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

This book is not for reminding God, as if things might escape Him by forgetfulness but it symbolizes His predestination of those to whom eternal life shall be given. For it is not that God is ignorant and reads in the book to inform Himself but rather His infallible prescience is the book of life in which they are written, that is to say, known beforehand.

                                              -       Of the new heaven and the new earth       - 

Having finished the prophecy of judgement, so far as the wicked are concerned, it remains that he speak also of the good. Having briefly explained the Lord's words, "These will go away into everlasting punishment" it remains that he explain the connected words "but the righteous into eternal life." - Matthew xxv. 46 - "And I saw," he says, "a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away; and there is no more sea." - Revelation xxi. 1 - This will take place in the order which he has by anticipation declared in the words, "I saw One sitting on the throne, from whose face heaven and earth fled." For as soon as those who are not written in the book of fire, or its position in the world or universe, I suppose is known to no man, unless perhaps the divine Spirit reveal it to someone - then shall the figure of this world pass away in conflagration of universal fire, as once before the world was flooded with a deluge of universal water. And by this universal conflagration the qualities of the corruptible elements which suited our corruptible bodies shall utterly perish and our substance shall receive such qualities as shall, by a wonderful transmutation, harmonize with our immortal bodies, so that, as the world itself is renewed to some better thing, it is fitly accommodated to men, themselves renewed in their flesh to some better thing. As for the statement, "And there shall be no more sea" I would not lightly say whether it is dried up with that excessive heat or is itself also turned into some better thing. For we read that there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, but I do not remember to have anywhere read anything of a new sea, unless what I find in this same book. "As it were a sea of glass like crystal." - Revelation xv. 2 - But he was not then speaking of this end of the world, neither does he seem to speak of a literal sea, "as it were a sea." It is possible that as prophetic diction delights in mingling figurative and real language and thus in some sort veiling the sense, so are the words." And there is no more sea" may be taken in the same sense as the previous phrase. "And the sea presented the dead which were in it." For then there shall be no more of this world, no more of the surging and restlessness of human life and it is this which is symbolized by the sea.

                                        -       Of the endless glory of the Universal Church      - 

"And now I saw", he says, "great city, a new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them and they shall be His people and God Himself shall be with them. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying but neither shall there be anymore pain: because the former things have passed away. He that sat upon the throne said: Behold, I make all things new. - Revelation xxi. 2-5 - This city is said to come down out of heaven because the grace with which God formed it is of heaven. Wherefore He says to it by Isaiah - "I am the Lord that formed thee." - Isaiah x1v. 8 - It is indeed descended from heaven from its commencement, since its citizens during the course of this world grow by the grace of God which come down from above through the laver of regeneration in the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. But by God's final judgement which shall be administered by His Son Jesus Christ, there shall by God's grace be manifested a glory so pervading and so new, that no vestige of what is old shall remain; for even our bodies shall pass from their old corruption and mortality to new incorruption and immortality. 

For to refer this promise to the present time, in which the saints are reigning with their King a thousand years, seems to me excessively barefaced, when it it is most distinctly said: "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying but there shall be no more pain." And who is so absurd and blinded by contentious opinionativeness, as to be audacious enough to affirm that in the midst of the calamities of this moral state, God's people or even one single saint, does live or has ever lived or shall ever live, without tears or pain - the fact being that the holier a man/woman is and the fuller of holy desire, so much the more abundant is the tearfulness of his supplication? Are not these the utterances of a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem: "My tears have been my meat day and night" - Psalms x1ii.3 - and "Every night shall I make my bed to swim; with my tears shall I water my couch" - Psalms vi.6 - My groaning is not hid from Thee; - Psalms xxxviii.9 -"My sorrow was renewed?" - Psalms xxxix.2 - Or are not those God's children who groan being burdened, not that they wish to be unclothed but clothed upon, that mortality may be swallowed up a life? - 2 Corinthians v. 4 - Do not they even who have the first-fruits of the Spirit groan within themselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of their body? - Romans viii 23 -   

