- Open Mind, Faithful Heart - BY HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS - JORGE MARIO BERGOGLIO -

                        -  Sardis - Restoring Self-Respect  -  Reflection on Following Jesus  -  

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works; you have a name of being alive but are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your work perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; obey it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches." - Revelation 3:1-6 -

THE DISTRESS in the Church of Sardis is that of a community that has sinned grievously by negotiating the faith. She has kept "the name of being alive" but inwardly she is dead. - Symbols of the Lord's Majesty: The Seven Spirits and the Seven Stars - The Lord consoles Sardis by revealing himself as the one who holds the seven spirits and the seven stars. These spirits and stars are the churches themselves, whose luminous spiritual reality is in the hands of the Lord. Appealing to their sense of belonging, the Lord reminds them of the hour of dead, judgement and of the word that was preached to them. He asks them to follow in the footsteps of those who have remained faithful and he promises to remain faithful himself. The Lord discerns the embers beneath the ashes in the Christian heart and he does not quench the smoldering coals.

- Reviving the Sense of Belonging: Being Aware of Our Death - "Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death...[for] I will come like a thief" - Revelation 3:2-3 - these words remind us of the eschatological parables of Jesus. "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet... If the owner of the house had known the wedding banquet... If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour" - Luke 12:35-40; Matthew 24:42-44 -

                                      -       Making Judgment  a Present Reality       -

The Lord urges us to examine our works in reality and not just be appearances - "You have a name of being alive but you are dead... I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God" - Revelation 3:1-2 - The Lord is our advocate before the Father and will take our part, but he needs to be able to point to works of charity that weigh in our favor: "For I was hungry and you gave me food" - Matthew 25:35 - "Remember what you received and heard" - Revelation 3:3 - This command recalls Paul's letter to Timothy: "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands... Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you... Remember Jesus Christ - raised from the dead." - 2 Timothy 1:6,13-14; 2:8 - 

                                              -       Returning to the Faithful       -

When we are unfaithful, we usually betray not just ideas but concrete persons. We take leave of those who taught us the faith, those who trained us well, those who remain faithful to the Lord. Sometimes we not only take leave of them but fight fiercely against them, discharging onto them the guilt we have no heart to bear ourselves. The Lord declares that there are in Sardis a few who have kept the coal of faith alive and have not stained their baptismal garments; they continue to walk with him, dressed in white - Revelation 3:4 - This is the same immaculate raiment that is destined also for the "remnant of Israel" God's faithful people as a whole and their holy representatives. "One of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, robed in white and where have they come from?' I said to them, 'Sir, you are the one that knows.' Then he said to me, 'These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robed and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." - Revelation 7:13-17 - 

                                                     -        Restoring Respect     - 

Recovering a sense of belonging and for our own history means restoring respect. Sardis has lost its self-respect and is the most unworthy of the seven churches. Perhaps mediating awhile on the meaning of respect can help us understand how we as priests can mature wisely and become "presbyters" - that is, elders - without losing our youthfulness or not or our joy in ministering. The word "respect" comes from the Latin re-spicere, meaning to "look back" or "take a second look." It can describe the attitude that the faithful have toward the priests when they take  a second look at him, that is, when they take note of his presence, when they seek him out for counsel, when they imitate him. It can also describe the priest's attitude toward himself, toward others, toward things and toward God.

"Respectful" person take a second look before speaking and acting; they deliberate, they persevere, they are not carried away by emotion. Respect is the opposite of the attitude that would belittle older folk as "senile" or as caught up in their own little world, completely at the mercy of their changing moods. But respect is also contrary to some attitudes we see in older people that bring respect itself into disrepute. I am thinking of the attitudes of those who continue to get involved in power struggles, of those who speak ill of everybody and of those who take risks only for their own benefit. And there are many people who adopt a pose of respectability but interiorly have succumbed to the spiritual temptations. Of all such persons, the Lord declares: "You have a name of being alive but you are dead. - Revelation 3:1 - 

Let us focus now on respect for others, looking especially at our attitude toward the young since it is the parent - child or our attitude toward the young since it is the parent - child or grandparent - grandchild relation that best reveals whether the older person has mastered a crisis or has fled from it.

