CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

THANKSGIVING DAY NOVEMBER 28, 2024

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GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HE IS GOOD,

HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER

PSALM 107

COMMENTARY

Every day is a day to give thanks to God.  We didn’t need the Government to set aside a special day but it is nice to take a break from work and reflect on our blessings with our family and friends despite living at a moment of extraordinary division, discouragement, and uncertainty.

I am reminded of another time in our history where divisions were so severe that military warfare broke out between our states 1863 was the bloodiest year of the Civil War.  By some estimates, more than 200,000 American soldiers died that year.

Our nation was wounded, deeply divided, and angry.  Political leaders were distrusted and reviled, immigrants and minorities were marginalized, and religious practice was waning in many places. In the midst of this division and bloodshed, President Lincoln called for a day of Thanksgiving and repentance to Almighty God.

Writing to his divided and discouraged country, President Lincoln issued a proclamation re-calling the many blessings that Almighty God had given our nation.  Lincoln recognized that the United States had been showered with “the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.”

 ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S THANKSGIVING PROCLAMATION

 OCTOBER 3, 1863

“The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed we are prone to forget the source from which they come…the watchful providence of Almighty God.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that the whole American People should solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged with one heart and one voice our gratitude. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States…., to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens…

 THANKSGIVING PRAYER 2024

 Father in Heaven, Creator of all, Thank you for all the graces and blessings you have bestowed upon us, both spiritual and temporal.

Thank you for friends, for health and for grace. For this beautiful earth you gave us as home.  We pray that we do not diminish it by our actions.

Most Gracious God, Thank you for the blessings of the food we eat, especially for this feast today.  Please send help to those who are hungry, alone, sick and suffering war and violence.

We give thanks for our family, in good times and bad times.  Thank you for your comfort in our sadness, your companionship in our loneliness.

For our Mothers and Fathers, brothers, and sisters, living and dead, that helped in giving direction and guidance in our formative years.  .

And For our health in good times and bad times. We willingly accept the burden of poor health to develop more trust and dependency on you, God our Father.

THANKS BE TO GOD!

 

 

 

CATHOLIC CHURCH MUST REMAIN TRUE TO JESUS IN A WORLD THAT REJECTS US

CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHING, CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

 

SERMON ON THE MOUNT

BLESSED ARE YOU WHEB THEY PERSECUTE YOU AND HATE YOU FOR MY SAKE

I have been thinking recently why the society I live in and the government that is there to serve the “common good” are so often unfriendly and sometimes, even threatening, to a practicing Catholic who puts God’s Law and his conscience first.

At the same time, I worry how much pressure there is in the Catholic community on the Church Magisterium to water our doctrine down to accommodate the world and other religions.

Over the last few decades some practices, centuries old, have changed.  Fasting Days in the Catholic Church were reduced some time ago.  Holy Days of Obligation have been reduced as well.  Homilies on sin or hell are remote and spare.  Today, you see in some dioceses across the globe accepting same-sex marriages, inviting divorced and remarried Catholics without an annulment invited to receive Holy Communion and Protestant spouses of Catholics invited to receive with their spouses.  And the beat goes on…

I just don’t see how becoming more like every other denomination is attracting more to the Catholic Church. What must attract people to the Catholic Faith is its authenticity to the Gospel, its sacraments, and its liturgy, the Mass. A watered down Catholic Church is a “lukewarm” Church.

Jesus was counter-cultural. “You have heard it said, but I say to you.”  Jesus taught with authority.  His authority came from the Father.  “Who sees me, sees the Father.”  Jesus founded a counter-cultural Church on Peter, the Rock and promised the Holy Spirit to guide it on earth from error.   Catholic Church teaching condemns abortion, contraception, divorce and remarriage, same sex marriage and gender identity theory.

All right, so we pull ourselves up, tighten our belts, and go forward as soldiers of Christ.  What can we expect? Jesus gave us the answer. “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first….. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. John 15:18 – 23 Well that isn’t very comforting is it?  But why do we expect more than our Savior who gave His all for all of us?