Was not the Apostle Paul himself a citizen of the heavenly Jerusalem and was he not so all more when he had heaviness and continual sorrow of heart for his Israelitish brethren? - Romans ix. 2 - But when shall there be no more death in that city except when it shall be said: "O death, where is thy contention? - Saint Augustine therefore read not with the Vulgate - O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is sin. - 1 Corinthians xv. 55 - Obviously there shall be no sin when it can be said: "Where is"_ But as for the present it is not some poor weak citizen of this city but this same Apostle John himself who says, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." - 1 John i.8 - No doubt though this book is called the Apocalypse, there are in it many obscure passages to exercise the mind of the reader and there are few passages so plain as to assist us in the interpretation of the others, even though we take pains; and this difficulty is increased by the repetition of the same things, in forms so different that the things referred to seem to be different, although in fact they are only differently stated. But in the words: "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying but there shall be no more pain," there is so manifest a reference to the future world and the immortality and eternity of the saints - for only then and only there shall such a condition be realized - that if we think this obscure, we need not expect to find anything plain in any part of the Scared Scripture.                                    

 - 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 central emphasis of Jesus' teaching is the kingdom of God  -

In Christian theology, the Holy Spirit is understood or refer to the third person of the Holy Trinity, co-equal with God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. - Matthew 28:19 - In Hebrew and Greek terms; the word for spirit comes from 'ruach' in Hebrew and 'pneuma' in Greek. Thus, creation and sustaining life. - Genesis 1:2 - and life to creation - Psalms 104:30 - The Holy Spirit - 2 Peter 1:21 - Holy Spirit is also referred to 'the Helper' and 'the Comforter' - John 14:16 - The Paraclete, a helper, counselor, advocate to guide and comfort disciples, followers and believers. The Holy Spirit lives inside them - 1 Corinthians 12:4-7 - 

Let me put it like this: If you are led by the Holy Spirit, you will be in no danger of yielding self-indulgence since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is totally against such a thing and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. If you are led by the Holy Spirit no law can touch you. But when self-indulgence is at work the results are obvious: fornication, gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things. I warn you now, as I warned you before: those who behave like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, truthfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires. 

Since the Holy Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Holy Spirit. We must stop being conceited and envious. - Galatians 5:16-26 -

Let me put it like this: if you are guided by the Holy Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Holy Spirit.

Creation and sustaining life. The Holy Spirit in - Genesis 1:2 - hovering over the waters and is described as the agent that brings order, beauty in life to creation. - Psalms 104:30 - The specific roles of the Holy Spirit in the  Old Testament and New Testament. In the Old Testament, there are three major emphases may be identified, that is, the Holy Spirit as an agent in creation. This is the representation of the Holy Spirit by which the power of God is depicted - Genesis 1:2 - Psalms 33:6 - Ezekiel 37:1-10 -  The second is the Holy Spirit as a source of life, inspiration, power and the Holy Spirit becomes a vehicle of God's revelation. - Isaiah 42 - in fact, all receive their gifts of wisdom, power, courage and power from the possession of God's Spirit. Thus, they speak and act with an authority and power on God's behalf. In this connection, it should be noted that the 'Spirit' can be conveyed from one person to another as with Moses, Joshua, Samson, Saul (Paul) David, Elijah, Elisha.... the emphasis is the the Holy Spirit as God's presence in and connected with eschatological of Israel - Ezekiel 11 and 36 - In the New Testament, a more diverse range of meaning - it is the Spirit of God that endows Jesus with the power as the Messiah that empowers the Church for its mission, the close relationship of Jesus to God (the incarnation) expands and significantly transforms the understanding of the Holy Spirit in Christianity. 

The "Synoptic" Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and the Gospel of John are universally recognized as standing in a close literary relationship. It is generally recognized that the 4 New Testaments Gospels were written, intended for the believing 'Christian' community' and understood Jesus of Nazareth to be their Lord and the Son of God. 

The conquests of Alexander the Great (332-323 B.C.) had the effect of exposing almost the entire Mediterranean basin (as well as the region east of it to the borders of India) to some degree to Greek culture and more importantly, to the Greek language. Their Sacred Scripture were available in Greek well before the time of Christ Jesus and hence the earliest documents of the Christian movement were compose in Greek. In addition, however, Jews also retained (to varying degrees, in various places) the use of Aramaic and (especially for the reading of the Sacred Scriptures) Hebrew, Jewish inhabitants of rural areas with a less cosmopolitan culture probably spoke almost entirely Aramaic and used Greek at most for limited, possibly commercial purposes. Latin, which became the official language of the Roman Empire shortly before Jesus' birth, was hardly known in many far-flung areas and almost certainly did not affect the places of Jesus' ministry.

