge what is true, right, and lasting.” Our sinfulness makes it obvious that this ability is severely flawed in us. Wisdom is no longer innate in us. We can only acquire it through the power of the Holy Spirit whose gift it is. We are wise when we live according to God’s revelation.

We need God in order to be wise. Why? Because He is the Creator and knows us much better than we could ever know ourselves regarding what we need for fulfilment and contentment. He alone sets the moral standard for us in the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes demonstrating wise behaviour. Besides giving us this information so that in living it we’re formed and transformed in His image, we need God to help us embrace the truth about what’s right and what frees us to be fully human and alive. Our problem is that we’re sinful, short-sighted, and tempted by Satan, we arrogantly think we know what’s best for us. Just because something feels good doesn’t mean that it is good. The Holy Spirit reminds us that “The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom” (1 Cor 1:18). Many have knowledge of God from reason, the Bible, and the Church but are foolish because they don’t act on that knowledge.

Knowledge of God by itself doesn’t make us wise unless we put it into action in our lives. The Holy Spirit revealed that “The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov 9:10). God has instilled the emotion of fear in each of us for our safety. Fear of the Lord protects us from the danger of losing our friendship with Him and dooming ourselves to eternal suffering and death. Fear of the Lord, a gift of the Holy Spirit, (Is 11:2-3), alerts us to make sure we don’t separate ourselves from God through sinning. God seeks to communicate with everyone and for that reason He has “written His law in everyone’s heart. Their conscience bears witness together with the Law, and their thoughts will accuse or defend them on the day when, in accordance with the Gospel … God will pass judgment on the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (Rom 2:15-16). The wise man or woman makes sure to develop a well-formed conscience through listening to Jesus’ authoritative teaching. The Holy Spirit warns: “See to it, then, that no one deceives you through any empty, seductive philosophy, a human wisdom based on the principles of this world rather than on Christ”(Col 2:8).

We just celebrated Jesus’s birth, God’s Word-become-man (Jn 1:1-18). He is Wisdom in the flesh. Jesus is God’s truth and the only One who can determine what’s right, just and enduring. Anything contrary to Jesus’ teaching is a lie, immoral, and corrupt. A wise person makes Jesus the centre of his or her life. How? Through repentance and faith in His Gospel as a loyal member of His Church. With Jesus as our centre, despite trials and tribulations, we’re able to proclaim: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens! God chose us in Him before the world began, to be holy and blameless in His sight, to be full of love. He destined us for adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ such was His will and pleasure – that all might praise the glorious favour He has bestowed on us in His Beloved” (Eph 1:3-6). Thus the wise person, knowing that God has chosen him or her to be holy, blameless and full of love, is able to be happy despite pain.

During 2025 let God’s wisdom help you to see that only He can bring you a true sense of happiness that lasts, which you won’t find anywhere else! (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #86 on:** January 08, 2025, 07:39:33 AM »

Fr Sean again.
God’s Favour Rests on the Baptized

Jesus began His public ministry by seeking the baptism John was offering at the River Jordan. It was a momentous occasion when God revealed Himself as a Trinity of Persons. After John baptized Jesus the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, and God revealed Himself as Jesus’ Father speaking from the clouds affirming Him as His beloved Son: “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you” (Lk 3:22).

To be beloved is to be favoured and to be favoured is to be loved. To be favoured is to be honoured. To be loved is to be held dear by another. That day in the Jordan River God the Father revealed that He honoured Jesus as His Son and held Him dear by bestowing the Holy Spirit on Him as He began the mission of telling everyone that God the Father wanted them to be able to enjoy His love. God’s love would be enjoyed in the act of receiving the grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness for sin. God originally created man and woman in His image and likeness but they disobeyed Him and so lost their likeness to Him. St. Augustine referred to this as the Original Sin, the consequence of which was the loss of holiness and eternal life. Only God could restore what man lost, since man and woman couldn’t redeem themselves. They were no longer pleasing to Him and lost their right to life and love dooming themselves to hell. The Church teaches us that, “Original sin is the loss of original holiness and justice due to Adam's sin. As a result man is alienated from God and also other men. Man has a wounded nature inclined towards evil. A denial of this fact can only lead to serious errors in education, politics, social action and morals (CCC 407).

