Shepherds of Christ  
       Daily Writing        
 

April 21, 2008

April 22nd Holy Spirit Novena
Scripture selection is Day 6 Period II.

The Novena Rosary Mysteries  
for April 22nd are Joyful.

  

 

April 21, 2008

    

The whole retreat I talked about us being created in the image of God
so since we are the creatures - and He is the Creator 
this is the Plan
and we must love because He is love if we are to live according to the Father's plan
 
Right after creation God talks about being in the image and likeness of God

 

Genesis 1:27

God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.

 
When Mary's head was knocked off all that was left was
 the image of Jesus
 

Genesis 1:27

God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.

 
These were pictures I found on my computer

                                                                  Image of Jesus
 

February 5, 2001

 

February 5, 2006
Prayer Service

 

  

January 2, 2005

 

January 5, 2003

     

Genesis 1:27

God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.

 

We have a wounded human nature

7 Capital Sins

      Pride, Greed, Envy, Wrath, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth

We must try to be pure like Jesus

                Think of Jealousy

                    girl friend, boy friend
                    sibling rivalry

                Christ — the Son of God — came
                    to teach us not to be jealous —
                    to love —

                Look at all Christ told us about God

                Our tendencies is jealousy —
                    think of someone jealous —
                    who tries to block all of
                    someone's relationships for
                    fear of losing them

                How can we do God's will with
                    this possessiveness —
                    where some learned sharing
                    and love —
                    others may have been surviving
                    not having normal emotional
                    needs met

                Christ came a baby — sinless
                    to teach us how to live —
                    in His image and likeness —
                    Jesus is God —
                    Genesis says —
                   

  

Genesis 1:27

God created man in the image of himself,
in the image of God he created him,
male and female he created them.

 

                We were created in the image
                    and likeness of God —

                We must model our lives after
                    this Christic image

  

February 5, 2001

                IMAGE WINDOW 

                When one enters the building in
                    CLEAR - WATER
                    He learns
                    PURITY in using the Blue Books
                    Christ tells us about Himself

                Christ gives us the Father's Vision
                In baptism — we receive a
                    sharing in His knowing and
                    loving capacity —

                CLEAR - WATER

                The Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in the
                    graced soul —

                Our life must be lived to put
                    on Christ —
                    not be jealous
                    not be angry
                    not be envious
                    not be prideful
                    not seek dominance for
                    dominance sake

                Christ selflessly gave
                    Himself so we could
                    be saved

                We are to give ourselves
                    for others to help in
                    this redemptive work

                We are to be selfless in
                    giving ourselves
                    likened to Christ

                The message of satan is
                    selfishness —
                    self-focus

                Christ came to this earth
                Christ died for our sins
                Christ rose on the 3rd day
                Through His pierced Heart the
                    Church was born

                    Water for baptism
                    Blood for the Eucharist


                We are then to die to our
                    imperfect ways and be more
                    likened to Christ —
                    to put on Christ
                    to come to the altar of the
                        Lord and be saturated with
                        grace


                Mary knew from the prophesy of Simeon
                    that a sword would pierce her heart
                    too —
                Mary was told when Jesus was a baby

  

 

 

An Overview of the Spiritual Life

The Christian life is rooted in the great event of the Incarnation. We must consequently always focus our gaze upon Christ, realizing that everything the Father wishes to tell us has been summed up in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. It only remains for us, then, to strive to understand with greater insight the inexhaustible truth of the Word Incarnate: "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son, Whom He appointed the heir of all things, through Whom also He created the world." (Heb. 1: 1-2) (1)

What was the condition of the human race at the time of Christ's coming? In some ways, people were much the same as we are today. There were those just being born into this world of human drama. There were those who, in death, were leaving it, some of whom had grasped but little of life's meaning. There were those who were healthy and vigorous. There were those who were sick and lame. Some especially felt the burdens, the grief, the suffering of the human condition. Others were ebullient and desired all the pleasures life could provide. There was some good being accomplished. Immorality, however, was rampant. What St. Paul tells us concerning the time that immediately followed Christ's existence certainly could also be applied to the time of His entrance into the world. It is, in short, an ugly picture that St. Paul depicts for us (Rom. 1: 22-32).

