Easter season. During lent we observed:
Value of humility, how to handle mental and physical agonies, role of Holy Mary in Catholicism, How to manage earth bound affairs(Jesus resurrection), specially last sunday, with Thomas experience, how to manage, 5 wounds of Jesus in our life or how to manage our 5 senses, coming from ears,eyes,nose, mouth and touch!
Today, we are invited to reflect, essential features of Catholicism or Jesus teaching.
Preamble to today's reading
B.1 Value of new testament(From 1st encyclical of pope francis says:(ref chap14 and 15)
Faith is the God's free gift, which calls for humility & courage to trust & to entrust;it enables us luminous path leading to encounter of God & humanity: history of salvation. Christian faith is centered on Christ; It is the confession that Jesus is Lord & God has raised Him from the dead(cf.Rm10:9). All the threads of the old testament converge on Christ: He became the definitive"Yes" to all promises, the ultimate basis of our "Amen" to God(cf.2.co 1:20). The history of Jesus is the complete manifestation of God's reliability.
B.2 The new testament:
NEW TESTAMENT(27books)has being written 30-90yrs after Jesus death,(as compared to1000yrs for Hebrew Bible)consist of
(1)JESUS LIFE-Gospels of MARK/MATHEW/LUKE/JOHN
(2)LIFE OF EARLY CHURCH-act of apostles
(3)LETTERS-PAUL;Romans,1&2 corinthians,Galatians,
(4)GENERAL LETTERS: Hebrews,James,1&2Peter,Jude,1,
(5)APOCALYPSE(Future events)-Revelations.
CATHOLICS BELIEVE THAT EVERY WORD OF BIBLE IS GOD GIVEN
These book gives us enough guidance to contemplate how to lead our life according to JESUS TEACHINGS!.
B.3 Why there are 4 Gospel writers for Jesus life?
Our most significant source of information about Jesus Christ comes from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the New Testament. Yet the four gospel accounts should not be taken as an exhaustive narrative of the life and work of Jesus. John, for example, explicitly states that his account does not contain everything Jesus did (John 21:25).
Instead, the four writers had a specific audience in mind to address a defined issue. To that end, each one selected and arranged the factual historical data of Jesus life in a way best suited for their chosen aim. Chronology and exhaustive coverage of specific events was secondary. However, this does not negate the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit in shaping and directing the writers of the gospels through divine inspiration.
Because the gospels serve more as Spirit-drawn narrative portraits, any "harmonizing" of the four accounts falls to the student of the Bible. Weaving the gospels together is possible, but the gospels should never be taken as an exhaustive biography in the modern sense. Instead, the accounts follow the common ancient method of highlighting key events and themes. Each telling presents a distinct perspective on the same life.
Matthew: Christ is the Son of David, rightful heir to the Messianic throne. Here we see Christ's royal genealogy, the visit by the magi from the East to announce His kingly birth, and the proclamation of His laws in the Sermon on the Mount.
Mark: Here we find Jesus as the Servant of God. Although Jesus came as God to earth, He completely submitted Himself to the will of the Father in heaven and took on the form of a servant. Anything extraneous to that theme is excluded, which is why the narrative contains no references to Jesus birth or youth.
Luke: To Luke, Jesus is the Son of Man—fully human but unlike any other human being in His perfect submission to God's will. For this reason, Luke traces the genealogy back to Adam (the first human).
John: John presents Jesus as the Son of God—fully divine. Jesus is not only flesh and bones, but He is also the Creator of all things in the beginning (John 1). Jesus reveals His nature as "I am," a title God gave as His own.
In many cases, claims concerning the "contradictions" between the gospels ignore the different purposes of the four writers. The focus helps us understand what each intended to emphasize in the character of Christ. One account could never capture the complete picture.
B.4 New Testament: A new concept to follow the God's will
In the old testament, we observed, a selected race was instructed by God directly of forth coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. With the New concept, the old 10 commandments did not change. But eye to eye principle was changed to 'change your other cheek' and completely new concept of following God's will for you has been introduced. Also the new concept is introduced not only to a single race but to whole of the humanity!.
