Cristy Li

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” –Luke11:28 (NRSVCE)

The New Heaven and the New Earth

Then I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth; For the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed

away and the sea was no more and I saw The Holy City, the New Jerusalem coming down out

of Heaven from God,prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice

from the Throne saying: “See the Home of God is among mortals.

He will dwell with them; They will be His peoples and God Himself will be with them;

He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more;

Mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”

The One who is seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.”

Also He said, “Write this, for these Words are trustworthy and true.”

Then He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To

the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will

inherit these things and I will be their God and they will be My children but as for the cowardly,

the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters and all

liars, their place will be in the Lake that burns (Hell) with fire and sulfur, which is the second

death.

Vision of the New Jerusalem

Then one of the seven Angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and

said to me, ‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’

In the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the Holy City

Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God. It has the Glory of God and a radiance like a

very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. It has a great, high wall with twelve gates and at the

gates twelve Angels and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the

Israelites; On the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates and on the

west three gates and the wall of the city has twelve foundations and on them are the twelve

names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

The Angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and

walls. The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width and he (the Angel) measured the

city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles, it’s length and width and height are equal. He also

measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the Angel was

using. The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. The foundations of

the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the

third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the

eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst

and the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl and the street of the

city is pure gold, transparent as glass.

I saw no Temple in the city, for its Temple is the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb and the

city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the Glory of God is its light and its lamp is

the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into

it. Its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there. People will bring into it

the glory and the honor of the nations but nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who

practices abomination or falsehood but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

–Revelation 21:1-27

Related: For Today’s Bible Readings on the Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, Visit: -USCCB

Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy. –Exodus 20:8 (NRSVCE)

God’s Eternity and Human Frailty

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.

Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world,

from everlasting to everlasting You are God.

You turn us back to dust and say, “Turn back you mortals.”

For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the

night.

You sweep them away; They are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning. In the

morning it flourishes and is renewed, in the evening it fades and withers.

For we are consumed by Your anger. By Your wrath we are overwhelmed.

You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.

For all our days pass away under Your wrath, our years come to an end like a sigh.

The days of our life are seventy years or perhaps eighty, if we are strong, even then their span is

only toil and trouble. they are soon gone and we fly away.

Who considers the power of Your anger? Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.

Turn, O Lord! How long? Have compassion on Your servants!

Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, so that we may rejoice and be glad all our

days.

Make us glad as many days as You have afflicted us and as many years as we have seen evil.

Let Your work be manifest to Your servants and Your glorious power to their children.

Let the favor of the Lord Our God be upon us and prosper for us the work of our hands

— O prosper the work of our hands! –Psalm 90:1-17

The New Life In Christ

If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at

the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are earth, for

you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is

revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: Fornication, Impurity, Passion, Evil Desire

and Greed (which is idolatry). On account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are

disobedient. These are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life but now

you must get rid of all such things — Anger, Wrath, Malice, Slander and Abusive Language

from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with

its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in

knowledge according to the image of its Creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and

Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free but Christ is all and

in all!

As God’s chosen ones, Holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with Compassion, Kindness,

Humility, Meekness and Patience. Bear with one another and if anyone has a complaint against

another, forgive each other; Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above

all, clothe yourselves with love, which bind everything together in perfect harmony and let the

peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body and be

thankful.

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom and

with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to God and whatever you

do, in word or deed, do everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the

Father through Him.

Rules For Christian Households

Wives be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, lobe your wives and

never treat them harshly.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord.

Fathers do not provoke your children or they may lose heart. Slaves obey your earthly masters

in everything, not only while being watched and in order to please them but wholeheartedly,

fearing the Lord. Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for

your masters, since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your

reward; You serve the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong

has been done and there is no partiality. –Colossians 3:1-25

Related: For Today’s Bible Readings and More Visit, -USCCB

Sabbath Switch-Off, Why to Reclaim Sunday From the Digital Domain – Natl Catholic Register

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for You judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth. –Psalm 67:4 (NRSVCE)

The Nations Called To Praise God 

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. (Psalm 67:4)

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us, that Your way may

be known upon earth, Your saving power among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God;

Let all the peoples praise You.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the

nations upon earth.

Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the

nations upon earth. (Psalm 67:4)

The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.

May God continue to bless us; Let all the ends of the earth revere Him. –Psalm 67:1-7

Related: For Today’s Bible Readings and More, Visit: -USCCB

The Word of the Lord endures forever. That Word is the Good News
that was announced to you. –1 Peter 1:25 (NRSVCE)

A Living Hope

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us a

new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an

inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are

protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last

time. In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, so

that the genuineness of your faith — being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is

tested by fire — may be found to result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Although you have not seen Him, you love Him and even though you do not see Him now, you

believe in Him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the

outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Concerning this salvation, the Prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made

careful search and inquiry, inquiring about the person or time the Spirit of Christ within them

indicated when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent

glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the

things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you Good News by the

Holy Spirit sent from Heaven — things into which Angels long to look!

A Call For Holy Living

Therefore prepare your minds for action. Discipline yourselves. Set all your hope on the Grace

that Jesus Christ will being you when He is revealed.

Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formally had in ignorance.

Instead, as He who called you in Holy, be Holy yourselves in all your conduct, for it is written,

“You shall be Holy, for I am Holy.” (Leviticus 11:45; 19:2; 20:26)

If you invoke as Father the One who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live

in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the

futile way inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with

the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined

before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.

Through Him you have come to trust in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him

Glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the Truth so that you have genuine

mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. You have been born anew, not of

perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring Word of God. For

‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers and the flower falls but the Word of the Lord endures forever.’ That Word is

the Good News that was announced to you. –1 Peter 1:3-25

Related: For Today’s Bible Readings and More, Visit: -USCCB

A day in My Lord’s courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the House of My God
than live in the tents of wickedness. –Psalm 84:10 (NRSVCE)

The Joy of Worship in the Temple

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!

My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to

the living God.

Even the sparrows find a home and the swallows a nest for herself, where she may lay her

young at Your alters, O Lord of hosts, My King and My God.

Happy are those who live in Your house, ever singing Your praise.

Happy are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

As they go through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; The early rain also covers

it with pools. They go from strength to strength, the God of gods will be seen in Zion.

O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob!

Behold our shield, O God, look on the face of Your anointed.

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in

the House of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.

For the Lord God is a sun and shield, He bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in You. –Psalm 84:1-12

Related: For Today’s Bible Readings and More, Visit: -USCCB