After the difficult
climb, the poor man finally reaches Jesus and says; "I have climbed up to
meet you, Christ, from the filthy, confined quarters down there … to put before
you, most respectfully, these considerations: there are 900,000 of us down
there in the slums of that splendid city … And you … do you remain here at
Corcovado surrounded by divine glory? Go down there to the favelas …
Don't stay away from us; live among us and give us new faith in you and in the
Father.
Stott asks,
"What would Christ say in response to such an entreaty? Would he not say
'[in the suffering of the cross] I did come down to live among you, and I live
among you still'"?
Pope Francis and the Jesuits
The founder of the Jesuits, Ignatius Loyola
fought in 1521 in the army of Charles V.
He was hit by a cannonball and his left leg was badly mangled.. The slow and
lengthy recovery brought on depression and Loyola began to see his life as
without purpose. He began to earnestly read about the life of Christ and the
Saints. He saw a vision of the Virgin Mary and the baby Jesus and he went to
the shrine of Our Lady at Montserrat in Aragon
and became a hermit living in a cave near Mantua in 1522. He spent his time in
rags confessing and self-flagellating while caring for the sick. He found his
salvation in mystical experiences and through accepting the beliefs already
available. In 1534 he and a handful of other converts swore an oath of poverty,
chastity and obedience to the pope.
Loyola’s "Constitutions" were
finalized in 1558 and laid down the rules for the Society; (shared in part)
They were to go wherever he ordered them to go to save
souls.
Faith was to be spread by preaching, spiritual exercises,
charity and education in Christianity.
Present
Deliverance As we approach
Palm Sunday I believe it’s appropriate that we look at the purpose, or reason,
of the coming of Jesus Christ expressly to die on Calvary’s Cross.
First of
all, Galatians 1:4 lets us understand that we may expect a present deliverance
from the evil world through the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Too many
today are subscribing to one system of religion or another, and who expect that
through the love of God they’ll be delivered from an eternal hell. Galatians
1:4, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present
evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.”
Titus 2:14,
“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good words.”
Partakers of
the Divine Nature
Second Peter
1:1-4 expands on the theme of “this present evil world.” Jesus died to bring
perfect deliverance to us. “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus
Christ… According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called
us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
What Lust Is
In 1 John,
Chapter Two, the Apostle makes the issue clear and plain. Verse 15 reads, “Love
not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him.” If a man loves the world, there’s
one reason: the love of the Father is not in him, and he has never really been
born again. One of the first things God does in real salvation, when we come in
old-time repentance, confessing our sin, is to shed abroad the love of God in
our heart. When God has bestowed His love on us, we’ll begin to love what God
loves and hate what God hates.
Out of the
Hearts of Men
According to
these Scriptures, we may note that the very root of this rotting fungus is in
lust. Second Peter 1:4 reads, “Having escaped the corruption that’s in the
world through lust.” The root of this world’s corruption is the unbridled,
godless, sinful desires coming from the sinful heart of man. Peter spoke of a
people who had real salvation when he spoke of those who had escaped the
corruption that’s in the world through lust. We want to stay right around that
thought: sinful lust is the very basis and root of the rottenness that’s
filling our world. It’s in the heart of man that wickedness is desired. It’s
from the heart of sinful man that all wickedness comes
“What shall
we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” Well, some say,
“Yes,” but Paul said emphatically, “God forbid!”
We need to
realize that when we commit sin, it enters the heart, and Jesus Christ came to
take sin out of the heart. He came to dry up the very fountainhead of sin. Some
may think this says nothing about sinful lusts. They didn’t read it right,
then. Jesus Is Stronger Than Sin
A beginners’ guide to the Catechism of
the Catholic Church - Life in Christ – Christ in me - His sharing
through death
1691
"Christian, recognize your dignity
and, now that you share in God's own nature, do not return to your former base
condition by sinning. Remember who is your head and of whose body you are a
member. Never forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and
brought into the light of the Kingdom of God.
