God's Kingdom

From a notebook On prayer by Origin, Priest:

...The kingdom of God cannot exist alongside the reign of sin. Therefore, if we wish God to reign in us, in no way should sin reign in our mortal body; rather we should mortify our members which are upon the earth and bear fruit in the Spirit. There should be in us a kind of spiritual paradise where God may walk and be our sole ruler with His Christ. In us the Lord will sit at the right hand of that spiritual power which we wish to receive. And He will sit there until all His enemies who are within us become His footstool...

Saint Leo the great writes the following:

...For the man who loves God it is sufficient to please the one he loves; and there is no greater recompense to be sought than the loving itself; for love is from God by the very fact that God Himself is love. The good and chaste soul is so happy to be filled with Him that it desires to take delight in nothing else. For what the Lord says is very true: Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be...every man's treasure is that which he desires.

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Repentance in the Bible

The second parable is that of a woman who had lost a silver coin. Searching high and low, she finally found it. Then she called in her neighbors and said to them: “Rejoice with me! I have found the silver coin that I lost.” Note how this parable also concludes with a word about the great joy in heaven over the conversion of a single sinner: “I tell you, there will be the same kind of joy before the angels of God over one repentant sinner.”

Finally Jesus told the story of the Merciful Father. When the youngest son, after squandering his inheritance in loose living, finally came back home, disgraced and destitute, the Father ran out to meet him, embraced him, and kissed him, and without uttering a word of reproach to his son, instructed the servants: “Quick, bring out the finest robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and shoes on his feet. Take the fatted calf and kill it. Let us eat and make merry because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and now is found!” Again, notice the great joy over the repentance of a single sinner.

In John’s Gospel there is the woman caught in adultery. Jesus forgave with a simple word to go and sin no more. Jesus even forgave on the Cross. As He was dying on the cross he prayed for His enemies. In fact, He prayed for all sinners! He even made excuses for them! “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.” The good thief begged Jesus to “remember me when you enter upon your reign.” Jesus replied: “I assure you, this day you will be with me in paradise.” With that word a lifetime of crime was forgiven!

In Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

Eucharistic Adoration III

How can we ever spend enough time with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament? Our Lord has instituted the Eucharist because of His ardent desire to remain with us and be united with us always. He makes Himself present in all the tabernacles throughout the world so that we may visit Him whenever we wish. Why are we so cold and indifferent toward placing ourselves at the feet of our Creator?

When we adore our Lord before the Blessed Sacrament exposed it is like a window into heaven. Time can seem to stand still when we immerse ourselves into the infinite abyss of Christ's treasures and graces found in the Blessed Sacrament. Our spiritual lives should truly revolve around our time spent with our Lord. Christ is the source of all our hope, longing and aspirations. He is the source of our strength. He waits for us...

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching

The Christian and the World

Saint John says: "Never give your love to the world, or to anything in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. All that the world offers is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and earthly ambition. The world and its allurements will pass away, but the man who has done the will of God shall live for ever."

We have a responsibility to discern and carry out the will of God at all times. It is not for us to do our own will. I reluctantly accepted the office of priesthood because it was not my own will for my life, but the will of the Father. Once we have accepted God's will in our lives, we must, according to the words of Saint Cyprian, "be single-minded, firm in faith, and steadfast in courage, ready for God's will, whatever it may be."

We must constantly remind ourselves as baptized Christians how we have renounced the world. As Christians we live in it, but are not of it. We are aliens in this world. We should never fear death because death in this life means an end to our exile. We will then become free from this world and be able to welcome the paradise that awaits us. If we want to show the world that we sincerely live our faith, we must always focus on the eternal life that awaits us after this our exile!

Sincerely in Christ,

Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching