SCRIPTURE

GOD’S COVENANTAL PROMISES

SCRIPTURE

The Promise of a Savior!

God chose to reveal His plan of salvation through His Covenantal promises. Covenants and contracts are not the same. . In a covenant you exchange your very being, “I am yours and you are mine.” In a contract, you exchange something you have – a skill, a piece of property, money.

The difference between covenant and contract in the Old Testament and throughout the Bible is profound. it’s the difference between prostitution (contract) and marriage (covenant). Or between owning a slave (contract) and having a son (covenant.)  .

Biblical Covenants
1. Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26–2:3)
2. Noah and his family (Genesis 9:8-17)
3. Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-14; 22:16-18)
4. Moses and the Israelites (Exodus 19:5-6; 3:4-10; 6:7)
5. David and the Kingdom of Israel (2 Samuel 7:8-19)
6. Jesus and the Church (Matthew 26:28; 16:17-19)
Each covenant in the Bible contain

* Mediator (the person God makes the covenant with) and his covenant role (whom the mediator represents);
* the blessings promises in the covenant;
* the conditions of the covenant;
* the “sign” by which the covenant will be celebrated and remembered. 
* the “form” that God’s family becomes as a result of the covenant.

The Covenant with Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26–2:3)

Adam is the covenant mediator in his role as husband. God promises blessings – that their union will be fruitful and their offspring will fill the earth and rule over it. God establishes a sign by which the covenant will be remembered and celebrated – the Sabbath, the seventh day of rest.  God imposes one condition that they must keep to fulfill their obligation under the covenant – that they not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And God attaches a curse for disobedience – that they will surely die. By this covenant, God’s family assumes the form of the marriage bond between husband and wife.

  

The Covenant with Noah (Genesis 9:8-17)

God promises never again to destroy the world by flood. The covenant is made with all humanity, through the mediator, Noah, in his role as the father of his family.

The covenant includes blessings to Noah and his family (that they will be fruitful and fill the earth) and conditions that must be obeyed (not to drink the blood of any animals, not to shed human blood). The sign of the covenant is the rainbow in the sky. By this covenant, God’s people assumes the form of a domestic household, an extended family.

The Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3; 17:1-14; 22:16-18)

God promises to give Abraham a great land and to bless his descendants. God makes the covenant with the mediator Abraham in his representative role as chieftain. God promises the blessings of land and a great nationhood for his descendants, and through them to bless all the nations of the earth.

The sign of the covenant is the mark of circumcision.  an outward physical sign of the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people.  For the Israelites. circumcision was a religious rite representing God’s blessings and Israel obedience to God. Circumcision and what it represents is also the condition that Abraham and his descendants must obey in order to keep the covenant. By this covenant, God’s family takes a “tribal” form.

REFLECTION

 God’s covenant with Abraham is a promise of a great nation as long as they keep the sign of the covenant.  Of course, we know from history the many times Israel  lost their great nation by straying from God’s will, the Syrians, the Persions, the Romans…

How is our nation doing today?  What is my part in bringing our nation back to God?

 The Covenant with Moses (Exodus 19:5-6; 3:4-10; 6:7)

By this covenant, made with the mediator Moses in his representative role as the judge and liberator of Israel, God swears to be Israel’s God and Israel swears to worship no other but the Lord God alone. The blessings promised are that they will be God’s precious chosen people.

The conditions of the covenant are that they must keep God’s Law and commandments.  The covenant sign is the Passover, which each year commemorates Israel’s birth as a nation. God’s family assumes the form of a “holy nation, a kingdom of priests.”

REFLECTION

 Israel swears to worship no other God but the Lord God alone!

How about us?  How many false gods out there tempt us, riches?, fame,? pleasure? …

When we fall to temptation what do we do? do we deny it, make excuses, or reconcile with God?

The Covenant with David (2 Samuel 7:8-19)
God promises to establish the mediator David’s “house” or kingdom forever. through David’s heir, To David in his role as king, God promises to make David’s son His son, to punish David if he does wrong but never take away his royal throne. “Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever.” Through the blessings of this kingdom, God promises to give wisdom to all the nations. The sign of the covenant will be the throne and Temple to be built by David’s son, Solomon. By this covenant, God’s family grows to take the form of a royal empire, a national kingdom.

 

I AM THE WAY,THE TRUTH, THE LIFE

The sixth and final covenant is made through the mediator Jesus, who by His Cross and Resurrection assumes the role of royal high priest and fulfills all the promises God made in the previous covenants.