Hold on, there is more…Jesus also tells us what happens if we persevere

to the end.  “Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you because of me Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven, they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:11

]Catholicism remains the staunchest opponent to the culture of the times. Our doctrines are stubborn things, even for some inside the Church who would like to change them. The Rock of Peter, whatever the human limitations may be.  By God’s own promise, the gates of Hell slam against the Rock but cannot prevail.

REFLECTION

PHILLIPIANS 2:6-12

Taking the form of a slave,

coming in human likeness;*

and found human in appearance

he humbled himself,

becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.*

Because of this, God greatly exalted him

and bestowed on him the name*

that is above every name,

That at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend,*

of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth

And every tongue confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

 

ELECTIONDAY NOVEMBER 5 2024

CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

PRAYER BEFORE AN ELECTION

King of kings, we come before you to ask for your help. Give us your wisdom to elect leaders who will stand for us and who will lead by example.

Open our eyes to see what’s good for us as a nation.  Let candidates respect the dignity of each and every human life, along the long continuum from conception to natural death. 

 Protect us from those who want leadership for selfish reasons, for power and financial gain at the expense of developing the nation.

 I pray that you may scatter any plans set by the devil to disrupt the election process. 

Let the candidates accept the outcome of the elections without creating tension and violence and your Holy Spirit guide us in our decision making. Amen.

 FORMING A CATHOLIC CONSCIENCE

I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts” Jeremiah 31: 33

CATHOLIC CATECHISM

CCC 1776 “Deep within his conscience, man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. For man has in his heart a natural law inscribed by God. This natural law is inscribed in every human heart and mind by God.

CCC 1782 Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. “He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.”

CCC 1785 The Conscience must be informed. The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. In the formation of conscience, the Word of God is the light for our path!

COMMENTARY

For the last 50 years or so, Presidential Election have been a dilemma for Catholics. In 1980 Ronald Reagan declared he was Pro-life. Now we have Donald Trump declaring himself Pro-life. Neither Ronald Reagan or Donald Trump are pro-life but may be better described as anti-abortion.

Many people who call themselves ‘pro-life’ may just be against abortions. They may not care about the already born–the rights of gays. minorities, immigrants;— they may support the death penalty, and they care very little about nuclear weapons, war, the environment, and animal rights.

I ask you to not only consider abortion but also life issues for the already born which seems a lot harder for some to support.  I suggest we reflect on Cardinal Bernardin 1983 Seamless Garment protocol.

SEAMLESS GARMENT

“Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless among us: the old and the young, the hungry and the homeless, the undocumented immigrant and the unemployed worker.

Today We know that Kamala Harris and the Democrat party are aggressively, unapologetically anti-life before birth. The Democratic party has called for abortion on demand through the full term of the pregnancy.

On the Republican side, the former President continually goes about demeaning and dismissing the human dignity of those already born.

In border disputes Trump won’t let into the country as refugees those not like him. Pope Francis rebukes this practice, “People who build walls are not Christians.

If you truly live your Catholic faith, you will not find complete alignment with any political party, and that is okay.  look at how each party supports human life from conception through natural death, freedom of religion, the freedom of conscience, the family, and the poor.

Finally, do vote. Pope Francis in recent airline interview 9/23 …it is generally said that not voting is ugly, it’s not good. One must vote. And one must choose the lesser evil. Which is the lesser evil? That lady or that gentleman? I don’t know; each person must think and decide according to their own conscience

“Our defense of the innocent unborn needs to be clear, firm and passionate, for at stake is the dignity of a human life, which is always sacred and demands love for each person, regardless of his or her stage of development.

