Joy Complete by Nancy Ward

By -



Jesus tells us in John 15: 9-11 “As the Father loves me, so I also love you.” Wow! Who could ask to be loved more than that? The Father loves Jesus more than we can ever imagine or put into words. Jesus tells us that he loves us that much. That love is unfathomable. It’s a gift that we can never earn.
Then he tells us his desire for us. “Remain in my love.” Is there anything we wouldn’t do to keep that love flowing into our heart?
Our response can only be, “Yes, Lord, we want to live in your love always. Tell us how.”
“If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” 
This is the Lord’s clear direction on how to keep our love relationship with him alive and vibrant. Do what he wants. Trust him. Do what we know will bring us everlasting happiness. Believe his word. Live in him.
Not only do we have the commandments, the guidebook, but also we have the Guidance Counselor, the Holy Spirit. We have the example of how Jesus always obeyed his Father’s will. That’s how he kept close to his Father and that’s how we keep close to him.
Then comes the clincher, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”  He wants us to remain close in his loving will so that we will feel his lasting joy in our hearts.  That supernatural joy is far beyond our human capacity to fully receive or even comprehend. He assures us that our joy will be complete in him — or as complete as we can experience it here on earth. That joy is like nothing else on earth, for it originates from heaven and leads us back home. That joy is Jesus alive in our hearts.
There's more at JoyAlive.net

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SAINT ELIZABETH, MOTHER OF JOHN THE BAPTIST- Feast: November 5

By -
Image
Elizabeth appears in the Gospel of Luke, where she is described as “righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly,”.  I imagine that she was warm, loving and obviously a safe harbour for young Mary, who was not married when she conceived.  When Mary came to visit her, Elizabeth was pregnant with St. John the Baptist and in her sixth month: “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who has believed, because the things promised her by the Lord shall be accomplished.” 
Read more

The Memorare

By Helen Gonsalves -
Image
This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem...
Read more

'Greater Love: Richie Fernando SJ', a joy-filled Filipino missionary

By -
Image
 I haven't been able to post for more than a week as I was giving an eight-day directed retreat to eight sisters of the Missionaries of Charity near Manila. While I had some access to the internet it was rather slow. I had intended to make a post here on the murder of Fr Fausto Tentorio PIME , a 59-year-old Italian priest, in the Diocese of Kidapawan, Mindanao, on Monday 17 October. I will save that post for a later date. As I was looking for a video about Father Fausto I came across one about Brother Richard Michael 'Richie' Fernando SJ, a Filipino Jesuit scholastic who died while trying to prevent a troubled and disabled young man in Cambodia from throwing a grenade. That was in 1996 - on 17 October. Father Fausto gave his life exactly 15 years later. I remember the mixture of sorrow and pride I felt when I read of the death of Brother Richie, pride as a missionary in the Philippines that a young Filipino seminarian had given his life so spontaneously in order to sav...
Read more