The fall season in north central Pa. Near the town of Canton, Pa. Picture by John Ciribassi
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Memorial of Saint John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church
Brothers and sisters:
If you were raised with Christ, seek what is above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.
Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly:
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire,
and the greed that is idolatry.
Because of these the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient.
By these you too once conducted yourselves, when you lived in that way.
But now you must put them all away:
anger, fury, malice, slander,
and obscene language out of your mouths.
Stop lying to one another,
since you have taken off the old self with its practices
and have put on the new self,
which is being renewed, for knowledge,
in the image of its creator.
Here there is not Greek and Jew,
circumcision and uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free;
but Christ is all and in all.
Emphasis mine Col 3:1-11
When Christ your life appears,
then you too will appear with him in glory.
The above words leaped out at me when I read them. I can’t think of any other religion that makes this claim. When God, Christ, appears, you too will appear with Him in Glory.
Appearing with Christ in glory goes along with what we wrote about last week when we talked about the envy of satan.
We are that special!
Typing this today still blows my mind.
I am also becoming aware that each of us worships God in a familiar and unique way, and this has to be respected by all of us.
Yes, we all go to Mass and worship God in a familiar way, but I am sure you are not going home and saying, “I’m done.”
No, we all then encounter God uniquely and don’t let anyone tell you that’s not encountering God.
If you feel Joy and Peace, these can only come from God.
Celebrate!
Gail, I know, finds great Joy and Peace Gardening. Others may find it walking or reading the word of God. Whatever it is, recognize the Joy and Peace for what it is, that, being a time you are experiencing the Triune god.
I am sure you’re trying to avoid everything evil Paul lists in his letter. We printed all of these to remind you of how many traps satan has set for you, and this list is far from complete.
Doing God’s will is easy; live the “nine,” and When God, Christ, appears, you too will appear with Him in Glory.
If you want to join Team Jesus, try praying. “This is the day the lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”
Sidebar:
The Parable of the Ten Virgins. “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, 4 but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps. Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, ‘No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him. Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour. Emphasis mine Mt 25: 1-13
This parable always bothered me. It seemed to me the Virgins with the oil should share their oil; that is what we have been told we are supposed to do as Christians.
How often have we been told to give of ourselves as Jesus did on the Cross?
And, yet, here is this Parable, in contradiction of all we have been told.
The question then has to be,
What does the Oil represent?
Tim Gray of The Formed formed.org 9/1/23 said the Oil represents the Love you and I have for God.
Let me repeat: YOUR LOVE FOR GOD!
Finally, I understood this parable, and we had to share this knowledge with you.
I can tell you and act as one who is in love with The Triune God, but my Love is unique to me, just as your love is unique to you.
In my younger years, I was turned off by people who were really into learning and Loving God. I thought they had gone over the edge.
Well, all of that has changed.
I didn’t know about the Love, Joy, and Peace I would receive from my relationship with God.
I didn’t know my good works weren’t getting me to Heaven; the Man on the Middle Cross said I could come.
I didn’t know I was supposed to be building a relationship with God. I thought God was up there, and I was down here, and that was just fine with me.
I didn’t know my trying to imitate God was God’s way of using me to help others find life in the “Spirit World.”
I didn’t know my Love for God isn’t better or worse than your Love; it’s my Love, and I can’t share it.
And
I now know why the five wise Virgins couldn’t share their Oil.
I can’t believe how the main topic and the Sidebar came together, which is why, at the top of the blog, we say, The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Two other thoughts:
- We had to pass this along from Fr. Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation.
Jesus’ crucifixion didn’t solve any problems with God or change God’s mind about us. God’s mind didn’t need changing. Rather, Jesus was changing our mind about God! Emphasis mine.
- Lastly, I don’t send out many YouTube Video recommendations, but I watched this one for the third time and realized, Holy Spirit, that this fits in with all we have been discussing for the past two weeks. I want to thank Bill Emmonds for sending me this video.
Type the title in bold in the YouTube search bar. The video is called The Restaurant of Mistaken Orders.
Note: The video you want shows a balding European man pointing to you with the video title to his right. Time of the video 1:50 bottom right.
Picture:
The fall season in north central Pa. Near the town of Canton, Pa. Picture by John Ciribassi
Please keep Snapping!
Several people from foreign countries have asked for my email address, but I am still waiting to hear back. We decided to include my email for your convenience.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed, email me.
fprince101@gmail.com
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