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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 3 years

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10th March >> Mass Readings (USA)

Wednesday, Third Week of Lent - Proper Readings

(see also The Samaritan Woman)

(Liturgical Colour: Violet)

First Reading

Deuteronomy 4:1, 5-9

Keep the commandments and your work will be complete.

Moses spoke to the people and said: “Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees which I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees as the LORD, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy. Observe them carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’ For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and decrees that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today? “However, take care and be earnestly on your guard not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live, but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20

R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you.

R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs his word! He spreads snow like wool; frost he strews like ashes.

R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

He has proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. He has not done thus for any other nation; his ordinances he has not made known to them.

R/ Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

Gospel Acclamation

cf. John 6:63c, 68c

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.

Gospel

Matthew 5:17-19

Whoever keeps and teaches the law will be called great.

Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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The Samaritan Woman

(Liturgical Colour: Violet)

First Reading

Exodus 17:1-7

The Lord showed Moses water, that the people might drink.

From the desert of Sin the whole congregation of the children of Israel journeyed by stages, as the LORD directed, and encamped at Rephidim. There was no water for the people to drink. They quarreled, therefore, with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to a test?” Then, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? A little more and they will stone me!” The LORD answered Moses, “Go over there in front of the people, along with some of the elders of Israel, holding in your hand, as you go, the staff with which you struck the river. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock in Horeb. Strike the rock, and the water will flow from it for the people to drink.” This Moses did, in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled there and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD in our midst or not?”

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7ab, 7c-9

R/ If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him.

R/ If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us. For he is our God, and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.

R/ If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Oh, that today you would hear his voice: “Harden not your hearts as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the desert, Where your fathers tempted me; they tested me though they had seen my works.”

R/ If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Gospel Acclamation

cf. John 6:63c, 68c

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life; you have the words of everlasting life.

Gospel

John 4:5-42

The water that I shall give will become a spring of eternal life.

At that time, Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” –For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.– Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come back.” The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus answered her, “You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Christ is coming, the one called the Anointed; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one speaking with you.” At that moment his disciples returned, and were amazed that he was talking with a woman, but still no one said, “What are you looking for?” or “Why are you talking with her?” The woman left her water jar and went into the town and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Christ?” They went out of the town and came to him. Meanwhile, the disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘In four months the harvest will be here’? I tell you, look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest. The reaper is already receiving payment and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. For here the saying is verified that ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the work, and you are sharing the fruits of their work.” Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything I have done.” When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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fromcrossroadstoking · 4 years

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Roe and the Christmas Miracle

Part 10 (the final part!) of Welcome to the 5061st

**I`m not the greatest writer and this isn`t exactly the most popular AU, so please know that if you have ever reblogged, commented, or liked any part of this, it has meant the absolute world to me and I love you for it. Thank you so much for reading this 💙💙💙**

Tags: @gottapenny @itisjustmethistime @indigosandviolets @scarecrowmax

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December 24th, 1000

Mistletoe hung in every doorway of every tent and every building of the entire 5061st. No one was entirely sure who was responsible for the mistletoe invasion (although smart money was on Luz) but plenty of people were taking full advantage of the new decorations. Needless to say kissing was at an all time high in the unit, not that anyone was complaining. Nurses, doctors, medics, regular Army, hell, even the MPs, were getting in on the fun. Even Liebgott and Grant managed to have plenty of fun under the mistletoe while no one was looking. Roe knew that for a fact. Because he had caught them. More than once.

Roe, himself, had politely avoided all full on kisses in favor of cheek kisses. Not that he was a prude, it was just that there was only one person in the entire MASH he cared to kiss and it happened to be the one person he hadn't managed to catch under mistletoe yet.

But besides that frustrating development, things were going surprisingly well at the 5061st. It had been almost a full 24 hours since they last had a patient. It was damn near unheard of.

December 24th, 1030

Another development at the 5061st was the arrival of Saint Luz. That morning, Luz had donned a Santa hat and started going around with an Army duffel full of gifts, quickly earning himself a new nickname. Everyone got something from the newly dubbed Saint Luz.

Winters got a fancy pen.

Grant got a kitchen knife.

Talbert got a deck of cards.

Liebgott got a Flash Gordon comic book.

Sisk got a new wrench and screwdriver.

And so it went - each gift small, but unexpected and deeply appreciated.

Someone pointed out that he was a day early on the gifts to which Luz happily responded that they had all been such good boys and girls that they had earned early gifts. (Roe suspected Luz was also taking advantage of the lull in patients - who knew how long that would last.)

Roe watched in amusement as Luz made his way around the camp giving out gifts with a cheerfulness that seemed to light up the whole place. He started to get fidgety waiting for his turn.

"Gene, you playin' or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry Ralph. Just thinkin'"

Roe`s eyes darted over the chess board, trying to figure out his next move.

December 24th, 1045

Spina absolutely crushed Roe at chess that round. Not that it was surprising, given how distracted Roe was.

After the game ended, Roe stretched out on his cot and picked up a book from the crate turned nightstand of sorts next to him. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Spina staring at the door, face pulled into a frown.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I`m alright. It`s just... it seems too quiet, ya know?"

Roe`s mouth twitched down into a small frown too as he thought about what Spina was saying. Not having a single patient of any sort was a bit unnerving in a way. But why look a gift horse in the mouth?

"Anyway, I`m gonna hit the showers."

"Good, you stink."

"Jerk," Spina playfully tossed a dirty sock at Roe, "How`s that for stinky?"

December 24th, 1100

Roe was sitting cross legged on the floor next to his cot when Spina returned from the showers.

"The hell you doin'?"

"Nothin'"

"Nothin'?? You`re feedin' carrots to somethin' under your cot!"

"Guess, that`s what I`m doin' then."

"Gene..." At the hint of exasperation in his voice, Roe looked up at his friend.

"It`s a bunny."

"Shit, is it Scruffy? The hell`s it doin' under your cot?"

"Ain`t Scruffy an' I`m hidin' him so Luz don`t see him before Christmas."

Roe had turned back to keep feeding the bunny but he could feel Spina`s eyes on the back of his neck.

"Are you two...?"

"No," Roe prayed that his cheeks weren`t turning as red as they felt, "we ain`t."

"You two still aren`t?! Jesus, Gene, the way you two flirt like two goddamn little school girls -"

"Ralph."

"Really, Gene, the hell`s takin' so long?"

Roe didn`t have an answer for that because, really, what was taking so long?

December 24th, 1630

It wasn't until right before dinner that Roe spotted Luz making his way toward his tent. Roe was perched on the edge of his bed, waiting. As soon as Luz opened the door, Roe was up in a flash. Roe grabbed Luz by the front of his jacket and slammed his mouth against Luz`s before he could say a word.

When he finally pulled away and let go of Luz`s jacket, Luz stood there speechless.

"Mistletoe," it was all Gene could get out at the moment. They both looked up at the mistletoe hanging above their heads.

"Oh."

"Mhmm."

"Well," Luz chewed on his bottom lip, "I am still standing under the mistletoe and, uh, I think that means you should still be kissing me."

Roe smirked a bit as his fingers once again curled in to the front of Luz`s jacket, pulling him closer, "Think you might be right."

December 25th, 0700

"Ralph? Hey, Ralph. Come on, get up."

Some days trying to get Spina up was the hardest thing Roe had to do. Spina slept like the dead (there had been a few times Roe had actually checked for a pulse). Thankfully, today Spina got up without too much prodding.

"Alright, I`m up, I`m up. What time is it?"

"It`s Christmas."

"That ain`t a time."

"Ralph."

Spina finally sat up. He reached out and ruffled Roe`s hair, "Just kiddin' Gene. I know what day it is. Merry Christmas bud."

Spina reached in to the trunk beside his bed and pulled out a small present, offering it to Roe. Roe smiled and produced Spina`s present from behind him. Neither of them could rip into the presents fast enough.

Spina gaped slightly as he unwrapped a hand-carved wooden frame with a picture he hadn`t seen before of his wife and daughter inside.

"Made it myself. An' I wrote an' asked 'em to send a picture that you didn`t have yet."

"Jesus, Gene, I..." Spina felt himself choking up and he swallowed hard, "I love it Gene."

Roe couldn`t help but feel a little proud at Spina`s reaction.

Turning his attention to the present in his hands, he finished unwrapping what Spina had got him. What he unwrapped was a book of Cajun folktales. A memory surfaced of him telling Spina briefly several months ago about how his grandma used to tell him all these stories when he was a kid and how he wished he could remember them better. It had been a small moment, but apparently Spina hadn`t forgotten it. Tearing his eyes away from his new book, he looked up at his best friend with a giant smile.

"Thanks Ralph," Roe squeezed Spina in a tight hug.

December 25th, 0730

Roe had one other present to give today. He made his way to the 5061st`s headquarters where Luz both worked and bunked. He was happy to find Luz was already wide awake, sitting on the edge of the bed, lacing up his boots.

"Merry Christmas George!"

Luz hopped up from the bed with a grin to kiss Roe, "Merry Christmas Gene." As he went to kiss Roe again, Roe moved back, "Hold on. Present first. Close your eyes."

Luz did as he was told, butterflies in his stomach as he thought about what on earth Roe could have gotten him.

"Alright. Open 'em."

Luz opened his eyes to see Roe holding out a cage to him. A cage that contained a bunny.

"I know it ain`t Scruffy but I thought you might like a new bunny."

"Gene! I love him!" The thousand watt smile on Luz`s face made Roe`s heart melt.

December 25th, 2100

Another day came and went without a single patient. It was highly unusual but it was hardly mentioned by anyone in the 5061st. Perhaps they were all afraid of jinxing such a streak of luck, especially at Christmastime. And now night had arrived and with it, the 5061st`s Big Christmas Extravaganza.

Everyone was crowded in to the mess tent which had been decorated with balloons and streamers - none of which were Christmas colors but during the Korean War, you work with what you can get. Grant and Talbert managed to make a cake - a cake! Everyone was wearing homemade party hats. There was music and dancing and lots and lots of alcohol. It was a real, honest to god, party.

Spina, who had already had a few drinks, was bear hugging everyone in sight. He had already squeezed Roe so hard a couple of times that Roe thought his lungs would burst. Sisk was having trouble standing up already. Liebgott, who had declared several times that he didn`t "celebrate this shit", also declared he was still up for a party and if everyone else was getting drunk, then dammit, he was too. Babe was attempting some kind of dance on top of a table and Talbert was egging him on (Roe was almost willing to put money on Babe being the first casualty of the night). Even Nixon from I Corp had showed up. He and Winters were laughing about something over in the corner.

Luz, of course, was fully in his element. He was the life of the party, cracking jokes, starting sing-alongs, making sure everyone had drinks. Good ol' Saint Luz - effortlessly making sure everyone was having a good time.

Roe was damn near entranced watching Luz make his way around the room and when Luz`s path finally crossed Roe`s, Roe simply couldn`t keep himself from reaching out and pulling him closer.

