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To: Salvation
Regnum Christi

Eyes of Faith
| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY
Monday of the Second Week of Easter


 .

John 3:1-8

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother´s womb and be born again, can he?" Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, ´You must be born from above.´ The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, you know my needs better than I do. I turn to your Spirit to teach me what to ask for in this prayer. I want to fulfill your holy will over my life. I love you, Lord and I place all my hope in you.

Petition: Lord, increase my sensitivity to your Spirit.

1. Human Eyes: What do the eyes of our head see? They see the work of God in creation telling us that he loves us. They see creatures as a means to know and respond to our loving Creator. Our eyes see opportunities to exercise the love that we learn from this Creator. They see the mystery of Christ’s love in the Eucharist. They see around us the work of the Spirit in the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. The eyes are the apparatus of faith and serve us well on our way to the everlasting Kingdom. Is this the case for my own eyes?

2. Eyes of the Heart: If the things that flow from the heart can defile a man, so too the things that flow from the heart can sanctify a man. The eyes are also the apparatus of the heart. The eyes will focus on what the heart treasures. Christ stated it so clearly: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light; but if your eye is unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in your eye is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22).

3. Eyes of the Soul: “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, speaks to our souls without the noise of words. The eyes of the soul, guided by the same Spirit, help us to see -- to relish what is right and always rejoice in his consolation. In this Easter season, the Spirit begins to stir, and the Church begins to chant more fervently: “Veni Sancti Spiritus! Come Holy Spirit!” As members of this Mystical Body it is a compelling duty and a delightful right for us to join in this prayer.

Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus Christ, you promised to send your Holy Spirit upon your Church, and you prepared the disciples on multiple occasions to make themselves ready. Just as the Israelites quickly made ready for the Passover as people prepped for a journey, guide me to be prepared to journey with your Spirit.

Resolution: I will invoke the Holy Spirit in short prayers at three different times today.


34 posted on 04/16/2012 7:52:07 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: All

The Purity of Baptism

The Catholic Church teaches that we were born anew when we were
baptized while we were still infants. Our baptism was in compliance
with the teaching of Jesus that we must be born anew so that we may be
able to enter the Kingdom of God. This is also in compliance with the
instructions of Jesus to his disciples when he said, “Go therefore and
make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the
close of the age.”

We Catholics do not believe that we have to be older, or even attain
the age of reason, before we may be baptized. We believe that it is
not our intellect or our attainment of the age of reason that makes
the baptism effective. Our being born anew is by the grace of God
bestowed upon us when the priest baptizes us “in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The intellect is not always the best guide when it comes to our
relationship with God. Sometimes the intellect can even mislead us
into rejecting the revealed truths in the Gospel of Christ. We often
need guidance in our discernment process and it is the Holy Spirit who
leads us to make the correct decision. This is why the Church, in the
exercise of its Magisterium, strives to keep our faith in the
teachings of Christ constant and on solid ground as handed down to us
from the time of Jesus up to the present based on the Holy Bible and
the accepted traditions of our Church.


35 posted on 04/16/2012 8:04:19 PM PDT by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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