I am the Way, the Truth and the Life

Latin Vulgate Douay-Rheims Bible

John 14:6

Gospel According to Saint John< prev Chapter 14 next >

Christ's discourse after his last supper.

1 Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I shall go, and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself; that where I am, you also may be. 4 And whither I go you know, and the way you know. 5 Thomas saith to him: Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?
6 Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me. 7 If you had known me, you would without doubt have known my Father also: and from henceforth you shall know him, and you have seen him. 8 Philip saith to him: Lord, shew us the Father, and it is enough for us. 9 Jesus saith to him: Have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, Shew us the Father? 10 Do you not believe, that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of myself. But the Father who abideth in me, he doth the works.
11 Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? 12 Otherwise believe for the very works' sake. Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do. 13 Because I go to the Father: and whatsoever you shall ask the Father in my name, that will I do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you shall ask me any thing in my name, that I will do. 15 If you love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he shall give you another Paraclete, that he may abide with you for ever. 17 The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, nor knoweth him: but you shall know him; because he shall abide with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while: and the world seeth me no more. But you see me: because I live, and you shall live. 20 In that day you shall know, that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
16 "Paraclete"... That is, a comforter: or also an advocate; inasmuch as by inspiring prayer, he prays, as it were, in us, and pleads for us. 16 "For ever"... Hence it is evident that this Spirit of Truth was not only promised to the persons of the apostles, but also to their successors through all generations.
21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father: and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 22 Judas saith to him, not the Iscariot: Lord, how is it, that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not to the world? 23 Jesus answered, and said to him: If any one love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And the word which you have heard, is not mine; but the Father's who sent me. 25 These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you.
26 But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. 28 You have heard that I said to you: I go away, and I come unto you. If you loved me, you would indeed be glad, because I go to the Father: for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it comes to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will not now speak many things with you. For the prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not any thing.
26 "Teach you all things"... Here the Holy Ghost is promised to the apostles and their successors, particularly, in order to teach them all truth, and to preserve them from error. 28 "For the Father is greater than I"... It is evident, that Christ our Lord speaks here of himself as he is made man: for as God he is equal to the Father. (See Phil. 2.) Any difficulty of understanding the meaning of these words will vanish, when the relative circumstances of the text here are considered: for Christ being at this time shortly to suffer death, signified to his apostles his human nature by these very words: for as God he could not die. And therefore as he was both God and man, it must follow that according to his humanity he was to die, which the apostles were soon to see and believe, as he expresses, ver. 29. And now I have told you before it come to pass: that when it shall come to pass, you may believe.
31 But that the world may know, that I love the Father: and as the Father hath given me commandment, so do I: Arise, let us go hence.
Gospel According to Saint John< prev Chapter 14 next >
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I have no time to blog now, but rest assured I will come back with more stuff =)

One thing I'm especially interested in is how to disprove the "theory" of evolution. Fundamentally, evolution is still a theory, a hypothetical case, there are other ideas why and how plants, animals and organisms in general per se can be explained in the universe. Darwinism isn't an idea all must except because there are several, if not, explicable ideas of "evolution" that hasn't been proven by sound facts. The fact that people (biologists: those in the camp that believes that evolution indeed occurs and humans all evolved from an organism distinctly NOT related to us in specific sense) use the term evolution and use it to explain many apparent "phenomena" of life on earth so freely, so inexplicably, infuriates me deeply. BY any sense, yes, micro-evolution seemingly seems plausible - ok yes its plausible, but I disagree with the apparent "fact" of macro-evolution. Many highly esteemed scientists have pointed out this fact too.

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I seem to be stating my points of argument without providing you with the facts and evidence. I promise when I get around with finishing all the sorts of revision, handing up of assignments and of course the final examinations, I'll get about writing about this. I believe that this topic is interestingly debatable but of course, I only believe that Jesus holds the way, the truth and the light, as highlighted in the earlier gospel reading.

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God Bless all!

+J.M.J.A.