December 25th, 2358

"You realize that once that clock strikes midnight, we`ll have had no wounded for 3 days? 3 days! It`ll be a goddamn Christmas miracle!"

At Spina`s proclamation, all the eyes in the room locked on to the clock`s hands, watching with bated breath as the hands steadily counted down the last minute until their official miracle. Many, if not all of them, stood there with a small knot of worry in their stomachs that at the very last second a chopper or ambulance would come racing in and ruin their precious moment.

Roe was almost positive that two minutes had never passed so slowly. But they passed. And without incident.

As the clock struck midnight, cheers erupted all around. The 5061st had just experienced a certifiable miracle and they were about to celebrate the hell out of it.

In the midst of all the noise and excitement, Roe managed to pull Luz outside. With Luz`s hand clutched firmly in his own, he led Luz to a quiet spot just behind his own tent.

Stopping in his tracks, he turned towards Luz and smiled, "George."

"Gene." Luz returned the smile.

Roe moved closer to Luz, the distance between them shrinking to mere inches. "Or should I be callin' you Saint Luz?"

Luz`s bright eyes peered up at Roe, "I`m not always such a saint, you know."

"Well then, Saint Luz," Roe leaned forward and pressed quick hungry kisses to Luz`s lips as he began to lead him in to his tent, "Let`s see how un-saintly you can be."

#and thats a wrap!#i sincerely hope if youve read this little series youve enjoyed it #Welcome to the 5061st #band of brothers #band of brothers fanfiction #eugene roe #george luz #ralph spina #i wrote a thing

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pamphletstoinspire · 5 years

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FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (September 15th) by Fr. Francis Xavier Weninger, 1882

“No man can serve two masters.”–Matt. 6.

No one can serve two masters, as Christ Himself assures us. And yet what a number of those who believe in Christ, although they dare not, of course, contradict the Word of Christ in explicit terms, yet do so by their lives! They live as if they would like to serve both God and the world; they do not want to be at variance with God or the world.

These are the people who do things by halves; who can not choose between two ways, and resemble the children of Israel at the time of the prophet Elias. Men who conduct themselves differently in Church and out of it; who behave differently in company of priests, and of those who scoff at religion and her ministers; men who sin and confess, confess and sin; who live in habitual sins, and whatever they do, as children of the Church, do it by habit ; and as to their business matters and worldly affairs, they follow the same principles as the heathens and worldlings.

And who is not aware what a contagious and seducing influence their example has on the lives of others! How important, therefore, is it that we reflect earnestly upon the words of Christ: “No one can serve two masters.” “He who is not with Me is against Me;” “He who gathereth not with Me, scattereth.”

We shall today consider one of these two masters, namely: God and His service, and we shall reflect what kind of a master God is, and how meet it is to serve Him earnestly, joyfully, and perseveringly.

Mary, who hast called thyself a handmaid of the Lord, pray for us, that we may live in such a manner, as to be justified in saying: I am a servant, a handmaid of the Lord! I speak in the holy name of Jesus, to the greater honor of God!

O my God, my Lord! This is an ejaculation which we very frequently utter. We justly call God also our Lord. He is our Creator, from Whom we have received everything, by the power of Whose will all nature came into existence and continues in it. And, therefore, it is our duty to serve God willingly, and to serve Him as perfectly as possible.

Would it not be a disgrace if we, as reasonable beings, who know God, and call Him our Father, would in this respect allow ourselves to be excelled by irrational creatures? But in order that this desire, this resolution, be renewed and strengthened within us, let us consider frequently, yes, daily and hourly, in what an infinitely higher degree all those qualities, which in ordinary life induce us to serve a person, are combined in God.

The first quality which distinguishes a person whom we would wish to serve and own as master, is his respectability, his dignity, that he is of high rank, perhaps a governor, a king, or even an emperor.

An office at court, even if very insignificant, is nevertheless highly valued, because of the social position of the person whom we serve. It is for the sake of honor and distinction that even counts and princes sue for offices at a kingly court. Yes, even an ordinary valet or cook of a king or emperor, deems himself superior to his less fortunate brethren.

Now, then, let us reflect upon the meaning of these words: “God! I serve God.” Have we not weighty reasons for exclaiming with St. Michael: “Who is like to God?” God, I serve Thee! Thee Whom all the angels and saints, all the heavenly chiefs serve, and whose glory and magnificence heaven and earth proclaim.

But what still more determines us to serve a person, to acknowledge him as master, is his personality, the nobility and uprightness of his character, which cause us to feel that he would never demand anything of us save what is good and praiseworthy.

If in spirit we listen to the Sanctus, which all the Seraphim repeat continually before the throne of God, with what determination will we exclaim: “Thou three times holy God, my Lord; I serve Thee! What wouldst Thou have me do?”

The third quality which would induce us to enter the service of another, and acknowledge him our master, is his goodness. We would gladly serve one whose greatest delight is to make all his dependents happy, and to bestow favors upon them, especially if we ourselves have already received benefits from him. How frequently we hear one person saying to another: Oh, if I could always be with you! Oh, how can I ever repay you for all you have done for me!

Let us apply this to God and His service. God is in Himself infinite, perfect goodness. And this goodness He desires to impart to all human beings whom He has created. Just as it is in the nature of the sun to impart light and heat, so it is also peculiar to the goodness of God to continually bestow favors upon a creature, as far as it is susceptible of them, and does not on its part oppose any barrier. He rewards our service, even on this earth, by the joys of a good conscience, by the possession and enjoyment of many created objects, and by His communication with us in prayer. What an inducement for us to serve God, even if we had not received from Him any special promise of reward!

I said that if we had received numerous and precious gifts and favors from another, our gratitude would prompt us to serve him. The animals are ready to serve their masters for the food they obtain from him; they accompany him every-where, and at times even sacrifice their lives for their benefactor.

Let us apply this also to God, our Creator and Preserver and Redeemer. Oh, how many important, precious graces and treasures have we not already received from God, from the moment of our birth until the present day! Body and soul, the use of our senses, every ray of light, every breath we draw, every morsel of food, every refreshing draught, every thread of our garments, also the talents which we possess, all that we enjoy in this life we owe to God. And when we remember the grace of redemption, our calling to the true Church, and all the gifts and graces which, as children of the Church, we possess and receive at every moment, have we not motives for the deepest gratitude? Should we not exclaim: Merciful God, my Lord and Benefactor, I thank Thee; I will serve Thee gratefully?

The fourth quality which induces us to enter the service of a person is the compensation. If the reward is considerably greater than that given by other masters, and if at the same time we are aware that in the service of this person, we will be provided for and made happy, then we will not only be willing and anxious to serve such a master, but deem ourselves most fortunate in being received into his service.

What an inducement for us to exclaim joyfully: O God, my Lord and Renumerator, I will serve Thee! Even on this earth we enjoy the hundred-fold that consolation and joy which Christ has promised all followers in the service of the Lord. And furthermore, for every good work which we perform, we have the promise of an eternal reward. For every good deed there awaits us a recompense, of which it is written: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him.” Whosoever shall glorify Me, him will I glorify.” “Enter into the joys of thy Lord.” Who would not be willing to serve a prince, or king, or emperor, who, as a reward, would permit his servant to share his power and glory; and still more if he would give him the promise of a throne, and enable him to rule as a king?

This is the case in the service of the Lord, and it should encourage us in the divine service. “I myself,” says the Lord, “will be thy great reward.” “Thou hast made us kings, that we might reign eternally,” so rejoice the saints in heaven, as St. John affirms.

We gladly serve another if he is united to us by ties of kindred. And this can be said with regard to the service of God. He is not only our God, but at the same time our Father. Even in this world we call ourselves His children, and it is not yet known what we shall enjoy when once we shall enter His glory.

And when the fire of divine love inflames our heart, and we have even on earth a foretaste of the eternal union with God, in what transports of joy does not then the soul break forth: “O my God! my love, I am Thine! Lord, I serve Thee, because I love Thee. Lord! what dost Thou wish me to do?” Amen!

“No man can serve two masters.” Matt. 9.

Either to the right or to the left. This shall one day be the sentence of the divine Judge. The one or other will befall every one of us; and the decision will depend upon the life we have led on earth, whether we have served God or the world; that is, whether we were replenished with the Spirit of God, and by Him enlightened and strengthened to know and accomplish the Divine will, and to provide for that which is to come after death, and which will endure for all eternity; or whether, on the contrary, the spirit of the world had taken possession of our hearts and inflamed us with the desire to live as honored and as happy as possible during our brief sojourn on this earth, unconcerned whether we were accomplishing the will of God or not.

Either the Spirit of the Holy Ghost enkindles our hearts, and urges us to walk in the way of the Lord, with determination, strength and fidelity, or the spirit of the world possesses our hearts, and we serve the world; that is to say, we seek that which the world displays and promises; we let it persuade us that the service of man is of greater importance than the service of God, that we ought to feel greater dread of offending man than God; we live, so that we expose ourselves to its dangers, and, as the Apostle threatens, of perishing with the world.

I will prove to you today what a disgrace and folly it is to serve the world and her maxims, instead of serving God.

Mary, mother of God, spouse of the Holy Ghost, pray for us, that the Holy Spirit may destroy in us the spirit of the world, and that, as thy children, we may serve God and be saved! I speak in the holy name of Jesus, to the greater honor of God!

I said, it is either the Spirit of God which reigns in our hearts, and induces us to enter the service of God, strengthening and encouraging us therein; or it is the spirit of the world, which impels us to serve the world and live in compliance with its principles. But woe to us, if we serve it and acknowledge it as our master!

What I understand by the world, and the spirit of the world, I have intimated in my introduction.

The world, taken in this sense, is that portion of mankind whose desires are all concentrated on the possessions, honors and enjoyments of this life. These children, servants, slaves of the world, look upon religion as a secondary matter; they do not trouble themselves about it in the least, but imagine and say that all religions are one and the same; the first and most important care is happiness in this life, come what may in the next!

To the world, in this sense, belong those also who, with their lips, profess the doctrines of faith, but by their lives deny them and side with the scoffers of religion, and infidels who do not believe in a life to come, and will not admit of any other than the one here below.

In this signification did Christ say of the world: “The world is full of wickedness.” In this sense did Christ speak of the world when He said: “Father, I pray Thee, but not for the world.” Of this world it is written: “Who sides with it, shall perish!”

And yet what a number, even of the children of the Church, follow the world, and labor in her service, instead of the service of God. How foolish and deluded these worldlings are is apparent, when we reflect, on the one hand, upon the qualities of God, which particularly induce us, and encourage and strengthen us in serving Him as our Lord and Master; and, on the other hand, compare them with the opposite qualities which characterize the world and its service.

I say: Let us serve God; He is of Himself an infinite and most glorious Being the Creator, Preserver, and Ruler of the earth.

What is the world? The world in itself, taken in its broadest sense, includes all things in nature; it is nothing of itself; was nothing from all eternity; and does not exist of itself, but through God, without whose support it would at any moment fall back into its original nonentity.