In 2018 Pope Francis spoke further of Pro-Life position in Encyclical Gaudete et Exsultate

Equally sacred are those already born, the lives of the poor the destitute, the abandoned and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection”

—

Our kingdom is not on earth, provided by the state, but awaits us in heaven provided by God.  The State is one thing; The Church is another. The First Amendment reads in part: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

Pope Francis  Gaudete et Exsultate, #101March 2018”

Christians from the very beginning lived, believed, and practiced their faith in the most pagan of societies.  We must work hard to influence public policy that they conform more to God’s Laws and Jesus’ teachings but we must not despair if state institutions and secular society are not there yet.

The journey continues, homeward bound, practicing our faith with the grace of Jesus Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to the beat of the old Christian hymn.

 

ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;
forward into battle see his banners go!

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.

 

 

 

WOMEN IN THE CHURCH

CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHING, CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES HEBREWS 12:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us rid ourselves of every burden and sin that clings to us

and persevere in running the race that lies before us.

 INTRODUCTION

 This month of August we have celebrated two feasts of Mary Mother of God.  Mary is the model to all women saints in the great cloud of witnesses.  Mary’s devotion and prayer life was exemplar!

When she asked Jesus’ assistance at Cana wedding feast fully confident that Jesus would answer her and He did with gallons and gallons of good wine.  Mary is the best intercessor with Jesus and so are many of the women in our lives Grandmothers, Mothers, Sisters, Wives, Aunts…… Our mothers are praying for us right now because that is what mothers do.

 COMMENTARY

 Where would the Church be without Mother Mary, Mother Teresa,\Therese, the Little Flower,  Faustina,  Bernadette. Joan of Arc, and Clare of Assisi to name a few women in the “cloud of witnesses.”

There are certainly passages in the Old and New Testament that could be interpreted as painting women as less than equal to men.  But that was in a culture thousands of years ago in the Middle East.  We would have a better understanding of women’s place in God’s kingdom (Church) by focusing more on Jesus’ interchanges with women in the Gospels.

Jesus, himself, did not discriminate against women but engaged them in His Public Ministry: Jesus raised the widow’s son at a funeral procession in Nain Luke 7:11; Jesus healed the woman suffering years of blood loss Mark 5:24-34; and forgave the Woman caught in adultery John 8:1-11 without any discrimination.

Breaking the sexist and racial customs of his day, Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well, offering her “living water”

John 4:5-42.

JESUS AND THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELL

To the degree that a Christian treats women in a discriminating or exploitive way, they separate themselves from Jesus Christ.  Jesus treated women with openness, respect, acceptance, and tenderness. In this way he honored the dignity that women have always possessed according to God’s plan

WOMEN MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH OF JESUS

Over 85 percent of those responsible for altar preparation are women. Over 75 percent of adult Bible study leaders and participants are women. Over 85 percent of those who lead or assist in ministries designed to help the poor, visit the sick, comfort the grieving, and minister to the handicapped are women.  

 PAUL LETTER TO EPHESIANS

Women have had a particular problem with St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians 5:22-25 that talks about wives being subordinate to husbands, kind of a poor way to put it for 21st century folks.  Early Church Fathers said that Scripture can be rightly interpreted in a variety of ways, but that any understanding of a passage that undermined love of God or love of neighbor ought to be rejected.

Paul is really not placing women in a slavish role to their husbands but trying to compare a marriage couple to the Church the bride, and Christ the bridegroom.  The key verse is verse 25, “Husbands love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her”

The Catholic Church teaches the proper recipient of Holy Orders is a baptized male as Jesus is.  The reservation of priestly ordination to men is perhaps the grievance most often brought up by critics of the Church. The Church does not discriminate against women. Are women less holy than men, of course not, less intellectually capable, of course not?

While on earth, Jesus ordained only men, Women were among the earliest and most courageous followers of Jesus, yet he did not call them to be among the Twelve. Even his own Mother, who according to Catholic belief is the greatest human person in all of history, was not among the Twelve nor ordained a priest.

Jesus’ Church today cannot go beyond Jesus.  Some will argue it is a cultural thing.  We don’t live in First Century Middle East.  But as I stated earlier Jesus was not bound by the usual social norms and broke them all the time.  Also women priestesses of pagan gods were common place in the time of Jesus.

