Matthew 5: 1-12a Learning To Love
Who am I? A beautiful gift from God.
What am I here for? To be a Saint.
What must I do? The Father’s Will.
What is the Father’s Will? To love Him; serve Him and to give him to others.
What is the best way of doing it? Follow the beatitudes.
“Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” There is no other name above heaven or below the earth that saves. Jesus is our Lord and Savior! The difference between a saint and a sinner is simple. A saint is someone who knows they are a sinner and needs a savior! A sinner is someone who thinks they are a saint and needs no one. Christ is my Lord and my Savior! He is the first to create me and he will be the last to save me. He must be my first thought, word and action in the morning and my last thought, word and action in the evening. He completes the story of my life!
To be a Saint requires putting things in order, cleaning up our room. First is God, then everything else. “Come follow me” really means I come first. If I put God first in my life, then I can be sure that whatever follows will be worthwhile and everlasting.
To be a Saint does not require a PhD, tremendous talents or lots of work. It does not mean doing great things. It does not mean doing small things. It means doing all things out of love, unselfish selfless love.
The Lord called each of us into existence. He calls us by name. He calls us by our first name, “Matthew!”, “Peter!” And he calls us for a reason: to be Holy! The Lord calls us to holiness: “St Matthew!”, “St. Peter!” We are all called to be Saints. Therefore, we should all be able to die as canonizable Saints! To be a Saint means to ask the tough questions, "Who is God?" and "Who am I?", and to find the answer: the Way, the Truth and the Life!
Today, allow the Lord to do to you what he did for us: take you, break you and give you to others. Allow him to teach you the meaning of love: “There is no greater love than this, to lay down your life for others.” Allow him to do something very beautiful through you!
It would be wonderful to read the life of one of your favorite saints, or to live up to the holy name you took the day of your confirmation. The Lord taught us to “not be afraid.” He told us this for a reason. It can be very scary letting go of the handle bars, removing the training wheels, or getting rid of the breaks, but in the end, it is the only way that we can honestly say it is no longer I who live in me but Christ who lives and breathes and works through me!
Thanks Father!!!!!!!!!! beautiful.......
ReplyDeleteFather Alfonse,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your daily meditations. They have really helped me on my journey to God. I am now wanting to know and understand more about all aspects of my faith. The fire of the Holy Spirit has been rekindled. Of course, just because of my nature, there will be battles between wills. In the end, I will always surrender to His will.
When one has truly given their life to Christ, they will never lose hope and let fear rule them. God has just created us all differently. Some can just let go of the handle bars and take off. While some have to let go a little at a time, holding on less and less. Christ knows this about me and has put people in my life to give me a jump start or should I say "a kick in the pants".
Heavenly Father, thank you for the homework. I can't believe how my life mimics the life of my Confirmation Saint. Nothing happens accidentally, all things are gifted providentially.
This is in response to anonymous #3. On Father's blog the other day, I think it was the one about "nothing is greater than love", which is not human love but God's love, something was mentioned about "nothing is Greater than God or worse than the devil." If this is true, what would keep a person from Confession and the Eucharist so they could start healing and be reunited with Jesus? Last time I went to Confession my confessor told me that having certain feelings or temptations was not the sin, but what I did with those feelings and temptations could lead me to the sin. Or maybe I am wrong? I hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to your observation, "to find the answer: the Way, the Truth and the Life". I found it a a revelation to me too, at the Souls Day mass. I expressed it in a picture form.
ReplyDeletehttp://jenxexplorer.blogspot.com/2010/11/revelation.html
Thank you Father for your daily spiritual guidance.
Praise God!