It is easy to fool others regarding the relation we have with God. A pious bearing, a liturgy celebrated with devout charm, a breviary open in our hands when someone enters our room - these are acquired postures, marks that we worn so convincingly that even we come to believe that we are pious and worthy pf respect.

We may have a dignified air about us as we manage our affairs. We moderate our appetites often not out of virtue but because of fear of illness or hypochondriacal adherence to medical advice. Meanwhile, we sublimate and exquisitely refine our sensuality so as to caress souls instead of bodies, giving the whole seductive process the name of spiritual direction. We may even learn to disguise the petulance of old age with elegance, modulating our manners and refraining from any show of emotion that might reveal our mood. A dispassionate spirit can also be a mask or even a shell: not only does it protect us from others, but it quells every torment within us before it can even arise.

With young people and our children, however, it is hard to fake "respectability" The young have a sort of sixth sense with regard to older folk. They respect some of them and feel close to them: they treat them with affection, seek them out and as their advice: they open their hearts to them in confession and enjoy sharing a meal with them. Some older folk, on the other hand ate ignored or scorned by the young. Youngster would never think of approaching them of their own accord; their respect for them is only formal. They may not say so in so many words, but the young draw close to their elders or shy away from them as if by instinct.

We are "caught out" when we refuse to let go of the rudder, when our main concern is our image, when even in personal conversation we take no risks and hide our inner selves, when we are selfish or untruthful, when we say "yes" to everyone in order not to get burned, though in reality we are singed to a crisp within. Those "caught out" are basically persons who have no desire to transmit any legacy because they really don't have one to transmit. Having administered a personal legacy to their own advantage, they have none to transmit to others. When they cease to be administrators, they are left with nothing. Such is the case of those in the Apocalypse who think themselves are alive but in reality are dead. God has not been interiorized in their hearts. They continue to have a small-minded view of God as someone out there who will forgive their "sins" or peccadilloes - which we all have - but they have not discovered the God who lays claim to their hearts.

In his relationship to the youthful Timothy, Paul is the prototype of the admirable older person, "already being poured out as an offering" - 2 Timothy 4:6 - He knows how to leave the younger man with a legacy. In writing to Timothy, Paul fondly remembers their parting in Ephesus: "Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy" - 2 Timothy 1:4 - Paul is now an old man in the autumn of his life, a life full of struggle and persecutions but he keeps two things before his eyes: his vocation, for his faith in the One who called him to announce the promise of life in Christ Jesus, is unshakeable and his paternity, for Timothy is his beloved son whom he remembers day and night in his prayers and whom he encourages to remain faithful.

Joy is the sign that our hearts have found what is good for them. But the ultimate good for our hearts does not consist in our domination of any situation; it does not consist in controlling what is done or said around us or even what happens within us. Our ultimate good lies in our love for concrete persons: for our neighbours, for our Lady, for our Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Over and above these concrete persons, there exists no ideal realm of values that merits our zealous efforts. Therefore, when we question ourselves about our joy in ministering, we should not pose the question in terms of efficiency or asceticism or quantities; rather we should at the true sources of joy which are human hearts. And the questions we might ask ourselves are these: Are we ready to be "poured out as an offering"? Are we being converted into the pure and holy host worthy of entering into our God? Are we taking good care of our legacy, the children we have been given and preparing them to receive the torch? Amen! 

   - WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY -

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function, so the body grows until it has built itself up, in love. - Ephesians 4:15-16 -

I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.

HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -    

                                  -   THE  CITY  OF  GOD   -   BY  SAINT  AUGUSTINE  OF  HIPPO  - 

                                                             -  Of  the  beatific  visions  -

And now let us consider with such ability as God may vouchsafe, how the Saints shall be employed when they are clothed in immortal and spiritual bodies and when the flesh shall live no longer in a fleshly but a spiritual fashion. And indeed, to tell the truth, I am at a loss to understand the nature of that employment or shall I rather say repose and ease for it has never come within the range of my bodily senses. If I should speak of my mind or understanding what is our understanding in comparison of its excellence? For then shall be that "peace of God which" as the apostle says: "passed all understanding" - Philippians iv. 7 - that is to say all human and perhaps, all angelic understanding but certainly not the divine. That is passed ours, there is no doubt; but if it passed that of the angels - and he who says "all understanding" seems to make no exception in their favour - then we must understand him to mean that neither we nor the angels can understand as God understands, the peace which God Himself enjoys. Doubtless, this passeth all understanding but His own. As we shall one day be made to participate, according to our slender capacity, in His peace, both in ourselves and with our neighbour and with God our chief, good in this respect the angels understand the peace of God in their own measure, and men too, though now far behind them, whatever spiritual advance they have made. For we must remember how great a man he was who said, "We know in part and we prophesy in part, until that which is perfect is come;" - 1 Corinthians xiii. 9-10 - and "Now we see through a glass, darkly but then face to face." - 1 Corinthians xiii 12 -

