14TH
SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST (23th
S. in Ord. Time)
“So if the Son makes you free, you
will be free indeed.”-John 8:36
Psalm 47, Verse 3-5
3 For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, the great king over all the earth, 4 Who made people subject to us, nations under our
feet, 5 Who chose our heritage
for us, the glory of Jacob, whom he loves.
Sounds arrogant; doesn’t it? The
fact is God is the ruler of the earth! If you do His will you are blessed both
here in this life and the next. If you don’t it is like standing on the beach
in a CAT 5 Hurricane and boasting that you are a good surfer.
Much
has been written about the great challenges the Church faces in contemporary
culture. The great modern "isms" confront a us daily—relativism, individualism,
and consumerism, to name a few.
- ″Relativism holds that absolute truth and enduring values are illusory.
- ″Individualism gives "strong emphasis [to] the individual and individual choice, which often eclipses the sense of community or of the common good."
- ″Consumerism puts
"focus on material satisfaction to the detriment of spiritual
values".
Given
this cultural climate, it is hardly surprising that there is a lack of a sense
of sin and a dropping rate of participation in Church life. In fact, the heart
of every person in Christ must be about the heart of Jesus Christ, and the
central mystery of his life, the Paschal Mystery: "The person and mission
of Jesus, culminated in his Death and Resurrection, this is ultimately the
central content of all the Scriptures". People of God can understand their
own lives properly and be able to see their own experience in the light of the
Death and Resurrection of Jesus". In a culture often dominated by
relativism, individualism, and consumerism, the proclamation of the salvation
of Christ is truly Good News. It allows people to see there is another way; it
paves the way for conversion; it brings hope. God can open up a space in the
human heart, a space that he alone can fill. Christ is about calling persons
back to fruitful participation in the Sacrament of Penance, especially if it
has been years since their last confession.
Seek the kingdom of God and its
justice.
What
is it to walk in the Spirit? It is, in all things and at all times, to follow the inspirations
of the Holy Spirit and not merely to abstain from the works of the flesh, but rather
to crucify the flesh and its lusts, and earnestly to aspire after those fruits which
the Holy Ghost produces in men? such as charity, peace, and joy. So shall we belong
to Christ, and become partakers of eternal life. Is it not wonderful that while
all Christians desire to belong to Christ, and to be heirs of His kingdom, they
are unwilling to crucify the flesh with its vices and concupiscences, and to destroy
its lusts, as though they believed this to be required only of the clergy, whereas
it is to all Christians that Christ says: “If any man will come after Me, let him
deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Matt. xvi. 24.)
What
is meant by serving God? Doing
the will of God in all things which He requires of us, in whatever state of life
we may be placed, and doing this with fidelity, with unwearied zeal, and out of
love for Him.
Who
are the two masters whom we cannot serve at the same time? God and an inordinate desire for worldly
gain. One cannot serve both, because they demand things that are contradictory.
Who
are they that serve mammon, or worldly wealth? The avaricious, who, impelled by their
longing for riches, offend God by manifold transgressions of His commandments.
Why
does Christ refer us to the birds of the air and the lilies of the field? To awaken in us confidence in Divine
Providence. If God feeds the young ravens (Ps. cxlvi. 9) and the birds of the air
if He decks so beautifully the flowers of the field, how much more will He not care
for men, whom He has created after His own image, and adopted as His children.
Are
we, then, to use no care or labor? That by no means follows from what has been said. The Savior
forbids only that anxiety, proceeding from little faith, which, in striving for
maintenance, neglects God s honor and commandments, and the good of one’s soul.
For the rest, God Himself has commanded man to labor (Gen. iii. 17-19); and St.
Paul says, “If any man will not work, neither let him eat” (n. Thess. iii. 10).
What
should preserve us from excessive anxiety? A firm and living faith that God can and will help us. That
He can is clear, because He is almighty; that He will is certain, for the
reason that He is love that He has promised it to us, more than once, most expressly,
and that He is faithful in keep ing His promises. Let us, then, trust in God,
and daily renew our confidence in Him, particularly when we say the Creed, or when,
in the Our Father, we pray, Give us this day our daily bread.
Consolation in Poverty
In your misery and poverty, say often,
with Job: “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 i.21). Or seek comfort in
these words: “We lead indeed a poor life, but we shall have many good things if
we fear God and depart from all sin, and do that which is good” (Job iv.23).
Warning against Usury (or price
gouging in CAT V storm)
Usury is that mortal sin which takes
advantage of our neighbor’s poverty and need to extort from him what is justly his
own. Would that usurers might bear in mind what the Lord says: “What doth it profit
a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul?” (Matt. xvi.
26.)
Today is grandparents day take
the whole family out for a little KFC for Harland Sanders birthday born in 1890.
Daily Devotions/Prayers
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