 CONCLUSION

The First Letter to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 12:12) indicates, just as the human body has different members and each member a different purpose, so, too, the various parts of the body of Christ have many missions, prophets, teachers, healers, helpers, administrators…, all essential, valuable, and vital for life of Church, Christ’s Body.

 The bottom line is this…. most saints in heaven are not ordained clergy. The layperson can participate actively and fully in the Church as a layperson, and may they do so with vigor and zeal! The Spirit bestows different gifts on different people. Below are just a few women saints that have gone before us and pray as intercessors.

St Monica Model of Prayer

St Monica the Mother of St. Augustine is remembered and honored for her outstanding Christian virtues of grieving mothers, difficult marriages, victims of abuse and conversion of relatives.

St Therese of Lisieux (Little Flower)

Model of Faith

 At the heart of Therese’s understanding of the spiritual life is the principle that holiness can be appreciated and accomplished not only in the performance of mighty deeds but in a willing surrender to the purposes of God as we engage the seemingly ordinary experiences of life.

Mother Theresa of Calcutta Model of Works

St Theresa did amazing works of charity…feeding the poor. nursing the sick and housing the homeless through her order, The Missionaries of Charity, for over 45 years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHERE IS GOD???

CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

 

WHERE ARE WE???

 INTRODUCTION

God is in the picture above.  God is everywhere. God is omnipresent!  If God was gone so would we be gone into non-existence.   God is existence itself.  (I Am).  God is in your home, at your work, in your park, and at the bowling alley…. Where are we when it comes to God?

We may be living through the most troubling times of our lives and ask ourselves, why isn’t God doing something about this? Doesn’t God care!  God does care! He watches.  He sees. He cares.

Look at the “chosen” people in the Old Testament when they turned away from God, what was the result of going on their own… famine, slavery, and exile. Not only separated from the one true God but also their homes and native lands. They needed to turn back to God and so do we.

In this world today, God has been pushed to the margins, denied, ridiculed, mocked and suppressed by man-made laws and moral relativists who make up their own truth. Is it any wonder that we who abandon God suffer the fate of going it on our own.  Consequences of sin.

God’s wrath is not of an angry person out of control but is felt as a consequence of our sins.  God is holy and the unrepentant sinner cannot endure His holiness; the sinner experiences God’s holiness as wrath.  Unrepentant sin is totally incompatible with the holiness of God.

God heard the cries of Israel enslaved in Egypt in the Book of Exodus. Back then, they were crying out for deliverance for decades.  What about our patience and perseverance?

 Let us imitate St Paul

For I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race;f I have kept the faith.  From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.2 TIMOTHY 4:7-8

ISAIAH THE PROPHET WARNS US IN OLD TESTAMENT

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen, because their speech and their actions are against the Lord,
To rebel against His glorious presence. Their very look bears witness against them; they boast of their sin like Sodom. They do not hide it. Woe to them! They deal out evil to themselves. Woe to them!  Happy the just, for it will go well with them, the fruit of their works they will eat.  ISAIAH 3:8

CONCLUSION.

We live in an immoral world perhaps like never before. We sacrifice our young in the womb; we approve of same sex couples marrying. God never wills evil but allows evil to happen out of respect for our free will.  We no longer live in the world that God made but the world we have made

Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment.  For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God, a Moral conscience (CCC #1776-1778)

 

PRAY. PRAY. PRAY

FOR OURSELVES, OUR NEIGHBOR, OUR COUNTRY

 

 

 

REPENT AND COME TO ME

CATHOLIC CHURCH TEACHING, CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him

might not perish but might have eternal life.” JOHN 3:16

 

 JESUS CHRIST SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

 The Sacrament of Penance is sometimes referred to by various names such as, Sacrament of Confession (we acknowledge our sins); Sacrament of Forgiveness (our sins are forgiven and removed); and Sacrament of Reconciliation (we are reconciled to God and His Church).