Such also is now the vision of the holy angels who are also called our angels because we being rescued out of the power, darkness and receiving the earnest of the Spirit are translated into the kingdom of Christ and already begin to belong to those angels with whom we shall enjoy that holy and most delightful city of God of which we have written so much. Thus, then, the angels of God are our angels as Christ is God's and also ours. They are God's because they have not abandoned Him; they are ours because we are their fellow citizens. The Lord Jesus also said: "See that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you. That in heaven their angels do always see the face of my Father which is in heaven." - Matthew xviii. 10 - Then, they see, so shall we also see; but not yet do we thus see, Wherefore the apostle uses the words cites a little ago." "Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face." This vision is reserved as the reward of our faith and of it the Apostle John also says, "When He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." - 1 John iii. 2 - By "the face" of God we are to understand His manifestation and not a part of the body similar to that which in our bodies we call by that name.

And so, when I am asked how the saints shall be employed in that spiritual body, I do not say what I see but I say what I believe, according to that which I read in the psalm: "I believed, therefore have I spoken." - Psalms cxvi. 10 - I say, then they shall in the body see God; but whether they shall see Him by means of the body as now we see the sun, moon, stars, sea, earth and all that is in it, that is a difficult question. For it is hard to say that the saints shall then have such bodies that they shall not be able to shut and open their eyes as they please; while it is harder still to say that everyone who shuts his eyes shall lose the vision of God. For if the prophet Elisha, though at a distance, saw his servant Gehazi, who thought that his wickedness would escape his master's observation and accepted gifts from Naaman the Syrian, whom the prophet had cleansed from his foul leprosy, how much more shall the saints in the spiritual body see all things, not only though their eyes be shut but thought they themselves be at a great distance? For then shall be "that which is perfect" of which the apostle says: "We know in part and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." Then, that he may illustrate as well as possible, by a smile, how superior the future life is to the life now lived, not only by ordinary men but even by the foremost of the saints, he says" When I was a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." - 1 Corinthians xiii. 11-12 - If, then, even in this life, in which the prophetic of remarkable men is no more worthy to be compared to the vision of the future life than childhood is to manhood, Elisha, though distant from his servant, saw him accepting gifts, shall we say that when that which is perfect is come and the corruptible body no longer oppresses the soul, but is incorruptible and offers no impediment to it, the saints shall need bodily eyes to see, though Elisha had no need of them to see his servant? For, following the Septuagint version, these are the prophet's words: "Did not my heart go with thee, when the man came out of his chariot to meet thee and thou tookedst his gifts?" - 2 Kings v.26 - Or, as the presbyter Jerome rendered it from the Hebrew, "Was not my heart  present when the man turned from his chariot to meet thee?" 

The prophet said that he saw this with his heart, miraculously aided by God, as no one can doubt. But how much more abundantly shall be the saints enjoy this gift when God shall be all in all? Nevertheless the bodily eyes also shall have their office and their place, and shall be used by the spirit through the spiritual body. For the prophet did not forego the use of his eyes for seeing what was before them, though he did not need them to see his absent servant and though he could have seen these present objects in spirit and with his eyes shut, as he saw things far distant in a place where he himself was not. Far be it, then, from us to say that in the life to come the saints shall not see God when their eyes are shut since they shall always see Him with the spirit.