In requesting John’s baptism of repentance for sin Jesus signified how He was going to restore man’s lost holiness. This is why Jesus commissioned His Apostles to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Only a sinless man could make up for the damage caused by sinful man.

Because Jesus never sinned, His Baptism was a baptism of repentance, not for His own sins since He had no sin, but for the sins of men and women. His Baptism by John was by immersion of His body not just into the waters of the Jordan but the immersion of His human nature into the Holy Trinity in order to restore humanity to the state that it was in the Garden of Eden. John revealed to the people: “I am baptizing you with water but one mightier than I is to come … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3:16). John’s baptism called for repentance for sin. Jesus’ baptism called for personal transformation through becoming an adopted child of God and in the process becoming free from Satan’s grip through reconciliation with God and His Church. It wasn’t just a cleansing from Original sin. The Greek word “baptizo” means immersion in the sense of dye penetrating a piece of cloth. The Holy Spirit reveals that in Jesus’ baptism, “you put aside your old self with its past deeds and put on a new nature, one who grows in knowledge as he is formed anew in the image of his Creator” (Col 3:9-10).

The Sacrament of Baptism that Jesus gave to His Church, is a rebirth into a redeemed nature with which God favours us. John’s baptism called for a radical change in behaviour, but Jesus’ baptism calls for a radical change in one’s nature. The “baptism of fire” which is the transforming power of the Holy Spirit’s actions in our soul, makes us a new creation, a re-born anointed child of God favoured and beloved by Him.

Baptism restores the capacity to be God’s true image and likeness – to be Christ-like. This makes the sacrament of Baptism so awesome and yet it is so little understood not only by those who receive it but all too often by those who administer it. It’s one thing to have the capacity for something but it’s quite another to exercise that capacity. That requires commitment, fidelity, and discipline. Hence the need to deeply understand this Sacrament that is essential for salvation.

God promised comfort to His people (Is 40:1ff). The greatest comfort a child can experience is the visible nearness of the parent’s love. God promised to come to His people so they would feel His nearness. “Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:9-11). This is what God is doing with us in Baptism. The Psalmist expressed the deep human need for God’s nearness: “If You take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust. When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:29-30). The Holy Spirit makes our spirit new in Baptism where He honours us and holds us dear. Through it God takes us into the love of the Father and Son for one another expressed in the Person of the Holy Spirit. We receive a new Father and Mother (God and His Church), a new family (the Church on earth and in Heaven), a new identity (God’s gifted child whom He calls by name), a new mission (save our soul), a new purpose (know, love and serve God here on earth and after death to be eternally happy with Him in Heaven), a new knowledge (God is among us and present in His Church), a new standard of love (love others as Jesus loves us), a new morality (love your neighbour as yourself), and a new destiny (Happiness in Heaven).

This is why Jesus gave His Church the Sacrament of Baptism so that, until the end of time, all men and women could experience God’s nearness as He prepares them for Heaven.

Take the time this week to reflect on your Baptism and what it means to you.

Do you realize that through Baptism God has favoured you and bestowed His love upon you calling you His “beloved”? That day Jesus began shepherding you and me as a member of His flock - His Church - cleansed from Original sin, and freed from Satan’s power over us. That day God the Father adopted us as His children and said to us individually as the water was poured over our head in the Name of the Holy Trinity, “You are my child, my beloved; my favour rests on you.” He was delighted that our parents put us up to be adopted by Him. He sent us His Spirit to guide our spirit to Jesus who showed us the way to live, taught us the truth about life and love, and offered us Himself as our life that’s eternal. “Because of His mercy He saved us through the bath of rebirth (Baptism) and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

Someone said that “God meets us where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there.” God, as a loving father, wants the best for us. He made us heirs to His Kingdom and all that the Kingdom offers, such as supernatural freedom, justice, peace, and love. He favours us with His presence in the person of Jesus in the confession boxes and on the altars of His Church. He gives us the gift of prayer and the divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity. He never abandons us.