After Original Sin, man was separated both from God’s presence and God’s divine life of grace.  At the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, God lets it be known that one day a Savior will come and restore man’s relationship with God.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman (Mary the New Eve), and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.” Genesis 3:15 

 The Prophets of the Old Testament promise in their oracles a Savior one day who will offer himself up for the many that we might be restored and reconciled with the Father.

 “See the days are coming when I will make a New Covenant….it is Yahweh who speaks…since I will forgive their iniquities and never call their sins to mind.” Jeremiah 31

During his public ministry, Jesus called the people to conversion just the same as the Church does today.  Prior to receiving the Sacrament of Penance, we must turn back to God and reject sin.

Jesus is at dinner, with tax collectors and other sinners, some Pharisees object, “why is he eating with tax collectors and sinners?”  Jesus replies, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick; I did not come to call the virtuous but sinners.” Mark 2:15-17

In Luke 7:36, Jesus is administered to by a woman, a known public sinner.  The Pharisee who invited Jesus is distraught by the attention this sinful woman was paying and Jesus allowing her to do so. 

Jesus says, “…this woman though with many sins has shown great faith and love.  The one who is pardoned more will love more.”  Jesus absolves the woman of her many sins, “Your sins are forgiven.”

What great peace and joy the woman must have felt to hear these words of absolution.  Jesus told the woman, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” 

How similar these words are to the words of absolution we hear from the priest who absolves us in the name of Jesus today in Sacrament of Penance.

The Sacrament of Penance was instituted by Jesus Christ on the evening of his resurrection. “In the evening of the same day… As the Father sent me…so I am sending you…After saying this, Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit for those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.  For those whose sins you retain, they are retained.'” John 20:19-35

REPENT AND BE SAVED

 Like all the Sacraments, Penance is a liturgical action.  The elements of celebration are ordinarily these: a greeting and blessing from the priest, reading the word of God to illuminate the conscience and elicit contrition, exhortation to repentance, the acknowledging of sins to the priest, the imposition and acceptance of a penance, the priest’s absolution, a prayer of thanksgiving and praise and dismissal with a blessing from the priest. (CCC 1480). 

“Catholics should go to Confession because everyone needs forgiveness for their sins.”  “Whoever says he is without sin is a liar or blind!”  Confession is meant to be a sincere moment of conversion, trusting in God’s willingness to forgive His children and help them back on the path of following Jesus, Pope Francis

The sacramental sign of the Sacrament of Penance are the words of absolution through which forgiveness of our sins and distinctive graces of sanctification are conferred.

The Priest receives the penitent with a greeting, a sign of the cross and invitation to trust in God’s mercy

 When the priest receives the penitent, he is fulfilling the ministry of the Good Shepherd who seek the lost sheep, of the Good Samaritan who binds up the wounds, and the merciful Father of the Prodigal Son who welcomes the son back to his family.  The priest is the sign and instrument of God’s mercy.

Reading of God’s word

 The reading of God’s word is a sign that it is God calling the penitent to conversion.  It is this call which draws us to God’s mercy and forgiveness.  It is the call which invites us back into right relationship with God and His Church.

 Confession of sins

 Through the admission of our sins, we look squarely at our relationship with God and our neighbor and open ourselves again to be reconciled with God and full communion with His Church.  We accept our Penance as satisfaction for the offense to God and the harm to His Church.

 Our act of contrition

 Our act of contrition expresses our sorrow for offending God and our detestation of sin.  Our words of contrition (sign) express an inward condition and meaning to love God and avoid sin in the future.

Prayer of absolution

 The words of absolution by the priest, “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit” and the reply by the penitent, “Amen” restores the penitent to God’s grace, reconciles him with the Church, with himself, with his brothers and sisters whom he has somehow offended, and all Creation. 

 Proclamation of praise of God and Dismissal

 “Give thanks to God for he is good.  His mercy endures forever.”  This proclamation of praise by the priest and penitent expresses all glory to God the Father and commitment to the First Great Commandment, to love God with our whole mind, our whole heart, our whole soul and with all our strength.