But the question arises, whether when their eyes are open, they shall see Him with the bodily eye? If the eyes of the spiritual body have no more power than the eyes which we now possess, manifestly God cannot be seen with them. They must be of a very different power if they can look upon that incorporeal nature which is not contained in any place, but is all in every place. For though we say that God is in heaven and on earth, as Himself says by the prophet, "I fill heaven and earth," - Jeremiah xxiii 24 - we do not mean that there is one part of God in heaven and another part on earth; but He is all in heaven and all on earth, not at alternate intervals of time, but both at once, as no bodily nature can be. The eye, then, shall have a vastly superior power - the power not pf keen sight, such as is ascribed to serpents or eagles, for however keenly these animals see, they can discern nothing but bodily substances - but the power of seeing things incorporeal. Possibly it was this great power of vision which was temporarily communicated to the eyes of the holy Job while yet in this mortal body, when he says to God: "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee: wherefore I abhor myself and melt away and count myself dust and ashes." - Job xlii. 5-6 - although there is no reason why we should not understand this of the eye of the heart, of which the apostle says: "Having the eyes of your heart illuminated." - Ephesians : i. 18 -  But that God shall be seen with these eyes no Christian doubts who believingly accepts what.......  -   P A G E  O N E   -

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -         

                        -   THE  CITY  OF  GOD   -   BY  SAINT  AUGUSTINE  OF  HIPPO  - 

What it is to have Christ for a foundation and who they are to whom salvation as by fire is promised - 

But, say they, the Catholic Christians have Christ Jesus for a foundation and they have not fallen away from union with Him, no matter how depraved a life they have built on this foundation, as wool, hay, stubble; and accordingly the well-directed faith by which Christ Jesus is their foundation will suffice to deliver them some time from the continuance of that fire, though it be with loss, since those things they have built on it shall be burned. Let the Apostle James summarily reply to them: "If any man say he has faith and have not works, can faith save them?" - James ii. 14 - And who then is it, they ask, of whom the Apostle Paul says, "But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire? - 1 Corinthians iii. 15 - let us join them in their inquiry; and one thing is very certain, that is not he of whom James speaks, else we should make the two apostles contradict one another, if the one says, "Though a man's works be evil, his faith will save him as by fire," while the other says, "If he have not good works, can his faith save them?"

We shall then ascertain who it is who can be saved by fire, if we first discover what it is to have Christ Jesus for a foundation. And this is we may very readily learn from the image itself. In a building the foundation is first. Whoever, then, has Christ Jesus in his heart, so that no earthly or temporal things - not even those that are legitimate and allowed - are preferred to Him, has Christ Jesus as a foundation. But if these things be preferred, then even though a man seem to have faith in Christ, yet Christ is not the foundation to that man; and much more if he, in contempt of wholesome precepts, seek forbidden gratifications, is he clearly convicted of putting Christ Jesus not first but last, since he despised Him as his ruler and has preferred to fulfil his own wicked lusts, in contempt of Christ's commands and allowances. Accordingly, if any Christian man loves harlot and attaching himself to her, becomes one body, he has not now Christ Jesus for a foundation. But if anyone loves his own wife, and loves her as Christ would have him love her, who can doubt that he has Christ Jesus for a foundation? But if he loves her in a world fashion, carnally, as the disease of lust prompts him and as the Gentiles love who know not God, even this the apostle or rather Christ by the apostle, allows as a venial fault. And therefore even such a man may have Christ for a foundation. For so long as he does not prefer such an affection or pleasure to Christ Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ is his foundation, though on it he builds wood, hay, stubble; and therefore he shall be saved as by fire. For the fire of affliction shall burn such luxurious pleasures and earthly loves, though they be not damnable because enjoyed in lawful wedlock. 

And of this fire the fuel is bereavement and all those calamities which consume these joys. Consequently, the superstructure will be loss to him who has built it, for he shall not retain it but shall be agonized by the loss of those things in the enjoyment of which he found pleasure. But by this fire he shall be saved through virtue of the foundation because even if a persecutor demanded whether he would retain Christ Jesus or these things, he would prefer Christ Jesus. Would you hear, in the apostle's own words, who he is who builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones? "He that is unmarried," he says, "care for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord - 1 Corinthians vii. 32 - Would you hear who he is that build wood, hay, stubble? "But he that is married care for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife." - 1 Corinthians vii. 33 - "Every man's work shall be mad manifest: for the day shall "it shall be revealed by fire." - 1 Corinthians iii. 13 - He calls tribulation fire, just as it is elsewhere said, "The furnace proves the vessels of the potter and the work of affliction righteous men."  - Ecclesiasticus / Sirach xxvii. 5-6 - And "The fire shall try every man work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide." - for a man's care for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord, abides - "which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward" - that is, he shall reap the fruit of his care. "But if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss" - for what he loved he shall not retain: - "but he himself shall be saved" - for no tribulation shall have moved him from that stable foundation - "yet so as by fire - 1 Corinthians iii. 14-15 - for that which he possessed with the sweetness of love he does not lose without the sharp sting of pain. here, then, as sees to me, we have a fire which destroys neither, but enriches the one, brings loss to the other, proves both.