How much of our time do we give Him – prayer, adoration, meditation, Holy Mass? Jesus continually knocks on the door of our heart seeking to enter our life with His warmth, compassion, and assurance that He is only too willing to help us shoulder our burdens.

He never asks anything of us that He doesn’t give us the wherewithal to accomplish. How grateful are we to Him for all His gifts, especially the supernatural gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity??

But what is our response? Do we reflect on the Baptismal vows that we renewed in the sacrament of Confirmation? Are we truly obedient children of God? Are we any different in our attitude and behaviour than someone who has no faith? Have we taken ownership of the vows our parents made on our behalf the day we were baptized? Remember that only the Creator can perfect the creature. You are I are creatures and God is the Creator who alone knows what is best and most fulfilling for us. I have included a prayer for the renewal of Baptismal Vows – will you take ownership of these vows, renew, commit yourself to be faithful to them from this day forward? Our eternity depends on our fidelity or infidelity to them. (fr sean)

Renewal of My Baptismal Vows

Almighty and Eternal God! You know all things. You see the very bottom of my heart, and You know that, however sinful I have hitherto been, I am resolved, by the help of Your grace, to love and serve You for the remainder of my life. And therefore, O my God, kneeling before the throne of Your mercy, I renew, with all the sincerity of my soul, the promises and vows made for me (by me in case of adult Baptism) in my Baptism.

I now renounce Satan with my whole heart, and will henceforth have no connection with him. I renounce all the pomp of Satan, that is, all his lies and the vanities of the world, the false treasures of its riches, honours and pleasures, and all its corrupt teachings. I renounce all the works of Satan, that is, all kinds of sin.

To You alone, O my God, I desire to cling; Your word will I hear and obey; for You alone I desire to live and to die. I believe in You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. This is my Faith. I am proud to profess it through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Viva Cristo Rey · « **Reply #87 on:** January 08, 2025, 09:17:45 AM »

Quote from: cassini on January 08, 2025, 07:39:33 AM

Fr Sean again.
God’s Favour Rests on the Baptized

Jesus began His public ministry by seeking the baptism John was offering at the River Jordan. It was a momentous occasion when God revealed Himself as a Trinity of Persons. After John baptized Jesus the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the form of a dove, and God revealed Himself as Jesus’ Father speaking from the clouds affirming Him as His beloved Son: “You are my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on you” (Lk 3:22).

To be beloved is to be favoured and to be favoured is to be loved. To be favoured is to be honoured. To be loved is to be held dear by another. That day in the Jordan River God the Father revealed that He honoured Jesus as His Son and held Him dear by bestowing the Holy Spirit on Him as He began the mission of telling everyone that God the Father wanted them to be able to enjoy His love. God’s love would be enjoyed in the act of receiving the grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness for sin. God originally created man and woman in His image and likeness but they disobeyed Him and so lost their likeness to Him. St. Augustine referred to this as the Original Sin, the consequence of which was the loss of holiness and eternal life. Only God could restore what man lost, since man and woman couldn’t redeem themselves. They were no longer pleasing to Him and lost their right to life and love dooming themselves to hell. The Church teaches us that, “Original sin is the loss of original holiness and justice due to Adam's sin. As a result man is alienated from God and also other men. Man has a wounded nature inclined towards evil. A denial of this fact can only lead to serious errors in education, politics, social action and morals (CCC 407).

In requesting John’s baptism of repentance for sin Jesus signified how He was going to restore man’s lost holiness. This is why Jesus commissioned His Apostles to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to carry out everything I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20). Only a sinless man could make up for the damage caused by sinful man.

