Augustine: joy in fellowship

Sunday, April 25, 2021
    Feast of Mark the Evangelist
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”
    —John 17:24 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What is Christ’s joy in us, but that He deigns to rejoice on our account? And what is our joy, which He says shall be full, but to have fellowship with Him? He had perfect joy on our account, when He rejoiced in foreknowing and predestinating us; but that joy was not in us, because we did not then exist; it began to be in us, when He called us. And this joy we rightly call our own, this joy wherewith we shall be blessed, which is begun in the faith of them who are born again, and shall be fulfilled in the reward of them who rise again.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), from Tractate 83 on the Gospel of John as quoted in A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, vol. III, John Peter Lange & tr. Philip Schaff, New York: C. Scribner & Co., 1871, p. 485 (see the book)
    See also John 17:24; 15:11; Eph. 1:3-8; Heb. 12:1-2
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your joy is my fuel. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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