Into such a depraved condition Jesus entered, with a full and generous Heart, to lead the human race from the depths of sinfulness to the vibrant richness of a new life in Himself. Through His enfleshment, this Christ became the focal point of all history. The authentic hopes and dreams of the human family, now so overshadowed by the ugliness of sin, came converging upon this Christ. He would gather them up in Himself, give them a new luster and brilliance and dynamism, and would lead the human family back to the Father in the Holy Spirit.

Christ was radically to release us from the dominion of sin and elevate us to a new level of existence. This life Christ has given us is not a type of superstructure which is erected atop human existence. Although nature and grace are distinct, they do not lie side by side as separate entities. Rather, grace permeates nature. The Christian is one graced person. The Christian is one who has been raised up, caught up, into a deeper form of life in Christ Jesus. Nothing that is authentically human in the life of the Christian has been excluded from this new existence. Whatever is really human in the life of the Christian is meant to be an expression of the Christ-life. The simple but deep joys of family life, the wonderment at nature's beauty, the warm embrace of a mother for her child, the agony of crucial decision making, the success or frustration that is experienced in one's work, the joy of being well received by others, and the heartache of being misunderstood--all these experiences are intended to be caught up in Christ and made more deeply human because of Him.

Jesus has come, then, not to destroy anything that is authentically human, but to perfect it by leading it to a graced fulfillment. This is the meaning of the Word's becoming flesh, the meaning of the Incarnation. The more God-like we become through Christ, the more human we become.

We, through our incorporation into Christ which occurs at Baptism, are meant to relive the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In doing so, we are not only accomplishing our own salvation, but we are assisting in the salvation of others also. The Incarnation continues all the time. Christ, of course, is the one Who fundamentally continues the Incarnation. But He enlists our help. The world no longer sees Jesus, no longer is able to reach out and touch Him. We are the ones who now, in some way, make Christ visible and tangible. In union with the invisible, glorified Christ, and depending on Him as our source of life, we continue the Incarnation in its visible and temporal dimensions. This is our great privilege. This is our great responsibility.

The Christian is initiated into the mystery of Christ, into his or her role in prolonging the Incarnation, through Baptism. In the words of St. Paul: "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by Baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6: 3-4).

It is not sufficient, however, that we be incorporated into Christ through Baptism. All forms of life require nourishment. So, too, our life in Christ must be continually nourished. How can we continually keep in contact with Christ? There are various ways. We contact Christ in a most special way through the liturgy, above all in the Eucharistic liturgy. Here the entire course of salvation history, as centered in Jesus, is sacramentally renewed and continued. Through our most special and most personal meeting with Jesus in the Mass, we are more deeply incorporated into Christ. Also, we should remember that all the sacraments make up part of the Church's liturgy.

The reading of Scripture provides another special opportunity for meeting Jesus. This is true for both Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament prefigures the New Testament and leads to it. It is obvious, however, that we meet Christ especially in the pages of the New Testament. How true it is to say that not to be familiar with Scripture is not to know Jesus properly. We should resolve to read from Scripture daily.

We also meet Jesus in our interaction with others. Everyone we meet, everyone we serve, is in the image of Jesus. We have to take the means to grow in this awareness. If I truly believe that everyone has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, how should I treat everyone?

These, then, are some of the ways we keep in contact with Jesus. Common to the various ways of meeting Jesus is a certain degree of prayerful reflection. Our contact with Jesus in the liturgy, in Scripture, and in our interaction with others, and so forth, will not be all that it should be unless we are persons of prayer. The light and strength of prayer enables us to keep in contact with Jesus as we should.

We live out our Christ-life in an atmosphere of love. Indeed, the life Jesus has given us is centered in love. It has its origins in the mysterious love of God: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (Jn 3: 16).

Our new life in Jesus has arisen out of God's fathomless love. Christ, in His descent into human flesh, has established a milieu of love. The life He came to give can flourish only in the framework of love. Indeed, we can summarize the meaning of the Christian life by stating that it is our loving response to God's love. The pierced Heart of Jesus, this Heart which shed its last drop of blood in the greatest love for each one of us, is the symbol of God's tremendous love for us. Christ's Heart also calls us to respond by giving ourselves in love to God and neighbor. Yes, Jesus invites us to respond to God's love by giving ourselves in love to Him in an ever closer union. The more closely we are united to Him, the greater is our capacity to love God and neighbor. The more closely we are united with Jesus, the more closely He unites us to the Father in the Holy Spirit, with Mary our Mother at our side.

end of excerpt

 

 

                    In trying to write about love and believe
                in the Age of the Two Hearts and their will
                be an era of love — I talk about love —
                I pray for love in the retreats and I
                believe. The devil is an endless
                pit of hatred and he keeps pecking like
                a woodpecker — he tempts people in their
                weakness — the devil tries to get them to give-in —
                in their unloving habits and because
                it is familiar, because the devil presses on
                them
they give in.

