Today's Collect for St. Justin Martyr
Grant us that,
having rejecteddeception and error,
we may becomesteadfast in the faith ...
Reject deception and error ...
Justin sought the vision of God through philosophy - worldly science - until he was introduced to the Word of God - the testimony of the prophets, by a holy old man. “But before anything else,” said the holy Elder, “pray diligently to God, so that He might open to you the doors of Light. No one is able to comprehend Truth, unless he is granted understanding from God Himself, Who reveals it to each one who seeks Him in prayer and in love.”
"The wicked have told me lies, but not so is your law: I spoke of your decrees before kings, and was not confounded." - Entrance Antiphon.These days especially - we are being told lies. Lies about love, marriage, gender, sexuality, and so on. There are false seers, false teachers among us.
Faith.
St. Therese always said she preferred 'not to see' - not to have private revelations and visions - because faith is more meritorious. She preferred to live by faith alone, even if that meant dining at the table of sinners - participating in their faithlessness, as it were, in her dark night of faith. In this manner, little Therese associated herself with the unbelievers and the skeptics, the lowly and afflicted. Nevertheless, in some mysterious sense, the heroic charity of Therese motivated her to 'bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, endure all things' - without seeing, devoid of consolation. How many of us can sometimes find ourselves at the same table? Struggling to believe all things, hope all things, endure all things?
"Having rejected deception and error ..."
Faith enables us to do that.
The deception and error so widespread today - so much promulgated by worldly authorities and scholars and media - entering into even the high places of religious debate through compromise and the development of doctrine ...
Deception and error. Don't fall for it.
How I love Therese ! Thanks to her.... we all may accept our foibles and rest deeply with Christ...I wish I could express myself better: I don't mean...just accept our sins, failings, etc: I guess I mean that I can accept that I am so many small things, vain, often shallow, sometimes foolishly depressive:
ReplyDeleteMy book by my side now: Therese of Lisieux and Marie of the Trinity: "...if you don't ever want to fear again Therese said to me one day, "do as I do: take the means to force God not to judge you at all, by presenting yourself to him with empty hands. This means, don't hold onto anything for yourself, give all your merits to souls as you acquire them: in that way God can't judge something that is no longer yours."
"But if God doesn't judge my good deeds he will judge my bad ones !" (Marie)
"What are you saying ! Our Lord, who is justice itself, can't judge your bad deeds if he doesn't judge your good ones ! Be assured: for the victims of Love, there will be no judgment. God will hasten to repay with eternal delights his own love that he sees burning in their heart." (p. 80,81)
devoid of consolation ! giving all merits away ! awash with the love she knew !- without the 'feelings" so many require - !!