Because Jesus never sinned, His Baptism was a baptism of repentance, not for His own sins since He had no sin, but for the sins of men and women. His Baptism by John was by immersion of His body not just into the waters of the Jordan but the immersion of His human nature into the Holy Trinity in order to restore humanity to the state that it was in the Garden of Eden. John revealed to the people: “I am baptizing you with water but one mightier than I is to come … He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Lk 3:16). John’s baptism called for repentance for sin. Jesus’ baptism called for personal transformation through becoming an adopted child of God and in the process becoming free from Satan’s grip through reconciliation with God and His Church. It wasn’t just a cleansing from Original sin. The Greek word “baptizo” means immersion in the sense of dye penetrating a piece of cloth. The Holy Spirit reveals that in Jesus’ baptism, “you put aside your old self with its past deeds and put on a new nature, one who grows in knowledge as he is formed anew in the image of his Creator” (Col 3:9-10).

The Sacrament of Baptism that Jesus gave to His Church, is a rebirth into a redeemed nature with which God favours us. John’s baptism called for a radical change in behaviour, but Jesus’ baptism calls for a radical change in one’s nature. The “baptism of fire” which is the transforming power of the Holy Spirit’s actions in our soul, makes us a new creation, a re-born anointed child of God favoured and beloved by Him.

Baptism restores the capacity to be God’s true image and likeness – to be Christ-like. This makes the sacrament of Baptism so awesome and yet it is so little understood not only by those who receive it but all too often by those who administer it. It’s one thing to have the capacity for something but it’s quite another to exercise that capacity. That requires commitment, fidelity, and discipline. Hence the need to deeply understand this Sacrament that is essential for salvation.

God promised comfort to His people (Is 40:1ff). The greatest comfort a child can experience is the visible nearness of the parent’s love. God promised to come to His people so they would feel His nearness. “Like a shepherd He feeds His flock; in His arms He gathers the lambs, carrying them in His bosom, and leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:9-11). This is what God is doing with us in Baptism. The Psalmist expressed the deep human need for God’s nearness: “If You take away their breath, they perish and return to the dust. When You send forth Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth” (Ps 104:29-30). The Holy Spirit makes our spirit new in Baptism where He honours us and holds us dear. Through it God takes us into the love of the Father and Son for one another expressed in the Person of the Holy Spirit. We receive a new Father and Mother (God and His Church), a new family (the Church on earth and in Heaven), a new identity (God’s gifted child whom He calls by name), a new mission (save our soul), a new purpose (know, love and serve God here on earth and after death to be eternally happy with Him in Heaven), a new knowledge (God is among us and present in His Church), a new standard of love (love others as Jesus loves us), a new morality (love your neighbour as yourself), and a new destiny (Happiness in Heaven).

This is why Jesus gave His Church the Sacrament of Baptism so that, until the end of time, all men and women could experience God’s nearness as He prepares them for Heaven.

Take the time this week to reflect on your Baptism and what it means to you.

Do you realize that through Baptism God has favoured you and bestowed His love upon you calling you His “beloved”? That day Jesus began shepherding you and me as a member of His flock - His Church - cleansed from Original sin, and freed from Satan’s power over us. That day God the Father adopted us as His children and said to us individually as the water was poured over our head in the Name of the Holy Trinity, “You are my child, my beloved; my favour rests on you.” He was delighted that our parents put us up to be adopted by Him. He sent us His Spirit to guide our spirit to Jesus who showed us the way to live, taught us the truth about life and love, and offered us Himself as our life that’s eternal. “Because of His mercy He saved us through the bath of rebirth (Baptism) and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our Saviour, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7)

Someone said that “God meets us where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there.” God, as a loving father, wants the best for us. He made us heirs to His Kingdom and all that the Kingdom offers, such as supernatural freedom, justice, peace, and love. He favours us with His presence in the person of Jesus in the confession boxes and on the altars of His Church. He gives us the gift of prayer and the divine virtues of faith, hope, and charity. He never abandons us.