Forever

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rach =)

Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - I Class

Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary - I Class

This is the great Festival of the Incarnation, commemorating the announcement by the Archangel Gabriel to our Lady that the Divine Son of God, the Word, would take human nature upon Him in her virginal womb. Its date is determined by that of Christmas Day, and as the day which marked the beginning of Christian dispensation it was for many centuries regarded as the first day of the civil year.

On this day the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, uniting for evermore our human nature to the Divine nature. The mystery of the Incarnation brings vividly before us the boundless condescension and humility of God the Son in stooping to our condition in order to be our Saviour. Equally it proclaims the glory and greatness of Mary, who was chosen to give to the Divine Word human flesh and human birth, and so to co-operate with God in the restoration of mankind. Hence her most glorious title of "Mother of God," which explains all her glories, her sanctity, and her honour.

-as taken from the 1962 edition of the Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Thus, honouring the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, is one of the Catholic Church's most important facet. It was only through her that the word of the Lord was made incarnate. Thus, it is only fair that due reverence is given to her on our part. The Blessed Virgin was one with our Lord when he suffered his passion. The Blessed Virgin is an important facet of TRUTH and divine wisdom. If one neglects the Blessed Virgin, it is as though he/she is neglecting God.

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"Just as I have told you that he who knows Me knows also My Father, so I now tell you that he who knows My Mother knows Me."

-as taken from: The Mystical City of God, Vol. III, p. 765

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Introit of the Mass Today (Ps. 44:13,15,16,2)

All the rich among the people shall entreat Thy countenance: after her shall virgins be brought to the King: her neighbours shall be brought to thee in gladness and rejoicing. (Psalm) My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, its now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Collect of the Mass Today

O God, Who didst will that Thy Word should take flesh, at the message of an Angel, in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant to Thy suppliant people, that we who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her intercession with Thee. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

-as taken from the 1962 edition of the Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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The ANGELUS

V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae.
V. The Angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
R. Et concepit de Spiritu Sancto.
R. And she conceived of the Holy Ghost.
Ave Maria, gratia plena, dominus tecum, benedictatu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus.
Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis, peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
V. Ecce ancilla Domini.
V. Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
R. Be it done unto me according to Thy word.
Ave Maria …
Sancta Maria …
V. Et Verbum caro factum est.
V. And the Word was made flesh.
R. Et habitavit in nobis.
R. And dwelt among us.
Ave Maria …
Sancta Maria …
V. Ora pro nobis, sancta Dei Genitrix.
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. Ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Oremus – Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde: ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui Incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem ejus et crucem, ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum.
Let Us Pray – Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may be brought, by His Passion and Cross, to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.
R. Amen.
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SUBJECTS for DAILY MEDITATION

Remember, Christian soul, that thou hast this day, and every day of thy life:

GOD TO GLORIFY,

JESUS TO IMITATE,

THE ANGELS AND SAINTS TO INVOKE,

A SOUL TO SAVE,

A BODY TO MORTIFY,

SINS TO EXPIATE,

VIRTUES TO ACQUIRE,

HELL TO AVOID,

HEAVEN TO GAIN,

ETERNITY TO PREPARE FOR,

TIME TO PROFIT BY,

NEIGHBOURS TO EDIFY,

THE WORLD TO DESPISE,

DEVILS TO COMBAT,

PASSIONS TO SUBDUE,

DEATH PERHAPS TO SUFFER,

AND JUDGEMENT TO UNDERGO.

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I thought these were some very good reflections for us all to reflect upon this Lent. A last thing that I would like to end off with is with a Litany.

Litany of Humility

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, hear me.

Response: Deliver me Jesus,

From the desire of being esteemed,

From the desire of being loved,

From the desire of being extolled,

From the desire of being honoured,

From the desire of being praised,

From the desire of being preferred,

From the desire of being consulted,

From the desire of being approved,

From the fear of being humiliated,

From the fear of being despised,

From the fear of suffering rebukes,

From the fear of being calumniated,

From the fear of being forgotten,

From the fear of being ridiculed,

From the fear of being wronged,

From the fear of being suspected,

Response: Jesus grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be loved more than I,

That others may be esteemed more than I,

That in the opinion of the world, others may increase, and I may decrease,

That others may be chosen and I set aside,

That others may be praised and I unnoticed,

That others may be preferred to me in everything,

That others become holier than I provided I may become as holy as I should.

