Twenty First Sunday af. Pentecost (28th S. Ord Time)
John, Chapter 17,
Verse 23-26
23 I in them and you
in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know
that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I
am they also may be
with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved
me before the foundation of the world. 25 Righteous Father,
the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent
me. 26 I made known to
them your name and I will make it known,
that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in
them.”
It would be a good practice to make
a prayer of praise to our God when we get up and when we go to bed.
For the evening prayer might I
suggest sitting quietly before bed reflecting on Psalm 40:11 “Be still and know
I am God.” Offer to our Lord your good works, and your failings, and praise Him
for the graces He has given in regard to your concerns.
Spiritually
arming oneself (for both now and Armageddon) and forgiving each other so that
we may be forgiven on Judgment Day.
GOSPEL. Matt, xviii.
23-35
At that time. Jesus spoke to His disciples this
parable: The kingdom of God is likened to a king who would take an account of
his servants. And when he had begun to take the account, one was brought to him
that owed him ten thousand talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his
lord commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and children, and all that
he had, and payment to be made. But that servant, falling down, besought him,
saying: Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And the lord of that
servant, being moved with pity, let him go, and forgave him the debt. But when
that servant was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that owed him a
hundred pence; and laying hold of him, he throttled him, saying: Pay what thou
owest. And his fellow-servant, falling down, besought him, saying: Have
patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not: but went and cast
him into prison, till he paid the debt. Now his fellow-servants, seeing what
was done, were very much grieved, and they came and told their lord all that
was done. Then his lord called him and said to him: Thou wicked servant! I
forgave thee all the debt, because thou besoughtest me: shouldst not thou then
have had compassion also on thy fellow-servant, even as I had compassion on
thee? And his lord, being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he paid
all the debt. So also, shall My heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not
everyone his brother from your hearts. What would Jesus teach by this parable?
The king is God; the servant is mankind; the ten thousand talents, equal to ten
million of dollars, signify the enormous andexcessive debts which men contract
by their sins against God: a sum so exceedingly great as to show clearly that
the debt of man to God is without limit, and truly overwhelming. The hundred
pence, a small sum, equal to perhaps six or seven dollars, denotes the offences
which others have given us, and which, in comparison with our offences against
God, are insignificant. By this parable, therefore, Jesus intended to say: As
God forgives your immense debts if you sorrowfully pray for forgiveness, so
ought you to forive your fellow-men their comparatively light debts when they
ask forgiveness of you. Unless you grant it, you shall receive no pardon from
My Father.
Who are like that
unmerciful servant?
All unmerciful and hard-hearted persons; particularly;
1.
rulers
who oppress the people by excessive taxes;
2.
those
who oppress widows and orphans, and keep from servants the wages due them
3.
those
who have no patience with their debtors but deprive them of house and goods
rather than be indulgent to them. God will deal with such men in the otherworld
as they have dealt with their neighbors in this.
4.
Finally,
all persons who will not forgive injuries done them, but preserve hatred in
their hearts; who bring such as have injured them before the courts, and even
seek to injure them out of revenge.
How can they hope to
obtain mercy? What is meant by forgiving from the heart? It
is to banish from the heart all hatred and desire of revenge; to bear in our
hearts a sincere love towards our enemy, and to manifest it by works of
charity.
If we think of the
multitude of sins which God has forgiven us, how can we refuse to forgive
trifling wrongs against ourselves?
At any rate, let us not forget that God forgives us only when we also forgive
from the heart.
ROME—Cardinal
Daniel N. DiNardo, Archbishop of Galveston-Houston and President of the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has issued the following
statement on the devastating impact of Hurricane Michael from the Florida
Panhandle to Virginia.
Full statement of Cardinal DiNardo follows:
"In the wake of two powerful hurricanes, people
across the southeast now face the long process of recovery. May God's mercy
comfort family and friends who have lost loved ones and sustain those
rebuilding their homes and businesses. Let us respond with prayer and personal
generosity. As a community of faith, we remain with our brothers and sisters
throughout their journey. I am grateful for the way so many volunteer their
time, make donations, and witness to the need long after the headlines fade.
