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Tuesday, September 5th 2023

The Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time

·         1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 &, 9-11

·         Psalm 27:1, 4, & 13-14

·         Luke 7:16

·         Luke 4:31-37 

Christians, the people in the divided kingdom, who were, in those days, under the rule of the Roman Empire heard the testimony of Christ Jesus, as he taught them on a sabbath, they being astonished: for Christ Jesus spoke with authority….  Now Christians, we have heard the testimony that Christ Jesus’s return will be like that of a thief in the night....  Interestingly that an illegal criminal offense would be used to describe what will be the most glorious day, a day of fear and trembling, that humankind will ever know; supposedly, for, who can even begin to describe the life that will be in Christ Jesus’s eternal kingdom….  Saint John, testifies, that we do not know what we will be like, but that we will be like Christ Jesus, this our Risen Savior – who teaches us to think of him as our friend; moreover, Christ Jesus taught, call know person father, for we have only one Father and that is God, our Heavenly Father….  Now with this illustration of Christ Jesus returning as a thief in the night -- this shows to us that thievery was common and all the people understood the ways of thieves, but what does Christ Jesus teach about thievery and thieves: does he teach us to cut their hands off, no; does he say that debts will have to be paid and that they will be held until that debt is paid, yes; but he tells the thief, turn from your thievery, again we see this word "turn" and we must understand that the word repent means to turn from your sinful behavior, your sinful activity, turning to Christ Jesus the Lord and then living in Christ Jesus’s way, truth and life; moreover, this is also the case for every sinful activity that we humans may commit: from the lofty to the lowly; from the rich to those in poverty – each individual is responsible from turning away from their sin and sinfulness, and this is known as repentance….  Do not confuse this blessing from the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, with being in poverty: for this poor is the opposite of being haughty or arrogant or prideful or blasphemous against God the Heavenly Father’s word, and, not, the being in poverty….  For it is not our personal wealth: whether it is pennies or dollars that will gain us or prevent us from entering into the kingdom of heaven, for we are saved by Christ Jesus’s grace and not by dollars or pennies….  Consider Saint Peter’s, Apostle’s testimony: Forasmuch as we know that we were not redeemed with corruptible things: silver and gold nor from our, vain conversations received by the traditions from our fathers; rather, we are saved by repenting of our sins and sinfulness and thus receiving Christ Jesus’s grace, that is established by His precious blood, and then, perhaps, God our Heavenly Father will accept our repentance, and then we will receive Christ Jesus’s grace: in His truth and in His way and in Christ Jesus’s life….  We are to become the righteousness of God our Heavenly Father in Christ Jesus….  Furthermore, Christians, let us consider this testimony from Thessalonians: it testifies to peace and security….  Here again, Christians, let us remember what peace is in Christ Jesus and let us remember what is, security, in Christ Jesus: first the Apostle Paul teaches us in the Book of Hebrews that Christ Jesus tasted death and that Christ Jesus was flesh and blood as we are flesh and blood….  