Normandt' meditations

[Normandt]

83. Evil hates Light





Often in the Bible, there are clear passages like this one and at the same time, precise and without appeal:

“For everyone who does wicked things, hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” John, chapter 3, verses 20 to 21



To do evil is to hate light. To hate light is to hate God. Evil and light are not compatible. It is unthinkable to build up a bad action and declare that it’s luminous.



It’s also difficult to get rid of bad habits. When they don’t seem too damaging, we tend to forget them. And yet the tiniest bad habit can degenerate into unhealthy or even harmful habits.



So, it’s important to watch over our habits and dig out those that can cause harm. If they can harm others, they can also hurt us:

“Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” We move in faith only with the light of God.

To come to the truth and to get rid of our bad habits is to allow the truth to be generated in our life. God’s light helps us to discern the issues of life.



Moreover, when we feel bad after an action, it’s necessary to check if it really is good or bad, true or false. It would be nice to take some time to find solutions. To realize this discernment and to want to return to goodness is to let ourselves be improved by God.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

84. The Lamb





Jeremiah has a very beautiful relationship with God. We feel he’s like a son talking to his father:

“The Lord informed me; at that time you, O Lord, showed me their doings.” Jeremiah, chapter 11, verse 18



The closer Jeremiah is to God, the more the Spirit of God guides him through difficulties and sorrows. God helps him maneuver among people who hurt him and does not seem to listen to the Lord.

Besides, it doesn’t prevent the prophet of God to be persecuted because he disturbs while transmitting the truths of God:

“I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter.” Jeremiah, chapter 11, verse 19a



This text prefigures what Christ will live: “I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter.”

The only difference is that Jesus is not “like” the Lamb, but he “is” the Lamb who will be led to slaughter, because of the evil in the world and for his sole purpose to save us.



The psalm reveals the same thought:

“Lord my God, in you I take refuge; rescue me; save me from all who pursue me, lest they maul me like lions, tear me to pieces with none to save.” Psalm 7, verses 2 to 3



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

85. Free Jesus!





Nicodemus allows us to think and understand that persons can condemn other persons without knowing a lot about them. Nicodemus is touched by Jesus:

“There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night.” John, chapter 3, verses 1 and 2a



Nicodemus meets Jesus and he appreciates his quality of God. Only a person who knows Jesus and who loves him can understand what Jesus is doing in the world. He will defend Jesus after his capture:

“Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, ‘Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?’” John, chapter 7, verses 50 to 51



Can we judge Jesus? Can we ensnare Love? This is the impression that emerges: “I was like a gentle lamb led to slaughter.”



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

86. The confusion





There is confusion around Jesus. Instead of looking in each of their hearts, the people openly question themselves and become confused. Some say Jesus is the Messiah, others say no. Another group would like to stop him. They question the guards who come back:

“‘Why did you not bring him?’ The guards answered: ‘Never before has anyone spoken like this one.’” John, chapter 7, verses 45 to 46



The guards come back to some priests and pharisees and say to them, “Never before has anyone spoken like this one!” Let’s imagine the Romans, in the drawings of Asterix and Obelix, return to the emperor and say to him: “Ave, Caesar! These Gaul’s are too strong!”

Here, the Love of Jesus is too powerful.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

87. Jesus is so Holy





This man speaks so well that he turns us upside down and inside out. He is so true that he fills us with his presence. He is so God, that we have no more doubt. He opens our eyes.

But not of all. The only way to really follow Jesus is to take our responsibility in hand and follow him.



Let’s grant to Jesus, the High Priest of the Eternal Covenant, to fill us with his presence, to open our heart, to dispel our doubts. Let’s live in joy and hope to see the Church filled with people renewed by grace.

May Jesus be unveiled and known by the future generations.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

88. Our sins





Peter does not accept that Jesus must die for our sins. Peter stands before the reality of his own sins, his old sins, and he cannot understand why Jesus would die for him. Peter does not understand Jesus’s words and mission and he tells Jesus how he must behave. He doesn’t want Jesus to leave for Jerusalem because he’s going to be killed.

