“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – Psalm 33:18

Posted on 18 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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The Lord watches over those who obey Him,
those who trust in His constant love.

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– Psalm 33:18 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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Do I obey Him?

Do I trust in His constant love?

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As we ask ourselves these two questions,

the Lord is listening to us,

and watching us as we look inside ourselves to find the answers.

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If you have a personal relationship with Jesus,

you will know how He wishes you to be,

and what attitude He wants you to have.

As you look at Him on the Cross,

you will know the honest answers to those questions.

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Confess, therefore, your weaknesses and your sins to the Lord;

regularly seek and obtain His forgiveness

through the Sacrament of Confession and Reconciliation,

and you will be restoring life to your soul.

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As you experience the love and peace that only He can give,

your faith and trust in the Lord will be renewed

…and you will experience the unsurpassable joy

which comes from being, yet again, close to your loving Saviour.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Forgive me, O Lord, and renew me

and may your constant love be with me
as I put my hope in You.

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – 1 Corinthians 1:18

Posted on 17 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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For the message about Christ’s death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost;

but for us who are being saved it is God’s power.

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– 1 Corinthians 1:18 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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The cross of Christ leads the way to true wisdom and prudence.

No one may remain indifferent to it.

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Some people see the message of the Cross

– the message about Christ’s death on the cross – as folly:

these are on the road to nowhere

or, worse than nowhere, to perdition.

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Others – those who are on the road to salvation –

are discovering that the Cross is "God’s power",

because it has conquered the evil one and sin.

On the wood of the Cross hung the Saviour of the world!

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Simplicity and humility are needed

if one is to discover the divine wisdom and truth of the Cross.

Look, therefore, with the eyes of faith at the image of Christ of the Cross

and you will see God in His full benevolence;

and your soul will recognise and exalt at the power of His great love;

and you will be filled with indescribable hope

and with the great joy that comes from knowing and acknowledging God’s saving grace.

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QUOTE…

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"O most precious gift of the Cross! How splendid it looks! […]

It is a tree which begets life, without causing death;

which sheds light, without casting shadows;

which leads to Paradise and does not expel anyone therefrom;

it is the wood which Christ ascended, as a king mounting his chariot,

to defeat the devil who had usurped the power of death,

and to set mankind free from the thrall in which the devil held it.

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This wood, on which the Lord, valiant fighter in the combat,

was wounded in His divine hands and feet and side,

healed the effects of sins

and the wounds which the pernicious dragon had inflicted on our nature […].

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That supreme wisdom, which, so to speak, flourished on the Cross,

exposed the boasts and the foolish arrogance of the wisdom of the world."

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– St Theodore the Studite

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus on the Cross, save me from myself.

Jesus on the Cross, save me from the world.

My Loving Saviour, thank You for the great hope You instil in my heart!

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – Romans 13:8

Posted on 16 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Owe no one anything, except to love one another;

for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

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– Romans 13:8 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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Owe no one anything, except to love one another.

This phrase describes precisely how Jesus wants to see us:

indebted to one another in love.

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We must always be conscious

that as Christians we are obliged to love all others.

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We must never stop owing true Christian love to others

– to our parents, to our spouses, to our children;

to our relatives, friends and colleagues;

to all others; to everybody.

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We must never stop owing true Christian love to others,

irrespective of whether we know them personally or not;

of whether they are indifferent towards us or not;

of whether they love us in return or not.

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Remember what Jesus taught us:

“But I say, love your enemies!

[Bless those who curse you.

Do good to those who hate you.]

Pray for those who persecute you!

In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.

For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good,

and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” (Mt 5:44-45)

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Remember Jesus on the Cross, who said:

“Father forgive them.”(Lk 23:24)

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Yes, as followers of Christ

we are being called to turn the world upside down;

to do and to act in a way which is the exact opposite of what we find in our world.

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Today and every day,

call to mind especially those who you feel may not love you,

and pray for them

…and ask the Lord for the strength of character to truly love them,

and also ask Him to show you how to genuinely demonstrate such true Christian love.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, as I think of You nailed upon that Cross,

I ask that I will love like You love me – unconditionally.

Please help me, Lord.

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – John 3:16

Posted on 15 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son,

so that everyone who believes in Him

may not perish but may have eternal life.”

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– John 3:16 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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“For God so loved the world…”

How precious we must be in the eyes of the Creator!

Christ’s death on the Cross is the supreme sign of God’s love for us.

His self-surrender is a pressing call to respond to His great love for us.

