While everyone stands, sits, kneels, shouts, boycotts, fights with this man or that, or this group or that one….
We must never forget what we have been called to be first…
“For through the law I died to the law, that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me.”
Peace
Today’s message from Pope Francis comes after a morning I have spent bringing our Lord in the Eucharist to a Nursing Facility.
As I heard our Holy Fathers message, I was reminded of another video I posted this morning on my Facebook page. One where I did not see a Rhythmic Gymnast, but rather how word, deed and our Lord’s grace come together to fulfill the needs of the weakest among us. We should be “flexible” not “ridged” to His voice, and His grace, willing to say yes to Him, without thinking of self first, at a moments notice. Allowing Him to do the work, though us in exile. Just as we do the work in exile, through Him. Praise, glory and honor to our Lord.
Pope Francis: God is real, too many Christians are fake
I awoke this morning, pondering the Wedding at Cana. Just pondering….
We are baptized with water. Just as our Lord commanded that the empty jars be filled with water. The empty jar is our body. The water and wine, our souls. Over the course of our life, we become like wine. If we lead a life of bitterness and sin, it affects the taste of the wine that is produced. If we lead a life in Christ, we continue on His path, we become sweeter with His word. “Joy”.
The world is a bitter place. If we are left in our bitterness, it adheres to our souls and if you have ever tasted very bitter or dry wine, then you know what I am talking about. “The soldiers gave him wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it” Matthew 27:34
When we adhere to the faith, we receive the sacraments and truly live a holy life, we feed on the Word of God, we consume Him and become obedient to Him, our lives become sweeter and the bitterness of the world simply dissolves. Remember the old saying, you can catch more bees with honey than vinegar? When wine turns to vinegar it becomes tart, sour, acidic, harsh.
When wine becomes wine, tasty and palatable, it is corked and saved to be enjoyed at a later date. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 Through confession, the impurities or the bitterness is removed, cleansing the wine into a fragrant bouquet again. Only our Lord can do that… “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28
“I shall pour clean water over you and you will be cleansed; I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols. I shall give you a new heart, and put a new spirit in you; I shall remove the heart of stone from your bodies and give you a heart of flesh instead. I shall put my spirit in you, and make you keep my laws and sincerely respect my observances.” Ezekiel 36:25-27
“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” Acts 2:3
Far to often we think of the Holy Spirit as a peaceful little dove that chirps ever so slightly and is soft and cuddly. We forget the image of the Holy Spirit as the Fire of God. Well, I did for most of my life. I had always attributed the faith I have to Jesus Christ and God, completely overlooking that my growth in faith is and needs to be attributed to the entire Holy Trinity. God the Father being the Creator, Jesus Christ, the Son of God made Flesh, who took on the form of a Man, lived and worked as you and I and carved the path to freedom, and now both working in us THROUGH the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit being the Fire of God, reshaping our souls into the image we were intended to be, before the fall of man, as God intended. Through every means possibly created by God. With God being the Creator, the Son being the Way and the Holy Spirit being the Work of God or the Will in the world. The unseen and seen physical and spiritual presence of I Am constantly present, constantly completing the tasks, or the details of the supernatural made natural in order for the soul to attain the freedom it seeks through Christ Jesus.
Peg Pondering Again 