“Peter, takes him aside and begins to rebuke him, ‘God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.’” Matthew, chapter 1, verse 22



We would also like to tell Jesus what he needs to do to make us happy, but we need to walk away from that conception. It’s easier to understand how Jesus wants us to be happy. Let’s not refuse Jesus anymore in our life.

God alone knows the way. And when Jesus says he will have to surrender to the elders of Jerusalem and they will kill him, he knows what he means. He shows us his way. Jesus says what he does and does what he says.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

89. God never allows evil





God never uses the strong way like giving cancer to drive a person back to him. It’s impossible. He doesn’t need that. This is not his way.

The body is fragile and sometimes there are complications. But God does not give sickness hoping that someone will convert. Never.



The only powerful way of God is the infinite tenderness of his Love. The test can lead a person to consider God, because it allows time for reflection. Reality and the present moment, in pain, often leads a person to ask himself the important questions of life; sickness, evil, suffering, loss of energy. Often, he will cast a simple look toward God.



Suffering takes him inside himself, turns him toward his heart, and perhaps he will shout. However, it’s always a shame when a person waits to be with his back against the wall to think and react. Perhaps he will accept to let his heart open up to let God create in him silence, then peace.



God is always present and he’s waiting for that person to turn to him. He does just that, wait for him. The person who decides to let God enter into his life will receive him in his heart. And it is guaranteed that God will be there too in his heart.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

90. Let’s find means​

We are the only ones who can block off the Love of God. We are the only ones who can pretend to love if we block the Love of God in our heart. To the limit, it is inconceivable to block the Love of God in our heart, without dying in evil.

Let’s find ingenious means to not refuse the Love of God. We’ll see how simple it is. It’s not demanding to think about it and to walk with God.
Let’s give our heart to Jesus, so that he helps us to open the door, that his Love passes in us and that it overflows on people.
Let’s imagine that we hear God say this to us today: “Everyone will know that I am a Loving God when people live in my will. The world will see me in your life.”

But for us, humans, it’s not so easy, because we know how far we can dwell from his love.
We are invited to encourage ourselves and remain vigilant in prayer and spiritual friendship.

The new American Bible, 2011-2014
Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

91. Dried up





These people’s thoughts are interesting, in this next passage. They recognize that they are moving away from God. We feel here the heart that is ready to receive the presence of God:

“All of us have become like unclean men, all our good deeds are like polluted rags; We have all withered like leaves, and our guilt carries us away like the wind,” Isaiah, chapter 64, verse 5



because we kept away from you, Lord.

Even so, the world should know that we are sinners and that we can never be perfect enough to let God perfectly pass in our lives. God is passing by, though. Let’s give him his place.



Fortunately, there are people who allow us to feel the presence of God, despite their sinful state. They become examples of faith.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s Love God, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

92. The loss of meaning





Closing in on evil leads us to move away from Love. Then Love does not stick with us because of the limits that evil causes. Jesus conveys a strong enough image of the loss of meaning and sin:

“If the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented in sackcloth and ashes.” Matthew, chapter 11, verse 21b



People who move away from faith in Jesus open the door to evil and lead others into it. When the Love of God does not pass, evil multiplies like a virus and contaminates those who let themselves be influenced by it.



Now, when Love passes, there is a progression in goodness, according to the pace of evolution of the person.

Jesus uses the example of these two cities to demonstrate to what extent sin can lead a person and groups of people, by a loss of meaning, a lack of good values, to their ruin. If Jesus’s miracles do not come to us, we should check the quality of reception we confide into his Love.



If we move away from people, for example, let’s check if the drug that we consume is not too strong and destructive. Evil and drugs acts in a similar way and destroys relationships between people.



When we reject God’s Love, what we really lack is the healing of the heart and soul through the flow of Love which is unfortunately diminished because of the evil that keeps us prisoners.