Your generosity reveals Christ is present. Humanitarian needs still exist from
previous hurricanes. New storms will bring new suffering. Together, we can help
communities carry this cross. Thousands of parishes have taken up an Emergency
Collection for 2018 Natural Disasters. You can also support relief efforts in
the United States by visiting www.catholiccharitiesusa.org
. . . or internationally at www.crs.org. . . .
Thank you and may God bless you in this time of great
need."
Coming of the Lord and the Last Judgment[3]
As Catholics, we are mindful and profess in our Creed that Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. The Second Vatican Council's "Dogmatic Constitution on the Church" states, "Already the final age of the world is with us and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect" (No. 48). To try to grasp the when, what and how of this Second Coming and last judgment, we really need to glean the various passages in Sacred Scripture to see how our Church has interpreted them. They are united in one drama. Our Lord in the Gospel spoke of His second coming. He indicated that various signs would mark the event.
1. Mankind would suffer from famine, pestilence and natural disasters.
2. False prophets who claim to be the
Messiah will deceive and mislead people.
3. Nations will wage war against each
other.
4. The Church will endure persecution.
5. Worse yet, the faith of many will
grow cold and they will abandon the faith, even betraying and hating one
another.
6. St. Paul describes a "mass
apostasy" before the Second Coming, which will be led by the "son of
perdition," the "Man of Lawlessness," the "adversary who
exalts himself above every so-called god proposed for worship." This
"lawless one" is part of the work of Satan, and with power, signs, wonders
and seductions will bring to ruin those who have turned from the truth.
7. However, "the Lord Jesus will
destroy him with the breath of His mouth and annihilate him by manifesting His
own presence." The Catechism affirms, "God's triumph over the revolt
of evil will take the form of the last judgment after the final cosmic upheaval
of this passing world" (No. 667).
8. Our Lord will come suddenly.
"The Son of Man in His day will be like the lightening that flashes from
one end of the sky to the other" St. Peter predicts, "The day of the
Lord will come like a thief and on that day the heavens will vanish with a
roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and all its deeds
will be made manifest" (2 Pt 3:10).
9. Death will be no more. The dead
shall rise and those souls who have died will be united again to their bodies.
All will have a glorious, transformed, spiritualized body as St. Paul said,
"He will give a new form to this lowly body of ours and remake it
according to the pattern of His glorified body...".
10. At this time, the final, or general
judgment will occur. Jesus said, "Those who have done right shall rise to
life; the evildoers shall rise to be damned". Our Lord described this
judgment as follows: "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, escorted by
all the angels of heaven, He will sit upon His royal throne and all the nations
will be assembled before Him. Then He will separate them into two groups, as a
shepherd separated sheep from goats" Here each person will have to account
for his conduct and the deepest secrets of his soul will come to light. How
well each person has responded to the prompting of God's grace will be made
clear. Our attitude and actions toward our neighbor will reflect how well we
have loved our Lord. "As often as you did it for one of My least brothers,
you did it for Me". Our Lord will judge us accordingly. For those who have
died and already have faced the particular judgment, their judgment will stand.
Those living at the time of the Second Coming will receive judgment.
a. Those who have rejected the Lord in
this life, who have sinned mortally, who have no remorse for sin and do not
seek forgiveness, will have condemned themselves to hell for all eternity.
b. "By rejecting grace in this
life, one already judges oneself, receives according to one's works and can
even condemn oneself for all eternity by rejecting the Spirit of love
(Catechism, No. 678).
c. The souls of the righteous will
enter heavenly glory and enjoy the beatific vision and those who need
purification will undergo it.
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
99. Plagiarising the words of
another writer, I will tell you that your apostolic life is worth what your
prayer is worth.
Daily Devotions
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