top of page
Search

ARE YOU GOD’S BELOVED?

  • Writer: Olufunmilayo Adekusibe
    Olufunmilayo Adekusibe
  • 12 minutes ago
  • 3 min read

Today’s Readings:

1John 1:1-4

Psalm 97:1-2,5-6,11-12

John 20:2-8

ree

The four gospels hold a place of utmost significance in the Catholic Church. This is why we stand for the gospel reading, introduce it with the singing of the Alleluia, and, during solemn Masses, incense the Lectionary or Book of the Gospels. Today, we celebrate the feast of the author of the fourth gospel, Saint John the Evangelist, described as “the one Jesus loved” (John 20:2). What does it mean to be a beloved disciple? It means that your whole being is saturated with the life of Christ—Christian spirituality.


Christian spirituality entails:

  • A life lived in alignment with God’s Spirit.

  • Reliance on God’s grace.

  • A human desire and capacity for growing in union with the Triune God.

  • A life lived in conscious relationship with God as experienced within a community of believers.

  • To attend to things of God and to deepen a life of conversion that has discipleship as its goal.

  • Christian spirituality is most authentically expressed in the living out of our Christian baptismal promises. This entails:

  • Rejection of everything that is not of God

  • The decision to live in accord with the Spirit and ways of the Triune God.

  • Renewed commitment to our baptismal/Confirmational promises, made possible by God’s grace, sustained by Christian community, and supported through engagement in meaningful spiritual practices.


What are some of these spiritual practices?

  • Morning Offering: Begin your day on a note of gratitude to God and be open to all the possibilities of grace and providence which God sends your way for your good.

  • Pray for others. Prayer is a social act. It is far from being private. In it, we hand ourselves and others over to God. As much as we desire the good of our loved ones, we cannot protect them always. But God can. So, we ask him to bless and protect them, to bless our enemies and help us to forgive them, to bless our deceased loved ones and prepare us for our final day.

  • Fasting. Now and then, we remind ourselves of the goodness and pleasures we enjoy by abstaining from them to connect with God and provide for those who do not have. Fasting is not a punishment; it is a reminder that all we have and are is a gift from God.

  • The Eucharist remains “the source and summit” of the Christian faith, and participation in the sacraments unites us in a real and direct way with the heart of Christ, who is meek and humble (Matthew 11:29).

  • Eucharistic adoration is a period of quiet prayer in a space primarily intended for liturgical worship—it is prayer focused on Jesus, either reserved in the tabernacle or exposed to view in a monstrance. Spending time with Him in this devotion strengthens us and consoles Him.

  • Lectio divina is a four-step process of attentive reading and re-reading of a biblical text. By internalising the text in its verbal form, one passes on to a rumination or meditation on its meaning in the context of my own life and experiences. Meditation gives rise to prayer (oration) in the form of thanksgiving, adoration, praise, sorrow, repentance, resolve and petition. Fervent prayer can reach that degree of interiority; the full flowering of prayer in imageless and wordless union with God in the Spirit (contemplation).

  • Offering hospitality is a moral imperative. In welcoming guests and entertaining strangers, we make ourselves vulnerable in acknowledgement of the hospitality God has shown to us.


To be a beloved disciple means that we desire to touch Christ and be transformed by Him. The point of such practice is a deeper relational life, so that our faith and life are inseparable.

                                                                                                JUDE-MARY OWOH



To surrender your life to Christ, say this prayer aloud. “Father, I acknowledge my sin against You. I repent and ask for forgiveness, in the name of Jesus. I surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. By the power of Your Holy Spirit, take control of my heart and lead me in Your path of righteousness. Thank you, Lord.”

 If you said the prayer, Congratulations! You are welcome to the body of Christ. Prayerfully seek out a living church and meet the resident reverend, pastor, or priest.



Prayer:

  1. Lord, thank you for calling me to a deeper relationship with You. Accept my prayer today, forgive my sins, and give me a long life.

  2. May God grant you the grace to desire His loving company all through life, and that your mind may be saturated by His grace, your heart be filled with His love, and your body be His holy dwelling place in dignity and grace. Amen.

 
 
 

Comments

bottom of page