                    There has been division since the
                beginning of the Church and as the
                pope said it still has survived.

                    Giving into satan in division, envy,
                jealousy, anger, pride, hatred blocks
                God's work — so many Marian groups folded
                because people who came to serve suffered
                the spiritual warfare of satan that
                pressed on people through imperfections
                to divide them —
                    Look at divorce
                    Split homes
                    They started in love —
                                commitment

                  

John 14: 21-26

'Whoever holds to my commandments
    and keeps them
is the one who loves me;
and whoever loves me
    will be loved by my Father,
and I shall love him
    and reveal myself to him.'

Judas-not Judas Iscariot-said to him, 'Lord, what has happened, that you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?' Jesus replied:

'Anyone who loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him
and make a home in him.
Anyone who does not love me
    does not keep my words.
And the word that you hear
    is not my own:
it is the word of the Father who sent me.
I have said these things to you
    while still with you;
but the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all I have said to you.

 

                    Did you ever see a clogged toilet — if a
                person flushes it — it can keep coming and
                coming and you want it to stop

                    If the person would not have flushed
                it may be it would not have overflowed

                    A person filled with anger, unfinished
                business, cannot take the tiniest agitation —
                they are ready to go like an overflowing
                toilet — even if one hardly does anything
                unkind — they may interpret it as such and
                overflow with anger and hatred

                    A person who is passive-aggressive
                provokes, stalls and does not admit
                they had anything to do with it —

                This behavior grows worse —
                Like with love — we become more loving
                With passive-aggressive deception one can sneakily
                    bring down the house —

                A person going from a deck of cards — pushing down the
                    first card and because of stuffed anger
                Moving to the next deck of cards

                Can you see — if there are so many divorces because
                    people can't live in love —

                How people filled with passive-aggressive
                    anger in a religious community
                    mimics how satan attacks
                    he provokes
                    he tempts
                    he does it deceptively —

                A smile filled with God's truth can light
                    a house and fill a room with love

                In the talk shows today there is so much
                    argumentation in front of others on
                    television.

                Jesus is meek and humble of heart.

                Jesus says He cries bloody tears for those
                    who deceive others with sneaky
                    angry ways that tear down parishes,
                    communities, while others try to build
                    in love —

                But we see even in the scriptures —
                    there were ones who lied and had slick arguments
                    working against the Apostles —

                If marriages
                If religious communities
                If parishes

                are to thrive on love —
                    there must be this element where
                    people who are angry take
                    responsibility on how they are
                    tearing down the community of peace
                    and love Jesus wants —

                A person who provokes another is acting
                    for satan — to hurt — to punish —
                    to get revenge

                A person that seeks isolation can
                    provoke others to get imaginary
                    walls around them so they can
                    really have no interference from
                    one even getting close or talking to
                    them —

                Anger in a person comes out as tension
                    with others — anger is a destructive
                    energy when a person is giving
                    into it in hateful thoughts toward
                    another —

                    It is like an engine - throttling in
                    a parked car — a passive-aggressive
                    person — smiles when they watch others
                    fighting after they set the fire

                    It is sinful to hurt others intentionally —
                        this bad habit one develops to get
                        even for anger inside becomes
                        more and more volatile

                    Instead of being connected to God and
                        love with others — they have an
                        idea maybe — love with God is
                        personal and they can be mean to others
                        is okay

                    God created us to be one — love Him and love
                        each other is pure love
                       
                How can communities, families exist in
                    love when angry people deceptively
                    provoke others and delight in
                    watching another suffer while
                    they win or think they win —

                Hatred for others is not co-existing in love
                    and peace —

                Satan has souls in hell that gave
                    into games of anger, punishing
                    and hurting others, envy, jealousy