This explains the fact that although Jesus and practically all of his earliest disciples almost certainly spoke Aramaic rather than Greek and the traditions about Jesus at first circulated in Aramaic, these traditions gradually increase to be known primarily in Greek forms. 

The Beginning of Jesus' Public Ministry: Jesus probably began his public ministry during the early years of Pontius Pilate's prefecture - A.D. 26-36 - Luke 3:1-3; Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:7; Matthew 3:14; Luke 1:43-44; John 1:29-34 - Mark 2:28; Matthew 11:2 - Matthew 10:24; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13 -Luke 22:30; Matthew 19:28 - Romans 16 -    

   - 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 -    

HUMILITY has been regarded by the Saints as the basis and guardian of all virtues. - Saint Alphonsus Liguori - 1696-1787 - 

THERE is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in the knowledge in the world. - Saint Teresa of Avila - 1515-1582 -

YOU and I aspire to great things? Begin with little ones. You desire to erect a very high building? Think first of the foundation of humility. The higher one intends it, the deeper must the foundations be laid. - Saint Augustine of Hippo - 354-430 -

HUMILITY - THE key which opens all the treasures of God. - Saint Mary Euphrasia Pelletier - 1796-1868 -

THE only virtue no devil or the evil one can imitate. If pride made demons out of angels, there is no doubt that humility could make angels out of demons. - Saint John Climacus (d. 649) -

        -   Even the possession of every virtue is of no avail if we have not acquire humility   -

IF we possessed every virtue but lacked humility, those virtues would be without root and would not last. - Saint Vincent de Paul - 1580-1660 -

We must never glance at what is good in ourselves, much less ponder over it but we should search out what is wrong and what is lacking. This is an excellent way of remaining humble. - Saint Vincent de Paul - 1580-1660 -

BELIEVE that others are better than you in the depths of their souls, although outwardly you may appear better than they. - Saint Augustine of Hippo - 354-430 -

IN truth, the soul can possess no better insight for knowledge than to perceive its own nothingness. - Saint Angela of Foligno - d. 1312 - 

We must never glance at what is good in ourselves, much less ponder over it, but we should search out what is wrong and what is lacking. This is an excellent way of remaining humble. - Saint Vincent de Paul - 1580 -1660 -

BELIEVE that others are better than you in the depths of their souls, although outwardly you may appear better than they. - Saint Augustine of Hippo - 354-430 -

WE must never glance at what is good in ourselves, much less ponder over it, but we should search out what is wrong and what is lacking. - Saint Vincent de Paul - 1580-1660 -

We often say that we are nothing. But we would be very sorry if anyone should take us at our word. We pretend to retire and hide ourselves, so that the world may run after us and seek us out. True humility does not make a show of herself or use many humble words; for she desires not only to conceal all other virtues but most of all to conceal herself. - Saint Francis de Sales - 1567-1622 -

THAT person is truly humble who converts humiliation into humility. - Saint Bernard - 1090-1153 -

HOWEVER great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he/she must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He/She ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself/herself merely as a tool which God has made use of. - Saint Vincent de Paul 1580-1660 -

CERTAINLY nothing can so effectually humble us before the mercy of God as the multitude of His benefits. Nor can anything so much humble us before His justice as the enormity of our innumerable offences. Let us consider what He has done for us and what we have done against Him. - Saint Francis de Sales - 1567-1622 -

REMEMBER that Jesus Christ, referring to the humility of the publican, said that his prayer was heard. If this was said of a man whose life was evil, what may we not hope for if we are really humble? - Saint Vincent de Paul - 1580-1660 -

                    - Our Lord Jesus Christ manifests His Truth only to the humble -

A SOUL which exalts itself abases God; but a soul which abases itself exalts God. - Saint Augustine of Hippo - 354-430 -

PRIDE is an illusion, a lie and a theft. Since it is a truth of faith that we are nothing, he/she who esteems himself/herself and thinks that he/she is someone is a seducer who deceives himself/herself. - Saint John Eudes - 1601-1680 - 

