- Luke 9:24-25 -
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his
life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole
world,
and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
If this present life is most im****tant to you, you will do everything you
can to protect it. You will not want to do anything that might endanger
your
safety, health or comfort. By contrast, if following Jesus is most
im****tant, you may find yourself in unsafe, unhealthy and uncomfortable
places. You will risk death, but you will not fear it because you know
that
Jesus will raise you to eternal life. Nothing material can compensate for
the loss of eternal life. Jesus' disciples are not to use their lives on
earth for their own pleasure - they should spend their lives serving God
and
people.
<<>><<>><<>>
June 30th - First Martyrs of the Church of Rome
(d. 68)
There were Christians in Rome within a dozen or so years after the death
of
Jesus, though they were not the converts of the "Apostle of the Gentiles"
(Romans 15:20). Paul had not yet visited them at the time he wrote his
great
letter in a.d. 57-58.
There was a large Jewish population in Rome. Probably as a result of
controversy between Jews and Jewish Christians, the Emperor Claudius
expelled all Jews from Rome in 49-50 A.D. Suetonius the historian says
that
the expulsion was due to disturbances in the city "caused by the certain
Chrestus" [Christ]. Perhaps many came back after Claudius's death in 54
A.D.
Paul's letter was addressed to a Church with members from Jewish and
Gentile
backgrounds.
In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor
blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He ****fted
the
blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, a
"great multitude" of Christians was put to death because of their "hatred
of
the human race." Peter and Paul were probably among the victims.
Threatened by an army revolt and condemned to death by the senate, Nero
committed suicide in 68 A.D. at the age of 31.
Comment:
Wherever the Good News of Jesus was preached, it met the same opposition
as
Jesus did, and many of those who began to follow him shared his suffering
and death. But no human force could stop the power of the Spirit unleashed
upon the world. The blood of martyrs has always been, and will always be,
the seed of Christians.
Quote:
From Pope Clement I, successor of St. Peter: "It was through envy and
jealousy that the greatest and most upright pillars of the Church were
persecuted and struggled unto death....First of all, Peter, who because of
unreasonable jealousy suffered not merely once or twice but many times,
and,
having thus given his witness, went to the place of glory that he
deserved.
It was through jealousy and conflict that Paul showed the way to the prize
for perseverance. He was put in chains seven times, sent into exile, and
stoned; a herald both in the east and the west, he achieved a noble fame
by
his faith....
"Around these men with their holy lives there are gathered a great throng
of
the elect, who, though victims of jealousy, gave us the finest example of
endurance in the midst of many indignities and tortures. Through jealousy
women were tormented, like Dirce or the daughters of Danaus, suffering
terrible and unholy acts of violence. But they courageously finished the
course of faith and despite their bodily weakness won a noble prize."
Saint Quote:
Do not grieve over the temptations you suffer. When the Lord intends to
bestow a particular virtue on us, He often permits us first to be tempted
by
the opposite vice. Therefore, look upon every temptation as an invitation
to
grow in a particular virtue and a promise by God that you will be
successful, if only you stand fast.
-St. Philip Neri
Bible Quote:
..Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: Yet we esteemed
Him
stricken. Smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our
transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities; The Chastisement for
our
peace was upon Him. And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have
gone astray; We have turned, every one to his own way; And the Lord has
laid
on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53: 4-6)
<><><><>
Psalm 94
A call to wor****p
Come, let us rejoice in the Lord, let us acclaim God our salvation.
Let us come before him proclaiming our thanks, let us acclaim him with
songs.
For the Lord is a great God, a king above all gods.
For he holds the depths of the earth in his hands, and the peaks of the
mountains are his.
For the sea is his: he made it; and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us wor****p and bow down, bend the knee before the Lord who made
us;
for he himself is our God and we are his flock, the sheep that follow his
hand.
If only, today, you would listen to his voice: "Do not harden your hearts
as you did at Meribah, on the day of Massah in the desert, when your
fathers
tested me -
they put me to the test, although they had seen my works".
"For forty years they wearied me, that generation.
I said: their hearts are wandering, they do not know my paths.
I swore in my anger: they will never enter my place of rest".
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.
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