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God the Father hides his delight in us, lest He frighten us by the intensity of His joy and affection.
Those men called to the Priesthood who surrender family life with reluctance, as a sacrifice wrung from them by circumstance, are never as happy as those who are overwhelmed by the knowledge of God's love for them and see beauty and freedom in this total self-giving to God and His Will in imitation of Christ.
Those men called to the Priesthood who surrender family life with reluctance, as a sacrifice wrung from them by circumstance, are never as happy as those who are overwhelmed by the knowledge of God's love for them and see beauty and freedom in this total self-giving to God and His Will in imitation of Christ.
As people move towards death, and the Abyss, some cannot see the bridge to the other side. Others know where to find Christ, the bridge, and walk steadily towards Him. Some people have heard about the bridge but have allowed themselves to be swept away, in serious sin, towards disaster.
Anyone on earth can choose to call out for God's help, hoping to be heard. Yet those baptised into Christ and made adopted children of God now live in His Light. They can speak with God as with a friend. They have a sure hope of Heaven if they remain faithful to the end. Christ's Spirit, living in them, gives knowledge of God, intimacy and hope, and is a 'lamp' for the way ahead.
A deep pool in a forest clearing is like the mystery of the Godhead. It is unfathomable, but we can still 'enter' and know God more deeply by study and prayer, by knowledge and love.
It is when a person becomes really alive in the Spirit, perhaps long after initial conversion, that he or she can 'see' Christ clearly, if Christ Wills - whether by genuine visions or by 'unknowing' knowledge and 'unseeing' sight. Christ is no longer hidden behind the 'veils' of a person's self-concern.
Each person who genuinely experiences God in contemplation and is able to describe such things is like someone who has glimpsed bright scenes through Gaps in a 'cloud' which is Divine Life and Eternity. We cannot 'see' the whole picture.
People in television programmes are pictured 'before' and 'after', as they learn social skills. How many of God's own people strive to grow in charity, courtesy, self-control, knowledge and gratitude, so that they might be at ease, mingling with Saints and Angels in Heaven?
People in television programmes are pictured 'before' and 'after', as they learn social skills. How many of God's own people strive to grow in charity, courtesy, self-control, knowledge and gratitude, so that they might be at ease, mingling with Saints and Angels in Heaven?
Through Baptism, a person is brought into a special relationship with Christ. He becomes an adopted child of God, with a greater knowledge of God's wishes, greater confidence in prayer, and greater 'security', through being an heir to Heaven.
Jesus said that it is a narrow gate that leads to life, and a hard road. Prayer is the gate. If we refuse to enter it, how can we ask for forgiveness, receive the sacraments, grow in the knowledge and love of God, receive His gifts in prayer, and follow the way to Heaven?
Christians have a clear 'view' of life's purpose, and life's Way, and life's goal. Those without Christian faith and the truths of faith are like searchers in a helicopter in the dark, who can only see what is lit up in a small pool of light in each successive moment. But they cannot see the Way, or the goal.
The life of God is so awesome and glorious that even the Saints in Heaven, who gaze towards God in wonder, do not fully understand the Holy Trinity. That triune life was only revealed to us because Jesus, the Son of God, descended from Heaven, to tell us of God's love and God's inner life.
Christ is touched to the heart by every sign of devotion to Him in His Passion, which He endured out of love for us all. He wants us to pray to Him, even if the image in our hearts or the knowledge in our hearts is not perfectly accurate. The Sacred Liturgy is supremely important for prayer, but we should encourage everyone, of every faith, to trust in God and to turn to Him in prayer.
Christ sees, as if it is laid out like a picture before Him, the whole of humanity, from the first man, to the moment of fulfilment at the Parousia, when Christ will come in glory. He sees, all at once, the entire life of every person who has ever lived or will ever live.
Christ our God can see the whole earth, all at once, and everyone on it. And He can see our countries, towns, homes and hearts. He is at work to guide us to make wise decisions. He longs to see us happy and holy both now and forever. Nothing is hidden from Him.
The Godhead is like an opaque cloud, in that we cannot pierce it by our sight to understand God's plans and thoughts. Yet we know His Will for us, which is that we keep His Commandments and fulfil our daily duties.
God wants everyone to come to knowledge of the truth: about the meaning of life, and about His love for us, revealed in His Son Jesus Christ. But people who avoid the truth or refuse to change are trapped in a darkness of their own making, unlike believers who turn to Heaven with confidence.
Since the Fall, human beings have sometimes given in to the desire for unnecessary knowledge. Unbridled curiosity can lead to disobedience to God's laws - especially when young people can easily find pornographic material to devour, and when they have little discipline or sure teaching or guidance in these areas.
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