But if this passage [of Corinthians] is to interpret that fire of which the Lord shall say to those on His left hand, "Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire" - Matthew xxx. 41 - so that among these we are to believe there are those who build on the foundation wood, hay, stubble and that they, through virtue of the good foundation, shall after a time be liberated from the fire that is the award of their evil deserts, what then shall we think of those on the right hand, to whom it shall be said: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you" - Matthew xxv. 34 - unless that they are those who have built on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones? But if the fire of which our Lord Jesus Christ speaks is the same as that of which the apostle says: "Yet so as by fire," then both - that is to say, both those on the right as well as those on the left - are to be cast into it. For that fire is to try both, since it is said: For the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is" - 1 Corinthians iii. 13 - If, therefore, the fire shall try both, in order that if any man's work abide, that is, if the superstructure be not consumed by the fire - he may receive a reward and that if his work is burned he may suffer loss, certainly that fire is not the eternal fire itself. For into this latter fire only those on the left hand shall be cast and that with final and everlasting doom; but that former fire proves those on the right hand. But some of them it so proves that it does not burn and consume the structure which is found to have been built by them on Christ as the foundation; while others of them it proves in another fashion, so as to burn what they have built up and thus cause them to suffer loss, while they themselves are saved because they have retained Christ Jesus, who was laid as their sure foundation and have loved Him above all. But if they are saved, then certainly they shall stand at the right hand and shall with the rest hear the sentence, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you;" and not at the left hand where those shall be who shall not be saved and shall therefore hear the doom." "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." For from that fire no man shall be saved, because they all shall go away into eternal punishment, where their worms shall not die, nor their fire be quenched, in which they shall be tormented day and night for ever.

But if it be said that in the interval of time between the death of this body and that last day of judgement and retribution which shall follow the resurrection, the bodies of the dead shall be exposed to a fire of such a nature that it shall not affect those who have not in this life indulged in such pleasures and pursuits as shall be consumed like wood, structures of that kind; if it be said that such worldliness, being venial, shall be consumed in the fire of tribulation either here only, or here and hereafter both or here that it may not be hereafter - this I do not contradict because possibly it is true. For perhaps even the death of the body is itself a part of this tribulation, for it results from the first transgression so that the time which follows death takes its color in each case from the nature of the man's building. The persecutions, too. which have crowned the martyrs and which Christians of all kinds suffer, try both buildings like a fire, consuming some, along with the builders themselves, if Christ Jesus is not found in them as their foundation, while others they consume without the builders because Christ is found in them and they are saved, though with loss; and other buildings till they do not consume because such materials as abide for ever are found in them.

In the end of the world there shall be in the time of Antichrist tribulation such as has never before been. How many edifices there shall then be, of gold or of hay, built on the best foundation, Christ Jesus, which that fire shall prove, bringing joy to some, loss to others, but without destroying either sort because of this stable foundation! Buy whosoever prefers, I do not say his wife, with whom he lives for carnal pleasure, but any of those relatives who afford no delight of such a kind, and whom it is right to love - whoever prefers these to Christ Jesus and loves them after a human and carnal fashion, has not Christ Jesus as a foundation and will therefore not be saved by fire, nor indeed at all; for he shall not possibly dwell with the Saviour/The Almighty God, who says very explicitly concerning the very matter: "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." - Matthew x. 37 - But he who loves his relations carnally and yet so that he does not prefer them to Christ Jesus, but would rather want them than Christ if he were to put to the test/proof, shall be saved by fire because it is necessary that by the loss of these relations he suffer pain in proportion to his love. And he who loves father, mother, sons, daughters, according to Christ Jesus, so that he aids them in obtaining His kingdom and cleaving to Him or loves them because they are members of the Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that this love should be consumed as wood, hay, stubble and not rather be reckoned a structure of gold, silver, precious stones. For how can a man love those more than the Lord Jesus Christ whom he loves only for Christ's sake? 

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Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -