Gospel of the day
Here's an excerpt from the last chapter of Zephaniah 3:9-13 :
Then I will change the speech of the peoples into pure speech, that all of them will call on the name of the LORD and will serve him as one.
From beyond the rivers of Cush, my daughter [, Israel i think], my dispersed ones, will bring me offerings.
On that day, you won’t be ashamed of all your deeds with which you sinned against me ; then I will remove from your midst those boasting with pride.
No longer will you be haughty on my holy mountain, but I will cause a humble and powerless people to remain in your midst ; they will seek refuge in the name of the LORD.
The few remaining from Israel won’t commit injustice ; they won’t tell lies ; a deceitful tongue won’t be found on their lips.They will graze and lie down ; no one will make them afraid.
[I never realized before how much warnings there were against the sin of lying, i already loved the Bible very much but now i love it even more !
Lying is omnipresent, and when it's proved you'll hear people say "'so what'/'who cares' ? Are you naive ?", shame on us, we have to change, problem is that we 'don't fear God'/'are not ashamed'.
Am i not telling the truth ?]
We stopped there yesterday :
Jesus answered, “I assure you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, it’s not possible to enter God’s kingdom.
Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Don’t be surprised that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ God’s Spirit blows wherever it wishes. You hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. It’s the same with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
And here's the rest : John 3:9-21 :
Nicodemus said, “How are these things possible ?”
Jesus answered, “You are a teacher of Israel and you don’t know these things ? I assure you that we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you don’t receive our testimony.
If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things ?
No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Human One. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged ; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son.
“This is the basis for judgment : The light came into the world, and people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions are evil. All who do wicked things hate the light and don’t come to the light for fear that their actions will be exposed to the light. Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.”
[I'm not 100% sure that it says here that Jesus-Christ is God's only son, especially since it talked about God's spirit previously, and even more since he talked about the "Human One", that's God's only Son, and whether it's Jesus or/and the archetype of the Human, it's pretentious to speak about an "only" Son, i don't think that the previous gospels used this adjective, and it may have been added in order to prevent other people from claiming that we're all God's children, i.d.k.
And how are these two things similar : « Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so must the Human One be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life. », the snake has a hidden meaning.
The penultimate paragraph is much more known than the last one, yet i love this last paragraph a lot more.
Also, he says that « If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things ? », but after a quick look this distinction isn't obvious, i encourage you to read this third chapter again by yourselves if you're interested.]
[Narrated ‘Atâ bin Yasâr :
I met ‘Abdullâh bin ‘Amr bin Al-‘Aas and asked him, "Tell me about the description of God’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم which is mentioned in the Torah."
He replied, "Yes. By God, he is described in the Torah with some of the qualities attributed to him in the Qur’ân as follows : (...) You are neither discourteous, harsh nor a noise-maker in the markets, and you do not do evil to those who do evil to you, but you deal with them with forgiveness and kindness.
(Sahih Al-Bukhâri Vol.3, Hadîth No.335).]
Surah 2:36-45 :
Then Satan made them slip [from the Paradise], and got them out from that in which they were.
We said : "Get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time."
Then Adam received from his Lord Words. And his Lord 'pardoned him'/'accepted his repentance'.
Verily, He is the One Who forgives/'accepts repentance', the Most Merciful.
We said : "Get down all of you from this place(, the Paradise), then whenever there comes to you Guidance from Me, and whoever follows My Guidance, there shall be no fear on them, nor shall they grieve.
But those who disbelieve and belie Our Ayât/verses/proofs/evidence/lessons/signs/revelations — such are the dwellers of the Fire. They shall abide therein forever.
O Children of Israel ! Remember My Favour which I bestowed upon you, and fulfil (your obligations to )My Covenant( with you), so that I fulfil (My Obligations to )your covenant( with Me), and fear none but Me.
And believe in what I have sent down(, this Qur’ân), confirming that which is with you(, the Torah and the Gospel), and be not the first to disbelieve therein, and buy not with My Verses(, the Torah and the Gospel,) a small price, and fear Me and Me Alone.
And mix not truth with falsehood, nor conceal the truth while you know it.
And perform As-Salât, and give Zakât, and 'bow down'/'submit yourselves with obedience to God'.
You enjoin piety/righteousness/'each/every act of obedience to God' on the people and you forget (to practise it )yourselves, while you recite the Scripture(, the Torah ~'and the Gospel') ! Have you then no sense ?
[Narrated Abu Wâ’il رضي الله عنه :
Someone said to Usâma, Will you not talk to this (‘Uthmân) ?"
Usâma said, "I talked to him( secretly), without being the first man to open an evil door.
I will never tell a ruler who rules over two men or more that he is good after I heard God’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم saying, ‘A man will be brought and put in Hell/Fire, and he will circumambulate/'go round and round' in Hell/Fire, like a donkey of a (flour )grinding mill, and all the people of Hell/Fire will gather around him and will say to him ‘O so and so ! Didn‘t you use to order others for all that is good(, Al-Ma‘rûf,) and forbid them from all that is evil(, Al-Munkar) ?’
That man will say, ‘I used to order others to do all that is good, but I myself never used to do it, and I used to forbid others from all that is evil, but I myself used to do it’".
(Sahih Al-Bukhâri, Vol. 9, Hadîth No. 218).]
And seek help in patience and prayer, and truly it is extremely heavy and hard, except for the true believers in God.
Saints of the day :
St. John of Capestrano, Franciscan, Patron of the Military Chaplains
St. Severin Boethius, Roman philosopher and Martyr