                To renew the religious orders —
                    people must be in the truth —
                    seek to be like Jesus
                    we were created in the image and likeness
                        of Jesus
                    Jesus is pure
                    Mary is pure

                There is no hatred in heaven
                            no anger in heaven
                            no envy in heaven
                            no jealousy in heaven 

                A person wishing ill-will to any brother
                    is off —
                    A person with passive-aggressive
                        hatred inside can bring a house
                        down —
                        they provoke like a woodpecker
                        because they don't like the anger
                        in them —
                        they want someone else to
                            suffer

                Here is the joy of love
                — the basic joy of giving oneself to
                    another in a deep relationship —
                    for an angry person — they are not like this —
                        they are self-focused
                        they are miserable
                        they have division with others
                        they have an angry arrow they want
                            to stick in another

                        Anger is an energy inside that must
                            be dealt with
                        Like a pressure cooker

                        The religious seeks love of those in
                            the parish, community, but
                            their biggest love — is their
                            marriage to God —

                        There is security in being in a relationship —
                            living in a parish, a religious
                            community

                        Love is commitment
                        Love is respect
                        Love is not selfish

                Acting out anger to hurt others, be dominant
                    over others in cruel ways is sinful

                This is not God's message:
                    an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth
                    This is not the message of Jesus —

                Love makes us alive
                Love is an unclogged pipe
                Love of God for the religious — pours
                    out in making the world a better
                    place —
                    in being more one with Jesus and
                    His love is in us —
                    We act more and more like Jesus
                    Jesus is love

                Satan works in secrets, in lies, deception —
                    division, hatred, anger

                To put these together in a community, a
                    parish is a prescription for
                    selfish disaster
                    not love —

                As more and more parishes are consolidated and
                    people grieve losing their priest or
                    sharing their priest with other
                    parishes —
                    they must grow in love to survive —
                    they must work together —
                    bend their angry wills —

                How could the Apostles move ahead
                    building the Church if they
                    gave into bitter division and
                    were not rooted in God's love —

                The Church has withstood all this division —
                    Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist —
                    Priests can celebrate Mass — the sacrifice
                        of Calvary sacramentally made present


 

From a Lenten Homily, March 24, 2000

Live in the Moment

    Today’s Gospel in its story certainly points ahead to Jesus in His Passion and death. And as we read passages such as this during the Lenten season, we are reminded once again that the Church in her Liturgy of the Word gives us an opportunity to undergo a purification, an ever deepening cleansing of ourselves so that we may be a more fit instrument for receiving the great graces which are to be given to us at the time of the Resurrection memorial on Easter. And so all in all, Lent is a time of purification to prepare us for ever-greater gifts of the Lord. It’s a time of self-discipline, a time to renew our efforts to be self-disciplined in the service of the Lord. Self-discipline is an aspect of purification. And I suggest that one of the most difficult acts of self-discipline in the spiritual journey is to concentrate on the present moment. We have a very strong tendency to disregard the importance of the present moment by focusing in a wrong way on the past or in a wrong way on the future. There are proper occasions for thinking of the past and the future. For example, we have to learn from the past and we have to prepare for the future, but our great emphasis has to be upon the present. There is a Latin axiom which says, age quod agis, age quod agis, which means: do what you are doing, concentrate on the present. And of course we are familiar with that term in the history of spirituality: the sacrament of the present moment. And so the discipline of Lent certainly encourages us to include in a deeper self-discipline a greater determination to get as much as we can out of the present moment. People with a terminal illness have an opportunity as they prepare for death for increased prayer, contrition, love of God. However, some are taken very, very quickly. But for those who have the opportunity of knowing with some certainty the time of their death, I’m sure as they look back on their lives, they are saddened by the many times they did not use time and opportunities for the service of the Lord properly, and are overjoyed at those times in which they did use the present opportunity properly. A great means we have of living in the present properly is a greater focus upon our Lord. For if I have that awareness of the fact I am united with Jesus here and now, why should I be concerned so much about the future or the past? Yes, a great help in living in the present and deriving all the good we can from it for ourselves and others is an ever greater focus upon Jesus, because the more I focus upon Jesus and the more I live with Him in the present moment, the more I am satisfied with the present moment. And so let us in our Lenten activity resolve to grow in that self-discipline - which is very difficult at times - to really live in the presence with the fullness of our being as much as is possible, with the help of God’s grace. Now is the day of salvation. Now is the day of salvation.