Now, since, Christ Jesus took death, upon Himself, and was crucified for the sin of Adam and the sins of humankind, that entered, upon us, because of Eve’s and Adam’s disobedience – Christ Jesus, through His death on the sacrificial cross, destroyed death, and destroyed, him that had the power of death, that is the devil: for Christ Jesus did rise gloriously, from death, and is now seated at the right hand of God our Heavenly Father….  Therefore, we now know with certainty that when our time here, on this earth expires, we will receive the reward for the fruits of our life, for the deeds of our lives, that is, for the merit of our lives, and these deeds will be determined and judge by and in accordance with the Word of spirit and life of Christ Jesus’s Gospel….  So, since, we no longer have the fear of death, we are also, then, to no longer have the fear of bondage and its subjection’s: Saint John, Apostle, teaches there is no fear in love, that is, Christ Jesus’s love; but that the perfect love in Christ Jesus casts out fear; because fear has to do with torment: he that, fears is not made perfect in love….  That is, Christ Jesus’s love and not what the world calls love; for the world’s idea of love is, typically, the indulgence of the flesh, which includes: pride, stealing, lying -- bearing false witness, idolatry, adultery, fornication, homosexuality; yes, all the things that defile a person; yes, these things that God our Heavenly Father has taught us from the beginning….  Christians, be washed clean in the most precious blood of our Lord Christ Jesus: repent of your sin and sinfulness….  Remember, repentance is a most precious gift….  That it, Christ Jesus’s grace is a gentle gift, and we receive the grace from it: when, we acknowledge our sin; turn away from our sin; and go and sin no more….  Now Christians, Saint Paul, Apostle, testifies that we are to build one another up, but do we do this by bearing false witness against the Gospel of the Lord Christ Jesus, the Word of God?  No of course we cannot do such a thing and consider ourselves to be believing in Christ Jesus nor consider ourselves to be in right standing: we cannot bear false witness against Christ Jesus’s Gospel for worldly circumstances nor worldly or religious social conventions, for Christ Jesus’s Gospel is spirit and life and it is the same today, tomorrow and forever even into to all eternity: heaven and earth may pass a way, but Christ Jesus’s Gospel will remain forever….  Therefore, see and understand that the things that do defile a person: from the beginning; through the time before and after Moses and all throughout history; through the time of the dispersion; and through Christ Jesus’s personal ministry are the same things that defile us today: sin and sinfulness defile a person and unless we repent of our sinfulness, we will all perish….  So, Christians when you want peace and security remember Christ Jesus’s peace is a peace that goes beyond understanding, and that it is peace of heart and mind even though the world around us may be falling to pieces….  Again, Christians when you want security take to heart and mind, faith, in Christ Jesus, and know, if you believe in Christ Jesus – knowing that Christ Jesus said: only if, we receive the kingdom of God as a little child, will a person enter into the kingdom of heaven and knowing that Christ Jesus said: unless, we repent of our sins, we will perish: this perishing is not the things other humans may do, to us, for we are not to fear such things; rather, this perishing is being thrown and cast into eternal damnation, in the unquenchable fire that awaits all who do not turn from their sins and turn to Christ Jesus the Lord….  Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful….  Amen….

