Welcome To My World!

PERSECUTION

A disciple was one day recalling how Buddha, Jesus, and Mohammed were branded as rebels and heretics by their contemporaries. Said the Master,

"Nobody can be said to have attained the pinnacle of Truth until a thousand sincere people have denounced him for blasphemy".

MORSEL:
Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.
-- Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)

Daily Reading & Meditation

Friday (6/9): "The Christ is the Son of David"

Scripture: Mark 12:35-37

35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, "How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared, `The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet.' 37 David himself calls him Lord; so how is he his son?" And the great throng heard him gladly.

Meditation: It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make Christ known to us. That is why Jesus stated that King David could proclaim that his future heir would be both Messiah (the Hebrew word for Christ or the Anointed One) and his Lord. Among the Jews the most common title for the Messiah was the Son of David. The Jews looked forward to the long-expected Savior who would come from the line of David. Jesus was often addressed with that title, especially by the crowds (Mark 10:47ff, Matthew 9:27; 12:23). Jesus not only asserts that the Messiah is David's son, and that he is, indeed, David's son, but, that he is not only David's son, but also his Lord. Paul the Apostle states that no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3).

What does it mean to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord? The word Lord means "ruler" or "king" -- the one who is owed "fealty" and "submission". The Lord or Master of our lives is the person or thing we give our lives over to or submit to in a full way. We can be ruled by many things -- our unruly passions, the love of money, alcohol, drugs, etc. Only one Lord can truly set us free to love and to be loved as God intended from the beginning. When we acknowledge that Jesus is Lord we invite him to be the King of our heart and the ruler of our thoughts, relationships, and all that we do. Is the Lord Jesus the true King of your heart and do you give him free reign in every area of your life?

"Lord Jesus, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of David and the Son of God. You are my Lord and I willingly submit myself to your rule in my life. Be Lord and King of my life, my thoughts, heart, home, relationships, work and all that I do."

JUNE 9
ST. EPHREM

Ephrem was born in Mesopotamia around the year 306. He was baptized when he was eighteen. Ephrem eventually went into the hills and became a hermit. He found a cave near the city of Edessa in Syria. His clothes were just patched rags and he ate what the earth provided.

Ephrem became angry easily. He gradually gained control over himself. People who met him thought he was just naturally very calm. He often went to preach in Edessa. When he spoke about God's judgment, the people wept. He would tell them that he was a great sinner. He really meant it, too, because although his sins were small, they seemed very big to him. When St. Basil met him, he asked, "Are you Ephrem, the famous servant of Jesus?" Ephrem answered quickly, "I am Ephrem who walks unworthily on the way to salvation." Then he asked and received advice from St. Basil on how to grow in the spiritual life.

Ephrem spent his time writing spiritual books. He wrote in several languages-Syriac, Greek, Latin and Armenian. These works are so beautiful and spiritual that they have been translated into many languages. They are still read today. Ephrem also wrote hymns for public worship. These hymns became very popular. As the people sang them, they learned much about the faith. That is why he is called "the harp of the Holy Spirit." Because he was such a great teacher through his writings, in 1920 he was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.

Ephrem died in June, 373.

OPENNESS

An anxious couple complained to the Master that their son had abandoned the religious traditions of the family and proclaimed himself a freethinker. Said the Master, "Not to worry. If the lad is really thinking for himself, the Mighty Wind is bound to arise that will carry him to the place where he belongs".

MORSEL:
Do not fear the winds of adversity. Remember: A kite rises against the wind rather than with it.

SILENCE 2

Each day the Master would be inundated with questions that he would reply to seriously, playfully, gently, firmly. One disciple always sat through each session in silence. When someone questioned her about it, she said, "I hardly hear a word he says. I am too distracted by his Silence".

MORSEL:
Under all speech that is good for anything there lies a silence that is better, Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is shallow as Time. -- Carlyle (1795-1881)

MANIFESTATION

When a new disciple came to the Master, this is the catechism he was usually subjected to: "Do you know the one person who will never abandon you in the whole of your lifetime"?
"Who is it"?
"You".
"And do you know the answer to every question you may have"?
"What is it"?
"You".
"And can you guess the solution to every one of your problems"?
"I give up".
"You".

MORSEL:
The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere. -- Empedocles

LIGHTHEARTEDNESS

In keeping with his doctrine that nothing be taken too seriously, not even his own teachings, the Master loved to tell this story on himself:

"My very first disciple was so weak that the exercises killed him. My second disciple drove himself crazy from his earnest practice of the exercises I gave him. My third disciple dulled his intellect through too much contemplation. But the fourth managed to keep his sanity".

"Why was that"? someone would invariably ask.

"Possibly because he was the only one who refused to do the exercises". The Master's words would be drowned in howls of laughter.

MORSEL:
The teacher is like the candle which lights others in consuming itself. -- Giovanni Ruffini (1807-1881)

FORGIVENESS

"How shall I forgive others"?

"If you never condemned, you would never need to forgive".

MORSEL:
Judgment and love are opposites. From one come all the sorrows of the world. But from the other comes the peace of God Himself. -- A Course In Miracles

SEEING GOD

"I wish to see God".
"You are looking at him right now", said the Master.
"Then why do I not see him"?
"Why does the eye not see itself"? said the Master.
Later the Master explained: "As well ask a knife to cut itself or a tooth to bite itself as ask that God to reveal himself".

MORSEL:
I have a capacity in my soul for taking in God entirely. I am as sure as I live that nothing is so near to me as God. God is nearer to me than I am to myself; my existence depends on the nearness and the presence of God.
-- Meister Eckhart (1260?-1327?)