Meditiation: He who lives by the sword dies by the sword

[TheGrowingGrape]

I’m beginning my spiritual practice of meditating upon scripture in the model of the Carmelites, and I thought I’d share one of my first scriptural meditations.

This is an essay on Christ’s teaching: "He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword."

To live by the sword is to live a life outside the Will of God, motivated by the desire of self satisfaction. The statement does not necessarily relate to a LITERAL battle scene, though the statement does apply to unjust wars, but rather, the statement more properly pertains to a metaphoric life lived outside God’s friendship. The end result of living one’s life in deliberate separation of creature from Creator is, death by the sword, spiritual death caused by the abscence of Sanctifying Grace.

One can think of Self Will as a metaphoric sword, and those who die by the sword commit spiritual suicide by thrusting themselves upon it. The sword of Self Will pierces the heart, and the death is meaningless and empty.

Those who die on the cross of Self Will will earn the punishment of Eternal Damnation.

Since the statement, “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword,” is true, then converse of this statement must also be true: "He who lives by the cross dies by the cross."

To live by the cross is to live a life of self-sacrifice, motivated by faith, hope and charity in its purest sense. In its highest form, it is a supernatural motivation towards Gods Will, whose power is derived from pure love of God. To live by the cross is to imitate Christ simply because Jesus Christ is God. He is all perfect. To iimitate that which is perfect, just because “it is good,” for its own sake, is living the life of the cross.

Those who live by the cross die by the cross because they who are members of the Body of Christ share in the supernatural life of God called Grace. Grace, dispensed through the Church’s Sacraments (and prayer), enable one to share in the divine nature of God. Grace is the living water, the lifeblood of The Church. Those in God’s friendship share in the divine nature of all three persons of the Holy Trinity. Not only does the Advocate dwell within us, but also the redeemer, Jesus Christ, dwells within us. By cooperating with God’s Will, Christ can penetrate our Hearts and Minds with His presence.

Because of the sharing of the divine nature, Grace, we (each of us) can become co-mediators. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ can, through us, dispense His merits and graces to all of mankind. We can make our sufferings a form of prayer, and through our own little crosses, Christ can suffer through us, with us, and in us. Our suffering thus Glorifies the Lord, for the prayer of suffering is a form of Adoration.

Through each of our little crosses we can provide The Lord an additional route for the dispensing of His Grace and Mercy to all. We can be empty vessels for The Lord, and we can provide Him with a way to save more souls. Life and death on the cross is a spiritual act of Mercy.

The ultimate reward for dying on the cross of God’s Will is eternal salvation.

PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR FURTHER MEDITATIONS UPON THE SUBJECT.

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“May there be more commitment, on the part of Christians, to give witness with more force to the presence of God in the world. Let’s not be afraid to speak of God and to carry on high the signs of faith.” Pope John Paul II 10/8/04

 

[space_ghost]

TheGrowingGrape:

I’m beginning my spiritual practice of meditating upon scripture in the model of the Carmelites, and I thought I’d share one of my first scriptural meditations.

This is an essay on Christ’s teaching: "He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword."

To live by the sword is to live a life outside the Will of God, motivated by the desire of self satisfaction. The statement does not necessarily relate to a LITERAL battle scene, though the statement does apply to unjust wars, but rather, the statement more properly pertains to a metaphoric life lived outside God’s friendship. The end result of living one’s life in deliberate separation of creature from Creator is, death by the sword, spiritual death caused by the abscence of Sanctifying Grace.

One can think of Self Will as a metaphoric sword, and those who die by the sword commit spiritual suicide by thrusting themselves upon it. The sword of Self Will pierces the heart, and the death is meaningless and empty.

Those who die on the cross of Self Will will earn the punishment of Eternal Damnation.

Since the statement, “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword,” is true, then converse of this statement must also be true: "He who lives by the cross dies by the cross."

To live by the cross is to live a life of self-sacrifice, motivated by faith, hope and charity in its purest sense. In its highest form, it is a supernatural motivation towards Gods Will, whose power is derived from pure love of God. To live by the cross is to imitate Christ simply because Jesus Christ is God. He is all perfect. To iimitate that which is perfect, just because “it is good,” for its own sake, is living the life of the cross.

Those who live by the cross die by the cross because they who are members of the Body of Christ share in the supernatural life of God called Grace. Grace, dispensed through the Church’s Sacraments (and prayer), enable one to share in the divine nature of God. Grace is the living water, the lifeblood of The Church. Those in God’s friendship share in the divine nature of all three persons of the Holy Trinity. Not only does the Advocate dwell within us, but also the redeemer, Jesus Christ, dwells within us. By cooperating with God’s Will, Christ can penetrate our Hearts and Minds with His presence.