After Jesus resurrection, to find out the God's Will for you is difficult unless you don't strive for that!. Now, there are no angles,no dreams,no stars to tell you,what is the God's will for you!
B.5 how to find out the God's Will for you?
There are two steps
(1) Develop a happy mind in you. When you avoid anger and laziness present in your life, you develop a peaceful mind. Then you develop worry less mind by handing over your fears and sorrows to Holy mary/saints. Then to develop happy mind, you avoid other 5 vices(Pride,lust,avarice, envy and gluttony), by balancing your 5 senses to work for the glory of God.
(2) Find out in your life, what God expect out of you?
B.6 Our personal life work
As with our Nazareth Trio, every single human person has been entrusted by the Creator with a special life work- one made and measured each of us personally so that we might give Him maximum glory and service. St John Paul II's maximum emphasizes this principle."Everyone" it says, "has a special something to do for God".
Again as with Holy Family, the general guideline we are to follow in performing our life work is to be found in doing the divine will at all times. What Christ said of Himself in this matter should become the lodestar of our lives;" My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish the task He gave me"(Jn 4:34)
But can it be said that each of us has been"sent" by God?. The answer is YES. God's gift of a life time task to everyone clearly implies that they have received from Him a corresponding mission and purpose. And though the precise pattern of that life work may at times be difficult to discern, it remains ever with us as we make our pilgrimage-way down the years. And the whole point our pilgrimage, as St Ignatius saw clearly, is that we praise,reverence and serve our Creator and thereby save our souls.
It goes without saying, then, the perfect of God's plan should be our overriding aim in life. And here we can draw much help from the Holy Spirit's gift of wisdom. For it's essential benefit is that it gives us a true perspective on life,enabling us to view it not only as a divine gift but as a sacred task committed to us on earth. Only in eternal life will we fully grasp the scope and the grandeur of what we have done for our Creator and Redeemer.
Also we shall there see how we have helped others- please God, many others-to reach the same glorious destination. Newman saw deeply into all these realities:
"EACH PERSON HAS A MISSION. GOD HAS CREATED ME TO DO HIM SOME SPECIAL SERVICE. HE HAS COMMITTED SOME WORK TO ME WHICH HE HAS NOT COMMITTED TO ANOTHER....I HAVE MY MISSION-I MAY NEVER KNOW IT IN THIS LIFE, BUT I SHALL BE TOLD IT IN THE NEXT. I AM A LINK IN A CHAIN, A BOND OF CONNECTION BETWEEN PERSONS. HE HAS NOT CREATED ME FOR NAUGHT. I SHALL DO GOOD. I SHALL DO HIS WORK...HE DOES NOTHING IN VAIN. HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS ABOUT"
C. Today's reading:
Act of apostel's says((acts 3:13-15. 17-19)"Peter said..Pilath..decided..release Him..U..accused Holy one..demande reprieve of a murderer..now..U must repent..U'r sins will be wiped out"
John says(1Jn2:1-5)"..stop U sinning,..Christ..sacrifice that takes away sins..Anyone..says'I know Him'..doesnot keep His Commandment is a Liar.."
LK(24:35-48) says" ..Disciples recognized..JESUS..said 'Peace be with U'..why ..doubts rising..look at my hands & feet..He ate before their eyes..He told..written..Christ would suffer.."
Reminds
(1) You may be a christian, but when you don't follow 10 commandments, with no enemies and when you don't follow God's Will, you become liar!.
(2) The results of old testament boils down to Jesus life. Too much harp on old testament forgetting new testament, is not Christianity
(3)Catholicism is the easy method of achieving + thinking. You can always forget your past wrong doings, and look forward for the future with a positive hope of achieving Happiness!
D. Conclusion: Today the 3rd sunday, church invites us to remember, primary two points to enjoy happiness, in this life
(1) Follow commandments
(2) Follow God's will, for you
GBU
For more pl visit:
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http://www.sundayreading.net/
Or
http://holymaryreflection.
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