The Bible isn’t simply a collection of separate poems and histories and prophecies written over the course of centuries. It’s one book that tells a single story.  The Bible is the story of God’s love for His people. It’s the story of how God slowly and patiently unfolded his plan for the world, how He taught His people the reason they were created – to share His life with Him, to be part of His family, to be His children.  He wants us to share in His very Being in the most  Blessed Trinity.

 though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God

something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself,

taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness;*

and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death,

even death on a cross.*

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name*

that is above every other name,

Phillipians 2:6-11

 

 

 

 

MEDITATIONS GOSPEL OF JOHN

SCRIPTURE

SCRIPTURE JOHN 12:1-8

 

the anointing at Bethany

Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was reclining at table with him.

Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.

Then Judas the Iscariot, one [of] his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?”

He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.

 Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

REFLECTION

Is Jesus putting down poor people? Is Jesus dismissive of the poor?

Of course not! Looking at his disciples Jesus said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God’” Luke 6:20.

“when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” Luke 14:13-14.

Jesus knew the heart of Judas, a man not so interested in caring for others but what he could gather for himself.  Are we selfish in similar ways?  Are our motives for charitable acts always pure or do we sometimes look to call attention to ourselves?

SCRIPTURE JOHN 12:23-33; 44-50

the coming of Jesus’ hour.

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains just a grain of wheat but if it dies, it produces much fruit.

Jesus responded: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat but if it dies, it produces much fruit…

Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.

Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me.t

Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world* will be driven out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.”

Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.

Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day, because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.

REFLECTION

God’s ways are not our ways.  Who back then or now for that matter thinks death by crucifixion is a moment to celebrate? 

It is at our own peril to second guess God.

Jesus defines clearly what a disciple of his must be. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. 

Can we drink the cup Jesus must drink? Do we serve in this world as Jesus did?

Even Jesus in his humanity had trouble accepting His Father’s will,

Father, save me from this hour. John 12:27

 Just like us Jesus doesn’t enjoy suffering but suffering may be necessary to fulfill the Father’s will.  Trust in God! 

God knows the full picture and if God can bring glory out of the greatest suffering, the passion and death of His only begotten Son, what is the good God will bring out of our small suffering here on this earth.

I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Jesus did not come to condemn but save! We are free to embrace Jesus or not, again at our own peril!

when I am lifted up from the earth,

I will draw everyone to myself.

 

TYPOLOGY THE PROMISE OF A SAVIOR

SCRIPTURE


JESUS CHRIST LORD AND SAVIOR

When reading the Bible, you may have noticed some people and events seem familiar like you have already read something similar. Well, that is true if you read from both the Old Testament and the New Testament and there is a name for this experience

The Old Testament is fully unveiled in the New Testament. In the New Testament the Old is perfectly fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ The technical name for seeing the New Testament in the Old Testament is called typology. Typology is the study of the Bible as a unified whole with Christ at the center.

I will now share with you a few of the types found in the Old Testament

ADAM

Jesus is the New Adam giving us life rather than death. Early Christian writers spoke of Jesus as the New Adam. They took this from what Paul said concerning Christ;

The first Adam was disobedient which resulted in original sin and death. Jesus was obedient which resulted in salvation and life. Just as through one person sin entered the world, and the many died…, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person, Jesus Christ, overflow for the many… Romans 5:8

ABRAHAM

The LORD said to Abram: Go forth* from your land, your relatives, and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing Genesis 12:1-2

Abraham was a type of Christ in that he was the prototypical stranger and foreigner. Like the Redeemer, He functionally “had nowhere to lay his head.” Abraham was to be the Father of many nations. Jesus came to call all nations, the everlasting Father of all,

ISAAC

Sometime afterward, God put Abraham to the test and said Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. And there offer him up as a burnt offering on one of the heights that I will point out to you Genesis 22:1-2

Isaac was a type of Christ in that he was the promised “son of Abraham.” The promises of God were given directly to Abraham with respect to His son . Just as Isaac’s birth was the result of the supernatural power of God so too was it true of Jesus. Isaac carried the wood on his back for the sacrifice as Jesus carried his cross.

MELCHIZEDEK

“Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and being a priest of God Most High, he blessed Abram with these words: Blessed be Abram by God Most High, the creator of heaven and earth; And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your foes into your hand.”

