"The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (c.f. 2 Cor.13:13) The Unity in the Verbum Dei Family in God’s Unity Sept. 2-8, 2013 Objective of the Week: To enter in the dynamism of the love of the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit thus making more visible their Trinitarian love in our lives, and in our Verbum Dei Missionary Family and in the society
IntroductionLast week’s prayer summarized in one verse from Isaiah, “Enlarge the place of your tent; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not; lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs. (Is.54: 2) This is rightly so since we are drawing our identity as a family in the very love of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, a love which welcomes all people of every state of life, regardless of sex, race and social condition. (CF. VDConstitution1) “The identity of the Verbum Dei Missionary Family is like the image of the Trinitarian Family that the Church expresses and makes visible. (CF. World VDMFa Symposium).” This week, we are invite to enter, to be plunged in the dynamism of the love of the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit in order to make more visible their Trinitarian love in our lives, and in our Verbum Dei Missionary Family and in the society. As a missionary family, we have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as our constant guide in opening more our lives to welcome everybody. The Trinity within us will be the one who will mold our loving to be selfless and other-centered. Their living presence within us makes us sensitive to the real needs of our brothers and sisters and they will be the one who will push us to seek the lost ones and bring them back into the flock. All these are possible as we allow ourselves first to be satisfied and satiated by their ineffable love and transform our beings into a visible expression of their same love to the world. “The Trinity within us will constitute and form the primary home in which God’s children will be born, in the vital warmth of their love. It is the original fraternity, “house of prayer for all peoples”, and school of prayer of the true disciples of Christ. From there springs within us the living water, which wells up for the eternal life of many…(Cf. VD Statutes 58) MondayFriendship with God “Some of you were like that, but you have been cleaned and consecrated to God and live in friendship with God in the Name of Christ Jesus and the Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor. 6:11) “Whoever had a God so close to them as the Trinity in us, a more living union, more complete possession and more fulfilling presence. It is the fullness of a pure, perfect, complete, eternal love. What happiness and joy, that God should declare himself to me, offer himself as so familiar a guest, a friend, Father, spouse, more intimate to me than I am to my own self!“ (cf. VD Statutes 215) Friendship with God is built by sharing all your life experiences with him. He wants to be included in every activity, conversation or problem. Friendships are built on shared experiences - celebrations, tragedies, challenges and routines. To be a friend of God is to know HIM - knowing HIS WORD. You can recall verses you've read or memorized. Think of it continually throughout the day. How could I remind myself to talk to God more often throughout my day? TuesdayTrinitarian Love “His command is that we believe in the Name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another, as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commands remains in God and God in him. It is by the Spirit God has given us that we know he lives in us.” (1 John 3: 23-24) “The living out and the sharing of the Trinitarian love, is also a source of communion, it makes the kingdom present among us, making us one in Him. This, in effect, is the distinguishing sign of the Verbum Dei Missionary Family as a Christian community, “The whole group of believers was united, heart and soul…”and” none of their members was ever in want.” (cf. World VDMFa Symposium; 2.1.23) “Love is patient, kind, without envy. It is not boastful or arrogant. It is not ill mannered nor does it seek its own interest. Love overcomes anger and forgets offenses. It does not take delight in wrong, but rejoices in truth. Love excuses everything, believes all things, hope all thing, endures all things.” (1 Cor. 13: 4-7) Think of the many ways to love God and neighbor today and then do it. WednesdayDwelling place of the Trinity "For in Him we live and move and exist…” (Acts 17:28) Acts 17:27-29 “ The Most Holy Trinity find in each one of us their delight in the dedication of our body, temple and dwelling place of the Trinity, the consecration of our heart as an altar exclusively for their worship, and the conversion of our everyday life into a liturgy of humble adoration. Even in the daily hustle and bustle of life, seduced by their love we will easily enter into the desert of everything, everyone, and our own selves, and let God speak to our heart.” (cf. VD Statutes, 218) The Trinity is always within us in every single moment of our daily routine, but are we with them? Today, let us make an exercise of awareness of their presence within us and to give thanks because we are never alone in the midst of the hustles and bustles of life. ThursdayMy Soul Magnifies the Lord “This is how Jesus Christ was born. Mary his mother was engaged to Joseph, but before they came together as husband and wife, she become pregnant through the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 1:18) “In habitually living with the Trinity, the kingdom of God is already within us. With Mary we easily make our living and sharing a continuous “Fiat” and an unending “Magnificat” to our God who is three times holy: to the glory of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” (VD Statutes, 220) Mary, an obedient and humble daughter of the Father, the spouse of the Holy Spirit and the Mother of Jesus. Her presence in the Verbum Dei family “will accompany our laborious days of missionary work, sustained by a living and proven faith and by the joy of redeeming love.” (cf. World VDMFa Symposium, 2.2.4) Like our mother Mary, may our lives as Disciples of Christ will be sign of gratitude to all His goodness to us. FridayTrinitarian Community “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23) “By living with the Trinity, we establish in ourselves the first and true community which will be the genuine seed and secure guarantee of all communion with our brothers and sisters, and of the true state of perfection.” (VD Statutes, 219) The Holy Trinity is “the true and permanent ‘viaticum’, the very best travelling companions and the leaven and seed of Christian fraternities throughout the world.” (VD Constitutions # 58) To live with the Holy Trinity, feeding on God’s WORD must be your priority. To abide in God’s word, I must become “a doer of the Word” (James 1:22). A good way is to reflect daily on scripture. Also, memorize bible verses that will help you resist temptation, make wise decisions or share your faith with others. What has GOD already told you to do in HIS WORD that you haven’t started doing yet? SaturdayDisciple of God“Therefore, go and make disciples from all nations. Baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19) “Our Fraternities and Centers want to be a faithful transparency, within the reach of the people of today and of all times, a ‘quasi-sacrament ‘ of the Trinitarian life that, from within, flows forth visibly into the world. With these means, via the same path and dynamism of the incarnation of the unseen God, we will attempt to reveal the living experience of the kingdom already present within us: that is, the ineffable communion with our true and eternal “Trinitarian Community“ (VD Constitutions # 59) Seek for the formation and promotion of disciples. Is your life a mirror image of the Holy Trinity you want to share to others as to form little Christian Communities? Sunday23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time1st Reading: Wisdom 9: 13-18b
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90 2nd Reading: Philemon 9-10 , 12-17 Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33 Comments are closed.
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