Salvogesis

  Luke 6:20-2 3 :   Looking at his disciples, he said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.   These are words that can give us strength to continue. If we are poor now –  as are more and more people in our country every   day and  as are far more people in our world than need be -  we can endure because  in the end,  we will be in the Kingdom of God  where there is no poverty.   This can encourage many people with whom we walk on a daily basis and is a real blessing for many more people in our world today.   If we are hungry now – as is so much of our world today – we will be satisfied, maybe

Matthew 26:11 (Mark 14:7, John 12:8) Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 15:11 in saying, “the poor will always be with you”   As this is the case, Ignacio Ellacuria says, in essence, the great salvific task is to evangelize the poor so that out of their poverty they may attain the spirit necessary first to escape their indulgence and oppression, second to put an end to oppressive structures, and third to be used to inaugurate a new heaven and a new earth, where sharing trumps accumulating and where there is time to hear and enjoy God’s voice in the heart of the material world and in the heart of human history. [3]   I think that is very important. We need to evangelize the poor. We know what the word evangelize means, right? It comes from the Greek word ‘euangelion’, which means ‘good message’ or ‘good news’. [4]  We need to share the good news with the poor. Jesus, as recorded in Luke 4:18, in his very early sermon in the synagogue in his very own hometown quoted the prophet Isaiah – Isaiah 61:

The great salvific task, then, is to evangelize the poor so that out of their material poverty they may attain the awareness and the spirit necessary, first to escape from their indulgence and oppression, second to put an end to oppressive structures, and third to inaugurate a new heaven and a new earth, where sharing trumps accumulating and where there is time to hear and enjoy God’s voice in the heart of the material world and in the heart of human history. - Ignacio Ellacuria The poor unleash solidarity. Solidarity means poor people and nonpoor people mutually bearing one another, giving to each other and receiving from each other. Often what is given and what is received are in quite different orders of reality: material aid and human acceptance, for example. And what the nonpoor receive may be, as a humanizing reality, superior to what they give. This kind of solidarity goes beyond mere unilateral aid, with its intrinsic tendency toward imposition and domination. It goes beyond al

 John Ruskin: "The sin of our world is the sin of Judas. People lack faith in Christ so they sell him for something else" Ruskin knows deeply what he is talking about. He himself made that very mistake. He spoke about how a dull sermon and a great painting led him to make that very sale - albeit only for a time. People must forget either the power of God or the love of God. Otherwise how could we possibly commit what Ruskin calls 'the sin of Judas'? God loves us immensely and He will provide for us even and especially when things are very difficult (Matthew 6:19-28). He will be with you in and through all of life's challenges. This love, support and provision is what can get us through all the ups and downs of this life and unto the next. This love and power of the LORD, Salvation, is worth more than anything and all else in the world (Matthew 13:44-45). As this is the case, in our times of trouble and in our times of triumph let us remain in the Lord. He is the o

John 3:14b-17: "so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." Mathematician Blaise Pascal wrote, "Does life end with the death of the body? This is a basic question, and everyone will wonder about it sooner or later. The logic of our actions is determined by whether we believe in an afterlife. Every rational act is based on the belief in an afterlife."  So what about us? Do we believe in an afterlife? If so, how does that belief affect our everyday life? How should it? www.sheepspeak.com www.facebook.com/salvogesis  

How can we have perfect bliss? We will know perfect bliss when we arrive cold, tired, and happy at our destination. We will knock at the door, and the pub keeper will scold us and refuse to open the door. When we wait until the morning in the snow, slush, and wind, cold and drenched, without any feeling of malice for this man, we shall pray for him. Only then will we know perfect bliss. I have a book of daily quotes complied by Leo Tolstoy. This is one he chose for the beginning of the New Year. I thought it would be good for our second daily devotion of 2022 for Salvogesis. After all, What good is it to add to our own suffering of external harms, internal ones of hatred and discontent? www.sheepspeak.com www.facebook.com/salvogesis