Genesis 14:18-19

“The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent: ‘You are a priest forever'”-in the order of – Melchizedek …. It was fitting that we should have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners…He has no need, as did the high priests, to offer sacrifice day after day, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did that once for all when he offered himself. Hebrews 7:17-22

Melchizedek offers bread and wine to Abraham

MOSES

Moses’ mission was to free Israel from slavery to Egypt. Jesus delivers us from the slavery of sin.

Then the LORD said to Moses: Come up to me on the mountain and, while you are there, I will give you the stone tablets on which I have written the commandments intended for their instruction. Genesis 24:12

Moses receives Ten Commandments

In the New Testament Jesus explains the Ten Commandments more fully in the Beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. When he saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat   down…, He began to teach them, saying: The Beatitudes*… Matthew 5:1-2

JONAH

The story of Jonah and the whale from the Old Testament prefigures Christ’s burial, the stomach of the whale as Christ’s tomb: Jonah was freed from the whale after three days, so did Christ rise from his tomb after three days.

“This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; their wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah 2:11

Jonah tried to run away from his mission, “But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah; and he remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. On the third day Jonah was “resurrected” from the belly of the fish. After Jesus’ death He was placed in a tomb

“Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it (in) clean linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock. Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and departed.” Matthew 27:60

On the third day Jesus rose from the dead.

“After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.….. Then the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said.” Matthew 28:1-10

DAVID

David was a shepherd from Bethlehem who was chosen by God to be the King of Israel. David was a mighty warrior King. Jesus is the mighty warrior King. David was a shepherd/King who ruled over God’s people in faithfulness. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and the King of Kings who rules over God’s people in perfect covenantal faithfulness.

PRAYER TO JESUS LORD AND SAVIOR

Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God, that you died on the cross to rescue me from sin and death and to restore me to the Father.

I choose now to turn from my sins, my self-centeredness, and every part of my life that does not please you. I choose you. Please forgive me. Live in me. Love through me.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

YOUR HOMEWORK IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO IT FIND OTHER EXAMPLES OF TYPOLOGY IN THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.

1 JOHN CHAPTER 4:7-23 GOD IS LOVE

CATHOLIC LETTERS

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him.,,

GOD IS LOVE

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. Love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and He in us, that He has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, remains in God..

JOHN 3:16 GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD

God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him. In this is love brought to perfection among us, that we have confidence on the Day of Judgment because as He is, so are we in this world.

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment, and so one who fears is not yet perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.

If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God* whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

“Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

 

BREAD OF LIFE DISCOURSE JOHN 6:22-52

SCRIPTURE

BREAD OF LIFE DISCOURSE

 “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life” John 6:22–27

Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” John 6:51 The Jews disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’” John 6:52.

Many of the Jews found this discourse not only intellectually and religiously problematic but even nauseating. According to the Torah, Blood is the vital principal of life and belongs to God alone, and ought not be brought under the control of human beings.

In the Noah story, we find this divine directive: “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood” Gen. 9:3–4

We find the same prohibition among the legal decrees in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy: “It shall be a perpetual statute through your generations, in all your settlements: you must not eat any fat or any blood” Leviticus. 3:17

 “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood; for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat” Deuteronomy. 12:23

At the conclusion of this Eucharistic discourse, Jesus practically lost his entire Church: “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’” John 6:60.

MANY TURNED AWAY AND LEFT HIM  John 6:66

If Jesus were speaking only at the symbolic level, why would this theology be hard to accept?  If Jesus wanted to soften his teaching, to place it in a metaphorical or symbolic sense of the words he was using, this would have been the perfect opportunity

But in this case, Jesus didn’t spiritualize his rhetoric; just the contrary. He said, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” John 6:53

Jesus boldly brings this real presence home in the crucial conclusion, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me” John 6:56–57.

The very earliest theology of the Eucharist is found in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, penned probably in the early fifties of the first century.

Paul speaks of the intense identification that is effected between Jesus and his Church precisely through the Eucharist: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?” 1 Cor. 10:16.

.When “many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him” John 6:66. Jesus then turned to his inner circle, the Twelve, and asked, bluntly enough: “Do you also wish to go away?” John 6:67.

In response to Jesus’ question, Peter, as is often the case in the Gospels, spoke for the group: “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” John 6:68–69.

IS PETER’S RESPONSE MY RESPONSE AS WELL?

THIS IS MY BODY TAKE AND EAT

THIS IS MY BLOOD TAKE AND DRINK

1 JOHN CHAPTER 3:1-19

CATHOLIC LETTERS

 

1 JOHN CHAPTER 3:1-19

 See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.

