The Promises of Christ

via CatholicFriends:
by Bill
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"Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God
That we may be made worthy of the Promises of Christ."

How often we have prayed these words! Let us stop and think about what His promises include. What comes to mind? How many are there? Is there a list? Or should we not be too inquisitive about them, and instead fortify our faith that they will be all we could ever want, truly unimaginable?
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One of my favorites is:

"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

It is so comforting that Jesus promised to be always with us, through thick and thin, now and forever. Of course it still depends on our free will because Jesus will never force us, we can still stray away. But where do we go? Peter in John 6:68 has the same question and answer at the same time: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life”.

I have not found a list of Jesus' promises. There must be quite a number, but the really unique thing about Jesus' promises is that - he meant all of them. Jesus is the only one who makes many promises and intends to fulfill them all. The reverse is true for most politicians I know.

We must be careful though in reading the promises. We must keep in mind that in reading Scriptures, there is the literal sense and the spiritual sense, otherwise we are inviting undue confusion. I remember last Sunday's Gospel, Jesus promised the thief on the cross: this day you shall be with me in paradise. That is a literal promise. However, the Sunday before that, he promised his disciples: not a hair on your head will be destroyed. This other one is obviously spiritual-allegorical. I know of many holy men who went bald before their time, so the meaning can't be literal.

"Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God
That we may be made worthy of the Promises of Christ."
AMEN.