How much of our time do we give Him – prayer, adoration, meditation, Holy Mass? Jesus continually knocks on the door of our heart seeking to enter our life with His warmth, compassion, and assurance that He is only too willing to help us shoulder our burdens.

He never asks anything of us that He doesn’t give us the wherewithal to accomplish. How grateful are we to Him for all His gifts, especially the supernatural gifts of Faith, Hope, and Charity??

But what is our response? Do we reflect on the Baptismal vows that we renewed in the sacrament of Confirmation? Are we truly obedient children of God? Are we any different in our attitude and behaviour than someone who has no faith? Have we taken ownership of the vows our parents made on our behalf the day we were baptized? Remember that only the Creator can perfect the creature. You are I are creatures and God is the Creator who alone knows what is best and most fulfilling for us. I have included a prayer for the renewal of Baptismal Vows – will you take ownership of these vows, renew, commit yourself to be faithful to them from this day forward? Our eternity depends on our fidelity or infidelity to them. (fr sean)

Renewal of My Baptismal Vows

Almighty and Eternal God! You know all things. You see the very bottom of my heart, and You know that, however sinful I have hitherto been, I am resolved, by the help of Your grace, to love and serve You for the remainder of my life. And therefore, O my God, kneeling before the throne of Your mercy, I renew, with all the sincerity of my soul, the promises and vows made for me (by me in case of adult Baptism) in my Baptism.

I now renounce Satan with my whole heart, and will henceforth have no connection with him. I renounce all the pomp of Satan, that is, all his lies and the vanities of the world, the false treasures of its riches, honours and pleasures, and all its corrupt teachings. I renounce all the works of Satan, that is, all kinds of sin.

To You alone, O my God, I desire to cling; Your word will I hear and obey; for You alone I desire to live and to die. I believe in You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe in the Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sin, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen. This is my Faith. I am proud to profess it through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thanks, Cassini. And Father.

cassini · « **Reply #88 on:** January 16, 2025, 04:33:03 AM »

Fr Sean again.
True Catholics Follow the “Mary Principle”

Can you identify the basic principles by which you live your life? What is a principle? The Webster Dictionary defines it as “a basic rule, law, or assumption that guides or explains something." A Catholic principle is a basic truth, rule, law, or assumption that explains why a person would belong to the Catholic Church. The “Mary principle” is the basic belief that doing what Jesus tells you enables you to be changed from being a sinner into being a saint and that you belong to the Catholic Church because that’s where Jesus is present and tells you what to do so that you can be converted and prepared for Heaven.

Someone pointed out the following principles as essential for human maturity. 1. I must actively search for my spiritual center, as that center holds all of me together and enables me to grow emotionally and spiritually. 2. I need to learn to give up trying to control anyone or anything outside myself and some things inside myself as well. 3. I must learn to become aware of, trust in and use God’s power to help me in my search for what fulfills me. 4. I am free to embrace God or not, as I will, but if I set my will against God, I suffer unnecessarily because I make it impossible for myself by not allowing this Power to help me. When I flow with God’s power, my life becomes beautiful and serene. The choice is entirely mine. 5. With the help of God, I must become increasingly honest with myself about my past and present attitudes, feelings, emotions, thoughts, behavior patterns, and motives. 6. I must become increasingly open with at least one other person, but preferably more, about all my emotions and emotional patterns as I discover them. 7. I must increasingly accept myself exactly as I am – without hiding, disguising, distorting, or rejecting any part of myself. 8. I must recognize my need to repent of my sins, seek forgiveness and come to freely forgive all who have wronged me and with the help of God to remove what blocks my growth as a Catholic. Without principles we’re doomed. To be principled is to base our lifestyle on particular truths that are time-tested and enhance integrity.

