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Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

"Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire" - join us in our 30th Lenten reflection for Liturgical Year I
Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

"Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire" - join us in our 30th Lenten reflection for Liturgical Year I

Anonymous C

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save us from Eternal Fire. If you are new to mental prayer, we invite you to visit our page on the ways of mental prayer, Don’t know how to Pray to God, to learn more. We begin Day 30 of this Lenten prayer journey with this opening prayer :

Trust and Believe…

Lord, I know you love me intimately. Please help me prepare my heart as I begin these 15 minutes of mental prayer with you. Lord, let me be present to you and aware of the movements of the Holy Spirit in my heart, receiving the grace you give with humility and contrition. Lord, help me visualize you in my presence right now as I strive to complete this Lenten reflection. Let me humbly pray from my heart that Jesus Christ, Son of God, you will save us from eternal fire. I want to follow you all the way to Calvary, Jesus, and I want to do it with my whole heart. AMEN.

Wednesday of the Fifth week of Lent (Liturgical Year I)

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

A Reflection for Prayerful Meditation

Let’s begin Day 30 of our Lenten journey as we continue traveling with Jesus in our hearts and minds toward Calvary by meditating on the daily Mass readings for today: the First Reading, a prayer of praise from the book of Daniel, and the Gospel Reading. As you make your self-reflection, feel free to journal your responses to the Lord. This meditation is suited for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, but you can also pray this meditation while looking at a Crucifix or an image of Jesus that you have.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

Start with Love…

Holy Spirit, 

I believe you are truly here and present to me right now. I desire to be present to you. Guide my heart and mind and show me how I might pick up my cross and follow Jesus all the way to Calvary. Help me turn my heart more fully to God so that I might better understand God’s love for me.

Breathe on me as I spend these next 15 minutes fixated on today’s Mass readings. Holy Spirit, help me pray with humility, honesty, love and affection. I want to grow in virtue and holiness. 

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for every consolation, desolation, time of silence, difficult trial, and temptation of the evil one. I understand that you love me and that everything in my life happens by God’s holy will, whether it be divine providence or God’s permissive will due to my sin and negligence. 

Please humble me as I walk with Jesus toward Calvary.  

AMEN.

Say Nothing Just Take Him In

Spend 1-3 minutes in silence gazing at Jesus with love and gratitude, in a prayer of silent contemplation.

I Am the Bread of Life what are the seven I Am statements of Jesus. Jesus says: I Am the Bread of Life (6:35), I Am the Light of the World (8:12), I Am the Gate (10:7), I Am the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14), I Am the Resurrection and the Life (11:25), I Am the Way the Truth and the Life (14:6) and I Am the True Vine (15:1). What is Jesus in the Eucharist and how do I adore Jesus, learn how to pray to God Jesus says “I Am the Bread of Life.” But what does it mean? What is Jesus in the Eucharist? Learn how to adore Him with prayers and meditations.

Make a Movie in Your Mind…

Now we will contemplate the First Reading. We are returning to Babylon under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, the second and most prominent King of Babylon. He was known for his great military might and the construction of his kingdom. He is the king who destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and enslaved the people of Judah, making them exiles in his country for 70 years. Slowly imagine yourself entering the massive and glorious-looking Ishtar Gate, with its glazed bricks, featuring carvings of dragons, bulls, and lions, each symbolizing the pagan gods Marduk, Adad, and Ishtar. As you walk through the city you see people gathering near the massive  Etemenanki ziggurat, a rectangular stepped tower dedicated to pagan worship. Imagine yourself physically there in the scene. What do you hear? See? Feel? Sense?

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

I Will Love and Serve Only You My Lord

Daniel 3:14-20, 90-92, 95

King Nebuchadnezzar said: “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my god, or worship the golden statue that I set up? Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe, and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God that can deliver you out of my hands?”
 
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up.”
 
Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the white-hot furnace.
 
King Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?”
 
“Assuredly, O king,” they answered.
 
“But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.”
 
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”

Reflection:

Let us take a moment to reflect on the message in the First Reading. 

What is it like to defy the religion of a country to the supreme leader of that country? How does it feel to trust in the Lord and have so much fidelity to him that a man is willing to die for that which he believes? Contemplate the faithfulness of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Take a moment to reflect on God’s response to faithfulness in this story. You may want to journal about it. 

Now let’s personalize this passage from our First Reading…

Be Completely Real…

Do you lack faithfulness and loyalty to the Lord in your own life? In what ways are you similar to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. How are you different? Ask the Lord what areas of your life are lacking in faith and trust in his providence and love. Ask him to show you where you lack fidelity and confidence. 

Give the Holy Spirit time to respond. 

Be honest with the Lord. Self-reflect on times you’ve lacked faithfulness to God and stood up for what was right. Ask the Lord for forgiveness and to help you grow in courage and faithfulness. 

In the next part we will read a prayer of praise from Daniel.

Let us continue our mental prayer with today’s prayer of praise for deliverance from fire: 

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

Prayer of Praise for Deliverance from Fire

Daniel 3:52-56

Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever;
and blessed is your holy and glorious name,
praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages.

Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom,
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.

Blessed are you who look into the depths
from your throne upon the cherubim;
praiseworthy and exalted above all forever.
Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven,
praiseworthy and glorious forever.

Visualize Christ…

For the last several days we have witnessed Jesus pray intensely and then reveal himself to unbelievers at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Today we will return to this place to hear Jesus speak to a group of Jews who had believed in him about slavery to sin. He is going to reveal a stark truth about true discipleship. You need to pay close attention. Imagine yourself in a crowd of people. You have seen Jesus forgive sin and perform miracles, and you’ve witnessed his authority over demons and knowledge when debating Pharisees and scribes. You are drawn to him, yet you do not want to be a true follower because they are the persecuted ones.

Now we are ready to take our image of Jesus and visualize today’s Gospel Reading. Put yourself in this scene, much like you did in the First Reading.  Prayerfully speak to Jesus about what stirred your heart afterward. What do you want to tell him?

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Save Us From Eternal Fire

Doers of Your Word are True Disciples

John 8:31-42

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
 
They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?”
 
Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father.”
 
They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.”
 
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father!”
 
(So) they said to him, “We are not illegitimate (idolaters). We have one Father, God.”
 
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.”

Are You Listening?

Can you see the bridge between the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and today’s Gospel reading? Do you see how the son of God in the fiery furnace could also be Jesus Christ before he was incarnate? And when you hear Jesus speak to these Jews who believed in him but were afraid to truly be disciples (with faithfulness like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), can you see what he is truly saying? How do the Pharisees compare to Nebuchadnezzar II? Do you see how their self defense is their belief that unlike the Babylonians, they are not guilty of idolatry? 

But yet, even though they believed they were good and following the law, Jesus still saw through the charade and recognized their lack of love for him. 

If we don’t truly love God, then what are we doing? Take a moment to contemplate your love of God and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you areas of your life that you have not fully surrendered to the Lord. What more do you need to do to truly make God your Father?

You may want to journal.

Pray the next Lenten Meditation

Day 31 Lenten Meditation

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