 The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.

 We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is…

FOR NOW, WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

1 CORINTHIANS 13:12

[REFLECTION]

We see and hear God through Jesus but even Jesus’s divinity is masked to our limited human brains.  What it must be like when God allows… makes possible one on one relationship, all in all, My imagination is inadequate to even approach that kind of transformation and glory.  What it must be like, Praise God!

I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them [as their God]

He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, [for] the old order has passed away. Revelation 21:3-4

RESUME 1 JOHN CHAPTER 3:7-18

Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil.

No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way, the children of God and the children of the devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother.

 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.

Do not be amazed, [then,] brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death.

 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth

WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR? WHOEVER NEEDS ME!

 [REFLECTION]

My reflection is the Scripture passage from Letter of James.

 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

 If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?

 So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. JAMES 2:14-17

 

 

 

 

1 JOHN CHAPTER 2

CATHOLIC LETTERS, SCRIPTURE

LETTERS (EPISTLES) OF ST. JOHN

INTRODUCTION

Saint John the Apostle is considered the author of these letters, written soon after his gospel. The purpose of the letter is to combat certain false ideas, especially about Jesus.

The letter is of particular value for its declaration of the humanity and divinity of Christ as an apostolic teaching and for its development of the intrinsic connection between Christian moral conduct and Christian doctrine.

 1 JOHN CHAPTER 2

My children, I am writing this to you so that you may not commit sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one. He is expiation for our sins…The way we may be sure that we know him is to keep his Commandments.

Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

 But whoever keeps his word, the love of God is truly perfected in him. This is the way we may know that we are in union with him. Whoever claims to abide in him ought to live [just] as he lived.

[REFLECTION

Jesus is the Way, The Truth, and the Life John 14:6 Jesus is the way to the Father. Jesus is the fork in the road we must choose.  To do otherwise by choosing any other god of this world is the road to destruction leaving collateral damage in our wake as we pursue our way over God’s.]

BACK TO JOHN’S EPISTLE, 1 JOHN CHAPTER 2:7

 The New Commandment

[“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Matthew 5:17]

Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to you but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. And yet I do write a new commandment to you, which holds true in him and among you, for the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.

 Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall. Whoever hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes…

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself 

LUKE 10:27

I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one. Do not love the world or the things of the world.* If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, sensual lust,* enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world…

SATAN IS A LIAR  JOHN 8:44

I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth. Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ; whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the Antichrist. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.

Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life….

Children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming. If you consider that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who acts in righteousness is begotten by him.

I AM THE VINE YOU ARE THE BRANCHES

JOHN 15:5

1 PETER CHAPTER 4

CATHOLIC LETTERS

LETTER OF ST. PETER

CHRISTIAN RESTRAINT 1-6

Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same attitude. For whoever suffers in the flesh has broken with sin, so as not to spend what remains of one’s life in the flesh on human desires, but on the will of God.

For the time that has passed is sufficient for doing what the Gentiles like to do: living in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and wanton idolatry.

They are surprised that you do not plunge into the same swamp of profligacy, and they vilify you; but they will give an account to him who stands ready to judge the living and the dead

REFLECTION

We must deny ourselves daily and attach ourselves to the will of God.  We must fast from more than food.  We must remove ourselves from any addiction that separates us from God.

If Christ suffered from deprivation why not us his disciples?  We certainly are not superior to the Master.  The flesh is weak and easily manipulated by the devil as he tempts us to choose to be our own gods like he did our first parents. .

The Gentiles (The World) vilifies Christians for not participating in their depravity.  The pressure to go along to get along is immense! Many man-made laws go against God’s laws.  We must choose to love God and His will over the way of the world that subjects us to the latest trends and popular poll numbers.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.   Matthew 7:13-14

SAINT PETER MARTYR

You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,  The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Matthew 16:18

 TRIAL OF PERSECUTION 12-19

Beloved, do not be surprised that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as if something strange were happening to you. But rejoice to the extent that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice exultantly.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.  But let no one among you be made to suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as an intriguer….

And if the righteous one is barely saved, where will the godless and the sinner appear?” As a result, those who suffer in accord with God’s will, hand their souls over to a faithful creator as they do good.

REFLECTION

 Peter was a martyr for the faith.  “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.”

Persecution of Christians may not be as bloody today as it was in earlier centuries but the un-bloody persecution today is just as severe and prevalent.

