And God said: Let there be light

Genesis 1:3 And God said: “Let there be light”; and there was light.

First, a quick study of this verse from The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: Genesis page 17
According to the NT, the creative word is not simply a power but a Person—God the Son, through whom all things were made (John 1:1–3; Hebrews 1:2; CCC 291).
• One who pays close attention will recognize the Father, the Son, and the Spirit in the beginning. The Father creates heaven and earth, the Spirit moves over the waters, and the Son, who acts while the Father is speaking, separates the light from the darkness (St. Ambrose, The Holy Spirit 2, 1).

Now, how to memorize this. Split it into two easy parts:

1. And God said: “Let there be light”,
2. and there was light.

Finally, contemplate that everything has been created by God (except for Himself).

 

Contemplating the Sacred Heart of Jesus

But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.   (John 19:34)

“Why was He wounded on the side near His Heart?
In order that we may never tire of contemplating His Heart.”

“By the blood of His side and of His heart, our Lord watered the garden of the Church, for with His blood He made the sacraments flow from His heart.”

My Notes: The quotes are from St. Albert the Great – A Dominican, who died in 1280
“On the Gospel of John”, “On the Eucharist” and “On the Sacrifice of the Mass”.

 

The Prayer of a Disciple

A Disciples Prayer
Jesus, you are my teacher, I am your disciple.
May I be your eyes, your ears, your voice.
May I be your feet, your hands, your heart.

I recently finished teaching a Bible study on the Gospel of St. Mark, and the above prayer came from that class.

In St. Mark’s Gospel we read about Jesus doing many things. Some of the most prominent actions of Jesus are healing the sick, exorcising demons, and teaching. His teaching is not only for the twelve apostles, but also for His seventy disciples, and the crowds. A disciple is a special type of student because a disciple not only learns from an educational point of view but more importantly the disciple wants to become like the teacher in thought, in word (speech) and in deeds (actions).

The Catholic Bible Dictionary (Scott Hahn, Editor) defines a disciple as: “A student or follower who emulates the example set by a master and seeks to identify with the master’s teachings. … It was not merely a matter of listening to the teachings and learning wisdom: it was a commitment to a new way of life modeled by Jesus. The disciple must “take up his cross” and follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 14:27).”

 

Simplicity in prayer: “To Christ be glory forever.”

…Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:21)
For many people prayer is a difficult subject, not only a hard thing to talk about but even to do. Prayer is supposed to be easy, and even simple. Prayer is the essence of our relationship with the God who created us. So for those who are having difficulty in prayer, I offer some help, some really simple help, and that is to start with a simple prayer: “To Christ be glory forever.” This verse comes at the end of the letter to the Hebrews and is in the section called the “Benediction” It is the author’s way of concluding the letter by praying for the Hebrews (and for us) by giving us a blessing.

So how can we use this prayer “To Christ be glory forever.”? We can use is any time and any place.  It is easy to repeat throughout the day. For it is short enough to memorize with little effort. It is also worth noting that even though this is a very simple prayer is also profound. As well as being a prayer/action that we will be doing for all eternity, giving glory to God.

 

Please pray with me

Please pray with me for the Church. The Catholic Church is in special need of God’s grace now, so we must pray for this. With all that has been recently revealed about the sin of some Priests, Bishops and Deacons of the church, we need to pray that Jesus will purify His church (note: the church belongs to Jesus).

We can also pray that those members of the church who have committed crimes against humanity, will be arrested, tried in a court of law, and if found guilty, will be sent to jail.

To try and understand all this we start with the question: Why is the Church holy? For the answer, we turn to St. Augustine and his answer (from about the year 400, I am sorry I do not have a reference) “The church is holy because of it’s mission, not because of its people”. So some 1600 years ago the issue of sin in the church caused St. Augustine to teach about the holiness of the church. The next thing we need to understand is what the mission of the church is. The mission of the church is to bring all humanity to heaven (an eternity with God). Helping to bring all humanity to heaven is a huge responsibility, and so we need to pray…

 

How long was Jesus silent?

Christ lived for thirty years in silence, Then, during his public life, he withdrew to the desert to listen to and speak with his Father. The world vitally needs to go off into the desert. Because God speaks in silence.

The Power of Silence – Against the Dictatorship of Noise (Thought #41, page 42)
by Cardinal Robert Sarah – Ignatius Press 2017

My notes: It is thought by Bible scholars that Jesus lived 33 years on earth, with the last three being His public ministry. So Jesus lived 30 years of quiet and 3 years of non-quiet, a 10 to 1 ratio. We would be fortunate to live a life of 10% quiet/silence.

 

Where is God present to you?

Through Sacred Scripture, when it is listened to and meditated upon in silence, divine graces are poured out on man. It is in faith, and not by traveling in distant lands or by crossing seas and continents, that we can find and contemplate God. …

Unless silence dwells in man, and unless solitude is a state in which he allows himself to be shaped, the creature is deprived of God. There is no place on earth where God is more present than in the human heart. This heart truly is God’s abode, the temple of silence.

The Power of Silence – Against the Dictatorship of Noise (#4, page 23)
by Cardinal Robert Sarah – Ignatius Press 2017