LORD JESUS CHRIST HAVE MERCY ON ME, A SINNER

 

 

 

 

PREPARING FOR THE HOLY SEASON OF LENT

CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

FATHER FORGIVE THEM.

THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO

Let us join the prophet Isaiah in proclaiming that Jesus, our Savior and Lord, “was pierced for our offences, crushed for our sins; and upon him was the chastisement that makes us whole. By his stripes we were healed” Isaiah 53:5

WE ARE FORGIVEN!

We need a Savior and what a great one we have, God himself. God emptied himself even to death, death on the cross, that we might have life, life everlasting!

The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:23

REPENT AND BE SAVED
As Lent approaches, (February 14) we may examine our consciences for areas that we need to repent. Conversion, is an essential part of the Lenten rite.

We need to be forgiven and to forgive others, maybe ourselves.

Seeking forgiveness and forgiving others is impossible without God’s grace. “With man it is impossible but with God all things are possible!” Matthew 19:26

Today, the Church, Jesus founded, is the custodian of conversion, forgiveness of sins, absolution, and reconciliation. It is God’s will that none be lost. I Timothy 2:4

The evening of His Resurrection, Jesus appeared to his Apostles, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” JOHN 20:21-23

Today, God the Father of mercy awaits our return home. Let us return in the words of the Prodigal Son. I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son… Luke 15:18-19

I WAS LOST AND NOW I AM FOUND
LUKE 15:31

Our Lord Jesus taught us to pray “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” Literally, I am asking God to forgive me like I forgive others? Let me ponder that for a while….

Do I forgive injuries, real or perceived??? Have I forgiven those who have hurt or offended me? Or do I hold on to old hatreds and grudges?

Forgiveness is not the same as “forgetting! There are some things that we cannot forget, but we can choose to surrender that hurt, that painful memory, over to Our Lord Jesus, to ask Him to help us to let go of that hurt, to not to let it have power over me anymore.

But what if we continue to have negative feelings toward the person who hurt us? It doesn’t matter! Feelings are just that…feelings and nothing more! Negative feelings are not sinful, unless we deliberately foster them and choose to feed them.

When our negative feelings emerge, pray for the person who hurt us, then our feelings will eventually begin to change and to heal.

Clinging to our hurt and anger, understandable though it may be, only harms us. Anger, hurt, and nursing grudges all sap us of strength. In calling us to forgive, God is offering us the gift of freedom from a costly emotional state that robs us of our joy and strength

Some may think forgiveness requires that you stay or resume a poisonous dysfunctional relationship. It does not! Sometimes relationships are poisonous for both parties involved and to be avoided.

Forgiveness is a work of God within us, whereby He acts to free us from the poisonous effects of bitterness and grief that often accompany the harm that was inflicted upon us.

Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.
Go and learn the meaning of the words, I desire mercy, not sacrifice.
I did not come to call the righteous but sinners
Matthew 9:12-13

CHECK YOUR FAITH HERE!

CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way,take up your cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24

 INTRODUCTION

CCC 143-144 By faith, man completely submits his intellect and his will to God Sacred… Scripture calls this human response to God, the author of revelation, “the obedience of faith”.

To obey (from the Latin ob-audire, to “hear or listen to”) in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself….

Some say they believe in Jesus but do they believe Jesus and do as He says?

Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Luke 7:2i

There are many hard teachings and sayings from Jesus in Scripture such as; if anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26

Is Jesus telling us to hate our parents? Of course not.  Jesus would not break one of the Ten Commandments, Honor your Mother and Father. No, Jesus is reminding those who wish to follow him must not put anything or anybody before him.

Jesus is bold, outspoken, when teaching about morality. He expands on the Ten commandments in His Sermon on the Mount. Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment Matthew 5:21

“You have heard that it was said,r ‘You shall not commit adultery, ’But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27

Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. John 15:18

 They came to Capernaum, and on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.

