5-7 minutes meditation of the Cross of Jesus Christ.

(Can be done sitting in a chair while someone reads this to you.)

St. Augustine said “we are restless until we find rest in you.” Picture your soul on a boat in the ocean, the water is calm and your soul is fast asleep and resting in the boat. Just then the boat hits some small rocks, you wake up and you are on what seems to be a deserted island. You pick up your bible and walk off the boat. The island is a Mediterranean island. You open up your bible and land on the passage Psalm 46:10 that says “Be still and know that I am God.” There is an inviting cool breeze in the air and you smell the smell of fish cooking in a fire in the distance.

You look up, and it is the Lord preparing you lunch. You walk over to the fire and the Lord asks you to take a seat on the ground next to the fire. Now you are with the Lord on mount Calvary. You are seated in a place where no one can see you, all you can see is Jesus on the cross. Despite His pain there is a warm smile on the Lord’s face and He seems to be communicating to you through His mind. It was there on that cross that Jesus is dying for you, take a moment in this silence to contemplate the words you might think Jesus is saying to you from the cross. (Silence)

Now you are back on the island next to the food on the fire. The Lord is still preparing your meal. There is no longer any anguish on His face, but a joy that someone gets before they serve you a nice meal. Take a moment and think of how you feel about receiving a meal from Jesus. How will it taste? Think for a moment about eating this meal of fish. (Silence)

Now you are back in your boat. It wasn’t damaged by the rocks. Your sails have been hoisted and you are back on your course. You reach into your pocket and pull out a little cross. The island is at a far distance, and your stomach feels full. You open your bible and read from John 3:16, it says: “God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting Life.” You put your bible in a safe place on the boat, check your navigation and arrive at your destination safe and sound. (Open eyes)

This is Mike.

Comments

Catholic Identity.

I was born into the Catholic Church and was baptized as an infant, I had my first communion and reconciliation as a child, and was confirmed as a teenager. Although I was never devout, I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Saviour when I was 21 through an evangelical Christian radio ministry, which in turn gave new life to my Catholic faith. Although I remained a Catholic, I identified as a born again Christian. It wasn’t until much later in my life that I learned the difference between the two denominations and what they taught about being born again. Regardless, there was a significant change in my life back then, which continues to this day. Being Catholic is much like an identity to me and I remember growing up under the papacy of St. Pope John Paul II. The culture I grew up in was largely affected by his papacy, and the way the culture viewed the church was significantly different from the way the current culture views it. Growing up, the pope didn’t try to be rele...

Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Biblical Meaning of “Life in the Spirit.”

“Life in the Spirit” is an example that the Apostle Paul gives in the book of Romans starting in chapter 5 and going through to chapter 8. He begins by telling us we are justified by faith (5:1), and have gained access by faith into the grace of God (5:2). We have been delivered from God’s wrath (5:9) and we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (5:10). He goes on to explain that through Adam all die (5:12), and that the free Gift of God brings justification and righteousness to the believing sinner (5:15-17). Through our conversion we are baptized into Christ and into his death, which frees us from the law and makes us dead to sin (6:2-4). He explains that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we are given new life in Christ (6:4). Our old unregenerate self was crucified with Christ so that our body of sin might be done away with (6:5-6). Because we have died to sin, we now submit ourselves to God being that we are now under grace, not the law (6:8-1...

The Super Blogosphere of a parallel word.

Search This Blog