Reflection
Christian life is based on the immanent power of the Spirit who groans within us; it is not only we who desire a new creation but God desires a new creation as well. God, however, cannot bring about a new world without us; hence, we who believe in the Risen Christ must see the world with new eyes and act from a new heart; we are to love our enemies by breaking through the chains that imprison us. Christian life cannot be lived out of an old mindset that holds on to grudges, biases, judgments and rejections. To be a Christian is to become a new creation, a new human; to forge new paths into a new world… To live the Christic life means to love selflessly, to trust the process of life itself, to see the good in one another and to hope in the future. Christians are called to live this path explicitly by their own sheer consent to do so, through the promises of baptism.
Ilia Delio
Prayer
We are the body of Christ.
Action
As you view present day Christians of all denominations do you see evidence of a “Christic” lifestyle? Where do you stand? What can you do?
Suggested Reading
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
The problem is not in being sinners, the problem is when we don’t let ourselves be transformed in love by the encounter with Christ.
Pope Francis
To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self.
Thomas Merton
Christians are usually sincere and well-intentioned people until you get to any real issues of ego, control power, money, pleasure, and security. Then they tend to be pretty much like everybody else.
Richard Rohr
Spirituality is not just about religion, or church attendance, or fidelity to one or other legal requirement. Spirituality is understood to be an innate wisdom of the human heart that enlivens a zest for life, a search for meaning and purpose, a love for all that is good and beautiful, a passion to create a better world, a sensitivity to the life-energy (God) that permeates the entire cosmos.
Diarmuid O’Murchu
The world needs to see Christians burning, not with self-righteous fury at the sliding morals in our country, but with passion for God.
Kevin DeYoung
I don’t think that God says, “Go to church and pray all day and everything will be fine.” No. For me God says, “Go out and make the changes that need to be made, and I’ll be there to help you.
Elvia Alvarado
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle.
Kevin Max
If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.
Stephen Colbert