Your covenant with death will be annulled; your agreement with the realm of the dead will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge sweeps by, you will be beaten down by it. (Isaiah 28:18)
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil. (Hebrews 2:14)
From the Vatican document: TOWARDS A SPIRITUALITY FOR SYNODALITY
We also learn that which is God’s way of loving and acting for the salvation of the world through the new ‘music of the Cross’. In the end, discernment is an act of love for God and for neighbour. It is the knowledge that comes through love. In discerning in and through love, we can begin to comprehend reality in all its relationships and in its ultimate destiny to participate in God’s triune life. Discernment, then, is also an opening of the heart in love and mercy to all things.
As St Isaac of Nineveh (St Isaac the Syrian) expresses it: What is a merciful heart? It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals, for demons, and for all that exists. By the recollection of them, the eyes of a merciful person pour forth tears in abundance. By the strong and vehement mercy that grips such a person’s heart, and by such great compassion, the heart is humbled, and one cannot bear to hear or to see any injury or slight sorrow in any in creation. For this reason, such a person offers up tearful prayer continually even for irrational beasts, for the enemies of the truth, and for those who harm her or him, that they be protected and receive mercy. And in like manner, such a person prays for the family of reptiles because of the great compassion that burns without measure in a heart that is in the likeness of God.
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