And what are all those, of whom I have before spoken, who are living in this world and for this world? What are they, all these sinners, even if every one of them be adorned with a royal diadem? They are all nothing of themselves; they have come into existence in disgrace with God, owing to the fall of our first parents. And in what a miserable state are they, owing to the countless actual sins which they have committed during their life ! They are beings whose souls were created according to the image of God, but who, by their willful, actual sins, have stamped it with the likeness of Satan, the father of sin. As to their bodies, they may justly be compared to a mass of putrid matter.

And what is all their exterior power and glory and possessions? vanishing smoke,–a bauble, which glitters today and disappears tomorrow! They are beings who, with us, will soon appear at the judgment seat of God, and, as slaves of Satan, will be condemned to eternal perdition! And is it possible that we could resolve to serve the world in preference to God? What an ignominy!

But God in His glory is, at the same time, infinite holiness and goodness. Let us serve Him. What is the world which, on the other hand, seeks to draw us away from God, and advises us to follow her? The world, whose banner bears the inscription: Concupiscence of the eyes, concupiscence of the flesh, and pride of life–she is a sink, a filth, and a rankness!

Could we but view the frightful sins which the worldling commits daily and hourly! Could we but see the loathsomeness of the vices of pride, vanity, covetousness, envy, anger, gluttony, and lust to which the worldling is addicted, we would blush with same!

And how frequently does it not happen that persons, whom we have considered just and virtuous, are stripped of their mask by some unexpected occurrence, and they appear steeped in abominable vices! And should we serve such a world? No; if we look upon her, covered with the filth of sin, we will answer her with determination and indignation: Filthy world, depart!– I will follow my God; for He is perfect holiness, and His true servants and children are noble and holy.

God is, moreover, infinite goodness; He is our constant Benefactor, bestowing His benefits from the moment of our conception. He grants a reward, even on this earth; for He requites even a good thought with that feeling of peace and love which gives us a foretaste of the sweetness of the Lord's service even in this world; He will finally reward us in the life to come, when we will receive an eternal, incalculable recompense for every good thought and desire, for every good work performed in His service.

The world, on the contrary, is naught but selfishness and egotism; she loves but self, and all other things merely for the sake of self. She does not possess that goodness which loves to share with others; on the contrary, she seeks to accumulate all she can for herself, and those who serve her are requited poorly and wretchedly. “The world's reward is ingratitude,” says an old proverb.

A proof of this are the cares and difficulties which harass a person whilst endeavoring to earn his daily bread. How often he is at a loss! How frequently he is disappointed in his expectations, defrauded of his rights, injured in his possessions, or deprived of them altogether, just because he served the world and her followers!

And suppose this were not the case, but that the sinner could possess and enjoy all in this world,– the wounded conscience would not permit him to enjoy it peacefully. Holy Scripture and experience teach us that “there is no rest for the wicked.”

Oh, how dreadful the pangs of a guilty conscience! But even if this were not the case, still what a void the human heart experiences amid the possessions and enjoyment of all created objects and pleasures! This caused Solomon to exclaim: “Vanity of vanities!” And why? St. Augustine replies: “Thou hast, O Lord, created this heart for Thee, and it rests not until it rests in Thee.”

And if the worldling would really feel happy and contented in his possession, how soon–how very soon– will death deprive him of all, and then what awaits him in eternity?

For the little which the world has given him for his fidelity in her service, if thereby he has grievously offended God, she will prepare for him, for every sin ful thought, every desire, and every deed,–for every sinful enjoyment in her service,–eternal sufferings!

Beloved in Christ, when we reflect upon the character of the world, and upon the consequences of serving her, her persuasions lose their power of drawing us away from God; and yet we can scarcely comprehend how it is possible that, nevertheless, so many persons, even children of the Church, do not live in the service of God, but in that of the world,–the vain, wretched, sinful, selfish, deceptive, and transitory world, and in this manner expose themselves to the danger of perishing with her!

Therefore, children of the Church, reflect continually upon that, of which my sermon of today reminds you; examine your conscience daily in regard to it, and say to yourself: Should I serve such a deceitful world, and prefer her to my God? No–never!–Amen !

“You can not serve God and mammon.”–Matt. 9.

Christ speaks of two masters who demand our services, namely: God and the world. He declares, at the same time, that it is impossible to serve both. We can easily comprehend why Christ declares this twofold service impossible. The consideration of God and His nature, and of the world and her doings, will prove that to serve both is utterly impossible. God is infinite perfection and holiness; the world is full of wickedness.

The service of God has relation to our life in the next world; the service of the world regards only that which is temporal, that which exists at present, but will one day pass away. The service which God requires of us is inseparably united with the fulfillment of the duties of our holy religion. The world cares not for religion, nor for the sanctification of our lives. The service of God is incompatible with sin; the service of the world is inseparable from sin.

These are contrasts which are evidently not compatible. This opposition shows itself particularly in the wrong aim which the world pursues in her doings and movements, and which stamp the children of the world as worldlings, namely: The inordinate desire for money, covetousness and avarice.

The Gospel applies the word “blessed” to the poor; the world, on the contrary, applies it to the rich. This is even proven by an old saying: Money is the god of the world. The worldling is prepared to do anything for the sake of money.

Let us consider today how despicable, foolish and dangerous is covetousness and the inordinate desire for money. In other words: We will notice the contrast between the service of mammon and the service of God.

Mary, thou poor virgin of Nazareth, mother of the poor infant Jesus, pray for us, that our hearts may be freed from covetousness and avarice. I speak in the holy name of Jesus, to the greater honor of God!

Love of money, covetousness, avarice–the religion of the world! What is avarice? It is that pernicious tendency of the human heart to have and to possess, for the sake of having and possessing.

What does Scripture say of this disposition which prompts a man to attach himself to money, and to temporal possessions? Holy Scripture, through the mouth of St. Paul, calls it: Idolatry. This appellation is not an oratorical exaggeration, but it literally marks the character and the nature of covetousness; yes, it is truly idolatry, for idolatry consists in transferring to a creature the worship which we owe to God alone. And in what does this worship consist? Christ gives the answer: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength.” But it is thus exactly the avaricious person is disposed in regard to money and worldly possessions.

You, who love money, am I correct? Ask your heart. Christ says: “Where your treasure is, there is also your heart.” That is, there your thoughts, desires, resolutions and endeavors will center. Now, then, what is your first thought on awaking in the morning? Not God, but your business–your probable gain or loss. Of what do you think during the day? Your whole attention is given to your occupation, to gaining wealth. And this also is your last thought at night! Not what you have won or lost for heaven, during the course of the day; but what you have profited or lost in your business!

I believe there are persons of this kind even now before me, who, during their lives, have endeavored their utmost to gain every cent they possibly could. And what is the consequence? Your money is your god; the excessive care, the money-question, is your religion!

I therefore justly remark, in the first place: What an abominable vice is avarice, both in the sight of God and your own! No, you can not serve God and mammon at the same time.

I say, secondly: It is a degrading and absurd disposition of mind. Degrading, without doubt! Remember the words which St. Paul addressed to the heathens: “You are of a godly race, and you adore gold, your idols of gold!” Are you not ashamed to adore gold? The man of money, if he is a Christian, would not, of course, adore a statue of gold, as did the heathens, nor a golden calf, as did the faithless Israelites. But still the nature of their worship is precisely the same, as I have before shown you; and, in our times, this gold and money-service is still more degrading, since paper is the representative of gold at present. And what is paper? Rags and tatters are the materials of which it is made, and yet with what an eager eye the man of money regards such a rag when the worth of a hundred or a thousand dollars is stamped upon it; for its possession he sacrifices time and opportunity of doing good, and of laboring for the salvation of souls.

Deluded and foolish man! The more so when we reflect upon the words of the Holy Ghost, which affirms that: “Every sin shall in itself be punished.” These words may be justly applied to avarice.

For the covetous person, instead of being free from care, and using his accumulated wealth for the procuring of comforts which might render his life more pleasant and enjoyable, is every day more and more disturbed by the care of his money and possessions. And it frequently happens that the wealthier a person becomes, the less he imagines he possesses, and he strives with still greater anxiety to acquire more, and to secure what he has.

Christ speaks of the thorns which choke the good seed, and He Himself explains that the thorns signify the cares of man for the goods of this world.

And experience proves how disastrous temporal cares are to the spirit of piety. It is owing to our extreme anxiety about the goods of this world that in many cases the good resolutions which we form during a sermon, or in the confessional, are stifled and rendered fruitless.

What a dangerous disposition of mind is the inordinate desire of money! If we are in earnest, to serve God and be saved, it is necessary to begin even in our youth to raise our hearts heavenward. It is necessary that we not only earnestly and zealously strive to know our duties, but also to perform them. It is likewise necessary to use faithfully the means which God in His mercy has given us as children of the Church; namely: prayer, divine service, and the Holy Sacraments, and to seek carefully the means and opportunities of performing as many corporal and spiritual works of mercy as possible. The craving for money prevents all this.

Even in early youth, when there is question of choosing a path for life, the thought: whether such is the state to which God has called us, and which will offer the best opportunities for serving Him, does not enter our minds. We only take care to see whether it is a state which offers us prospects of becoming rich, of providing for ourselves. And this is our aim during all successive years; we thereby neglect the duties of our religion, excusing ourselves by saying: We have no time for prayer! And why? I must attend to my business. And how very often this could be postponed for a half hour or an hour; we could even hear a Mass; but for this we no longer find it worth the while to devote a few minutes.

Thus we begin the day without morning-prayer, and pass it without one thought of God; neglect spiritual reading and the reception of the Holy Sacraments, and thus become careless as to gathering treasures for the life to come; and, by committing mortal sins, we become traitors to Christ. Could our Lord have allowed a more heinous crime for the warning of the children of the Church than the base treachery of Judas!

He, as an Apostle, was chosen from among the whole race of mankind to come in daily contact with Christ. He was with our Lord during three years, conversed with Him, and listened to all His sermons, witnessed His miracles, even the resurrection of Lazarus; and, despite all these favors, his love for money caused him to become a traitor, and to sell his Lord and Master for an ignominious price . Take a look at him, suspended by the neck,–at him, the Apostle and suicide!

Christians! let this example be a warning to you! Woe to you, if your heart is more attached to mammon than to God, and if you labor more earnestly for money than in the service of God! I fear you are one of those souls in whom the threat of our Lord will be verified: “Woe to the rich!” Amen!

The Works Of The Flesh And The Fruits Of The Spirit by Fr. Johann Evangelist Zollner, 1883 In the Epistle of last Sunday, St. Paul brought before us the important truth that men are not justified by the observance of the Mosaic Law, but by the belief in Jesus Christ. But the faith which justifies us and leads to salvation is not an inactive, dead faith, but a living faith, which consists in this, that we not only believe all that God has revealed and proposes to our belief by the Catholic Church, but also that we live according to the precepts of faith; that therefore we keep the commandments, mortify all inordinate desires and passions, shun sin and vice and diligently practice the Christian virtues. St. Paul speaks in the Epistle of this day on that living, active faith. He treats,

I. Of the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, II. Of the works of the flesh, III. Of the fruits of the spirit.

