From a sermon on the beatitudes by Saint Leo the Great, pope The blessedness of Christ’s reign
After preaching the blessings of poverty, the Lord went on to say: Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. But the mourning for which he promises eternal consolation, dearly beloved, has nothing to do with ordinary worldly distress; for the tears which have as their origin in the sorrow common to all mankind do not make anyone blessed. There is another cause for the sighs of the saints, another reason for their blessed tears. Religious grief mourns for sin, one’s own or another’s; it does not lament because of what is done by human malice. Indeed, he who does wrong is more to be lamented than he who suffers it, for his wickedness plunges the sinner into punishment, whereas endurance can raise the just man to glory.
Next the Lord says: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. To the meek and gentle, the lowly and the humble, and to all who are ready to endure any injury, he promises that they will possess the earth. Nor is this inheritance to be considered small or insignificant, as though it were distinct from our heavenly dwelling; for we know that it is the kingdom of heaven which is also the inheritance promised to the meek. The earth that is promised to the meek and which will be given to the gentle for their own possession is none other than the bodies of the saints. Through the merit of their humility their bodies will be transformed by a joyous resurrection and clothed in the glory of immortality. No longer opposed in any way to their spirits, their bodies will remain in perfect harmony and unity with the will of the soul. Then indeed, the outer man will be the peaceful and unblemished possession of the inner man.
Then, truly will the meek inherit the earth in perpetual peace, and nothing will be taken from their rights; for this perishable nature shall put on the imperishable and this mortal nature shall put on immortality. Their risk will turn into reward; what was a burden will have become an honor.
Category Archives: Religion and Spirituality
Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival
It’s time once again for Sunday Snippets. We are Catholic bloggers sharing weekly our best posts with one another. As for me, I am a wife of 51 years, a mother of two beautiful daughters, a Sinai nurse (NYC – 1962), a photographer (of sorts- photo-jo.smugmug.com) a writer (poet in awe of God). Prayer and daily Mass feed me. Lioness ( lionessblog.com ) is my way of evangelizing, a persistent shout out for God.
Join us to read and/or contribute.
To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. Make sure that the post links back to here, and leave a link to your snippets post on our host, RAnn’s, site, This, That and the Other Thing.
My Posts for the past week:
Come, O Creator of Man
How Wisdom Treats His Mother – the Queenship of Mary
The Miracle of Days
Mother of Our Re-Creation – the New Eve
Prayer At Adoration
Move the Hands of God by Prayer
My All in All
Let Me
Found
Folly’s Zeal
Immodest child,
Immoderate man,
So, you think to slay dragons,
By wit and prowess,
Armed with nature’s sword.
You think it cruel
And mean-spirited,
That a “good” God
Choose to temper you,
By merciful humiliation.
He thwarts your inventions,
And plans of glory.
“All for God,” your dream,
Yet you are at the center,
With your well-chosen cross.
“Indiscreet zeal”
Immature man,
Undone by impatience,
Intemperance,
And swollen pride.
Each day God waits
Supplies the Way,
Plans a day
Filled to the brim
With humility’s simplicity.
Abandonment,
Acceptance,
Both arrow and bow,
To hit the mark
Marked out by Love.
copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Acknowledgement:
In a chapter called, “Immature Zeal” Ralph Martin points out the effectiveness overtime of “ordinary grace” and “common life,” in his book, The Fulfillment of All Desires, a Guidebook to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints.
Ralph quotes Sts. Teresa of Avila and Bernard to point out our folly in relying inordinately on ourselves to become holy and to do great things for God, both early in the spiritual life, and later on, when temptations are subtler.
Awakening
You stretch before me
In wondrous expanses.
Where are your limits, O Lord?
Where the measure
That contains Your domain?
The ethereal sky,
Hugging the mountains,
Kissing earth,
And spilling love across its plains,
Proclaims a God of beauty.
Hidden,yet revealed,
In the minuscule and mighty,
You peer from clouds
That radiate streams of Your glory.
You walk the waters,
Stride across mountains,
Blow like desert sands,
Seamlessly knitting terrane,
Texture, color, and contour
In organic harmony,
To announce Your Presence.
A world of darkness
Awakens each morning,
From its chrysalis,
As hope and promise courts
The sons and daughters of Man.
Quarried, cut and polished,
A darkened crystal,
Receives Your Light.
The soul of Man,
Focuses Your splendor,
And by grace,
You shine out in creations’ purpose.
Your Just Sun, O Father,
Crosses the great divide,
To shine on a “no one”,
And “no people”
To stretch before the angels
The measure of Your Mercy.
Copyright 2014 Joann Nelander
Little Flower Quote
“Our Lord’s love shines out just as much through a little soul who yields completely to His Grace as it does through the greatest . . . Just as the sun shines equally on the cedar and the little flower, so the Divine Sun shines equally on everyone, great and small. Everything is ordered for their good, just as in nature the seasons are so ordered that the smallest daisy comes to bloom at its appointed time.”
— St. Therese of Lisieux
Empowered #Poetry #Religion # Prayer
It is not my prayer.
It is our prayer.
I pray with the Church.
I am one among all,
All Yours,
All giving voice
To the Church Militant,Called by Your Name,
HaShem, the Name!Empowered by the Name,
HaShem, the Name.Copyright Joann Nelander © 2011 All rights reserved
Be Holy! 