end of Father Carter's homily

 


                Being an angry person —
                    always angry —
                    always looking for someone who
                        wronged us — is wrong
 


                In religious life, parish — we live to
                    obey rules, live in the structure
                    to promote — unity — a purpose —
                    spiritual growth — rooted in love
 


                If a person never had an intimate relationship
                    because they couldn't get along with
                    others they can only grow in a religious
                    order if they change

                Religious orders exist to love — to help God's
                    love be spread in the world —
                   
                An angry person — acts out anger
                    (1) passively-aggressively
                    (2) openly

                Anger acted out on others hidden,
                    openly — tears down an
                    institution created for love —
                    unity — harmony

                Not obeying the structure, authority is
                    a prescription for failure

                The devil wants souls for hell
                The devil wants to divide people,
                    marriages,
                    parishes

                When the devil works tempting one
                    to block communication —
                    then God's work stops —

                There is to be communication, heads in
                    working in love to do God's work —

                If one party is seeking dominance over
                    the authority to just work in
                    disharmony, do things another
                    way for independence, argumentation,
                    provoking to try to control emotionally
                    by being difficult — making authority
                    fight to get a job accomplished —

                The whole work is threatened by the disobedience
                    of the person challenging and arguing
                    for the sake of anger, jealousy,
                    seeking dominance envy etc. —

                A community, parish, family is made
                    up of members who are not to be
                    jealous, possessive, envious,
                    angry, prideful —

                In the Age of the 2 Hearts promised by
                    Jesus to Fr. Carter —
                    people seek to have pure hearts of
                    love like Jesus and Mary

                Only in hearts made of love - can we grow —
                    survive and live in unity —
                    not these tendencies from the
                    weakened human nature that man
                    can give into when tempted by satan
                For the baptized Catholic to be strong in the family,
                    Church and the world.

                What about the parish?
                                the community?
                                the family?

                Living Consecration to the 2 Hearts

                    (1) Reception of the Eucharist
                    (2) Adoration of the Eucharist
                    (3) Going to confession
                    (4) Praying the rosary
                    (5) Praying the Shepherds of Christ Prayers

 

   

                Our love is intended to go out and touch
                    others — our love should in
                    someway embrace all mankind —

                Our love in parish, community,
                    family is to help build love
                    in the world

                Where anger, jealousy, possessiveness,
                    envy, disobedience to
                    authority, seeking dominance for
                    dominance sake — become the
                    agony in the family, parish,
                    community — where hatred —
                    fighting, pressure is the norm —

                There is no sending out in love —

                Love in communities is not people
                    working on personal problems
                    day and night and
                    not doing the work of the
                    religious order

                The love is in doing God's will
                    serving the religious order in love
                    serving the parish in love

                Where one uses the institution in
                    (1) division, hatred and anger —
                        no work or little work
                        is accomplished

                    (2) for psychological, daily hourly ways to
                            grow in personal relationships
                            and not for the good
                            of the work of the institution

                    It becomes selfish

                    If a person called — (1) fights constantly
                                                        angry —
                                                        No work is done

                                                  (2) works on relationships
                                                    with others — everything
                                                    is geared to making peace
                                                    the mission is ignored

                        Both are selfish

                A religious order exists to grow
                    in greater holiness and to
                    have a relationship of love
                    with God and work in unity
                    with others to accomplish the
                    work of the institution

                In my over 14 years in the Shepherds of Christ
                    I have watched the focus go
                        either way —

                    satan can tempt people working on their
                        relationship with another and
                        that becomes the only focus

                    or satan can tempt people to
                        have a constant fight —
                        division — hatred

                What about serving as the
                    bride of Christ —
                    doing the work at hand
                    Love, unity
                    NOT SELFISH!!
                    SERVICE from a place of strength

                Jesus took on all the wounds and
                    He died for us

                The lack of love breaks through
                    in violence in nations, groups
                    within nations, Violence,
                    Violence, Division, Stealing,
                    Hatred in people

                An endless list of how man is selfish
                    and fails to love his neighbor.

                We as members of the body of Christ
                    are to show love in praying for
                    the priests, the Church and the
                    world

                Love is energy that sends the world
                    to its destiny as God intends —
                    God is love —

                God created us to love
                God redeemed us in love

 

John 3: 16

For this is how God loved the world:
he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him 
    may not perish
but may have eternal life.

