~~~ Memorial of Saint Cecilia, Virgin and Martyr ~~~
~~~ Revelation 11:4-12 ~~~ Psalm 144 ~~~ Luke 20:27-40 ~~~
...he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.
God no longer has any need for death.
Jesus died for all of us.
God sees us as alive in him and through him and with him.
There is no death for God.
Everything God does is life-giving.
It is hard for us to comprehend, but then again
we just need to believe and trust.
The God, creator of all things in the universe is the Life.
Jesus died for us...there will be no more death.
The heart of God gives life.
When we fall into the darkness of sin
his loving heart calls us to come back...
to come back to share in his life.
God sees us as alive!
...after the three and a half days,
a breath of life from God entered them.
The book of Revelation is very rich in symbolism.
Today we have the two witnesses, two olive trees and two lampstands.
The Bible footnotes tell us the witnesses are lamentation and repentance.
Do they represent Moses and Elijah, or the Law and the Prophets,
or Peter and Paul? Most probably they refer to the universal church,
especially the Christian martyrs, fulfilling the office of witness
We celebrate the feast of Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr.
The whole story of Cecilia may be just a pious romance story
and one of tremendous love of God.
Even though she was given in marriage
she promised to keep her virginity.
She held in her heart that an angel protected her virginity.
It is believed that she became known as the patron of musicians
because she heard music on her wedding day.
Today it would hard to imagine a wedding ceremony without music.
Saint Cecilia was responsible for bring many souls to God.
She was martyred after surviving a bath
of boiling water, so the story is told.
What matters here is that God brought Cecilia
up to be with him in heaven.
God is only about life...life especially
following what we consider to be death.
The breath of life first given to us at our birth
is withdrawn by God upon our death.
The true beauty of life comes next when
the eternal breath of life fills only our soul.
This breath is actually more fully alive
since it leaves the physical body behind.
Once we 'die' here our next breath from God is fulfilling.
This breath makes us complete...united with him.
Even though we may have a fear of death...
it is largely a fear of the unknown.
This is why we are so fascinated with after death accounts.
If we really knew how incredible this eternal breath of God
would be for our soul we would not consider
resisting the end of our life.
The breath of God gives us life at birth and again
with our entrance into eternity.
So Blessed to belong to a God who
sees all as alive in Him.
~~~Peace~~~
~~~ Revelation 11:4-12 ~~~ Psalm 144 ~~~ Luke 20:27-40 ~~~
...he is not God of the dead, but of the living,
for to him all are alive.
God no longer has any need for death.
Jesus died for all of us.
God sees us as alive in him and through him and with him.
There is no death for God.
Everything God does is life-giving.
It is hard for us to comprehend, but then again
we just need to believe and trust.
The God, creator of all things in the universe is the Life.
Jesus died for us...there will be no more death.
The heart of God gives life.
When we fall into the darkness of sin
his loving heart calls us to come back...
to come back to share in his life.
God sees us as alive!
...after the three and a half days,
a breath of life from God entered them.
The book of Revelation is very rich in symbolism.
Today we have the two witnesses, two olive trees and two lampstands.
The Bible footnotes tell us the witnesses are lamentation and repentance.
Do they represent Moses and Elijah, or the Law and the Prophets,
or Peter and Paul? Most probably they refer to the universal church,
especially the Christian martyrs, fulfilling the office of witness
We celebrate the feast of Saint Cecilia, virgin and martyr.
The whole story of Cecilia may be just a pious romance story
and one of tremendous love of God.
Even though she was given in marriage
she promised to keep her virginity.
She held in her heart that an angel protected her virginity.
It is believed that she became known as the patron of musicians
because she heard music on her wedding day.
Today it would hard to imagine a wedding ceremony without music.
Saint Cecilia was responsible for bring many souls to God.
She was martyred after surviving a bath
of boiling water, so the story is told.
What matters here is that God brought Cecilia
up to be with him in heaven.
God is only about life...life especially
following what we consider to be death.
The breath of life first given to us at our birth
is withdrawn by God upon our death.
The true beauty of life comes next when
the eternal breath of life fills only our soul.
This breath is actually more fully alive
since it leaves the physical body behind.
Once we 'die' here our next breath from God is fulfilling.
This breath makes us complete...united with him.
Even though we may have a fear of death...
it is largely a fear of the unknown.
This is why we are so fascinated with after death accounts.
If we really knew how incredible this eternal breath of God
would be for our soul we would not consider
resisting the end of our life.
The breath of God gives us life at birth and again
with our entrance into eternity.
So Blessed to belong to a God who
sees all as alive in Him.
~~~Peace~~~