"1
1692 The
Symbol of the faith confesses the greatness of God's gifts to man in his work
of creation, and even more in redemption and sanctification. What faith
confesses, the sacraments communicate: by the sacraments of rebirth, Christians
have become "children of God,"2 "partakers of the divine
nature."3 Coming to see in the faith their new dignity, Christians are
called to lead henceforth a life "worthy of the gospel of Christ."4
They are made capable of doing so by the grace of Christ and the gifts of his
Spirit, which they receive through the sacraments and through prayer.
1693 Christ
Jesus always did what was pleasing to the Father,5 and always lived in perfect
communion with him. Likewise Christ's disciples are invited to live in the
sight of the Father "who sees in secret,"6 in order to become
"perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
1695 "Justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God,"13
"sanctified . . . [and] called to be saints,"14 Christians
have become the temple of the Holy Spirit.15 This "Spirit of the Son"
teaches them to pray to the Father16 and, having become their life, prompts
them to act so as to bear "the fruit of the Spirit"17 by charity in
action. Healing the wounds of sin, the Holy Spirit renews us interiorly through
a spiritual transformation.18 He enlightens and strengthens us to live as
"children of light" through "all that is good and right and
true."
1696
The way of Christ "leads to
life"; a contrary way "leads to destruction." The Gospel parable
of the two ways remains ever present in the catechesis of the Church; it shows
the importance of moral decisions for our salvation: "There are two ways,
the one of life, the other of death; but between the two, there is a great
difference."
1697
Catechesis has to reveal in all clarity
the joy and the demands of the way of Christ.22 Catechesis for the
"newness of life"23 in him should be:
-
a catechesis of the Holy Spirit, the interior Master of life according to
Christ, a gentle guest and friend who inspires, guides, corrects, and
strengthens this life;
- a
catechesis of grace, for it is by grace that we are saved and again it is by
grace that our works can bear fruit for eternal life;
-
a catechesis of the beatitudes, for the way of Christ is summed up in the
beatitudes, the only path that leads to the eternal beatitude for which the
human heart longs;
-
a catechesis of sin and forgiveness, for unless man acknowledges that he is a
sinner he cannot know the truth about himself, which is a condition for acting
justly; and without the offer of forgiveness he would not be able to bear this
truth;
-
a catechesis of the human virtues which causes one to grasp the beauty and
attraction of right dispositions towards goodness;
-
a catechesis of the Christian virtues of faith, hope, and charity, generously
inspired by the example of the saints;
-
a catechesis of the twofold commandment of charity set forth in the Decalogue;
-
an ecclesial catechesis, for it is through the manifold exchanges of
"spiritual goods" in the "communion of saints" that
Christian life can grow, develop, and be communicated.
1698
The first and last point of reference of
this catechesis will always be Jesus Christ himself, who is "the way, and
the truth, and the life."24 It is by looking to him in faith that Christ's
faithful can hope that he himself fulfills his promises in them, and that, by
loving him with the same love with which he has loved them, they may perform
works in keeping with their dignity:
I
ask you to consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is your true head, and that you
are one of his members. He belongs to you as the head belongs to its members;
all that is his is yours: his spirit, his heart, his body and soul, and all his
faculties. You must make use of all these as of your own, to serve, praise,
love, and glorify God. You belong to him, as members belong to their head. And
so he longs for you to use all that is in you, as if it were his own, for the
service and glory of the Father.25
For
to me, to live is Christ.
 |
| The Russian Cross (Resurrection) used in the SA Crest from 1917 until the western expats (1994) replaced it - Salvationists in the CIS were offended by this cultural imposition; remains unresolved 
Dr. Sven Ljungholm
Liverpool
|
From a hill I know,
Healing waters
flow,
O rise Emanuel’s
tide,
And my soul
overflow.
General Albert Orsborn
2 comments:
HE CAME RIGHT DOWN TO ME, TO BE MY FRIEND AND SAVIOUR.
Methodist - former SA soldier
London
Why was the Russian cross replaced?
SA
Latvia
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