Part I.

1. In the very beginning of the Epistle, he tells us what must be done in order not to succumb in the struggle with the flesh; he says: “Walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.” To walk in the spirit means to live according to the will of God, according to the doctrine of Jesus and the maxims of the Gospel, to obey the inspirations and impulses of the Holy Ghost. He who lives thus “shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh,” that is, he will not permit himself to be led into evil by concupiscence and the motions of corrupt nature, therefore he will not sin. By Baptism we have been made members of the Church of Christ, and the Holy Ghost has taken up his abode within our hearts; we are, therefore, in the happy condition of walking always in the spirit; for the Church teaches us what we must do and what avoid, and the indwelling Holy Ghost gives us His grace to overcome the lusts of the flesh and to live piously. We have therefore no excuse when we allow ourselves to be governed by the lusts of the flesh and thereby fall into sin. “The lust (of sin) shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.”–Gen. 4: 7. These words, which God spoke to Cain, apply to us.

2. Now the Apostle describes the struggle between the flesh and the spirit, in these words: “The flesh lusteth against the spirit; and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to another, so that you do not the things that you would.”

(a) By flesh we understand that inclination to evil, which is a consequence of original sin, and is therefore found in all men. Of it God says in the Old Testament: “The imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth.”–Gen. 8: 21. And St. James writes: “Every man is tempted, being drawn away by his own concupiscence, and allured:”–I: 14. By spirit we understand the better disposition in man, which has its spring in God, who through the conscience and his Church and in many other ways operates upon us, that we know what is right and good, are pleased with what is good, and strive for it and practise it.

(b) The most perfect harmony existed between the spirit and the flesh in that state of innocence in which man came forth from the hand of God; man, indeed, had concupiscence, not to evil, but to good–a concupiscence which was perfectly subject to the spirit, and desired only what was right and comformable to the will of God. In consequence of original sin, a great change took place in our concupiscence; it often resists the spirit and will not obey, but desires to rule; it always desires what seems agreeable, without caring whether it be good or evil, it sets everything in motion in order to obtain the object of its desires. It allures man to impurity, revenge, envy, avarice and injustice; in short, to all sins and vices. It operates upon the senses of the body, upon the eyes and ears, and upon the faculties of the soul, upon the understanding, will and memory, and seeks to make them subservient to sin. Now when the spirit resists and rejects its demands, a struggle ensues; for concupiscence is not easily silenced, but insists upon its demand and makes vehement attacks to obtain its own way. If the spirit were depending on its natural powers, it would often yield in the combat with concupiscence; but, assisted by God's grace, it is able to come forth victorious even from the most desperate struggle. Hence the Apostle says: “I can do all things in Him who strengtheneth me.”–Phil. 4: 13.

(c) This struggle between the spirit and the flesh lasts to the end of our lives. The concupiscence which dwells in us is never entirely subdued; it causes countless temptations, and renders all good actions difficult. For instance, you are patiently to bear a humiliation, to forgive an enemy, to suppress an unchaste desire, to renounce something agreeable. Concupiscence at once arises and tries to prevent these good actions. Thus our life upon earth is “a continual warfare.”–Job, 7: 1. The concupiscence within us will die only with our last breath.

(d) Because concupiscence operates upon our will and seeks to lead it into evil, the Apostle says that we must not do all things that we would. We must not yield to the allurements of concupiscence. If it entices to any sin and with vehemence demands its will, we must say with courage and determination: I must not, and I will not do it. A king once asked two clergymen at his court, who on account of their modesty were very highly esteemed, whether it was true that they carried with them a certain herb which had the virtue of driving away bad thoughts and desires. When they answered in the affirmative, he asked further, what kind of an herb it was. They replied, that the herb was the fear of God, that this banishes all sinful thoughts and desires. Thus the fear of God will be to us a shield from which all the arrows of concupiscence rebound.

3. But the Apostle shows us a still more effectual means to gain the victory over concupiscence, when he writes: “But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.” He intends to say: Christians who have reached a higher degree of perfection and are filled altogether with the love of God, avoid evil and do good without being compelled to it by the law and its threats. Christians who love God do not ask whether something is commanded or forbidden under pain of sin; on the contrary, they esteem themselves happy and find their pleasure in doing whatever they know to be pleasing to God. They stand, therefore, above and outside of the law; it is as if they had no law at all, just because it is love that urges them everywhere and always to do the will of God. Therefore St. Augustine says: “Love, and do what you please.” He who loves God above all things, will not succumb in the combat with concupiscence, but will courageously fight against it and overcome it and serve God with fidelity all the days of his life. Love is strong as death. Many waters cannot quench charity.–Canticle 8: 6, 7.

Part II.

The Apostle now enumerates the works of the flesh: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest; which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcraft, enmities, contentions, emulations, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envy, murders, drunkenness, retellings, and such like. Of which I foretell you, us I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God.”

1. First in order appears the vice of voluptuousness in all its kinds. This vice is disgraceful for every man, because it degrades him to the low rank of the irrational beast, but especially for the Christian, whose body is a temple of the Holy Ghost (I. Cor. 6: 18-20), and which becomes most intimately united with Jesus in holy Communion. Hence the Apostle elsewhere says: “Fornication and all uncleaness, let it not so much as be named among you, as it becometh saints.”–Eph. 5: 3. The vice of voluptuousness robs man of innocence, that precious jewel which makes him even in this life equal to the Angels of heaven, but which once lost, can never be recovered. The vice of voluptuousness denies man and degrades all the senses, powers and faculties of man: the eyes by unchaste looks, the ears by the wanton hearing of immodest words, the tongue by immodest conversation, the imagination by thousands of shameful representations, the will by complacency in abominable things; the vice of voluptuousness leads to all other sins and vices, especially to unbelief, to despair, and to suicide. How much God hates this vice history shows us in terrible examples. This vice caused the deluge to drown the whole human race, with the exception of Noe and his family (Gen. 6: 12); that five and twenty thousand Israelites perished in the desert (Numb. 25: 9); that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with all their inhabitants were destroyed from the face of the earth.–Gen. 19. The lot of the voluptuous in the next world is eternal damnation. “Their portion shall be in the pool burning with fire and brimstone.”–Apoc. 21: 8. Ah! shun the vice of impurity, which in our time is so prevalent in the world, and on account of which countless men will be damned forever. Be modest and reserved and take no indecent liberties with yourselves or others. Take an example from the Emperor Maximilian I., who had such a tender modesty, that going to bed or getting up from bed he did not allow himself to be assisted either in taking off or putting on his clothes. Even in death, he gave a splendid proof of this beautiful virtue. When he felt his end approach, he ordered a shirt and a pair of pantaloons; he put them on himself, and gave directions that he should be buried in these clothes.

2. The second class comprises the sins against the love of our neighbor; enmities, contentions, emulations, wrath, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envy, murders. These sins also deserve all our hatred and detestation, because they break the bond of peace and concord, and cause great mischief. Was it not hatred that made Cain a fratricide? Was it not envy that made Jacob's sons persecutors of their innocent brother Joseph? Was it not anger that made King Asa the tyrant of his subjects?–II. Paralip. 16: 14. These sins are especially damnable among us Christians, because they are directly opposed to our principal law, the love of God, which Christ has given us. “This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.”–John, 15: 12. “Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you.”–Matt. 5: 44. Shun all sins against the love of your neighbor, especially hatred, envy, contentions and quarrels. Do not forget that you are all brothers in Christ Jesus, and are called to be admitted into heaven, where only heart-felt love and friendship reign among the elect.

3. The third class comprises the sins against temperance, viz., drunkenness and gluttony. Those who use intoxicating drink to excess and often come to such a pass that they lose reason and no longer know what they are saying or doing, are guilty of drunkenness. One can see drunken men reel and stagger, fall down, roll in the mire, and do things of which they are ashamed when they become sober. Those sin by gluttony who in eating transgress the right measure, who find their happiness in the gratification of the palate, and make their belly their god. Drunkenness and gluttony are vices which disgrace man and lower him below the level of the brute, for the dumb animal ceases to eat and drink when it has enough. These vices are particularly dangerous for Christians, who ought to lead a sober, mortified life. Having enumerated these works of the flesh, the Apostle says: “They who do such things, shall not obtain the kingdom of God.” Therefore, the unchaste, the uncharitable, and the intemperate shall be excluded from the kingdom of God and shall be condemned to everlasting fire. Who should not carefully guard against these vices? Who should not, if he be contaminated with one or the other of them, tear himself from it at once and do penance? Reflect on the words of St. Augustine: “Short is what rejoices; but eternal what burns.”

Part III,

The Apostle contrasts the fruits of the spirit with the works of the flesh, in these words: “The fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity.” St. Paul does not say the fruits, but the fruit of the Spirit, because these virtues have their origin in charity; all come forth from it, like branches from the trunk, and are properly nothing else than effects of charity. He calls them the fruit “of the Spirit,” that is, of the Christian enlightened and governed by the Holy Ghost; for as a good tree yields good fruit, so also Christians in whom the Holy Ghost abides, bring forth virtues and good works. The fruits of the Spirit then are:

1. Charity; that is, the love of God and of our neighbor; the love of God, which manifests itself especially by a conscientious fulfilment of his commandments; the love of our neighbor, which requires that we wish well to our fellow-men, and help them in their necessities according to our ability. Where charity is, there God is; and he that remains in charity remains in God, and God in him. Joy: It is a pure pleasure in God's grace, in His wise and merciful providence, in the purity of conscience, and in all that is truly good and pleasing to God. This joy is a hidden manna, of which worldlings have no idea, and in comparison with which all earthly and sensual joys are a mere nothing. He who carries this joy in his heart is rich even in poverty, and rejoices in persecutions and sufferings. Peace: Peace with God, with our neighbor and with ourselves. A result of this peace is the quietude of conscience and the sweet conviction that we possess the grace and friendship of God. He who possesses this fruit of the Spirit possesses the most desirable good of life, contentedness; he lives quietly, dies quietly, and enters into the house of eternal rest.

2. Other fruits of the Spirit are: Patience, which renders everything easy. He who possesses this virtue, remains composed under the severest hardships and trials; he murmurs not, complains not, but is perfectly resigned to the will of God, and says: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so it is done; blessed be the name of the Lord.”–Job, 1: 21. Benignity, a lovely virtue, which causes us to meet all men, even the lowliest, affably and kindly, and carefully avoid in our conduct what could irritate or repulse any one. Goodness: Christians who possess this virtue do good to their fellow-men according to their ability. They are not satisfied with doing to them what they owe them from justice, but they are also ready everywhere to help, without having any other obligation than that of charity, and without expecting any reward in this world.