PRIDE make us forgetful of our eternal interests. It causes us to neglect totally the care of our soul. - Saint John Baptist de la Salle - 1651-1719 -

YOU must ask God to give you power to fight against this sin of pride which is your greatest enemy - the root of all that is evil. The failure of all that is good. For God resists the proud. - Saint Vincent de Paul - 1580-1660 -

It is by humility that the Lord Jesus allows Himself to be conquered, so that He will do all we ask of Him. - Saint Teresa of Avila - 1515-1582 - 

To be plunged in humility is to plunged in God - Blessed John Ruysbroeck - 1293-1381 -

THERE is something in humility that strangely exalts the heart. - Saint Augustine of Hippo - 354-430 -

LET us not deceive ourselves. If we have not got humility, we have nothing. - Saint Vincent de Paul - 1580-1660 -

JESUS is the teacher of holiness. I go to Him because I want Him to teach me how to become a Saint. Of what use to me is all I learn in school if I do not become holy? - Saint Francis de Sales (in boyhood) - 1567-1622 -

A young Saint expressed the same thought after her first Holy Communion - I CAN no longer live without Jesus. How soon shall I receive Him again? - Saint Maria Goretti - 1890-1902 -

- The following were the resolutions of Saint Dominic Savio when he was barely twelve years of age -

WHEN I want something important, I go to Holy Mass/Holy Communion, where I receive the same Body that our Lord Jesus offered up for us on the Cross, together with His Precious Blood, His Soul and His Divinity. What more is wanting to complete my happiness until the day when I shall see face to face Him whom I now see on our altars only with the eye of faith? - Saint Dominic Savio - 1842-1857 -

WHEN I am at all worried, I go to my confessor who shows me what is God's Will; for Jesus Christ Himself assures us that he speaks with the Voice of God. - Saint Dominic Savio - 1842-1857 - 

I WILL go to Confession and to Holy Communion often. I will keep holy the feast days. Jesus will be my best friend. And I will rather die than commit sin. - Saint Dominic Savio - 1842-1857 - 

IF I do not become a Saint, I am doing nothing. - Saint Dominic Savio - 1842-1857 - 

           - Holiness and happiness go hand in hand, as Saint Dominic Savio discovered -

OUR Lord needs from us neither extraordinary deeds, nor exaggerated thoughts. Neither false talents and intelligence. He cherishes simplicity. - Saint Therese of Lisieux - 1837-1897 -

HAVE love in your hearts but repress the tendency to appear devout. - Saint Mary Mazzarello - 1837-1881 -

I Do not mean by this that you should be occupied from morning till night without some creation. You should be able to find enjoyment in useful hobbies and also take pleasure in the study of history and geography, the arts and science too. - Saint John Bosco - 1815-1888 - 

KEEP this well in mind. Never read books, internet news and information that you are not sure about or those which are not really suitable for your age. Even supposing these bad books/internet are very well written from a literary point of view, let me ask you this: would you drink something you knew was poisoned just because it was offered to you in a golden cup? - Saint John Bosco - 1815-1888 -

No matter how good food is, if poison is mixed with it, it may cause the death of him/her who eats it. So it is with conversation/reading. A single bad or nasty word/sentence, an evil action, an unbecoming joke, is often enough to harm one or more young listeners and adults alike, and may later on, cause them to lose God's grace. - Saint John Bosco - 1815-1888 -

                           - Scandal is something that should be avoided at all costs. - 

HE gives scandal who by word or deed gives occasion to others to offend God. Scandal is a terrible sin, because it robs God of the souls which He created for Heaven, and redeemed with the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ: and it delivers them into the hands of the devil. Guard yourself well from this danger and run away from it as you would run away from the devil himself. - Saint John Bosco - 1815-1888 -

Saint Dominic Savio did not hesitate to rebuke his companions, to snatch away the indecent papers from their hands to hurry them away from the man/woman who was trying to corrupt them. "Let him be your inspiration, realizing that you have the same means to make you courageous in doing good as he had." - Saint John Bosco - 1815-1888 -

CONQUER yourself and the world lies at your feet. - Saint Augustine of Hippo - 354-430 -

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 -