As soon as we ask Jesus for healing to welcome his Love, there is automatically something good happening in us. Even though the feeling may be subtle now, with determination, later on we will appreciate the inner transformations.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

93. Negative choice or Holy Spirit





There are choices that make a difference. First, what keeps us captive and imprisoned:

“Immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians, chapter 5, verses 19 to 21



The promised inheritance is the Love of God. But what Paul says is that these acts lead us away from the Love promised to us. Negative inclinations are those that lead us to become invalid, to become inhuman (thoughts, gestures, words), to evil and at the same time to the remoteness of God, even to the moving away from oneself. There are so many ways to refuse to let ourselves be Loved, the refusal to feed our body, our life of Love, the refusal to serve the Love of God in our neighbour.



We have the choice to let ourselves go to harmful and enemy inclinations or to collect the good with the Holy Spirit. What the Spirit offers us supports us and brings us closer to God:

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Galatians, chapter 5, verses 22 to 23a



Let’s be aware of these fruits in our life. Let’s look at them, collect them as invited friends at our home. Let’s spend our days observing them, meditating on them and recognizing their benefits.

Let’s keep our thoughts on the manifestations of the Holy Spirit and we will prefer this path that instills spiritual and human well-being. We will feel our life enter a major turning point that will amaze us.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

94. The need to pray





Jesus recommends to us:

“Take care.” Luke, chapter 11, verse 35



The only way we do not weigh down our lives is to live our lives like Christ, to put our trust in him and to feed ourselves with his Love.

All distractions causes wrong and move us away from the presence of God. May we remain vigilant in prayer. God does not need our prayers, but we need to pray. Prayer pulls us out of evil and leads us to a more sincere relationship with God.



We need to pray for our heart to unite with the will of God. We need to pray to better understand his will. We need to pray in order to be enlightened and inspired by God in front of multiple choices and decisions.



It’s the complete opposite of living life without God, without Love. All that unites us to God distances us from temptations and evil. It’s the only law that governs our lives. Either we move toward God, or we move away from him. And everything that challenges and unites us to the Trinity keeps us in life, joy, hope, service, friendly encounters, holy with ourselves, with others and with God.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

95. Watch and pray





Jesus tells us:

“Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke, chapter 11, verse 36



Let’s watch and pray to discern good from evil in our lives and in the lives of others. Jesus watches over us and Loves us until sin is erased. He wants to guide us to salvation. May Jesus come and convert us, so that we live with him.



May Mary and Joseph help us, by their example, to listen to what God asks of us personally. For this reason, we are invited to receive the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit in our hearts as Mary and Joseph knew how to welcome him.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

97. Ask for help





We have probably experienced this feeling where nothing seems possible for us. We are tired, exhausted. We lack energy. And suddenly, we have a “flash of genius” to turn to Jesus and ask for his help.



And what a surprise we had when we felt something deep happen in us. From that moment, our life was awakened and it was transformed delicately, joyfully, from within.



We had felt Jesus’s presence. All was unclear, but we knew, from a certain intelligence and wisdom, that something gloriously had happened, something luminous in us.



It’s like the intense joy of a moment that overwhelms us and that we fully live. Our life makes sense with Jesus. We want to remain in this state. We want to celebrate and pray this new momentum of life.

Let’s ask God, again, to come and touch what needs to be healed in our life.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

98. Pride is near





The impasse is on the watch:

“Because you have thought yourself to have the mind of a god.” Ezekiel, chapter 28, verse 6



The king of Tire is in a proud phase of his life, since he believes he has everything necessary. He judges himself superior to others. He lends himself superior thoughts to others. He convinces himself to be a “god”.

Sometimes things accumulate, but we forget to deepen what we need most, the Presence of God in our life and in the world.



This is a calling not to let ourselves go to pride. When all is well, we feel light. Every day becomes an enchantment. Do be careful, because pride is looking at us through the optical hole of the door, by the “Judas”.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

99. Leave evil





The devil exists. He is a person, because of his movement, according to the thought of Thomas Aquinas. The devil fatally refuses the Love of God. The evil-doer refuses Love.



It is the responsibility of each person not to get caught, then to lose oneself and move away from God. The temptation for the human is to confine, then to isolate oneself in evil.



The devil totally refuses the Love of God. When we turn our backs on ourselves, on others and on God, we are moving toward division, the devil, the abyss of misfortune. He’s amused and looks forward to seeing us moving toward him.