3. Other fruits of the Spirit are: Longanimity, which bears the weaknesses and frailties of our fellow-men with patience, which defers reprimand and chastisement as long as possible, and never despairs of the amendment of the erring. It is a principal virtue for parents, teachers, and educators, and all spiritual and temporal superiors. Mildness: He who possesses this virtue is always quiet and calm; his speech is mild; his admonitions affectionate; even when reproving he is gentle and sparing. He bears everything with a quiet mind, is not irritated by anything; he keeps silence when wrong is done him, and defends himself calmly; he smothers every motion of indignation in his heart, forgives those who offend him, and does them good, when he can. Oh, that we all would learn of our divine Saviour to be meek and humble of heart! Faith, which refers to God and man. We are faithful to God when we conscientiously keep our promises and resolutions and cling to Him in good and in evil days. We are faithful to our neighbor when we keep our word in all our dealings with him, and do not allow ourselves to be induced by any temptation of ambition, avarice or self-interest to commit an act of injustice.

4. Lastly, the Apostle designates moderation as a fruit of the Spirit. He who is moderate eats and drinks only as much as is necessary for the preservation of his life, health and strength; he is content with clothes corresponding with his state, and enjoys innocent pleasures only for his recreation; and, consequently, sparingly, and at the right time. Continency: Those Christians practice this virtue who manfully deny themselves everything that is against the will of God, no matter how agreeable it may be to sensuality, and who lead a mortified life. Chastity: Those have this virtue who detest every unchaste thought and every impure desire, who shun even the shadow of impurity, and keep body and soul undefiled.

PERORATION.

These are the noble fruits of the Spirit; these are the virtues and marks of a true Christian; for they that are Christ's, have crucified their flesh, with its vices and concupiscences: they mortify their evil inclinations and passions, deny themselves and follow Jesus. Let us take to heart the words of our divine Saviour: “Every tree that yieldeth not good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire.”–Matt. 7: 19. Let us therefore shun all works of the flesh, and consider it the most important task of our life to yield good fruit, i.e., to practice virtues and good works, that we may be able to stand before the judgmentseat of God and be called to eternal beatitude. Amen.

From: https://www.pamphletstoinspire.com/

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Padre Pio and Sunflowers?HELP NEEDED- RESEARCH DEAD-END. But Popping Up Everywhere!

Padre Pio and Sunflowers?

I am new to this site, it is foreign to me. But, I must try because it is driving me crazy. I love Padre Pio, or I have a special devotion to him. I have never been to San Giovanni Rotunda- Our Lady of Grace Monastery. But, a few years back, a friend and I took a few hour road trip to go on a silent retreat for the weekend for an order for lay people.We were lucky to be considered, and eventually accepted as we were just considering the order, not made any official vows, or pledged formation. I was dragged by a very pious friend, who knows everything about theology, and had only been a Catholic for about 2 years. She is going to be a nun. We did realize that this weekend was going to be full of those much older than us, but the retreat leader, one my friend really wanted to see, was even older and I didn’t see the thrill to be honest. I was not looking forward to it, the idea of a SILENT retreat, with elderly people (no offense, most of my greatest friends, even best have been elderly) and a bunch of talks by a Msgr. close to 90? It didn’t sound enticing, at all. But the Msgr., as I was told, had encountered many modern day saints, was spiritually advised by them, or spiritually advised those who would become saints. When we pulled in, the people were the age I expected, but very gracious and welcoming, so welcoming- as the silence hadn’t quite begun. But as I looked at the itinerary and saw the charismatic nature of this retreat, or explanation of gifts of the Holy Spirit when my friend and a seminary friend, along with a priest we all love and adored who is a walking saint, have forced me to attend some of the most confusing things I have ever seen that were “Healing and Gifts” or “National Charismatic Conference for Your Prayer for this Gift from the Spirit” conferences, I was ready to leave. And then, the lock-down came, a sniper on the lose, right in that very area decided he was going to hide in the woods from the police. So, while there were lovely stations, a grotto, to beautiful weather outside, we were given St. Benedict Medals and locked in. But, oddly enough, for all my griping (it is a temperament God gave me according to the book with that title and I am trying to come out of it), that was one of the best retreats I ever attended. And the Msgr., who I feared would be old and boring, was not at all- quite youthful! Entertaining! And, according to him, possessed every gift and fruit of the Holy Spirit except raising from the dead. He was a modern-day mystic. And, while I have not known of Padre Pio forever, I knew of him, and that was one of the saints he encountered as a young priest. Imagine that! He has told all about his experience, how Padre Pio stared into his soul, and whatever he did, he surely made that Msgr. a gift to the Church, the world, to future and current priests, organizations, orders and regular people in need. And he still goes strong today.

But, of the many blessings to come from that retreat was a woman I happened to meet. My friend and I were asked to fit a third person in our room, which we said sure, and thinking she would be elderly, we thought she would need to be close to the bathroom. Walker, oxygen tank, you never know. And I don’t say this jokingly, we were being sincere in our concern. But in walked this beautiful blond woman, in her mid-forties, who was there not because of order, but on an invite from the Msgr. We gave our introductions before the grand silence, and she was anxiously awaiting a call from her daughter who had just interviewed for a job out of college. The retreat began, and we got into it, and we’d go back on breaks in our room to rest, and this woman, she broke the code, well we all did, we had, too. It was too much to digest to yourself. But when you’re lying there and reflecting and she casually says she was writing a musical about....I can’t tell you :) Well, I can, but web page is not up. We became friends immediately, as I wanted to BURST into SONG! Though she lives a few states away, about five hours, I’d be there in a heartbeat for her. Her story is on the Resurrection of Jesus and the World Premiere was in the small town in June 2017. I made sure I was there, every night, and what an accomplishment! It’s an incredible story, I’ve never been so happy, so elated for someone, who went through so much, especially criticism for it being a religious play. They put her through the ringer. But, it was beautiful. I cried with elation for it to be on stage, with pride for my friend that God brought into my life and with tears because of such beauty in every scene. If there is a private message thing on here by chance, I will tell you the name and FB page if interested. And a website is coming soon, that’s where I come in!

But, I am helping her with marketing and PR, beginning stages. As I am a musical theater fanatic! Plus, you do anything to help people (which by the way, if you are a musical person, know production, directing, actor, or know how to contact big names like Andrew Lloyd Weber as I will get to him for her, but please reach out, as this is a story that needs to be on a bigger stage!). She knows the Msgr.’s connection to Padre Pio and my love of him. But, as I am making up this strategic plan for her these last few weeks, marketing plan, whatever you want to call it, one thing you should know is that her show features a lot of Sunflowers in it- there is a message on the imagery of that. Well, I like to make plans with quotes, and if I remember any lines from the show, which luckily I do, though now she’s sent me a DVD, I’m right back in the front row in June 2017! But, Padre Pio would come up with sunflowers. And I tried finding out, I know that’s what they do in certain countries, or devout ethnic towns in big cities in the U.S. (where I am), Saint Processions for his feast day. But, The Padre Pio Foundation sells coasters that are sunflowers, there is a site called pioprints.com that sells cards of saints quotes, and Padre Pio’s card, or notebook has sunflowers. And I did briefly find a story in a different language, kind of, but I wasn’t sure.

Is there a connection between Padre Pio and sunflowers? Or have I gone completely mad? Actually, I think it’s how I found this site- it led me to something regarding sunflowers, which is saved somewhere. But, I e-mailed all the foundations and stores, but no one has gotten back to me. I mean, if it’s in a book, I’ll get the book, I just have to know. But if not, fine, I’m crazy, I’m used to that!

Thank you whoever reads this (if I do it right). And should anyone of you have the gift of seeing Padre Pio in your dreams, or smelling his perfume, I hope you know how blessed you are. And please, give him my thanks.

Blessings!

#padrepio #stpadrepio #stpio #stpioofpietrelcina #greatestmysticofthechurch #capuchinfriar #padrepioandsunflowers #christislikeasunflower #saintsandsunflowers #asperiemosaafelicidadadequenosfoipreparadapordeus #letusaspiretothehappinessthathasbeenpreparedforusbygod #spiritoftruthislikeasunflower #sunflowersseektheson #padrepioisendyoumyguardianangelthatyouwillhelpyourspiritualchildfindanswersamen

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scribbler-in-panic · 2 years

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Who Would Have Thought?

After more than 48 hours, I finally got my result: I am Covid-19 positive.

Before I tell my story, I am first and foremost praising and thanking the Lord God for the peace that He has planted in my heart. I am not afraid, I am not too anxious about the whole situation, and I know He’s given me this experience for a particular purpose and reason. If there’s an ounce of fear that I have right now, it’s not for me, but for my family – my mum and sisters. I don’t want this virus to extend to them, and my prayer is for God’s great protective hands to cover them from harm, sickness, worry, and negativity and for His healing hands to get this virus out of my body and out of all those who are sick. No child of His deserves illness, pain, helplessness, and depression. I pray for this journey to be led by Him and Him alone and that every step of the way, I am reminded that God’s in charge and that no virus or sickness can ever prosper against His mighty name. In Jesus’ greatest name, I lift this to Him and give Him thanks, amen, amen.

So, how did I contract the virus? Who knows, right? I mean, last January 3, Monday, around afternoon, after my Zoom meeting with my boss and officemates, I went down to receive the apple raisin bread (which was super tasty, by the way) and the handwoven blanket delivered to me by my boss as his additional Christmas gifts. And while I was eating it with my mum and older sister, I was already feeling weird. Do you know that feeling of you’re about to have the flu? That exactly. So, I told my mum about it and looked for flu medicine. After, I went back to my room and slept the feeling away. When I woke up hours after, I started chatting with my high school friends (three of them were with me on the 26th for our annual Christmas get-together), and two of them, the ones living in Qatar, were already feeling the symptoms and later tested positive for the virus. I felt so bad for them because C19 wasn’t that kind to them. They were suffering from fever, colds, cough, body pains, and sore throat. So, I told them to take all the rest they needed and eat as much as possible to take their medicines on time. Then a day or two after, two of the ones who were with on the 26th also mentioned being sick – had a fever, sore throat, colds, and cough. Later that afternoon, one of them was confirmed C19 positive. Because of that, a strong urge told me to go out and take a test too. So, on Thursday, 6th January, I had my RT-PCR test done.

It’s God’s miracle that I am spared from feeling weird symptoms. Aside from the clogged nose when I am lying down or the scratchy throat, and the throbbing of my temples during the first two days, I feel okay. Yes, I am not eating much, but thankfully, I still have my sense of taste and smell. He made sure that I was vaccinated and the vaccines worked.

My mum’s sleeping downstairs for the duration of this quarantine of mine, for her room and my room is the closest ones to each other. She’s unvaccinated and vulnerable, but I am not afraid, to be honest. I only pray that this peace of mind and steadied heart are from Him and that He sustains me and this household everything we need while we go through this experience (which I know is already settled and done). There’s no need to nurture the fear and allow it to grow in your heart and make it feel like it’s bigger than our Lord God.