“So that everyone who believes in Him…”

Jesus demands that we have faith in Him

as a first prerequisite to sharing in His love.

Faith brings us out of darkness into the light,

and sets us on the road to salvation.

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QUOTE…

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"For God so loved the world

that He gave His only Son for its salvation.

All our religion is a revelation of God’s kindness, mercy and love for us.

‘God is love’, that is, love poured forth unsparingly.

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All is summed up in this supreme truth,

which explains and illuminates everything.

The story of Jesus must be seen in this light.

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‘(He) loved me’, St. Paul writes (Gal 2:20).

Each of us can and must repeat it for himself

– ‘He loved me, and gave Himself for me.’"

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– Pope Paul VI

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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He loved me, and gave Himself for me.

Jesus, You loved me, and gave Yourself for me!

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – Colossians 3:1-2

Posted on 14 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ,

you must look for the things that are in heaven,

where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand.

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Let your thoughts be on heavenly things,

not on the things that are on the earth..

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– Colossians 3:1-2 (JB)

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REFLECTION…

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Through Baptism,

we Christians have been raised to a new kind of life, a supernatural life,

whereby we share, even while on earth, in the glorious life of the risen Jesus.

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This life with the Lord is, at present, spiritual and hidden,

but when our Lord comes again in glory, it will become gloriously clear.

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As baptised persons, therefore, and as believers,

we should seek the things that are in heaven,

that is, the things of God,

with the supernatural purpose of walking and living with Christ.

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By keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus

as we go through life’s many challenges and all its ups and downs;

by carrying out our Christian duties

of loving and protecting, and working and giving;

by living in the way Jesus taught us,

and seek to take Christian love, joy and peace to others,

we can truly look forward to everlasting, glorious life.

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QUOTE…

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"The true Christian, who acts according to his faith,

always has his sights set on God.

His outlook is supernatural.

He works in this world of ours, which he loves passionately;

he is involved in all its challenges,

but all the while his eyes are fixed on Heaven"

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– St. Josemaria Escriva

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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I lift my thoughts to Heaven, O Lord,

for that is where my help comes from.

I fix my eyes on You, my Jesus,

for You are the Way, the Truth and the Life!

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – John 3:3-8

Posted on 13 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said [to Nicodemus],

“I am telling you the truth:

no one can see the Kingdom of God without being born again.”

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“How can a grown man be born again?” Nicodemus asked.

“He certainly cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time!”

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“I am telling you the truth,” replied Jesus,

“that no one can enter the Kingdom of God

without being born of water and the Spirit.

A person is born physically of human parents,

but is born spiritually of the Spirit.

Do not be surprised because I tell you that you must all be born again.

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The wind blows wherever it wishes;

you hear the sound it makes,

but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going.

It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

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– John 3:3-8 (GNT)

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REFLECTION…

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This is our Lord’s first reference to Christian Baptism,

confirming John the Baptist’s prophecy

that He had come to institute a baptism with the Holy Spirit.

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Here Jesus reveals an astonishing truth to us:

that one must be born again, in a spiritual birth, by water and the Spirit.

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Our Lord’s words paint a limitless horizon for the spiritual advancement

of any Christian who, willingly and full of trust and hope, lets himself or herself be led by divine grace and the gifts of the Holy Spirit,

which are infused at Baptism and enhanced by the Sacraments.

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When Our Lord says that everyone who is born of the Spirit is like the wind,

He is speaking of the wonderful effects the Holy Spirit produces in the soul of the baptised:

when the wind blows we realise its presence, we hear it whistling,

but we do not know where it came from, or where it will end up.

So it is with the Holy Spirit, the Divine "Breath" given to us in Baptism:

we do not know how the Spirit comes to penetrate our heart,

but He makes His presence felt by the change in the conduct of whoever receives Him.

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However, to be born again of the Spirit,

and to understand what God is teaching us in our soul,

we not only need to be willing to open our soul to God

but we also need to stop focusing on ourselves

and keep at bay our selfish appetites and inclinations of pride.

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God communicates Himself most to those who progress in love;

namely, to those who gladly accept the will of God.

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QUOTE…

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“There are two births…

One is of earth, the other is of Heaven;

one is of the flesh, the other of the Spirit;

one of mortality, the other of eternity;

one of male and female, the other of God and the Church.

But the two are each unique; neither one nor the other can be repeated.”

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– St. Augustine

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SONG…

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Invite the Lord in song and prayer to breathe in you…

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Please click here >>>

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Come breathe in me, Lord.