Negative habits of some lead other people into harmful attitudes. We are often in solidarity with evil because we become accustomed to it. This bad way keeps us prisoners.



If we sin, we lead others to evil. If we pray to God, we lead people to good. At the very end of our lives, the Lord will reveal to us the sum of our good deeds. Prayer is like money in the bank and the time of retirement is eternal in the Kingdom of God.



This is why prayer is so important, even if sometimes we do not see any apparent results. Let’s accept to change our heart and our attitudes. A change for the better will come. As soon as we pray, God helps us because we allow him to Love us.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

100. Love him or not





John, who was very close to Jesus and received his Love, offers an important reflection that should lead us to reconsider our understanding of the judgment of God:

“God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” John, chapter 3, verse 17



According to John, God does not judge. How did he come to such a conclusion? Surely that John has understood Love as he is. He also listened to Jesus.



If Jesus did not come to condemn the world, it means that God never judged the world. God does not judge, he Loves. If we speak of the judgment of God, his judgment can only be Love. It means that God will Love us whether we love him or not.

Let’s welcome Jesus to live in joy. Let’s acknowledge that we are sinners, that we are empty, that we are destitute without his Love.



Let’s ask him for forgiveness, for when people place their failures and faults on his back. Let’s recognize that humans cause their own misfortunes, since they succumb to temptations. They let themselves be attracted by tempters. They become lukewarm, they neglect faith, then they move away from God.

Let’s thank Jesus for reminding us that he alone saves us and may we dwell in his Love and joy.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

101. God Loves through us





Our faith can be affected by shadows, by interrogations, but it is raised in Jesus:

“’To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices”. Mark, chapter 12, verse 33



What matters is to love. How to love? By following Christ.

But what confirms to us that we are really following Christ? By allowing Christ to become the centre of our lives and recognizing his manifestations of Love: joy, peace, mercy...

In truth, we are incapable of loving. God Loves through us.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

102. May Jesus wash us





When we are not aware of evil, it spies on us. With the multiplicity of means to feed it, evil transforms like a blanket. This cover is cunningly transformed and becomes more and more difficult to remove. This cover of evil extends to us and onto others. The Lord of the universe reminds us of what is good to do to get away from evil:

“Consider your ways! Go up into the hill country; bring timber, and build the house that I may take pleasure in it and receive my glory, says the Lord.” Haggai, chapter 1, verses 7 to 8



To get out of the trap of evil and to learn to love ourselves better, it is about serving the Lord, with the fear of doing harm. This fear is the signal to continually adjust our heart toward Jesus.



The only way to build the house of the Lord and stay there is to move away from all forms of evil that we smoulder, often in spite of ourselves and sometimes because of us. Let’s rebuild and gather together with the Lord.



Let’s ask Jesus to uncover where we let evil dominate us. Let’s offer him our discoveries, in a process of forgiveness and reconciliation. May Jesus wash us from his side with his Precious Blood and Water.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas

 

[Normandt]

103. Oh, love!





Oh, love! Everyone is looking for it and thinks they have found it. In life, there is always a choice between loving or not loving. I love one thing, I do not love another. For things the choice is often easier. But for people, we often consider them, more or less, depending on our preferences.



In reality, it’s impossible for us to love, since Love is from God. Without the Love of God in us, we have no love to offer.



We are created to receive Love and allow it to pass through us to love. Sometimes we do not accept everything in one person, but we are invited to open our hearts for God to pass through. All people are Loved by God, without exception.



There are also judgments about what people wear, about their ways, their way of speaking, their way of life. There are many reasons to get around people. But James tells us:

“Show no partiality as you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.” James, chapter 2, verse 1



James proposes that we see people, all people as children of God. If all relationships begin and continue this way, God’s Love will cover the world. The Love of God already embraces all people of the earth, but we give the impression that God is not Love because of our resistance to him.



Let’s accept that the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, that God is Love, and people will simply find out that they are Loved.



The new American Bible, 2011-2014

Book: Let’s be Loved, Normand Thomas