Lightning jumping between clouds Picture by Jerry Torres.
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Extraordinary Time
Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished,
one of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.”
He said to them, “When you pray, say:
Father, hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins
for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us,
and do not subject us to the final test.”
Emphasis mine Lk 11:1-4
Many of you may not be familiar with the above Our Father from St. Luke. There are two versions of the Our Father. Matthew wrote the most popular; Luke’s is shorter but has the same meaning.
Question?
We ask for Heaven, where is it? We have asked the men in jail and others in small faith groups the same very important question: Where is Heaven?
And
How would one know they are in Heaven?
The first question should be easy.
When your Father and Brother sent the Holy Spirit to be infused in our Souls, the gates of Heaven were opened up to us. Think we’re kidding? Matthew says, “Thy Kingdom come,” and a little later, “On Earth as it is in Heaven.”
Ok, so Heaven is on Earth; I didn’t say this, but Jesus did. But where on Earth has to be the next question.
If you remember the pictures from the past three weeks, or for that matter, all of the pictures you have sent, they clearly reflect the Glory of God’s creation, but we would submit that’s not the full answer.
All of creation, except humans, is doing God’s will; they don’t have free will.
An oak tree is an oak tree, not a birch; a rabbit, a rabbit, not a dog.
Humans, however, are endowed with free will, and we can choose to do our will or God’s.
To help us out, Our Father and Brother sent the Holy Spirit to be infused into our Souls at Baptism, giving us the strength to choose to do Our Father’s will or not.
Remember, before Jesus came, the Jewish Temple, after the Babylon exile, did not have the Spirit of God in it. The Holy Spirit came back at Baptism, making us living Temples.
So, the Kingdom of God is within us.
The next question must be, “How do I know the Holy Spirit is within us?”
Easy!
Love, Joy, and Peace!
If you are filled with Love, Joy, and Peace in a World filled with hate, envy, and pride, and we could fill the page with what the world is like, you are in a different place.
Heaven!
The more Joy and Peace you experience, the deeper in Heaven you go, prompting us, yes, us to say when asked, “How are you?”
“FANTASTIC!”
Our prayer this week, and every week, is that you will learn, grow, and pray every day for growth in the Fruit of the Holy Spirit, “The Nine,” and find and grow in a life that is “Fantastic.”
Prayer:
In our book I Believe, we wrote a prayer in the back summarizing what each person of the Triune God did and asked of us. We thought you might be interested.
I Celebrate the Outrageous Love of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
I Celebrate God the Father sending His beloved Son down to climb up on that wonderful, awful Cross so that through His Life, Death, and Resurrection, all men might be justified.
I Celebrate Jesus, who, at the request of His Father, instantly came down from Heaven and, through His entire life and death on the Cross, lived in The Holy Spirit, listening to the whisper of the Holy Spirit, doing the will of God the Father for the Glory of God the Father.
I Celebrate the Father and Son sending the Holy Spirit to be infused in our souls at Baptism, nourished with Communion with Jesus, and will lead us by the whisper of the Spirit to the Father through the Son by an increase in the Fruit and Gifts of the Spirit so that we may be obedient sons and daughters.
Notice each person has a function that is critical to our salvation.
Sidebar:
One day, when the angels of God came to present themselves before the LORD,
Satan also came among them.
And the LORD said to Satan, “Whence do you come?”
Then Satan answered the LORD and said,
“From roaming the earth and patrolling it.”
And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job,
and that there is no one on earth like him,
blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?”
But Satan answered the LORD and said,
“Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing?
Have you not surrounded him and his family
and all that he has with your protection?
You have blessed the work of his hands,
and his livestock are spread over the land.
But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has,
and surely he will blaspheme you to your face.”
And the LORD said to Satan,
“Behold, all that he has is in your power;
only do not lay a hand upon his person.”
So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.
Emphasis mine Job 1: 6-12
This was the first reading at Mass today, and the Holy Spirit gave me the thought, “God ALLOWED Satan to go after Job if you will.” If you haven’t read Job, you should. In the blink of an eye, Job loses everything: all his Oxen, servants, sheep, camels, and lastly, his entire family except his wife. If you think you’ve had a bad day, read Job, and Job does not blaspheme God.
When satan is unsuccessful, God ALLOWS satan to attack Job’s health. Read this, and you will thank God for your health problems, and still, Job doesn’t blaspheme God.
The story ends with God restoring Job with double what he had before his trial,
Excerpt,
Job’s family, God allowed only the same amount of children, grandchildren, etc.
Why didn’t God double Job’s family?
I read a book on Job, and the answer is that when Job dies, he will be reunited with the family members who died and later with the family members he fathered after his trial.
Where?
In Heaven.
Interestingly, Heaven is mentioned in the Old Testament, and an afterlife is also mentioned.
Interesting. I, yes, I, had no idea where we were going with the Sidebar until the last two lines. Look how beautifully the story of Job ties in with what we discussed at the beginning of our blog.
I am filled with Joy!
Picture:
Caught this flash of lightning jumping between clouds in the evening sky.
“…your arrows flash back and forth.” Ps 77:18
Picture by Jerry Torres
This picture also ties in with all that we have written. Wow!
Jerry, I lost your email; please send it again.
Please keep Snapping!
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed or the three hiking pictures we showed, email me.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