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+J.M.J.A.

Forever!

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-rach =)

The Most Holy Eucharist

We had a very inspiring homily today. Given by Fr. Couture, he talked about the Eucharist. Every part, every portion, every single bit of the Most Holy Eucharist is Jesus. He is our All, our Everything. Our mightest King who livest and reignest forever, world without end. In saecula saeculorum.

+J.M.J.A.

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Fr. also mentioned Matt Talbot. You can find his story here.

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Lastly, I have been reading this book, Todo - Nada, about the life of a priest, Fr. Henry La Praz. It never fails to amaze me, from all the other books that I've read and even much more so from this book, how God works - in His own way, in His own amazing way. And that's why we must always, always put our trust and have faith in him.

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ACT of CONFIDENCE

By Saint Claude de la Columbiere

My God, I am so intimately convinced that Thou dost watch over all those that hope in Thee, and that we can want for nothing while we expect all from Thee, that I am resolved to live without anxiety in the future, casting all my care on Thee. "In peace I will sleep and I will rest for Thou hast wonderfully established me in hope." (Ps IV, 9,10) Men may turn against me: sickness may take away my strength, and the means of serving Thee; I may even lose Thy grace by sin, but I will never lose my hope. I will keep it even to the last moment of my life, and all the demons in hell shall try in vain to tear it from me. In peace I will sleep and I will rest.

Others may look for happiness from their riches or their talents; they may rely upon the innocence of their lives, the rigour of their penance, the number of their good works, or the fervour of their prayers; but for me, O Lord, my confidence shall be my confidence itself. For Thou hast wonderfully established me in hope.

This confidence has never decieved anyone. No one hath hoped in the Lord and been put to shame. I am sure that I shall be eternally happy, because I hope firmly to be so, and it is from Thee, O Lord, that I hope it. In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped; I shall not be confounded forever.

I know that I am frail and changeable; I know the power of temptation against the most firmly based virtues: I have seen the stars of heaven and the pillars of the firmament fall; but not even this can make me fear. As long as I hope, I am safe from every evil, and I am sure of always hoping because I hope for this unchanging hope. For Thou, O Lord, hast wonderfully established me in hope.

In fine, I am sure that I cannot hope too much in Thee; and that I cannot obtain less than I hope for from Thee. Thus I hope that Thou wilt uphold me in the greatest dangers, protect me in the most violent assaults, and make my weakness triumph over my most formidable enemies. I hope that Thou wilt love me always, and that I also shall love Thee with unfailing love; and to carry my hope at once as far as it can go, I hope for Thee from Thyself, my Creator, both in time and eternity. Amen.

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I've come to a conclusion about how true the Catholic Faith is (I mean I know it has always been the Truth but throughout the past few years, I've come to comprehend many facets of my faith and understand it very much so better). It speaks the Truth. And dearest Lord, strengthen me. Help me and guide me. Teach me and make me learn. Help me to become a better person. Without you there is nothing. Without you, Life has no meaning. Thou are the Way, the Truth and the Life. O dearest Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like onto Thine. Dominus, Miserere nobis.

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Now, I can't wait to start writing on Veritas. =) but it looks like I have to wait till after the exams. =) Here's to another busy week at school ...

+J.M.J.A.

Forever!

Veritas! + J.M.J.A.

SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT (REMINISCERE)
The Introit of this day's Mass, which begins with the word Reminiscere, from which this Sunday derives its name, is the prayer of a soul begging God's assistance, that she may sin no more:
INTROIT

Remember, O Lord, Thy compassions and Thy mercies, which are from the beginning, lest at any time our enemies rule over us: deliver us O God of Israel, from all our tribulations. To Thee O Lord, have I lifted up my soul: in Thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed. (Ps. XXIV.) Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, its now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

This is taken from the Society of St. Pius X - District of Asia website which can be accessed from here.