So, today’s my fifth day in quarantine, from the day I felt the symptoms. Nine more days (and three more, they say, for assurance), and I’ll be out again to do another test to ensure I am cleared.

In Jesus’ name, I and the rest of the afflicted – whether be physical, mental, emotional, financial, spiritual, etc. – will be healed and be pulled out from the ordeal we’re dealing with right now.

In Jesus’ name.

#pandemic #covid #positive #in jesus name

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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09/06/2021 DAB Transcript

Song of Solomon 1:1-4:16, 2 Corinthians 8:16-24, Psalm 50:1-23, Proverbs 22:22-23

Today is the 6th day of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible, I’m Brian, it is great to be here with you today as we take the next step forward together, which is what we repeatedly do, every day, take another step forward together in life and in the Scriptures. And this next step forward leads us into some new territory. So, we’ve come through the book of Job, we’ve come through the book of Ecclesiastes and explored some of may be that that kind of stuff we avoid exploring. Kind of stuff we just keep running and running and running to avoid. But the Bible puts it right there in the middle and it's there so we can, well, so we can take the time to look into what we’re wrestling with. So, in Job we certainly watched Job claim innocence and seek God while his friends were telling him of his guilt and his need for repentance and then we heard from God, who very clearly revealed there’s a whole lot more to any of our stories than we really understand and we remember those famous words from Job when he’s speaking to God, “I had only heard about you before, but now I’m seeing you and I don't have any, I put my hand over my mouth, I've already said too much.” And then we moved into Ecclesiastes and looked at cautionary wisdom from the perspective of a person who had done it and seen it all and ultimately arrived at a place that we spend our whole lives chasing the wind, we could spend our whole lives in meaningless pursuits. But if we can be present and awake to the now to what's actually happening now and treat what is happening now as a gift and be grateful for what God has given us, then we won't waste our whole lives trying to achieve the next thing which isn't to diminish achievement, it's just what we were talking about, how we can run and run and run and we’re running away from some things and we’re running towards some things but we’re only ever running we’re never actually grateful in the moment that we’re in, we might have gratitude for what God has yet to do in front of us or what he's done but to be here now is in fact, one of the greatest gifts that we get, we get to be alive in God's presence now. So, we move through that territory which brings us today into some new territory.

Introduction to the Song of Solomon:

This is still part of the grouping of what we would know as wisdom literature, but a very different complexion. This new book we’ll read today and tomorrow and it is known as the Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs and so it’s very, very different than the territory we were in Job and Ecclesiastes. It's short, like I said, we’ll read it in a couple days but it…it touches a lot of our lives, depending on how we want to read it. So, let's begin with the fact that this is poetry, and whether we’re poets or whether we've studied poetry or whether we've maybe rarely ever read a poem, we probably should all understand that poems, they say thing things and rhyme and phrase that is well beyond their words so stanza of poetry that's super beautiful and super well-constructed can say what all page would need to say if it were just being explained. Poetry uses plenty of metaphorical language so this is like that or allegorical language, symbolic language, where the symbolism has greater meaning and so the Song of Solomon can be read in a number of ways. If…if we just read it as a poem, literally, for what it's saying, then we will encounter the story of passion and a passionate consummation of love between a man and a woman who are deeply in love with each other, lost in love with one another, and so the poem itself stands on its own, just as it is, a witness to marital love and the bliss that occurs when two become one a, passionate, physical relationship which bothers some people because knowing what's a sex book in the Bible for? I guess because God created this type of intimacy, invalidates this type of intimacy, but there are other ways, if we look allegorically or metaphorically and look at the Jewish tradition, then this is an allegory of a poem that is intended to show the passionate love, the desire for intimacy that God has for his children, and in this case the Jewish people and that has been a way of reading the Song of Songs for a very, very long time and it's a fine way to read it. There's a Christian tradition about the Song of Song's and that is that it's an allegorical look at Jesus, at Christ's love and desire and passion for his bride. So, as we go through this and go through this in any number of ways using any of these lenses and all of them are fine. How is it getting you? How are you receiving it? And so, let’s dive in and drink deep of this beautiful poetry, known as the Song of Solomon and since this poem is largely an interaction between a man and woman, we have a tradition around here at the Daily Audio Bible that my wife Jill, she comes in and we read this together and it's a favorite for us and she is of course over at Daily Audio Bible chronological, and so, they in the chronological order came to Song of Solomon a little bit earlier and so I was able to read Song of Solomon with her over on chronological earlier this year. Now she's here with us to read the Song of Solomon together over these next couple of days. So, let’s dive in, Song of Solomon chapters 1 through 4.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for this new week. We thank You for this new territory that we are in as we move through the Song of Solomon. Come Holy Spirit as we transition into some new territory in the Scriptures, open our hearts, open our minds and we might love You well and we might love You from a whole heart, that we might surrender to You, knowing that is the safest thing in the whole and the experience of life that we could ever do. Surrender and walk with You. Come Holy Spirit we pray, all of this we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here. I always love it when we get to this time that we’re doing Song of Solomon, and Jill gets to join me and I look forward to that every year. That's fun and that will be happening tomorrow as well and we’ll finish the Song of Solomon and that's one of the things that are going on around here. But stay tuned and stay connected by being aware of dailyaudiobible.com or the Daily Audio Bible app. If you don't have the Daily Audio Bible app you can download that from your app store. It's free and its good way to stay connected stay connected with the journey through the Scriptures because it helps you keep track and see your progress but you can also access the things that are on the website as well. And so, like the Community section. This is, this is a place to get connected, the different links to the places on social media where the Daily Audio Bible is, you can find those there as well as the Prayer Wall and the Prayer Wall is a beautiful thing in this Community because it does matter what time zone, we’re in, we’re all over the world is the Global Campfire Community. And so, when it's night for me in the rolling hills of Tennessee, it’s daytime somewhere else in the world and so the Prayer Wall is just always on, always happening. There are always things to pray about and maybe it's our turn. Maybe we’re carrying some things that we’ve been trying to shoulder it all by ourselves, or dragging along all by ourselves and maybe we’re exhausting ourselves when we have brothers and sisters, we have a spiritual family that we can reach out to and the Prayer wall is a very, very good place to do exactly that. So, that is in the Community section, whether on the web or in the app, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that on the web at dailyaudiobible.com or in the app. There's a link on the homepage, on the web. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hi, I’m a first-time caller. I’ve only been listening to the DAB for less than a year, I found it by accident. It’s been a great blessing to me. I want to let you know that I pray for all of you and sometimes I pray later and do it again. I’m asking for prayer for my adult children that come back to the Lord and also for I have three grandsons with Autism, that one that’s the worse is non-verbal, he has aggression and self-injurious behavior. And his life is not good, he’s got medical issues and I’m asking for prayer for Willam. And thank you very much. Bye Bye.

Hi DAB this is Ani from Nigeria. First of all congratulations ….. and I’m so thankful for all God is doing for you and in this time, it was much needed journey. Family, I just need prayer to be, today was a hard day, it was a hard day and then I came home. What I need prayer for is just (inaudible) my family. My family is not – towards me but just being around me is almost like – damage. And I – and most times I try to block it out. (Inaudible) And so I’m just praying for healing for myself and for my heart and for my family. There’s a lot of pain and I don’t necessarily know what the solution is but God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than I can imagine. So, I am just desiring this prayer for healing for myself especially. And as I’m going into another season of my life, I’m praying that I don’t carry any of this that I have seen or I have experienced into my own life and internalize it. So, that’s really what I want healing from and just freedom really. Freedom from this situation and everything that it in. So yeah, thank you very much guys, I really appreciate this community and I appreciate this family and I would have never have thought this would have become such a stable force in my life but I’m so thankful for it. Have a good day everybody. Bye.

Hi, this is Victorious Solider, just calling tonight, my heart was really heavy for my precious sister Mercy, the one with the 9 children and the 22 grandchildren. My God Mercy, that is such a challenge that only our God can do. Lord, we just ask you to touch Mercy and her precious family. Oh Lord, in the name of Jesus, we need your healing, not only for the children but also Lord for the mother and even the father that they have to be apart of something of this magnitude. Lord, we just ask you Lord, there is nothing to hard for you as you told Moses. You said nothing is to hard for you. Lord, we just ask you to have mercy Lord on our children Lord. We ask you to bless, we ask you to heal them, we ask you to guide them, we ask you to touch that whole family Father. In the name of Jesus, wrap them in Your arms and protect them Father. In the name of Jesus. I want to also pray for Yolanda. The woman who is in the hospital with COVID and her precious baby, about to deliver her baby. God, You are a doctor that (inaudible). The doctors may not know how to handle this but You know how to handle anything. We just ask your protection, we just ask your wisdom, to give them wisdom they need. Oh Lord, that this baby and this mother will be fine. Lord, You open doors no man can close. Oh Father, in the name of Jesus, I saw Your rainbow yesterday and Your promises and Your promises are still fresh that you are God that won’t hold back anything from them. Lord, they Love You so much, we ask You to touch, we ask You to heal, we ask you to deliver and set free. And this COVID Lord, and every aspect of a way, even in this young woman’s life, You have Your way, Father. In the name of Jesus. I want to also pray for God’s Life Speaker who’s struggling with her 21-year-old.

Hi, this is Marked As His, I haven’t called in a long time. But I’m calling years later because I realize that my husband and I need more help than we can do on our own. I don’t know if you guys remember but I was in nurse practitioner school, I have now completed my program. So, I’m a doctor or nursing practice, family nurse practitioner. My husband, we got married last November, we’re both dairy farmers and things are very, very hard right now. We don’t have enough help. We are working very long hours because we believe in what we do and being stewards of the land. But we’re tired and we want to start a family and we devoted all of our time and our energy and our focus towards building this farm and now we’re really struggling to keep it going. So, if you could all please pray for providence, we keep praying for daily bread every day and you know, it seems like we have enough just to get through today but we really wanna live abundantly. And, right now, it seems like the harvest is really dry. So, thank you all and take care, bye.

Hello, DAB fam this is Laura from Eugene. I just wanted to thank everyone for the updates. It has been so good to hear updates and GG, thank you for calling in. You were such a blessing; I pray for God to continue to bless you. And it was so good to hear about Izzy’s situation, I will keep Izzy and the family in my prayers. I just have a little story and a prayer request to tell as well. My friend was at the gym and he see’s this woman in a wheelchair with a significant injury to her leg, it looks like a hole in her leg basically. And my friend notices this and then she hears the Lord tell her to pray with this woman. And my friend does probably what I would do and just say Lord, are you talking to me? Do you mean hear? Do you mean now, really? And my friend wrestles with this a little bit but she goes and speaks with the woman and the woman proceeds to tell her that she’s been to many doctors and no one can heal her or help her get better and so my friend says well, I would like to pray with you and the woman immediately says well, what good is that gonna do? No doctors can help me, I don’t think that can help, and so my friend says well, I could either pray with you or I’ll just pray for you as I go and the woman continues to resist and my friend says okay and she starts to leave and as my friends leaving the woman says well, wait, what can it hurt. And so, my friend prayed for her and I’m just gonna ask for our community to also pray for this woman, her name is Joan and she has the hole in her leg that doctors cannot heal. And we know that God is the great healer and we know this community prays so I would love for God to be glorified through this woman.

