RenHar. 14 Sep 2016. Salib Suci.

SALIB adalah jalan menuju surga,
  tetapi hanya jika ditanggung dengan sukarela.

*St. Paulus dari Salib*

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⭕Mutiara Iman.

*DITINGGIKAN*

14 September 2016.

_".. Demikian juga Anak Manusia harus ditinggikan, supaya setiap orang yang percaya kepada-Nya beroleh hidup yang kekal"_
(Yoh 3:14-15)

Lectio
Bil 21:4-9; Mzm 78:1-2,34-35,36-37,38; Flp 2:6-11; Yoh 3:13-17.

Dengan berbekal modal seadanya Stella membuka warung minuman tepat di sebelah gereja.
Dari mulai masih single lalu menikah dengan Ronald, penjual gado-gado yang juga berjualan di sebelah gereja.

Sekarang mereka telah memiliki 2 anak, dan sesekali hanya Ronald atau Stella yang berjualan.

Suatu sore, seorang mahasiswa bernama Sudin melihat Ronald dan keluarga sedang berkumpul dan terlihat begitu sukacita.
Lalu Sudin bertanya :
"Bapak memiliki keluarga yang penuh sukacita. Apakah rahasianya?"

Ronald berkata :
"Sudah hampir 10 tahun saya berjualan di sini dan setiap hari saya selalu masuk ke gereja, memandang wajah Yesus yang disalibkan. Inilah yang menguatkan saya dan membuat hidup ini semakin hidup. Semua kehidupan saya ditanggung oleh-Nya melalui salib-Nya."

Yesus berkata kepada Nikodemus :
"Demikian juga Anak Manusia harus ditinggikan, supaya setiap orang yang percaya kepada-Nya beroleh hidup yang kekal."

Salib adalah jalan menuju kehidupan kekal.

Oratio
Dalam nama Bapa, dan Putera dan Roh Kudus. Amin.

Missio
_Marilah kita melakukan karya kerahiman dengan menjadikan salib sebagai jalan menuju kehidupan kekal._
*Have a Blessed Wednesday.*

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Tips of the day:
day 1465.

Kesusahan dan penderitaan tidak dapat menghancurkan kita.

Tetapi bila kita tidak memiliki sumber daya untuk digunakan dalam menghadapi kesusahan dan penderitaan, maka kita bisa jatuh dan roboh.

Sumber daya terbesar yang dapat kita gunakan dalam meresponi kesusahan dan penderitaan adalah kekuatan dari Kristus yang menanggung dosa kita untuk menebus dan membebaskan kita.

Sumber daya lain yang dapat membantu adalah kesadaran bahwa penderitaan yang adalah bagian dari kehidupan setiap orang, selalu membawa sertanya potensi untuk pertumbuhan.

"Tetapi dia tertikam oleh karena pemberontakan kita, dia diremukkan oleh karena kejahatan kita; ganjaran yang mendatangkan keselamatan bagi kita ditimpakan kepadanya, dan oleh bilur-bilurnya kita menjadi sembuh."
(Yesaya 53:5).

Selamat pagi sahabat, have a blessed day!

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The Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Wednesday 14th September.

John 3:13-17.

No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

On one occasion, when the people of Israel were in the desert, they faced the curse of a multitude of snakes which bit and killed many of the Israelites.

They prayed to the Lord and He ordered Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it up on a pole. Those who looked at it were healed from the poison of the serpents.

The Holy Cross of Our Lord has real healing power. Such a simple sign means a lot to us. Every crucifix reminds us of the Love of God for each one of us. Every crucifix is like a label with the price of our ransom paid by Jesus with His Blood.

Lovers carry with them a picture of their beloved. A father has in his wallet a picture of his wife and children.
Good Christians should also carry a crucifix in their pockets.

The crucifix is an effective weapon against the poison of the enemy. The devil has been described as a roaring lion to be feared. But in the presence of a crucifix, the lion becomes a tame cat.

In times of difficulty, in times of temptation or when we suffer setbacks of any kind, having a crucifix to hand which we can kiss or caress becomes the most valuable instrument.

To kiss the crucifix is a great act of love and can also be a great act of contrition.

One day St Josemaría went to assist a man who was dying in hospital. He was a gipsy who had been a great sinner. After his confession, when St Josemaría gave him his crucifix to kiss, that contrite gipsy started to shout, and no one could stop him:
'I can't kiss Our Lord with this filthy, rotten mouth of mine!'

St Josemaría was moved by that act of contrition and answered him: 'But listen: very soon you are going to embrace him and give him a big kiss, in Heaven!'

Mary, Mother of Sorrows, teach me to meditate on the Cross and keep me always close to your Son, close to you, on Calvary.
[Good advice from St Josemaría: get a pocket crucifix and carry it with you  always.]

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Commentary of the day :

Saint Theodore the Studite (759-826), monk at Constantinople
Homily for the adoration of the Cross (Cf. breviary 2nd Friday in Paschaltide)

The cross, tree of life

How beautiful is the sight of the cross! Its beauty is not a mingling of evil and good, like in former times the tree in the Garden of Eden. It is entirely admirable, "good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom." (Gen 3:6) It is a tree that gives life and not death, light and not blindness. It makes people enter Eden and not leave it. This tree upon which Christ went up like a king on his triumphant chariot, has lost the devil who had power over death, and has rescued the human race from enslavement to the tyrant.

On this tree, like an elite fighter, the Lord, wounded in his hands, his feet and his divine side, healed the wounds of sin, that is to say, our nature that was wounded by Satan.

After being put to death by means of the wood, we have found life by means of the wood. After being deceived by means of the wood, we have driven back the deceitful serpent by means of the wood. What surprising exchanges! Life instead of death, immortality instead of corruption, glory instead of shame. Rightly did the apostle Paul exclaim: "May I never boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!" (Gal 6:14)…

Beyond all wisdom, this wisdom, which blossomed on the cross, rendered stupid the pretences of the wisdom of this world (1 Cor 1:17f.)…

By the cross, death was killed and Adam was returned to life. By the cross, all the apostles were glorified, all the martyrs were crowned, all the saints sanctified. By the cross, we have put on Christ and been stripped of the old man
(Eph 4:22).

By the cross, we have been brought back as Christ's sheep and have been gathered together in the sheepfold on high.