WEEK SIXTEEN: IN THE UPPER ROOM DAY 1
Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4b
MORNING FACE TO FACE WITH GOD:
Begin with Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Prayer on John 15: 15-16: I have called you Friends: "I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you."
Read the Reflection; then pray using John 15: 15-16; ask for sorrow with Christ in sorrow, anguish with Christ in anguish, tears and deep grief because of the great affliction Christ endures for me (#203).
This passage is best understood within the context of a covenant relationship where the offering of oneself to the other is total. As a result, one lives for the other who becomes the apple of the eye. Jesus did that in wanting to establish us in a new and eternal covenant with His Father. The Sinless One went to the extent of becoming sin (2 Corinthians 5: 21) on our behalf, becoming the Suffering Servant by whose stripes we were healed (Isaiah 53: 5). He truly became our slave so that we might enter and share in God's freedom from sin, and love beyond measure. In our passage, Jesus is hinting at the fact that even while he treated his disciples as friends, meaning he wanted to share everything of Himself and the Trinity, they were not yet ready and disposed. However, with His forthcoming death and resurrection, He would bring about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The disciples would be transformed and truly know what it means to be the friends of Jesus, because they would be living and experiencing covenant life and union with the Triune God. It is Jesus who makes this covenant union with God possible for us: "I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you."
Begin with Prayer to the Holy Spirit
Prayer on John 15: 15-16: I have called you Friends: "I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you."
Read the Reflection; then pray using John 15: 15-16; ask for sorrow with Christ in sorrow, anguish with Christ in anguish, tears and deep grief because of the great affliction Christ endures for me (#203).
This passage is best understood within the context of a covenant relationship where the offering of oneself to the other is total. As a result, one lives for the other who becomes the apple of the eye. Jesus did that in wanting to establish us in a new and eternal covenant with His Father. The Sinless One went to the extent of becoming sin (2 Corinthians 5: 21) on our behalf, becoming the Suffering Servant by whose stripes we were healed (Isaiah 53: 5). He truly became our slave so that we might enter and share in God's freedom from sin, and love beyond measure. In our passage, Jesus is hinting at the fact that even while he treated his disciples as friends, meaning he wanted to share everything of Himself and the Trinity, they were not yet ready and disposed. However, with His forthcoming death and resurrection, He would bring about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The disciples would be transformed and truly know what it means to be the friends of Jesus, because they would be living and experiencing covenant life and union with the Triune God. It is Jesus who makes this covenant union with God possible for us: "I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you."
What was Jesus asking of His Father? You can not give what you do not have. I awoke this morning with the image of the burning Bush in my thoughts, been thinking about this burning bush for awhile now. Jesus as Son of Man lived with the burning bush, He turned to Him regularly and felt the warmth that He gives. On this side of Heaven that is what Jesus is asking of His Father, that His people be fed. That they understand where the source of all life comes from. The world that we live in denies His existence, it distracts you from the Father, it will paint pictures of deception that draws you down. In the burning bush there is peace, there is joy, there is wisdom, there is insight. You have been chosen by God to go to the burning bush, to be called friends. Live the faith as Jesus lives it.
What is God saying to you? The burning bush is a common sight for you, for another it is foreign but in revealing the Truth, they are attracted to its glow and want what I give.
What is God saying to you? The burning bush is a common sight for you, for another it is foreign but in revealing the Truth, they are attracted to its glow and want what I give.
Dear Father, may I not assume that common practice is not common. Help me see the deception that is being played in my life daily and keep me from falling in to the trap. Thank You Father for the constant reminder of how precious Your love is once we have found You. Help me not take for granted the graces that are freely received in my life. Prayers for friends taking a walk of faith, build them up Lord and prepare them for the mountain top. Prayers for family in lockdown in Ireland may they never forget the teachings of Jesus and witness to the truth that lives within. Bless this day Father skin with all the Irish. Amen.
Mary, Queen of Heaven, Pray for us.
St Joesph, Watchful Defender of Christ, Pray for us.
St Patrick, Pray for us
Viva Cristo Rey.
Day 8 - Novena to St Joesph
Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4b
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