 

Tuesday, September 12th 2023

The Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time

·         Colossians 2:6-15

·         Psalm 145:1-2 & 8-11

·         John 15:16

·         Luke 6:12-19

Christians, Christ Jesus spent the night in prayer….  No doubt that he was filled with the complete joy that is in the life of serving God the Heavenly Father; no doubt that Jesus was in the peace that goes beyond all human understanding; and no doubt that he wept for humankind: for they are as lambs without a shepherd….  Truly, Christ Jesus wept; for the heart of the people is waxed gross; their ears are dull of hearing; and their eyes they have closed….  Christians, do not misunderstand the things of malice and evil; rather, be the light of the world – knowing men and knowing people but always first seeking the kingdom of heaven and the Heavenly Father’s righteousness….  Yes, Christians live and seek – to continue in the words and teachings of our Lord Christ Jesus….  For, if we continue in Christ Jesus’s words and teachings: we will truly be his disciples; we will know the truth; and the truth will set us free….  Remember the truth of Christ Jesus is that we in merit, deed, and truth only love Christ Jesus, if, we keep His words and teachings, and, if we faithfully and in truth, life, and spirit adhere and keep Christ Jesus’s Gospel: His words of spirit and life….  Then, if we faithfully, rightfully, and truthfully keep Christ Jesus’s words and teachings, God the Heavenly Father will love that person and they: God the Father and Son through the Holy Spirit will come unto that person and make their abode with this person; we are to be temples of the Holy Spirit….  As well, Christians, the reverse of this is also true: the person who does not have the deeds, fruits and merit of Christ Jesus’s Gospel of repentance; the person who does not keep the words and teachings of Christ Jesus is the person who does not love Christ Jesus, and that person loves the desolation and prefers the darkness to the way of light and truth: Christ Jesus is truth….  Yes Christians, since you love Christ Jesus the Lord: walk in him – His way, truth, and life; be rooted in Him – His Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sin; and build your lives upon Christ Jesus’s Gospel of life and spirit….  For Christ Jesus teaches: whosoever hears and lives according to His words and teachings is like the person who built their house upon a rock: the rains came and so too the floods and the winds also blew, and beat upon that house, but it did not fall for it was founded on Christ Jesus’s Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sin and sinfulness….  Jesus continues to testify: the person who hears His Gospel but does not keep the word of spirit and life is like the person who built their house upon sand and when the storms of life come, and they will come -- the house fell: great was the fall of it….  Christians, Saint Paul was commissioned by Christ Jesus our Lord on the Road to Damascus, and Saint Paul is a faithful teacher and minister of Christ Jesus’s Gospel: the twelve Apostles were faithful ministers of Christ Jesus’s Gospel; however, from this point forward in time, some of humankind has turned from the doctrine of the Gospel of Christ Jesus to their own doctrine; although cogent, it does not have the spirit and life and the faith that is Christ Jesus’s Gospel….  The word tells us that men would follow after their own doctrine….  Saint Paul tells us, if any person and even if an angel from heaven should teach a Gospel other than Christ Jesus’s Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sin that person is to be accursed….  Now here again we have Saint Paul testifying of the importance, the absolute life and death, that is, eternal life and or eternal death of being established in the faith as we were taught, and Saint Paul is referring to the teaching that he gave; whereas, in our modern day, we may wrongfully interpret this as being taught by some minister of today or some priest of today’s world or some church of today – when the true Christian knows that all authority belongs to Christ Jesus and Christ Jesus the Lord is the head of the body, the Church: any person saying otherwise should be accursed….  Yes Christians, be abounding in thanksgiving for the Lord Christ Jesus’s Gospel of life and spirit and be abounding in thanksgiving that Saint Paul, Apostle, boldly and truthfully preached and shared Christ Jesus’s Gospel – hear these words of spirit and life; listen to these words of truth and guidance and build your lives, your hearts and minds in accordance with them: bringing all your thoughts captive that rise up against the knowledge of God and all imaginations that rise up against the knowledge of God and bringing these thoughts and imaginations under the obedient authority of Christ Jesus’s Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sin….  Again Christians, Saint Paul Apostle warns us of seducers and deceivers, and testifies: we are to understand, and see to it that no person, no individual, no charmer that no one will captivate us with the empty seductive philosophies in accordance with the traditions of men….  Isaiah says it this way: Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?  Truly Christians, the flesh is of no avail; whereas, the spirit is life and truth and eternal life….  Yes Christians, let us faithfully live in accordance with Christ Jesus’s Gospel: for, in the Lord Christ Jesus lives all the fulness, in whom, all the building, fitly framed together, grows unto a holy temple in Christ Jesus the Lord….  Yes, Christ Jesus is the head of every principality and power….  In Christ Jesus, we now are circumcised – not with the hands of men, humankind, but with the stripping off of the carnal body with the circumcision of Christ Jesus….  This circumcision is established by the sacrificial crucifixion of the Lord Christ Jesus and it is an eternal sacrifice; therefore, if we have sinned, we can choose to repent of our sins, acknowledging our sin and sinfulness: for the confession of the spirit and not the law, in Christ Jesus, we will then receive forgiveness through the blood spilled, which is Christ Jesus’s grace, that is, if we confess our sin rightly and with sincerity: this means to go and sin no more….  So, if you are a thief and you confess your thievery, you must stop stealing, for your confession to be valid; so too with abortion: if you have had an abortion and you confess your sin, you must quit abortion: no longer advocating for abortion or your repentance is not sincere….  Understand, we cannot stop others from committing sins but we are to give no place for the sins of the flesh; we are to make no provisions for the sinful flesh: if we are stealing or committing immoralities each of us must work out our own salvation….  Yet, a true repentance means, we are no longer to walk in the darkness of sin; rather, we are to profess and confess with our hearts, minds, souls, and with our words spoken that Christ Jesus is Lord and we are to be and live in the light of Christ Jesus, His way, truth, and life….  Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful….  Amen….

 