    

                Jesus gave Himself to save the world
                We, too, are to give ourselves in love
                    to the world.

                We help to give the image of Christ
                    to the world as we live lives
                    more and more in His image and
                    likeness.

                It is the image of Christ we see
                    here.

 

February 5, 2001

 

                The Image of Christ —

                When God allowed Mary's image to
                    be destroyed did He tell us
                    March 1, 2004
                    we weren't living in the
                    image of Jesus —

                Did He tell us we were to live
                    in the image of Jesus

                Love is energy                    Anger is energy
                Love grows                        Anger grows
                Unity                                 Hatred
                Serving God —                  Division

                We must love our neighbor!!
                If we are to love God — we are to
                love our neighbor — respect our
                neighbor and
                    not go from division
                    to working selfishly now still
                    focusing on ourselves —

                Let's do this work —
                    Loving God is doing our vocation —
                        getting off the self —
                        focus of Me — Me —
                        anger — Me —
                        lets get out of the tomb and
                    have glorified wounds in
                        the Resurrection

                We must know God loves us
                    mightily — in this lies our
                    empowerment —

                St. Paul knew Jesus loved him —

 

Galatians 2: 20

I have been crucified with Christ and yet I am alive; yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me. The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

 

                Our life is to be centered around
                    our relationship with Christ —

                THE CHRISTIC IMAGE

 

February 5 2001

 

                The more we realize how much
                God loves us as an unique
                individual, the more we respond
                to God's love —
                the happier we are —

                This basic relationship needs to be
                    alive in us —
                    everything else falls into place —

                There may be problems and suffering,
                    but our relationship with
                    God gets us through everything.

                We feel secure in God's all powerful
                    love for us —

                God wants us to accomplish
                our on-going transformation
                in Christ —

                This is truth

                God loves us so much!!

                This love permeates our whole
                    being!

                We focus on this for our
                    strength —

                We want to be where God wants
                    us to be loving others —

                We want God to possess our
                    soul

  

Prayer for Union with Jesus

    Come to me, Lord, and possess my soul. Come into my heart and permeate my soul. Help me to sit in silence with You and let You work in my heart.

    I am Yours to possess. I am Yours to use. I want to be selfless and only exist in You. Help me to spoon out all that is me and be an empty vessel ready to be filled by You. Help me to die to myself and live only for You. Use me as You will. Let me never draw my attention back to myself. I only want to operate as You do, dwelling within me.

    I am Yours, Lord. I want to have my life in You. I want to do the will of the Father. Give me the strength to put aside the world and let You operate my very being. Help me to act as You desire. Strengthen me against the distractions of the devil to take me from Your work.

    When I worry, I have taken my focus off of You and placed it on myself. Help me not to give in to the promptings of others to change what in my heart You are making very clear to me. I worship You, I adore You and I love You. Come and dwell in me now.

-God's Blue Book, January 17, 1994

 

                We can be like the prodigal son
                    who thought happiness existed
                    away from his Father's house!!

                The practice of justice allows us
                    to love others by giving them
                    their due

 

1 Corinthians 13: 1-3

Though I command languages both human and angelic—if I speak without love, I am no more than a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. And though I have the power of prophecy, to penetrate all mysteries and knowledge, and though I have all the faith necessary to move mountains—if I am without love, I am nothing. Though I should give away to the poor all that I possess, and even give up my body to be burned—if I am without love, it will do me no good whatever. 

   

                We follow Christ
                We follow Christ crucified
                We follow a glorified Christ

 

1 Corinthians 1: 17-25

After all, Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel; and not by means of wisdom of language, wise words which would make the cross of Christ pointless. The message of the cross is folly for those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us who are on the road to salvation it is the power of God. As scripture says: I am going to destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of any who understand. Where are the philosophers? Where are the experts?  And where are the debaters of this age? Do you not see how God has shown up human wisdom as folly? Since in the wisdom of God the world was unable to recognise God through wisdom, it was God's own pleasure to save believers through the folly of the gospel. While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, we are preaching a crucified Christ: to the Jews an obstacle they cannot get over, to the gentiles foolishness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is both the power of God and the wisdom of God. God's folly is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

     

  

 

 

        

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