Life must be based on certain principles that must be upheld if we’re to be real, true, good and beautiful individuals. Our behaviour should be determined by the “principle of the thing” rather than by what’s popular, politically expedient, or pleasurable. When we’re principle-based nothing can shake us from our convictions. To be a Catholic Christian is to live our life according to the principles laid down by Jesus and His Church. The first principle of Christianity is that personal faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Son of Man through membership in His Church, who redeems mankind from Satan’s grip in order to enjoy an eternal life of happiness with God the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit with the angels and saints. Adherence to this principle is essential as a true member of Jesus’ Church. “Eternal life is this: to know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn17:3). To know God personally it is essential to know Jesus since He is God in human form. Knowing Jesus means having an intimate relationship with Him, which becomes visible and real in the Holy Mass. When we act out of our principles we are true to ourselves. When we don’t we betray ourselves.

Mary is our great example of living a principled Faith. At Cana Mary and Jesus were guests at a wedding when the wine ran out. Mary was concerned for the young couple’s inevitable embarrassment of having no more wine for the guests. She came to Jesus who seemed to initially rebuff her, “Woman, why turn to me? My hour has not yet come” (Jn 2:4). Undaunted in her faith in Jesus, she simply said to the waiters, “Do whatever He tells us” (Jn 2:5). This command of Mary to the waiters is known as the “Mary Principle.” It’s a basic principle that explains the heart of Christianity. Christianity is all about doing what Jesus tells us. This is the rule that says those who wish to be Christian must do exactly what Jesus tells them. This is what faith in Jesus is all about – total obedience and trust in Him. He reminded His disciples, “If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love” (Jn 15:10). As Mary’s faith and love for God was visible in her obedience to God’s call to her, she calls us to show our faith and love for Jesus by doing what He asks of us. Doing what Jesus tells us is a basic principle of being a Christian. To call ourselves Catholic and disobey Jesus is to be unprincipled. To follow someone other than Jesus is to break the First Commandment. Like Mary, Christians must be willing to do whatever He asks of us through His Church. Similarly His Church must do what He asks of her, namely to faithfully hand on the Apostolic Tradition and traditional moral teaching to each generation. He places His Church and each of her members under the guidance of the Holy Spirit who provides the necessary gifts to accomplish what He asks of us. “The particular way in which the Holy Spirit is given to each person is for a good purpose.” (1 Cor 12:7) Like Mary, a principled Catholic does whatever Jesus tells him or her. Jesus tells us what to do in the Holy Scriptures and in His Church’s Catechism. So the faithful Catholic reads, listens and implements the Gospels asking the Holy Spirit to help discern what Jesus is telling him or her to be and to do. (fr sean)

cassini · « **Reply #89 on:** January 22, 2025, 01:00:47 PM »

Fr Sean again.
Is Your Vision and Mission that of Jesus?

Everyone has some kind of vision for their life, even though they may not be conscious of it? Having a vision for our life is very important because it determines how we’ll try to live it. The vision motivates the mission. Vision and mission are bound together. A vision is a mental picture of what we ultimately want to achieve. A vision focuses our efforts and gives us a dot on the horizon toward which we move and hope to reach. Our mission, then, carried out in the present, is to procure and use the necessary resources that enable us to achieve our vision. A mission’s success is measured by how well it leads to attaining the vision. The vision inspires the mission and the mission makes the vision more tangible. Without a vision a mission is unfocused and ultimately fails. This is true in relationships, marriage, business, politics, education, careers, and Church.

God’s vision for everyone is that they would be like Jesus who is the perfect image of God because He is both God and man. “God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:27). God’s mission for man and woman as His image is to: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it .... cultivate the earth and care for it” (Gen 1:28; 2:15). Sadly, Satan tempted man and woman with a new vision, namely that of being gods themselves so they abandoned God’s vision for them. With this new vision of being gods came a new mission, namely using God’s creation to gratify themselves. This is called sin where ego is supreme. Sin is man’s distorted mission to achieve his egotistical vision of himself. God didn’t give up on stupid man, so He intervened. He called Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and then Moses to form a people who would embrace His original vision and mission for the salvation of humanity. He promised through Moses: “I will take you as my own people, and you shall have me as your God” (Ex 6:7). But again the people chose a vision and mission contrary to God’s will and abusing their freedom ended up being exiled. God inspired the pagan Persian, Cyrus, to free them and so return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and once again embrace God’s vision for them. The priest, Ezra, “opened the scroll so that all the people might see it … he read plainly from the Book of God’s law interpreting it so that all could understand what was read …Today is holy to the Lord your God. Do not be sad and do not weep – for all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law” (Neh 8:5-9). The people wept because they were introduced once again to the vision of God’s love for them and the peace that came from participating in the mission that would restore their faith in God’s will and a true identity as His children that assured them of fulfilment.

