Glow Day youth retreat at St John’s Cathedral in Norwich
December 12, 2018
Advent Week 3 – Rejoice!
December 16, 2018
Saint John of the Cross, who we celebrate on 14th December, said many beautiful things about having a close relationship with Jesus. He also gave some pretty good life advice. Here’s some tips we can all learn from:
1) “Strive for the greater honour and glory of God in all things.”
God should be at the forefront of our minds and our hearts. After all, out of all Creation, we are first in his heart too.
2) “Do not commit a sin for all there is in the world”
Sin isn’t worth it! Our relationship with God is too good and precious. But, of course when we do make mistakes we know we can return to our loving Father for forgiveness.
3) “Never give up prayer, and should you find dryness and difficulty persevere in it for this very reason. God often desires to see what love your soul has, and love is not tried by ease and satisfaction.”
Keep trying even when you find making time for prayer difficult. It’s all about spending time showing our love for the God who already loves us.
4) “Remember always that you came here for no other reason than to be a saint; thus let nothing reign in your soul that does not lead you to sanctity.”
We’re here on earth to be saints! That may seem really difficult or a bit strange at first, but if we’re not aiming to become saints, we’re missing out the incredible adventure God wants to take us on through life. And if we let Jesus take charge of helping us to be a saint, it suddenly becomes a lot easier.
5) “Neither do anything nor say any notable word that Christ would not have done or said”
How do we become saints? We imitate Jesus.
Of course we don’t need to grow a beard and be crucified but we do need to live a life of patience, love and holiness in whatever place he calls us to, just as he asks us to.
And finally:
6) “In the twilight of life God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human success, but on how well we have loved.”
Our priorities need to be right. If we focus on loving God and loving others, things work out so much better. ?
