Isaiah, Chapter 50, verse 10
Who among you fears the LORD,
heeds his servant’s voice? Whoever walks in darkness, without any light, yet
trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon their God!
The
English Standard version of the bible states this verse accordingly, “Who
among you fears the Lord and obeys
the voice of his servant? Let him who
walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on
his God.”
It
has been said the body is an excellent servant but a poor master. When we obey
the voice of our servant the body it ultimately leads to our destruction and eventually
we walk in darkness. Yet, when we trust in the Lord and master our bodies from
addiction and or lusts of the flesh we thrive. God’s ultimate wish is for us to
thrive. The Lord offers a choice to those who walk in darkness: either trust in
the true light, or walk in their false light and suffer the consequences.
James
1:12-15 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he
is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to
them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for
God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is
tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust
hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death.”
Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/15-bible-verses-to-help-with-addiction/#ixzz3PFN0cxd2
So
let our sacrifice be in your presence today as we follow you unreservedly; for
those who trust in you cannot be put to shame. And now we follow you with our
whole heart, we fear you and we pray
to you. Do not let us be put to shame, but deal with us in your kindness and
great mercy. (Dn. 3:40-42)
Mid-Lent,
the week from the Wednesday before to the Wednesday after Laetare Sunday, is a
note of joy within the context of sorrow. The perfect symbol of this complex
emotion is the rose vestments worn on Laetare Sunday instead of penitential
purple or exultant white. Rose stands somewhere in between, as a sort of joyous
variation of purple. The last day of Mid-Lent is when catechumens would learn
the Apostles' Creed for the first time; the days leading up to that great
revelation were thus for them a cause for gladness. This spirit eventually
permeated to the rest of the community as "a measure of consoling
relaxation... so that the faithful might not break down under the severe
strains of the Lenten fast but may continue to bear the restrictions with a
refreshed and easier heart" (Pope Innocent III (d. 1216)).
Mid-Lent customs predominantly involve
pre-Christian celebrations concerning the "burial" of winter, where
flower decorations and the like betoken the joyous end of the cold and dark.
There are also customs involving either matchmaking or announcing the
engagements of young couples. In either case, a joyous meal is celebrated
during this time.
In
England Laetare Sunday came to be known as "Mothering" Sunday because
it was the day that apprentices and students were released from their duties to
visit their mother church, i.e., the church in which they had been baptized and
brought up. This custom tied into the theme of Mother Jerusalem
Devotion to the Trinity[2]
The
Trinity is the sum, substance, subject and object of our prayer. We are baptized
in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. One God who is three
persons is a mystery too deep for anyone to fathom. St. Teresa of Avila had a
vision on the Trinity she stated, “What
was represented to me were three distinct persons, for we can behold and speak
to each one. Afterward I reflected that only the Son took human flesh, through
which this truth of the Trinity was seen. These persons love, communicate with,
and know each other…and this is a very great truth…In all three persons there
is no more than one will, one power, and one dominion, in such a way that one
cannot do anything without the others.” St. John Paul II stated also, “God in his deepest mystery is not a solitude but a family, since he has
in himself fatherhood, sonship, and the essence of family, which is love.” We
are created for the sake of love. According to the Catechism of the Catholic
Church; (234) the mystery of the Most
Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It is the
mystery of God in Himself. It is therefore the source of all the other
mysteries of faith, the light that enlightens them. It is the most fundamental
and essential teaching in the "hierarchy of the truths of faith". The
whole history of salvation is identical with the history of the way and the
means by which the one true God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, reveals himself
to men "and reconciles and unites with himself those who turn away from
sin". God the Father sent the Son so that we might receive the Spirit. God
became what we are, so that we might become what He is. He assumed our nature,
so that we might share in His. Heaven is nothing other than the sharing, that communion,
and it has begun with our baptism. All the sacraments and all Catholic liturgy
are about the Blessed Trinity. We have been taken up into the life of the
Trinity, even now. We do not have to wait to live in heaven, Heaven has come to
us—though we still await the day of consummation, when we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is (Jn. 3:2). Our very nature speaks of the trinity
through our Mind, emotions and will. Will to serve!
Whom do you serve? What is the
first thing you think of when you get up or the last thing before you sleep? We
all serve something; whom or what do you serve?
FOLLOW ONE MASTER ONLY
What
a sad life does he lead who wants both to please the world and to serve God! It
is a great mistake to make, my friends. Apart from the fact that you are going
to be unhappy all the time, you can never attain the stage at which you will be
able to please the world and please God. It is as impossible a feat as trying
to put an end to eternity. Take the advice that I am going to give you now and
you will be less unhappy: give yourselves wholly to God or else wholly to the
world. Do not look for and do not serve more than one master, and once you have
chosen the one you are going to follow, do not leave him. You surely remember
what Jesus Christ said to you in the Gospel: you cannot serve God and Mammon;
that is to say, you cannot follow the world and the pleasures of the world and
Jesus Christ with His Cross. Of course you would be quite willing to follow God
just so far and the world just so far! Let me put it even more clearly: you
would like it if your conscience, if your heart, would allow you to go to the
altar in the morning and the dance in the evening; to spend part of the day in
church and the remainder in the cabarets or other places of amusement; to talk
of God at one moment and the next to tell obscene stories or utter calumnies
about your neighbor; to do a good turn for your next-door neighbor on one
occasion and on some other to do him harm; in other words, to do good and speak
well when you are with good people and to do wrong when you are in bad company.[3]
[2]
Hahn, Scott, Signs of Life; 40 Catholic Customs and their biblical roots. Chap.
34. Devotion to the Trinity.
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