God made His vision and mission for His people visible in the Person of Jesus Christ, His Word-made-flesh. After His baptism Jesus came to Nazareth, His home town, and entered the ѕуηαgσgυє on the Sabbath. Taking the Book of Isaiah He opened the scroll, like Ezra hundreds of years earlier, and read from it. Then He said, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:16, 21). What was in the passage? “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore He has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to announce a year of favour to the Lord” (Lk 4:18-19). Jesus announced that He is indeed the Promised Messiah to reiterate God’s vision for His people and show how to attain it. What did God envisage for His people? He would lead them Himself bringing the good news that the poor would become rich, those captives of a fallen nature would be freed, those blinded by ignorance and false teaching would be able to see clearly, those imprisoned by sin would be released, and a time where people would be blessed by God was at hand. He founded His Church to keep that vision before all generations and establish a mission in which all can participate in order to attain the vision.

As a child in school I learned what God’s vision for me and everyone else was, even though I didn’t understand it. The teacher would ask us, “Who made you?” We learned to answer: “God made me.” Then he would ask, “Why did God make you?” We would answer: “God made me to know Him, love Him, and serve Him in this world and afterwards to be happy with Him forever in heaven.” God’s vision for all of us is to know Him, love Him, and serve Him here on earth and ultimately to be with Him in everlasting happiness. To attain this vision we need Jesus’ Church to participate in the mission of doing what is necessary in order to know, love, and serve God. We need Jesus’ Church because that is where He is present offering us the graces through the power of the Holy Spirit to hear His Good News and to be freed from our spiritual poverty, from what physically and spiritually captivates and imprisons us. We need Jesus Church to provide us with a visible sign of God’s favour in the graces which He bestows on us through the Sacraments, and especially in the Holy Mass. This is the reason why the Catholic Church is necessary for salvation.

Fidelity to God’s vision for us and active participation in the mission to attain it that’s provided by Jesus’ Church always fosters freedom, justice, peace, and charity. But sadly, when this vision is abandoned or distorted the mission becomes diseased, malignant, by man-made visions that bring confusion and division in the Body of Christ. Tragically this is a reality today in the Church. St. Paul addresses this problem and uses the metaphor of the human body to describe how all Christians must work together for the Church’s credible promotion of Jesus’ vision and mission. “The body is one and has many members; but all the members, many though they are, are one body; and so it is with Christ. It was in one Spirit that all of us … were baptized into one body” (1 Cor 12:12ff). Jesus founded only one Church. God has only one vision and one mission for His people. Each person has been given gifts to participate in that mission so as to attain that vision which is a community endeavour. Each person, like each bodily organ, has a purpose making him or her necessary to the health of the whole Church. No one is unnecessary. Like the bodily organs, all Christians must use their gifts for the health and unity of the body of Christ if God’s vision and mission are to be brought to a fallen, spiritually and mentally captivated, blind, misguided and egotistical and sinful world. God favours us with His mercy by sending us Jesus who shows us how to be God’s servants, the stewards of His creation, and not its masters for our own selfish ends. God’s vision and mission, fulfilled and made visible in Jesus present in His Church, unifies all who embrace them. Thus your life is meaningful, purposeful and happy. Does your vision for your life correspond with God’s vision for you? What does your use of your resources tell you about your vision and mission? Any vision and mission other than that given by Jesus dooms us to failure. (fr sean)

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