aPRIL 15 Third Sunday of Easter
Daniel,
Chapter 10, Verse 7
7 I alone, Daniel,
saw the vision; but great fear seized
those who were with me; they fled and hid themselves, although they did not see
the vision.
What have you to fear with God at your back? We as
the heirs of God’s promises to the Hebrews must have the courage to support and
defend Israel at each threshold of change that God brings about. Yes, there
will be suffering and we must be up to the challenge; to carry our cross, as
God wills it. The Lord is patient and kind yet He is also just. He will right
the evil of man. When man goes too far God intervenes. Is another intervention
coming? Is there a breach in the lines of defense against the forces of darkness?
Have we become fat and gross and gorged with secularism? Have we forsaken the
God who made us and scorned Him? Have we sacrificed to demons, to “no-gods,”?
Good men heed
the message and seek the Divine Mercy of God while there is still time and then
join the battle of God coming into the breach. Read the online message of the
Bishop of Phoenix and be prepared to fight and defend our church.[1]
Third Sunday of Easter[2]
In what does the
perfection of the Christian life consist? In the perfection of love (Col. iii. 14). The more a
man separates himself from the world, and unites himself with God, the more
perfect he will be. We can attain to the perfection of the Christian life by
means of certain excellent practices known as the evangelical counsels which
Jesus Christ lays before us, and to which He calls us, without directly
commanding us to adopt them. So that the difference between the commandments
and the evangelical counsels consists in this: that the commandments bind us by
an indispensable obligation, but the evangelical counsels do not. The
evangelical counsels are:
·
Voluntary
poverty.
·
Perpetual
chastity.
·
Entire
obedience under a spiritual director.
By voluntary poverty is understood a free-will
renunciation of the riches and goods of this world in order to follow Jesus
Christ in His poverty. By perpetual chastity we understand a free-will,
life-long abstinence, not only from everything that is contrary to purity, but
also abstinence from marriage, in order to live only for God and His holy
service in virginal purity. By entire obedience we are to understand a
voluntary renunciation of one’s own will in order to follow the will and
command of a superior whom one chooses for himself. In practicing the
evangelical counsels there are three points to be observed, in order that they
may serve, or help to eternal salvation:
1. They must
be practiced with a pure intention, seeking thereby nothing else than to please
God and to praise His holy name.
2. with great humility, in no way giving ourselves
preference over others.
3. By great fidelity in observing not only what one
has vowed, but also what is commanded. Also, one should live diligently and
strictly according to the commandments; otherwise the practicing of the
evangelical counsels will be of no avail.
Encouragement to Patience in
Adversity
“You shall lament and weep.”
John xvi. 20.
Many
think that true happiness on earth consists in honors, riches, or pleasures,
but Christ, calls, not the rich, but the poor and persecuted, “blessed.” He even predicts to His
disciples nothing but sorrows in this world while to the rich and great, who
set their hearts on this world, He predicts nothing but woe, mourning and
weeping in the world to come. How much, therefore, are they to be pitied, who,
regardless of this truth, think only of spending their days in luxury, but
encourage themselves in the illusory hope of reaching heaven, when Christ and
all saints have ascended thither only by the way of the cross, and of
suffering, and when it is certain that no one can have part in their joys who
has not also first borne part of their sorrows.
Daily Devotions
·
Manhood of
the Master-Day 1 week 12
·
Please
pray for me and this ministry
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