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carolap53 · 3 years

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November 27, 2020

What if the Person I’m Struggling To Forgive Is Me? LYSA TERKEURST

Lee en español

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Psalm 32:5 (NIV)

Do you ever feel like the hardest person to forgive is actually yourself?

I understand this. Deeply. I so wish we were sitting together having a conversation right now instead of you just reading these words on a screen.

When I was in my early 20s, I made a decision I wished with everything in me I could go back and change. I had an abortion. Knowing nothing could be done to reverse the decision I had made filled me with the deepest grief I’d ever known. Then every time something made me think of the baby, I was so horrified by the lie I’d been sold that this was just cells dividing … and not life that began at conception.

And then every time I would hear others talking harshly about abortion, I was filled with shame. It felt like a life sentence I would never be healed from.

I would say, “I can’t forgive myself.” What I meant was, “I don’t think forgiveness is possible for a person like me. And I don’t think I’ll ever be free from the shame of what I’ve done.”

Maybe this is where you are right now — struggling to overcome feelings of shame and regret from choices you wish you could go back and change.

That’s why it feels so important to share what I’ve learned with you. When I researched the concept of forgiving ourselves, I was a little shocked to discover it’s not in the Bible. I started to realize, just like we can’t accomplish salvation apart from God, we can’t bestow upon ourselves forgiveness. Forgiveness starts with God.

Since we are not the judge, we can’t pardon ourselves. So, when we feel like we are struggling with forgiveness for ourselves, what’s really happening is a struggle to fully receive the forgiveness of God.

Jesus gave His very life to provide forgiveness for our sins, which isn’t just a part of the Christian faith … forgiveness is the very cornerstone of the Christian faith. Forgiveness for our sins isn’t just a hope we have; it is the greatest reality for all who choose to receive salvation through accepting Jesus as the Lord of their lives.

Often what keeps us from walking as forgiven people is the struggle with feelings of shame and regret. These are very heavy burdens to bear. In my own life, I’ve carried many burdens. But the weight of shame is by far the heaviest I’ve ever known.

It’s a burden God doesn’t want any of us carrying. And I’m so thankful for these three things that eventually helped me fully receive His forgiveness and get out from underneath shame’s condemning weight:

1. I needed to have a marked moment confessing, repenting and asking God for forgiveness. Psalm 32:5 reads, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” I couldn’t do this by myself, because I wanted someone, a witness, who could forever remind me I had asked for God’s forgiveness and was, therefore, forgiven. I also verbalized out loud that I received God’s forgiveness, so I could have a definite memory of me acknowledging His gift of mercy.

2. I had to remember that shame and accusation come from the enemy. Satan will do everything possible to try and keep us from sharing a testimony of the forgiveness and redemption of Jesus. And the enemy loves to hold people hostage to shame by keeping what they did hidden in the darkness. I was terrified to tell people what I’d done. But I did tell God I would share my story if ever there was a young girl in danger of making the same uninformed decision as I did. When I eventually let God use my painful choice for good, I started to see glimpses of redemption. Seeing God take what the enemy meant for such evil and use it for good didn’t take away my grief, but it did start to heal my shame.

3. I let my experience make my heart tender. Knowing what it feels like to make a terrible mistake has given me more compassion when others make terrible mistakes. This isn’t excusing behavior we shouldn’t do in the name of compassion. But at the same time, having an attitude of compassion helps us to not shame others. I don’t ever want another human to carry the awful weight of shame, and I probably would not be as sensitive to others as I am now if I hadn’t ever carried that weight myself.

Shame and condemnation aren’t from God. Confess what you’ve done. Ask for God’s forgiveness. Receive His forgiveness. And then walk in His freedom. You can live the greatest testimony of truth there is … redemption.

Father God, I’m so thankful forgiveness isn’t something I have to earn or achieve. It’s a gift of grace I get to receive. Thank You that Jesus’ blood was enough to pay for my sin. Help me receive all You are offering me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY: 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (ESV)

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thewahookid · 3 years

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Jesus Christ, King of the Universe! King of Mercy!

November 22, 2020 The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Dear Family of Mary!

Let us remember our call to prayer today, on Day 4 of our second Novena for the World and our Countries: “My daughter, what I demand from you is prayer, prayer, and once again prayer, for the world and especially for your country. For nine days receive Holy Communion in atonement and unite yourself closely to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. During these nine days you will stand before God as an offering; always and everywhere, at all times and places, day or night, whenever you wake up, pray in the spirit. In spirit, one can always remain in prayer.” (St. Faustina’s Diary 325)

On this most wonderful Solemnity, we honor and praise Jesus Christ, the King! This is the culminating Feast of the Liturgical Year. This is our destiny, to live under the King of the Universe!

Our Lady told us:

November 25, 2007 “Dear children! Today, when you celebrate Christ, the King of all that is created, I desire for Him to be the King of your lives. Only through giving, little children, can you comprehend the gift of Jesus´ sacrifice on the Cross for each of you. Little children, give time to God that He may transform you and fill you with His grace, so that you may be a grace for others. For you, little children, I am a gift of grace and love, which comes from God for this peaceless world. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

We want to respond to this call from Our Lady! We want Jesus to reign in us!

Fr. Leon has sent us the text of his homily for English Mass in Medjugorje today! I include it here as a special grace for us all. After the homily, there is a Litany to Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe! Let us prayerfully read the homily and pray the litany on this special day!

Homily for the Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, November 22, 2020:

The Gospels tell us that Jesus was of royal blood, descended from the House of David. What king was ever like Jesus, born in royal David’s city, Bethlehem, but in a stable not a palace, with no place to lay His head, and buried in another man’s tomb. His accession to the throne was His entry into Jerusalem, the royal capital, riding on a donkey rather than in a state carriage. His royal robe was a spittle-covered purple rag, His crown was of thorns and His sceptre a reed. He made His royal progress weak and bleeding through the streets, to the jeers not the cheers of the populace. At Calvary He was enthroned on an executioner’s gibbet.

Christ the King has nothing in common with earthly rulers, so His kingdom can be nothing like an earthly kingdom. In His realm there are no masters because everyone is a servant. Even the King came to serve and not to be served. Those who would be greatest in the Kingdom are those who make themselves the least. The reward for service is not promotion and financial gain but to be given further opportunities for service. When His subjects become rich or gain promotion, they are impoverished and demoted, the mighty being cast from their thrones and the lowly exalted. The lowest are the highest, and tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom before the hypocritical and self-righteous.

It is difficult for us Christians to live simultaneously in two kingdoms, that of the world and that of Christ. We are prone to blending them, to make one look so much like the other that we can’t tell the difference. Often it seems that the Church, and our lives within it, has been made to fit the image of a temporal earthly kingdom rather than making earthly kingdoms fit the image of Jesus’s eternal heavenly Kingdom. Often the Church is pressured to conform, to treat her sacraments and divine worship as non-essential, and too many Christians go along with this lie. It is difficult for Christians to live in society because the structures of that society are not the same as those in the Kingdom of God.

The distinguishing feature of Christ’s rule is that of justice, but not the kind of justice we’re used to. You can recognise the people who feel at home in the Kingdom, they are the ones who are ready to forgive. They are the people who feed and give drink to the hungry and thirsty, who welcome outcasts back into society, who clothe the naked and visit the sick and imprisoned.

In the Gospel text for this Sunday we have the Son of Man who comes in glory with His angels, to judge the nations. At first glance this presents a far more standard view of what majesty is about. But we should remember that the Son of Man Who comes in glory is also the Son of Man Who died on the cross. It is the same Lord. Even in His glory the Son of Man judges as the One Who was crucified. He comes to us as the One Who loves us so deeply that He mounted the wood of the Cross for you and me. He comes to us as One Whose majesty is founded on the total self-giving love of God. True majesty, true kingship, is founded on the supremacy of love.

The Solemnity of Christ the Universal King was instituted by Pope Pius XI as a feast of the universal Church in 1925, when the dark clouds of totalitarianism were rolling over Europe. This was a time when false and shallow conceptions of majesty, based on domination and eschewing love, seemed to have the upper hand.

In the face of similar troubles, the Solemnity of the Christ the Universal King is a call to us to see our world by the light of Christ. This is the Light in which the “pseudo-majesty” of the corrupt, the media, the cabals, the despots, the celebrities, looks like a pale and paltry imitation of the true and lasting Majesty of Jesus founded on love. But this Solemnity is also a call to hope and to fortitude, that regardless of what the tides of history might bring, the love of God will ultimately prove victorious: that at the end of the ages Christ the Universal King will come to judge the nations and he will do so in true majesty as the One Who wore a crown of thorns. Then all things will be placed under Him, He in turn will be subject to the Father, so that God may be All-in-all. Long live Christ the King! Amen! (Fr. Leon Pereira, Medjugorje)

Litany to Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe

The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power and divinity and wisdom and strength and honor; To Him be glory and empire forever and ever.

V. He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. R. All kings shall adore Him, all nations shall serve Him.

Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us.

Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ the King, hear us.

Christ the King, graciously hear us.

Thou Who didst receive crowns and tribute from the Magi, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who didst rule by love the Holy Family of Nazareth, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who as King, served Thy people in the example of filial obedience, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who drawest to Thy realm the fishermen to be fishers of men, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Whose Kingdom is not of the spirit of this world, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who art King not of the Jews alone but of all creation, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who wast mocked in false purple by the little rulers, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who wast crowned with piercing thorns, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who wast nailed to Thy throne on Golgotha, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who didst ransom Thy people by the royal Sacrifice of Calvary, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who didst purchase Thy Kingdom with the Blood of the Atonement, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who in Thy Resurrection was the First-born from the dead, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who in Thy glorified body art risen triumphant, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Who art throned and crowned at the right hand of Thy Father, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

In Whom are all created things in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Beneath Whom are all thrones and dominations, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Beneath Whom are all principalities and powers, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

By Whom all things subsist, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

To Whom all the nations of the earth are subject, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

Through Whom all things are reconciled unto Thy Father, May all nations serve Thee, O Lord.

V. His power shall be an everlasting power, R. And His Kingdom a kingdom that shall not be destroyed.

That the peoples of this world may know themselves subject to Thee, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may put off their vainglory, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may dispel the evils laicism has brought upon society, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may hearken to Thy fiat, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may bow their heads before Thee, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may know Thy reign is eternal, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may submit to Thy just and gentle rule, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may recognize Thy Vicar on earth, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may freely accept his rule for Thy sake, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That they may know that Thy Church, being Thee Thyself, cannot die as nations die, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That the Gentiles may be restored to mercy, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That to Christ the King all things may be restored, We beseech Thee, hear us.

That in the Prince of Peace true peace may by all be found, We beseech Thee, hear us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Christ our King.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Hear us, O Christ our King.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.

