GOD LOVES ME

CONSIDER, in the first place, God deserves to be loved by you, since He loved you first, that you might love Him and He, has been the first of all to love you.

“I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” (Jer xxxi: 3).

The first to love you on earth, were your parents but they did not love you before they knew you but God, loved you before you had any being. When neither your father nor your mother were in the world, God loved you when the world was not even created, God loved you. And how long before the creation of the world did God love you? Perhaps a thousand years or ages. There is no need to reckon years and ages. Know, that God has loved you from eternity!

“ I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn Thee.” (Jer xxxi: 3)'

In short, God has loved you since He has been God; as long as He has loved Himself, He has loved you. Therefore, St Agnes had good reason to say: “I am prevented by another love.” When the world and the creature demanded her love, she answered: “No, O world, no, O creature, I cannot love you. My God has been the first to love me and it is, therefore, right that I should consecrate my love to God alone.”

PERSEVERANCE

 “IT is of the many to begin, of the few to persevere,” writes St Jerome.

Saul, Judas, Tertullian, began well but they ended badly, since they did not persevere in good.

“In Christians, the beginnings are not sought for but the end,” continues St. Jerome and St Bonaventure confirms this by saying: “Perseverance alone is crowned.”

Hence, St Laurence Justinian calls perseverance “the door of Heaven.”

So that he cannot enter into Heaven who cannot find the gate of entrance. My brother, you have at this present time abandoned sin and may justly hope that you have been pardoned, in this case, you are the friend of God but know that you are still, not saved. And when will you be saved? When you have persevered even to the end!

“He who shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

Have you begun the good life? thank the Lord but St Bernard warns you: “The reward is promised to those beginning, it is given to those who persevere.” It is not enough to run for the prize but we must run until we obtain it, or, as the Apostle says: “So run that ye may obtain.” (i Cor ix: 24).

Pray for the grace of the Lord, frequent Holy Communion, make a daily meditation. Blessed are you if you have progressed to do thus and if, so doing, Jesus Christ shall find you, when He comes to judge you.

“Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing.” (Matt xxiv:46)

 

How devotion to the Sacred Heart opens our heart to God

 written by Philip Kosloski - published on 10/22/24

Pope Benedict XVI believed devotion to the Sacred Heart was very beneficial and could open our own hearts to God's never failing love.

Many popes in the last 100 years have had a special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, frequently encouraging it and writing about it in their homilies, speeches and letters.

Pope Benedict XVI wove it into a number of his writings and speeches, such as a letter he wrote on the 50th anniversary of the encyclical, Haurietis Aquas.

Opening us to the love of God

He reflected on devotion to the Sacred Heart and explained how it can open our own hearts to God:

When we practice this devotion, not only do we recognize God's love with gratitude but we continue to open ourselves to this love so that our lives are ever more closely patterned upon it. God, who poured out his love "into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (cf. Rom 5:5), invites us tirelessly to accept his love. The main aim of the invitation to give ourselves entirely to the saving love of Christ and to consecrate ourselves to it (cf. Haurietis Aquas, n. 4) is, consequently, to bring about our relationship with God.

Pope Benedict XVI went so far as to say that the devotion, "has an irreplaceable importance for our faith and for our life in love."

Furthermore, the love we experience from Jesus' Sacred Heart can help us love our neighbor:

Whoever inwardly accepts God is moulded by him. The experience of God's love should be lived by men and women as a "calling" to which they must respond. Fixing our gaze on the Lord, who "took our infirmities and bore our diseases" (Mt 8:17), helps us to become more attentive to the suffering and need of others.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus remains a beautiful devotion, one that helps to form our heart and open it to God and our neighbor.

 THE POWER OF PRAYER

Do you believe that prayer has the power to make a difference? 

Yes, if it is done in the spirit that God expects from us.

Father Matthew describes how a family started praying when their son was in a car crash. That was the first time they prayed as a family. As they waited, word spread to countless people who started praying, begging God to save him. 

Prayer is now a daily part of this family's life. It's never too late to begin prayer life. Jesus' message to us is to pray always, and to never lose heart.

 If we don't receive what we ask for in prayer, does that mean we should stop praying altogether?

Of course not. We should exercise patience and be humble before God to shower upon us his graces, when He wants and how He wants and in the abandance He wants. Do not expect that the moment we prayer, God accede to our request there and then. God wants to see our perseverance in prayer and would want to test our faith in Him.

 If we do not receive what we ask for, it means that what we requested from God is detrimental to us. 

Does a father give a knife to his small son just because he was fascinated by the glittering object in the sun?

He gives him son something else which glitters but is not harmful

God our Father is not going to give us that which harms us. But rest assured that God will give us something else instead, which is beneficial to us.

 

THOUGHTS FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Consider the shortness of time, the length of eternity and reflect, how everything here below comes to an end and passes by. Of what use is it then, to lean upon that which cannot give support?”

St Gerard Majella (1726-1755)

Good, better, best. Never let it rest. 'Til your good is better and your better is best. 

St. Jerome

A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love. 

Saint Basil

Be gentle to all and stern with yourself. 

Saint Teresa of Avila

The friendship that can cease has never been real. 

St. Jerome

 THE MORE GENEROUS WE ARE THE MORE WE GET IN RETURN

Whoever sows sparringly, will also reap sparringly. 

Whoever sows abundantly, will also reap undoubtedly. 

The level of our dedication will be comparable to what we get out of it. 

Think of an athlete wanting to compete at a high level. Think of students doing their homework. It applies to our friendships, and it applies to our faith. 

Our faith will either dwindle or blossom depending on the measure that we give.

 In the Our Father prayer, we think of the measure of mercy our Father gives to us being comparable to the mercy we show to those who trespass against us. 

Let us give gratitude and thanks to our Lord for His generosity towards us.