We hear from our beloved St. John twice today, Enjoy.!!
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Revelation-7:2-4 & 9-14, “I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel.
**After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands… They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.”
**All the angels stood around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
**Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.” **He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; They have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”
**In prayer God speaks to us. This dream of St. John’s feels like the Holy Spirit communicating with John in a big way. A view of Heaven and Eternity like this is packed with awe, exhilaration, love and tenderness. It makes me imagine being able to praise God, day and night, without having any concept of day or night. I feel peace and joy, all things GOD!! This scripture from Revelations fills me with contentment and confidence in my own messages received from the Holy Spirit. Indeed, I pray most earnestly for Lady Wisdom’s inspiration when sitting down to write for you. The Holy Spirit loves you, and Revelations is a glimpse of our destiny.
Psalm 24:1-6, Lord, these are the people that long to see your face. “Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? Only one whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.
**OH, How I long to see God’s face.!
Reading 2- 1John 3:1-3, Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the ‘children of God’. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us, is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be, has not yet been revealed. **We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as HE is. Everyone who has this hope based on Him, makes himself pure, as He is pure.
**The first line of this scripture is immediately a gentle, loving reminder that we belong to God. As children of our Father, we are affectionately cared for. I am also, very sheepishly, made to have a mild ‘gut-check’. Am I behaving like a son, a loving son, a devoted son. I believe that I’m 75% behaving. Fr. Vu told me that I can’t be 100% perfect until I’m perfect in Heaven with God.
The remaining 25%, my faulty humanness, still trips-stumbles-falls, depending on my own level of impatience with the public. Yes, that public. The rest of the children of God, even though I tend to forget that, when I’m not getting my-own way… 😊. The last line stands as a firm reminder of our life’s homework assignment… Hope in GOD… BELIEVE.
Alleluia, alleluia… Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Gospel- Matt 5:1-12, When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. **He began to teach them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me… Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”
**I do feel inadequate in trying to say anything at all about these Beatitudes. We are still five chapters to go until “The Twelve” are called the Apostles in the Gospel of Matthew. They’ve been set apart, but ‘all’ followers at this point are lumped together as disciples. There are thousands of disciples! Jesus has started going off to faraway places, fields and hillsides in order to teach, and to pray.
Folks are listening to Jesus, they can’t get enough, His captive audience is becoming the rumblings of what will be Christianity, and He won’t waste this opportunity. Wow, what a time that must have been. As I mentioned above, These Beatitudes can also serve as a gentle gut-check or as review notes before the final exam. I’m going to need God’s Mercy in grading my test on a ‘curve’. 😊
JOY-JOY-JOY… Thank You for your time. Remember to follow me **Pop-up Free** on FaceBook, & ‘SEE’ BRO BLU on YouTube videos: BRO BLU. Covenant Books webpage: https://covenantbooks.com/books/?book=a-blu-collar-spirituality
Brother BLU is a servant of God. He currently lives with his wife in Peosta, Iowa, and is retired. He was a blue-collar meat industry laborer for fifty years. He has spent his whole life as a God-fearing Christian, Mass lector, and cradle Catholic.
For Brother BLU, folks need only to recall the words of Jer 1:5. “Before you were born, I knew you.” This husband, father and struggling provider enjoyed pitching in at church wherever his pick-up truck was needed. Funds were tight, fortunately time was not… Yet. Bro. BLU was still feeling incomplete. “What could possibly be missing?”
He had begun feeling anxious about wanting to be one of God’s more positive influences on lives beyond his immediate family. He yearned to be more of a positive, solid example, the way that teachers or camp counselors can be.
In 1996, after a Catholic Charismatic Seminar at a neighboring parish, his spirituality “exploded.” *The Holy Spirit has since rocked his world. Blessing him with personal revelations (Dreams) and events (Visions) in times of needed teaching, admonishment or encouragement. Having a personal belief and true affection for the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and a very sweet, tender, and intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, BLU believes that the world is in dire need of ‘good news’. He wants his spirituality to create conversations and prays that these musings will start meaningful conversations in your own lives.