The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. Mark 1:21-22 Jesus’ authority came from the Father.

“Who sees me, sees the Father.” John 14:8-9

Jesus was counter-cultural and so is His Church founded on Peter the Rock Catholicism remains the staunchest opponent to the culture of the times.

Our doctrines handed down from the Rock of Peter are stubborn things. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it Matthew 16:17

Satan is a liar a deceiver, the Father of lies, Satan spreads his lies to the world in the guise of modernity. We must not have any of it. The Truth will set us free.

We must attract people to the Catholic Faith with its authenticity to the Gospel, its sacraments, and its liturgy, the Mass.

Watering down the Catholic Church is watering down Jesus!

 CATHOLIC CHURCH MUST TEACH AS JESUS TEACHES         

The Bishops of the Church must give bold leadership in rejecting themes of this world that are destructive to individuals as well as families.

God says to the Church of Laodicia, “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” Revelations 3:14

If you believe in Gospels only what you like

but don’t believe what you don’t like then

you don’t believe in the gospel

but believe in yourself.

St. Augustine

REFLECTION

 What does it mean to me that Jesus taught with authority?

What does it mean to me to be a disciple of Jesus?

Jesus founded a counter-cultural Church on Peter, the Rock and promised the Holy Spirit to guide it on earth from error.   Catholic Church teaching condemns abortion, contraception, divorce and remarriage, same sex marriage and gender identity theory.

These are hard teachings for some. How am I doing with them.?

We must radiate holiness to be holy in all conduct the church is a sign of Jesus’ work and presence in the world. We must be that living sign.

If we are disciples we are on mission. How am I rebuilding the Church of Christ in the world today?

 JESUS NOW TEACHES FROM THE BARQUE OF THE CHURCH

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANCESTRY…JESUS

1 Comment / CATHOLIC COMMENTARY

INTRODUCTION

There is so much talk today about seeking your ancestors and this made me think of Jesus’ genealogy and what it says to me. Some of Jesus’ ancestors were prostitutes, cheats, murderers and adulterers

JESUS’ GENEOLOGY

For example, there was Jacob who cheated his brother Esau out of his inheritance, Rahab, a prostitute in the city of Jericho who helped the Israelite spies. And David, adulterer and murderer who lusted after his neighbor’s wife. Bathsheba, and had her husband, Uriah, killed.  JACOB GENESIS 25:23; RAHAB JOSHUA 6:23; DAVID 2 SAMUEL 11:1

Let’ stake a closer look at ISRAELITE SPIES SAVED BY RAHAB THE CAANANITE

Then Joshua, son of Nun, secretly sent out two spies saying, “Go, reconnoiter the land and Jericho.” When the two reached Jericho, they went into the house of a prostitute named Rahab, where they lodged.

But a report was brought to the king of Jericho: “Some men came here last night, Israelites, to spy out the land.” So the king of Jericho sent Rahab the order, “Bring out the men who have come to you and entered your house, for they have come to spy out the entire land.”

Now, she had led the spies to the roof, and hidden them among her stalks of flax spread out* there….Rahab went up to them on the roof….

 Rahab said to the spies:* “I know that the LORD has given you this land…, We have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, …and all the inhabitants of the land tremble with fear because of you.

 Now then, swear to me by the LORD that, since I am showing kindness to you, you in turn will show kindness to my family. that you will allow my father and mother, brothers and sisters, and my whole family to live, and that you will deliver us from death.”

 “We pledge our lives for yours,” they answered her. “If you do not betray our mission, we will be faithful in showing kindness to you when the LORD gives us the land.”…

 REFLECTION

God never gives up on us no matter what we have done or what our ancestors have done.

God can bring repentance and conversion out of our sins..  Never give up!

I myself have walked away from God but in His mercy He never gave up, sought me, and called me back into His embrace.

Can you think of a time that sins got your attention and brought you to repentance/ conversion?

God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others.    God wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.

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REPENT AND BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL

MARK 1:15

 

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