Because of the sharing of the divine nature, Grace, we (each of us) can become co-mediators. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, Christ can, through us, dispense His merits and graces to all of mankind. We can make our sufferings a form of prayer, and through our own little crosses, Christ can suffer through us, with us, and in us. Our suffering thus Glorifies the Lord, for the prayer of suffering is a form of Adoration.

Through each of our little crosses we can provide The Lord an additional route for the dispensing of His Grace and Mercy to all. We can be empty vessels for The Lord, and we can provide Him with a way to save more souls. Life and death on the cross is a spiritual act of Mercy.

The ultimate reward for dying on the cross of God’s Will is eternal salvation.

PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR FURTHER MEDITATIONS UPON THE SUBJECT.

---

“May there be more commitment, on the part of Christians, to give witness with more force to the presence of God in the world. Let’s not be afraid to speak of God and to carry on high the signs of faith.” Pope John Paul II 10/8/04

I wish you Peace in you quest for Christ…

 

[Teresa9]

Dear friend

Thank you for this insightful meditation you have gifted to us. I loved it.

On this I have also seen the sword as the Word, which also Christ is refered to as having the sword issuing from His mouth and paraphrased ’ I came not to bring peace but a sword’ To live by the sword/word /law alone is not enough, as the Catholic church knows and teaches the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Christ brought the sword, but after this is the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit which has led the Church since Christ’s ressurection and the Pentecost. That the Word of the Bible alone is not enough and the age to age revelation and unwravelling of the Bible hs to be heeded also. Christ said, ‘there is much I have to tell you.’ but leaves it , leaves it to the Advocate, The Paraclete, The Holy Spirit. Therefore thosewho live by the sword alone will be held to judegment by the sword alone, what else can they be judged on? nothing but that which they believe and that which they practice. Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.

These words also speak of…you will be accorded what you live by, what you do you will be held accountable by. Which is also reflected in Matthew, when Christs says ‘As you did this to the least of these you did this to me’ You reap what you sow, be the good tenant, keep oil in your lamps, keep watch for the Lord as He comes like a thief in the night. What mercy you show will be shown to you.

On the other hand this can also be seen of prophetic of Jesus in that those who live by His Word…the sword… will suffer and die. Those will be persecuted and handed over to death. That those who live by His word are indeed led to the sword. But that we must not retaliate if led to the sword, we must not take up the sword ourselves.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

 

[TheGrowingGrape]

To live by the sword/word /law alone is not enough, as the Catholic church knows and teaches the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Christ brought the sword, but after this is the Divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit which has led the Church since Christ’s ressurection and the Pentecost. That the Word of the Bible alone is not enough and the age to age revelation and unwravelling of the Bible hs to be heeded also. Christ said, ‘there is much I have to tell you.’ but leaves it , leaves it to the Advocate, The Paraclete, The Holy Spirit. Therefore thosewho live by the sword alone will be held to judegment by the sword alone, what else can they be judged on?

OHHH!

This is also an EXCELLENT interpretation!

John Hardon teaches in his Catechist’s course that those of the Old Testament were bound to follow The Law and to have hope in a future redeemer in order to achieve Salvation.

The Old Testament writings were the inspired Word of God, BUT, the New Testament writings are the purest form of the Word of God, spoken by the God-Man Himself in Christ Jesus.

So those who have heard the testimony of the Incarnate God are bound to a higher law than those who lived before the Incarnation because we are given more gifts, or talents. Christ not only expects us to follow The Law (Ten Commandments), but to also follow Christ’s Commandments of “Love thy Neighbor as God loves you.” Also, Christ expects us to imitate the virtues given in the Beatitudes, on the Sermon on the Mount. Hardon explains that the Beatitudes are like eight extra commandments. (See Matthew and Luke(?)).

Anyway, the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, is to guide us in this whole process.

I used to be Protestant. I tell people that the reason I left was because the Catholic Church offered me something that no Protestant church offered … the Catholic Church taught me how to crush the snake! That is to say the combination of the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the recieving of the Sacraments and growth in Grace, combined with Dogmatic, Traditional, and Scriptural teachings of The Magesterium has given me SO many gifts!

The church, essentially, has taught me how to make the snake FEAR me! I’ve learned that growth in holiness, combined with the utterance of the name of the Son of God, “Jesus,” makes Demons flee in terror. If people only knew the power of Grace they’d NEVER fear anything again.

No protestants could teach me this. The reason, in my opinion is because they rely too much on the written word. The bible is great, but you’ve GOT to meditate upon it, converse with the Holy Ghost. Protestants seem blinded in a way to all the graces they could recieve if they believed in the teachings of Holy Catholic Church. If they only knew what The Church had to offer … the power to crush Satan … they’d run to her and never look back!

That’s why Satan has attacked The Church so much … because WE have the power to defeat him! The problem is that most people don’t realise it yet.