“Only the Glory of God Remains”: a 4-part series
On Modern Society’s Moral Degeneration and Its Remedies
“Everything around you is passing, and everything is falling apart; only the glory of God remains…I am especially praying for the shepherds, that they may be worthy representatives of my Son and may lead you with love on the way of truth. Thank you.”
(excerpt from message of Our Lady of Medjugorje, Sept. 2, 2011)
January 2012: Part 4: “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
“Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, that where I am you also may be. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; henceforth you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” (John 14:1-11)
When I was in Medjugorje in 1991, at every Mass I experienced the Father’s Heart so powerfully drawing me to the altar. All of the Masses were very crowded, with many people standing, but I never worried about whether I had a place to sit. I just kept inching my way through the crowd towards the altar. I wondered why I was experiencing the Father’s Heart, because, “Isn’t it Jesus who is present in the Blessed Sacrament?” Then I remembered that Jesus had said, “Do You not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?” Jesus is the Way to our loving Father, who is longing for us to come home to Him.
Pilate said to Him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” (John 18: 37-38)
Today we live in a world full of Pilates, who ask, “What is truth?” They do not know that truth exists. They believe that there are only opinions and preferences. They believe that “truth is relative,” that whatever I believe is truth for me, and whatever you believe is truth for you, even if the two beliefs are totally opposed to each other.
Today we live in a world full of people who are blind to the truth. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:29). (What an apt description of the culture of death in which we live!) We live in a world in which Christ is again (and again) crucified in His true disciples by those who—with no knowledge of truth—will bow down to whatever is “politically correct” at the moment. Yet St. John the Evangelist tells us in his Gospel: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
“The glory of God is man fully alive,”St. Ireneus wrote. Our Lady of Medjurgorje tells us that “only the glory of God remains.” It is through the Holy Eucharist received with a believing heart that we come “fully alive.”It is in the Holy Eucharist that the “the glory of God remains.” In John 6 we can read and meditate on Jesus’ words about the “life” that we receive through His Body and Blood:
(27) “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on Him has God the Father set His seal”…
(33) For the Bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.”
(35) Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and He who believes in Me shall never thirst”…(40) “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”…(47-48) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the Bread of Life”…(51) “I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh”…
(53-54) So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you; he who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”…”
(66-69) After this many of His disciples drew back and no longer went about with Him. Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.”
Our Lady of Medjugorje’s message to Mirjana Soldo of January 2nd, 2012
Dear children; As with motherly concern I look in your hearts, in them I see pain and suffering; I see a wounded past and an incessant search; I see my children who desire to be happy but do not know how. Open yourselves to the Father. That is the way to happiness, the way by which I desire to lead you. God the Father never leaves His children alone, especially not in pain and despair. When you comprehend and accept this, you will be happy. Your search will end. You will love and you will not be afraid. Your life will be hope and truth which is my Son. Thank you. I implore you, pray for those whom my Son has chosen. Do not judge because you will all be judged.
On Modern Society’s Moral Degeneration and Its Remedies
“Everything around you is passing, and everything is falling apart; only the glory of God remains…I am especially praying for the shepherds, that they may be worthy representatives of my Son and may lead you with love on the way of truth. Thank you.”
(excerpt from message of Our Lady of Medjugorje, Sept. 2, 2011)
January 2012: Part 4: “I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”
“Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself, that where I am you also may be. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; henceforth you know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me; or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” (John 14:1-11)
When I was in Medjugorje in 1991, at every Mass I experienced the Father’s Heart so powerfully drawing me to the altar. All of the Masses were very crowded, with many people standing, but I never worried about whether I had a place to sit. I just kept inching my way through the crowd towards the altar. I wondered why I was experiencing the Father’s Heart, because, “Isn’t it Jesus who is present in the Blessed Sacrament?” Then I remembered that Jesus had said, “Do You not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me?” Jesus is the Way to our loving Father, who is longing for us to come home to Him.
Pilate said to Him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” (John 18: 37-38)
Today we live in a world full of Pilates, who ask, “What is truth?” They do not know that truth exists. They believe that there are only opinions and preferences. They believe that “truth is relative,” that whatever I believe is truth for me, and whatever you believe is truth for you, even if the two beliefs are totally opposed to each other.
Today we live in a world full of people who are blind to the truth. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:29). (What an apt description of the culture of death in which we live!) We live in a world in which Christ is again (and again) crucified in His true disciples by those who—with no knowledge of truth—will bow down to whatever is “politically correct” at the moment. Yet St. John the Evangelist tells us in his Gospel: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).
“The glory of God is man fully alive,”St. Ireneus wrote. Our Lady of Medjurgorje tells us that “only the glory of God remains.” It is through the Holy Eucharist received with a believing heart that we come “fully alive.”It is in the Holy Eucharist that the “the glory of God remains.” In John 6 we can read and meditate on Jesus’ words about the “life” that we receive through His Body and Blood:
(27) “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on Him has God the Father set His seal”…
(33) For the Bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.”
(35) Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and He who believes in Me shall never thirst”…(40) “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”…(47-48) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the Bread of Life”…(51) “I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh”…
(53-54) So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you; he who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day”…”
(66-69) After this many of His disciples drew back and no longer went about with Him. Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.”
Our Lady of Medjugorje’s message to Mirjana Soldo of January 2nd, 2012
Dear children; As with motherly concern I look in your hearts, in them I see pain and suffering; I see a wounded past and an incessant search; I see my children who desire to be happy but do not know how. Open yourselves to the Father. That is the way to happiness, the way by which I desire to lead you. God the Father never leaves His children alone, especially not in pain and despair. When you comprehend and accept this, you will be happy. Your search will end. You will love and you will not be afraid. Your life will be hope and truth which is my Son. Thank you. I implore you, pray for those whom my Son has chosen. Do not judge because you will all be judged.