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The following is taken from the screenplay of the movie, The Passion of The Christ (A Mel Gibson Film). This is the portion of the film when Jesus was questioned by Pontius Pilate after the Chief Priests handed him over to Pilate to be crucified.

Pilate: Are you a King?

+Jesus: My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, do you think my followers would have let them hand me over?

Pilate: Then you are a King?

+Jesus: That is WHY I was born.

To give TESTIMONY to the TRUTH.

All men who hear the TRUTH hear my voice.

Pilate: Truth! (Veritas) What is Truth?

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Veritas! - Truth!

I sincerely believe that the search for truth defines mankind. What is truth? How can one define it? When do I know whether it is the Truth? How can I tell? These questions have been running through my head ever since I first learnt to discern right from wrong. And I can say that I have found the meaning of Truth because the Truth has always been there for everyone to see, to hear and to believe. God is truth and without him nothing can exist.

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I have been thinking recently, about Truth. - And I will spend the 3 months break before Year 2 begins to write about what I've thought. In the meantime, I will continue to consolidate my thoughts and I guess you, my reader will have to wait till between May -July to see the end of my "work". =) if you want to read it that's it.

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ANYWAY, I've just finished another Mid Term CA =). The statistics mid term was TODAY and I can daresay it "squeezed" my brain dry. =) I made several *careless mathematical mistakes!! - argh, but I thank God everything else was alright. I've also got back the anatomy CA results. They were not bad =) above average (Deo gratias).. now it's to concentrate on the remaining essays, MIDI composition, another anatomy CA (this time its essays) - and there's one more thing, for History, we will be conducting this Trial of the Dictators and for my tutorial group, I'm placed in the group prosecuting Pol Pot. I guess the next few weeks will be interesting. Learning things from different areas so diverse I need to sit down and consolidate my thoughts properly =). What with Human Anatomy, Biodiversity, Statistics, History and Science of Music. This sem's really interesting! and I'm loving it! =P

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+J.M.J.A.

Forever!

-rach

Asperges Me

The Asperges Me

Antiphon:

Asperges me, Domine, hyssopo, et mundabor: lavabis me, et mundabor: lavabis me, et super nivem dealbabor.

Ps. Miserere mei, Deus, secundum magnam misericordiam tuam.

V. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

V. Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam.

R. Et salutare tuum da nobis.

V. Domine, exaudi orationem meam.

R. Et clamor meus ad te veniat.

V. Dominus vobiscum.

R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

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Antiphon:

Thou shalt sprinkle me, O Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall become whiter than snow.

Ps. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.

V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning its now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

V. Show us, O Lord, Thy mercy.

R. And grant us Thy salvation.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

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I'm so glad the day's over and I can now finally take a little rest. =) I've been up till really late for the past few days rushing through essays, going for a concert, having to study for 2 CAs (anatomy and science of music) =) I'm so glad I made it all out still sane =P.

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Now onto the concert, it was a really good one - I must add, it was an SSO concert, Familiar Favourites: A Night in Italy, conducted by Lan Shui of course! - he's a wonderful conductor, great for the SSO =).the Rossini piece, The Italian Girl in the Algiers (one of my favourites! besides Beethoven's 9th Symphony of course ..) was well done and it really captured the essence of the whole story behind this composition. Jin Li's Paganini violin concerto ("La Campanella") was great (2 thumbs up!) and I loved the rendition of Resphigi's Fountains of Rome - especially when it came to "The Trevi Fountain at Mid-day" .. across the radiant surface of the water there passes Neptune's chariot drwn by sea-horses and followed by a train of sirens and tritons"... the music really did capture this particular phrase in italics. It was mesmerizing. Tchaikovsky's Capriccio Italien was nonetheless great ..now it comes to this one little thing.. I WANT to go to ITALY! (but there's a difference between a want and a need =)) and the Vatican of course... to see this great land where many of my favourite saints and composers, for that matter, have come from! =)

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St. Maria Goretti =)

her story can be found in Vincit veritas. =)

+J.M.J.A.

-rachelanne-