“If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you…            John 15:18-20

….Let us rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us   Hebrews 12:1

OBEDIENCE OF FAITH CATHOLIC CATECHISM #144

 To obey in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself… The Virgin Mary is its most perfect embodiment.

 

 

 

1 PETER CHAPTER 2

1 Comment / CATHOLIC LETTERS

LETTER OF ST. PETER

 INTRODUCTION

Christian tradition regarded Peter the apostle as author of this document.  Its themes and concepts reflect Peter’s experiences and his associations in the period of our Lord’s earthly ministry.

Peter’s letters both inspire and admonish. The letters constantly mingles moral exhortation to persevere in the way of the Lord.  As we suffer with Christ we will rise with Christ if we remain faithful, 

 Letters of Peter, together with the Letters of James the three Letters of John and the Letter of Jude are part of the seven so-called Catholic Letters.

As the history of the New Testament canon shows, the Catholic Letters were among the last of the biblical literature to be settled on as canonical.  Peter was martyred at Rome during the persecution of Nero between A.D. 64 and 67, it is supposed that the letter was written from Rome shortly before his death.

1 PETER CHAPTER 2

God’s House and People. 1-12

Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Come to him, a living stone,* rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it says in scripture: “Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion, a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.” Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:

“The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,” and “A stone that will make people stumble, and a rock that will make them fall. They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.

But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were “no people” but now you are God’s people; you “had not received mercy” but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners* to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul. Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that if they speak of you as evildoers, they may observe your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation.

 REFLECTION

a cornerstone, chosen and precious,… This cornerstone, Jesus, We build our whole life around. There is no other!  We are motivated, moved, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, the breath of life. Is Jesus your cornerstone or a stumbling block?  In this letter Peter urges us… to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul. Our good works give glory to God and work for salvation of all!

 Christian Citizens 13-25

 Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the approval of those who do good. For it is the will of God that by doing good you may silence the ignorance of foolish people.

JESUS PAYS TEMPLE TAX

Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God. Give honor to all, love the community, Fear God, honor the king…when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered* for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness.

By his wounds you have been healed.  For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

REFLECTION

 Be subject to every human institution for the Lord’s sake …Obey lawful laws of lawful government.  Jesus obeyed Roman law as it was the will of the Father. Jesus paid the temple tax.

Fear God, honor the king…We are expected to obey laws otherwise there would be division and chaos, the devil’s playground. This does not mean every civil law is moral and as martyrs in heaven have shown we choose God’s law over man-made laws when they are in conflict.

 when you suffer for doing what is good…this is in imitation of Jesus.,,,, By his wounds you have been healed. Jesus invites us to participate in our redemption by uniting our suffering to Christ crucified in gift to the Father.

LETTER OF JAMES CHAPTER THREE

CATHOLIC LETTERS, SCRIPTURE

SAINT JAMES APOSTLE

BISHOP OF JERUSALEM. AND EVANGELIST

 TAMING THE TONGUE 3:1-12

….we all fall short in many respects. If anyone does not fall short in speech, he is a perfect man, able to bridle his whole body also.   If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we also guide their whole bodies.

It is the same with ships: even though they are so large and driven by fierce winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot’s inclination wishes. In the same way the tongue is a small member and yet has great pretensions….

For every kind of beast, bird, reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by the human species, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made in the likeness of God.

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.  This need not be so, my brothers.  Does a spring gush forth from the same opening both pure and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, produce olives, or a grapevine, figs? Neither can salt water yield fresh.

REFLECTION

 In this Scripture passage, James reminds us of the damage we can do with speech. The tongue can and is likely to do grave damage to other human beings, (made in the likeness and image of God) in gossip, curses, judgments, and name calling etc.

All of these deadly evils begin in the heart. “Harden not your hearts,” Hebrews 3:8

 God makes a New Covenant in our hearts. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people Jerimiah 31:33

 For I will pour out water on the thirsty land….I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants; Isaiah 44:3

…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water (Spirit) springing up to eternal life.” John 4:14

….Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity…hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness…I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

 In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Galatians 5:15-23

 TRUE WISDOM. 3:13-18

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show his works by a good life in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth.  Wisdom of this kind does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace.

REFLECTION

 True wisdom is seeking to be image of God.  Jesus’s commands, Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.  Matthew 5:48.

God our Father, Abba Father, make us whole again.  Overcome our inclination to evil (sin) Make us fresh again, remove the debris in our hearts, let us be wise in our choices and discern with the aid of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name we pray!