Tag: forgiveness
Adam’s Sin
But Adam did not wish to say, “I sinned,” but said rather the contrary of this and placed the blame for the transgression upon God Who created everything “very good,” saying to Him, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate.” And after him she also placed the blame… Read More ›
Prone to violence
I am a man prone to violence. All of my life I have swam against this current, though it has often been difficult. I understand violence; I also understand that there is a part of me that desires love, healing and peace. I also believe that the so called cosmic war between good and evil is lived out… Read More ›
Only the man who has had to face despair. . .
Only the man who has had to face despair is really convinced that he needs mercy. Those who do not want mercy never seek it. It is better to find God on the threshold of despair than to risk our lives in a complacency that has never felt the need of forgiveness. A life that… Read More ›
Meditation on Ephesians 6:10-20
You don’t hear much about the devil these days. Is he gone? Have his wiles so diminished that we no longer need to fight them by putting on “the whole armor of God” (Ephesians 6:11)? Hardly! Even though Satan and his underlings were defeated at Calvary, they still have some influence until Jesus comes again…. Read More ›
Yes (God is faithful)
The myth of the spiritual life is that we will one day reach perfection. If this is not believed consciously, then it is often operating on an unconscious level. For after all did not Jesus say: “Be you perfect as your Father is perfect”? So willpower (the will-to-power), can become the central operative in this… Read More ›
Triumph of the Cross
“The Son of Man must be lifted up”, says Jesus to Nicodemus. And he says this with a view to his crucifixion: The Son of Man must be lifted up on the Cross. Whoever believes in him, whoever sees in this Cross and in the Crucified One the Redeemer of the world, whoever looks with… Read More ›
Divine Mercy
It is easy to talk about the mercy of God, but difficult to understand the depth of the mystery that we are dealing with. The human understanding of justice has to do with righting of wrongs, bringing the scales back into balance, which of course is impossible. For justice and revenge are first cousins, often… Read More ›
Peter the Venerable
. . . this holy monk is certainly a great example of monastic holiness, nourished from the sources of the Benedictine tradition. For him, the ideal of the monk consists in “adhering tenaciously to Christ” (Ep. 53, loc. cit., p. 161), in a cloistered life distinguished by “monastic humility” (ibid.) and hard work (Ep. 77,… Read More ›
Relationship
No relationship is possible, if it has any value or depth at all without some degree of trust. It can also be said that all relationships that are meaningful will have times of crisis, in which the relationship can either die, or deepen, after a rift has been made. Those who drop out too quickly, I feel… Read More ›
Nations are subject to God and His Law
It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, and to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in Holy Scripture, and… Read More ›