V. His power shall be an everlasting power, which shall not be taken away,

R. And His Kingdom shall not decay. Alleluia.

Let Us Pray:

Almighty, everlasting God, Who in Thy beloved Son, King of the whole world, hast willed to restore all things anew, grant in Thy mercy that all the families of nations, rent asunder by the wound of sin, may be subjected to His most gentle rule, Who with Thee liveth and reigneth in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end.

R. Amen.

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph! Cathy Nolan ©Mary TV 2020

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dalyunministry · 3 years

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Bro. Paul Vincent Moses

The Right Christian Living - Part 4

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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is your brother Paul Moses Vincent, with greetings to you all in the most precious name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Hope you are all doing good. We as a family are fine by God's abundant grace and your unceasing prayers. Thank you all for your prayers.

Today, the 15th November 2020, we are going to continue with our meditation on 'The Right Christian Living - 4'. Hope you have gathered here prayerfully.

Before we start our meditation, let's pray for God's guidance.

Our heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your presence. Thank you for your love, grace, mercy and protection. As we meditate upon your word, fill us with your spirit of understanding and of wisdom that we may walk accordingly and live our lives pleasing to you. I offer this prayer, in Jesus name. Amen!

How are we expected to live as Christians?

We should live our lives in such a way that our spiritual teachers would thank God for us. Our faithful living should make them feel proud of us and should thank God.

Besides this, our faith and faithful living should enable the world to talk good about. Only then, out masters would feel proud of us. Our masters can be our parents or teachers or even spiritual teachers like pastors.

Romans 1:8

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

Even our enemies should have something good to say about us but not any evil against us.

Paul, once being a Roman Ambassador, served the Roman government while being a Jew himself. On becoming a follower of Christ, he became an enemy of both the Romans and the Jews.

However, both of them were not able to find anything wrong with Paul whom the Jews wanted to be killed.

In their enquiries, they got no negative reports against Paul.

People keep watching us and our life style. We should live in such a life that even our enemies would find no fault in us.

Acts 28:20-21

Vs. 20. For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.

Vs. 21. And they said unto him, We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee.

Our spiritual teachers should be able to thank God for this that once we were slaves to sin but after the truth was heard we could accept it and show obedience to it by showing willingness to become slaves of righteousness.

God wants us to be righteous.

As slave of righteousness we know we can't commit any sin though we're forced to do it or dragged towards it. Earlier we were forced to be slaves so we were in a state of confusion whether to continue in the same sinful state or get rid of. The word getting deeply pierced into our hearts set us free that we could make our choice. The word of God didn't and doesn't force us but showed the true way and we showed our desire to accept it and to be saved.

Being set free from our sinful ways brings us to righteousness which makes our spiritual teachers happy about and ultimately God is happy.

Romans 6:17-18

But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Moreover, there's nothing greater than OBEDIENCE which God loves to see in us.

Jesus makes it clear that if we really love Him we would obey His teachings as in John 14:23.

And our spiritual teachers would also rejoice in the Lord on seeing our obedience to God's word.

Are we the ones who make our teachers (even parents are our teachers) happy about our obedience to God's word which teaches all principles of righteousness?

Then we'd also love to be wise towards what is good that we may practice it and know what is evil that we should avoid. We should remember that we can't be blind about what we obey. But we need to be free from sinful or evil actions so that no one can blame us. This doesn't mean we should not know what is evil but we should know what is evil and should keep away from it willfully.

Romans 16:19

For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

Our masters should be in a position to thank God for the way God leads us. God leads us towards victory. The victory is obtaining the eternal life which is possible only when we are captives of Christ Jesus.

God leads those who are obedient to Him through the teachers of His servants (pastors), our teachers.

God leads those who are willing to be the captives / slaves of Christ Jesus our Lord by submitting ourselves to His Lordship.

God leads those who are willing to take His word seriously to spread it everywhere for God's glory.

His word is the fragrance of knowledge. The knowledge is about God.

2 Corinthians 2:14

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

Our masters (Christ is our main teacher and other spirit lead teachers are added) should further thank God for us that we not only remain strong in our faith on Jesus Christ but should also show our love for all godly saints. We should help and support them. Here's God's love made manifest in and through us.

Ephesians 1:15-16

Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,

Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

Our masters would be joyful about us when the word which is spread through and by us needs no additional substance for all the knowledge we obtained from our teachings from our masters and the word itself, we've spread or shared it fully as the truth.

By this we understand that we should not do our work half but full. God has given us complete information to us through the Bible and our teachers who led us through the teachings of the Bible.

1 Thessalonians 1:8

For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

Our masters should also be in a position to thank God that we accept the message delivered by our masters not as their message or the message of men but as God's message.

Additionally, the word being at work (being practised) in us.

Only those led by God's spirit can understand God's message and others can't.

1 Corinthians 2:13

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Our masters would also thank God for our FAITH which increases day by day but not for the one which remains stagnant.

Additionally, our love for one another should be seen increasing.

2 Thessalonians 1:3

We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the love for every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

We and our masters should be able to thank and glorify God for He fills us with the fruits of His spirit each day.

Philippians 1:11

Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

We should be in a position to preach the gospel of God's kingdom in all the world for a witness before the world comes to an end.

This is the same word which we received from our teachers.

Matthew 24:14

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

In general, our parents should be able to thank God that they have wonderful children given unto them as God's gifts.

They should be able to praise and glorify God for us.

People around us should be able to honour our Lord for who and what we are.

We should never be the ones who would bring dishonour to our parents and even God.

We should not forget this that God created us that we'd bring Him honour through our lives.

Honour belongs to God and not to anyone else. However, those who honour God shall be honoured as well.

Isaiah 43:7

Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

1 Samuel 2:30

Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Accordingly, our children and students should be able to speak good and great about us and feel proud of us.

They should feel that we are God given gifts unto them.

Our society in which we live should be able to respect us for being God's children and respect God for what and who we are.

Bearing this testimony is the greatest of all other virtues.

Dying as God's children is in fact a greater blessing tha n anything in this world.

We'll come across further on this topic in our next meditation next week. Till then, may the Loving Lord sustain us with strength! Let's close our session with a word of prayer.

Our Father thank for teaching us how to live in this cruel and wicked especially without taking or accepting what the world gives us. Thank you helping us know that we should give the world what you have given us to give it. Help us live our lives holy, pure and sincerely that You alone would be glorified.

Thanks for leading us with your spirit.

I do offer this prayer in Jesus precious name. Amen!

May the Lord be with us all throughout this week preparing us for the next week! Amen!

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roman-catholic-mass-readings · 4 years

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25th August >> Mass Readings (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada)

Tuesday, Twenty First Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Louis

Saint Joseph of Calasanz, Priest.

Tuesday, Twenty First Week in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical Colour: Green)

First Reading

2 Thessalonians 2:1-3,14-17

Stand firm and keep the traditions we have taught you

To turn, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him: please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. Never let anyone deceive you in this way.

Through the Good News that we brought God called you to this so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm, then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has given us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 95(96):10-13

R/ The Lord comes to rule the earth.

Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’

The world he made firm in its place;

he will judge the peoples in fairness.

R/ The Lord comes to rule the earth.

Let the heavens rejoice and earth be glad,

let the sea and all within it thunder praise,

let the land and all it bears rejoice,

all the trees of the wood shout for joy

at the presence of the Lord for he comes,

he comes to rule the earth.

R/ The Lord comes to rule the earth.

With justice he will rule the world,

he will judge the peoples with his truth.

R/ The Lord comes to rule the earth.

Gospel Acclamation

cf. Acts of the Apostles 16:14

Alleluia, alleluia!

Open our heart, O Lord,

to accept the words of your Son.

Alleluia!

Or:

Hebrews 4:12

Alleluia, alleluia!

The word of God is something alive and active:

it can judge secret emotions and thoughts.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 23:23-26

Clean the inside of the cup first, so that the outside may become clean

Jesus said: ‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law – justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!

‘Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

———————————-

Saint Louis

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Tuesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading

Isaiah 58:6-11

Then will your light shine like the dawn

Is not this the sort of fast that pleases me

– it is the Lord who speaks –

to break unjust fetters and

undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and break every yoke,

to share your bread with the hungry,

and shelter the homeless poor,

to clothe the man you see to be naked

and not turn from your own kin?

Then will your light shine like the dawn

and your wound be quickly healed over.

Your integrity will go before you

and the glory of the Lord behind you.

Cry, and the Lord will answer;

call, and he will say, ‘I am here.’

If you do away with the yoke,

the clenched fist, the wicked word,

if you give your bread to the hungry,

and relief to the oppressed,

your light will rise in the darkness,

and your shadows become like noon.

The Lord will always guide you,

giving you relief in desert places.

He will give strength to your bones

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water

whose waters never run dry.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 111(112):1-9

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

Alleluia!

Happy the man who fears the Lord,

who takes delight in all his commands.

His sons will be powerful on earth;

the children of the upright are blessed.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

Alleluia!

Riches and wealth are in his house;

his justice stands firm for ever.

He is a light in the darkness for the upright:

he is generous, merciful and just.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

Alleluia!

The good man takes pity and lends,

he conducts his affairs with honour.

The just man will never waver:

he will be remembered for ever.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

Alleluia!

He has no fear of evil news;

with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord.

With a steadfast heart he will not fear;

he will see the downfall of his foes.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

Alleluia!

Open-handed, he gives to the poor;

his justice stands firm for ever.

His head will be raised in glory.

Happy the man who fears the Lord.

Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation

Jn13:34

Alleluia, alleluia!

I give you a new commandment:

love one another just as I have loved you,

says the Lord.

Alleluia!

Gospel

Matthew 22:34-40

The commandments of love

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees they got together and, to disconcert him, one of them put a question, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets also.’

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Saint Joseph of Calasanz, Priest

(Liturgical Colour: White)

(Readings for the memorial)

(There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Tuesday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise)

First Reading

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13

The supremacy of charity

Be ambitious for the higher gifts. And I am going to show you a way that is better than any of them.

If I have all the eloquence of men or of angels, but speak without love, I am simply a gong booming or a cymbal clashing. If I have the gift of prophecy, understanding all the mysteries there are, and knowing everything, and if I have faith in all its fullness, to move mountains, but without love, then I am nothing at all. If I give away all that I possess, piece by piece, and if I even let them take my body to burn it, but am without love, it will do me no good whatever.

Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.

Love does not come to an end. But if there are gifts of prophecy, the time will come when they must fail; or the gift of languages, it will not continue for ever; and knowledge – for this, too, the time will come when it must fail. For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophesying is imperfect; but once perfection comes, all imperfect things will disappear. When I was a child, I used to talk like a child, and think like a child, and argue like a child, but now I am a man, all childish ways are put behind me. Now we are seeing a dim reflection in a mirror; but then we shall be seeing face to face. The knowledge that I have now is imperfect; but then I shall know as fully as I am known.

In short, there are three things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 33(34):2-11

I will bless the Lord at all times.