Come live in me, Lord, all my life take over. Come Holy Spirit, come!

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – John 20:28

Posted on 12 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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“My Lord and my God!”

Thomas exclaimed to Jesus.

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– John 20:28 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Thomas’ doubted

– He had not believed his friends and fellow disciples

about Jesus having appeared to them.

He insisted that only if he saw for himself

and touched Jesus’ wounds,

would he then believe.

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Gentle, loving and understanding Jesus

allows Thomas to do so,

and that is when Thomas’ lets out,

from the bottom of his heart,

this short yet profound assertion of faith,

“My Lord and my God!”

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We too can be like Thomas,

at various stages of our lives.

We too can become almost irreverent towards the Lord

in those moments when our faith is tested by circumstances in our lives,

or influenced by an increasingly Godless world.

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Jesus, who loves us

and who so understands our humanity,

wants us, encourages us, to go to Him in those dark moments

and to insist with Him about our doubts.

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Jesus knows it when we sincerely want to believe,

and He will touch us in ways which are beyond our own understanding,

and our incredulity will be healed

…and our heart will recognise its Maker

and cry out, “My Lord and my God!”.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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My Lord and my God!

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – 2 Corinthians 5:15

Posted on 11 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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He died for everyone

so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves.

Instead, they will live for Christ,

who died and was raised for them.

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– 2 Corinthians 5:15 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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The new life in grace and freedom

which Christ won for us when He died for us,

we must live – for His sake.

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We must therefore seek to become like Him;

act like Him;

love like Him;

that we might no longer live for ourselves but for Him.

If I claim to be a true Christian,

then I must seek this with all my heart and strength.

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QUOTE…

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“Christ died for us, by us, and in us;

our life then is no longer ours,

but belongs to Him who has purchased it for us by His death:

we are therefore no more to live to ourselves but to Him;

not in ourselves but in Him;

nor for ourselves but for Him”

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– St Francis de Sales

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, my Saviour, thank You for having lived and died for me.

Please help me, my Lord,

and grant me the grace to forget myself

and the strength to truly live and act

in You

and for You.

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – Acts 4:12

Posted on 10 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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There is salvation in no one else [but Jesus]!

God has given no other name under heaven

by which we must be saved.

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– Acts 4:12 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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Salvation is to be found through Jesus alone

and the invocation of the name of Jesus is all-powerful

because it is our Saviour’s own name

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According to the Hebrew root,

the name Jesus in fact means saviour.

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The Catechism of St. Pius V says this about the name of Jesus:

“Jesus is…a name given to Him not accidentally,

or by the judgment or will of man,

but by the counsel and command of God […].

All other names which prophecy gave to the Son of God

– Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace –

all are comprised in this one name Jesus;

for while they partially signified the salvation which He was to bestow on us,

this name [Jesus] included the force and meaning of all human salvation."

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Our Lord Himself told His Apostles this:

" If you ask anything of the Father in my name,

He will give it to you. (Jn 16:23),

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Today, as ever, the power of His name

works wonders in the souls of those who call upon Him.

Don’t, therefore, be afraid to call our Lord by His name – Jesus –

and to tell Him that you love Him!

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Jesus, I need You.

Jesus, I love You.

Thank You, Jesus.

Forgive me, Jesus.

Jesus, You are my salvation!

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“a Lamp to my feet. a Light for my path.” – Luke 24:36

Posted on 9 April 2015 by Christ the King Prayer Group

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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus was suddenly standing there among His Disciples.

“Peace be with you,” He said.

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– Luke 24:36 (NLT)

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REFLECTION…

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On the evening of the day on which He rose from the dead,

Jesus appears to the disciples all of a sudden.

Without any need for the doors to be opened,

He presents Himself in their midst

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“Peace be with you.”

His voice is tender,

and His is a kind, gentle, loving,

friendly and meaningful greeting.

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This is how Jesus is with us:

He often presents Himself to us, suddenly and out of the blue,

when we least expect Him to.

Just imagine Jesus’ voice as He says to You:

“Peace be with you.”

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He comes to us

and beckons us

even at those times

when we are rejecting Him,

when we are living contrary to His wishes.

But His greeting is always one of peace

– He IS the Bringer of peace!

He is Love personified.

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We must not let Christ pass by

without humbly acknowledging His greeting,

without rushing up to Him

and glorying in His tender and loving embrace.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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O Lord, I need You.

Jesus, fill me with Your peace.

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