Tuesday, September 19th 2023

The Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time

·         1 Tmothy 3:1-13

·         Psalm 101:1-3 & 5-6

·         Luke 7:16

·         Luke 7:11-17

Christians, Nain is a city, a village, near Samaria where Christ Jesus our Lord raised, from the dead, the son of a widow, her only child back to life….  Samaria is the name, not only of the City of Samaria, but also for the region of the same name….  Under the Twelve-Tribes of Israel: Samaria was both Ephriam and Manasseh, while, Jerusalem was located in the lands of the tribe of Benjamin: these lands given by God the Heavenly Father….  Ephriam and Manasseh were sons of Joseph through an Egyptian woman, named Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a high priest in Egypt under Pharaoh….  Jacob, father of Joseph tells the tribes that both Manasseh and Ephriam are to receive lands of their own: being children of Joseph….  Now this in human terms on both sides is perhaps a device for conflict; truly what it shows us is that God the Heavenly Father’s plan is as stated in the Book of Acts: The Apostle Peter, saint, saying, “Repent and be baptized!”  For the promise is made to the children of Jacob-Israel and to all those far off – whomever the Lord God of all creation favors with His call….  Now this repent and be baptized teaching given from the Apostle Peter, Saint, is the same charge given to the Apostles, Disciples and those who witnessed Christ Jesus ascend into heaven….  For on this day, the Lord Christ Jesus charged the Apostles to go forth to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem and teach repentance for the forgiveness of sin….  Oh, gracious Heavenly Father, almighty Lord! what love God the Heavenly Father has for His creation: to sacrifice His very son for the sins of humankind….  First to translate us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light -- wiping clean the sin that entered into the world through Adam, which also destroyed death and condemn the one who had the power of death, the devil….  Moreover, God our Heavenly Father, in His Righteous-love for humankind gave the grace of repentance for the forgiveness of sin and sinfulness; it is by Christ Jesus’s grace that we are saved; it is a Gospel of repentance -- it is not through compassion that we are saved: we are to proclaim and witness and testify repentance for the forgiveness of sin not the compassion of indulgence of sin and sinfulness….  Now Christians, we should also remember that Moses’s wife was not from the tribes of the Jews, but God our Heavenly Father received her and showed us clearly how much he welcomed her into His grace….  Yet, again, there is the example of King Ahab’s wife Jezebel, another daughter of a high priest – the priest and his daughter: they worshiped graven images and were fully invested in idolatry….  Then we also have the wisdom of Christ Jesus: for our Lord, friend, eternal Father, almighty God commissioned and charged Saint Paul, Apostle, to teach repentance for the forgiveness of sin and sinfulness to the gentiles, which was God our Heavenly Father’s plan from the dawn of creation: creating us male and female and in His, God our Heavenly Father’s own holy image….  We all fall short of the glory of God: for all have sinned and need repentance: some for the sins of pride, some for the sins of vanity, some for the sins of vainglory, some for the sins of immoralities and some for the sins of inequities….  Therefore, repent and believe in the Gospel for the kingdom of heaven is at hand….  Now Christians, the true vicar of Christ Jesus and as well other bishops must be irreproachable….  Now the Apostle Paul, saint, in this Book of Timothy testifies that a bishop must be married only once, but he also testifies, elsewhere, that it is a better thing for a man to remain unmarried, so that this person will put God, the Heavenly Father naturally first in their life, their heart and mind, Saint Paul saying: the person who is married cares for the things of the world, and how he may please his spouse, while the person who is not married has cares and concerns for the things that belong to the Lord the Heavenly Father, and how they may please our most wonderful Lord Christ Jesus….  Yes, the person who loves the Lord Christ Jesus keeps His word: they are to be blameless, temperate, self-control of good behavior, decent – not practicing sin and sinfulness, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not aggressive – not a striker but gentle, not greedy for filthy lucre – be that it be profit or power; but patient, not a brawler and not covetous…. The bishop is to rule and manage well his own house – not let it fall to the perversion of homosexuality, pedophilia, adultery, idolatry and blasphemy, but is to brightly shine and reflect the light of Christ Jesus: remember, Christ Jesus is the very refulgence of God the Heavenly Father and we were created in God’s holy image!  Saint John, apostle, says: Beloved, now, since because of Christ Jesus, we are the sons of God the Heavenly Father even though we do not yet fully understand this, but we know that when Christ Jesus comes again and appears unto us -- as lightening that will fill the skies from north to south and as far as the east is to the west, we shall be like him; for we will see him as he is….  We are to take off the mortal and put on the immortal; we are to free ourselves from the corruption and put on the incorruptible; we are to be new creations, born again, born from above, born from God our Lord Christ Jesus: God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit….   Christians consider how far some have fallen in pretense, in lust of the flesh, and in sham; some have actually come to believe that a bishop is decent, moral, and of self-control, while, if they are practicing homosexuality, which of course is blasphemy; let us pray to our Lord Christ Jesus for He is wisdom; He is life, truth and the way; and He will come again to judge the living and the dead – rewarding each of us according to our merits and judged by His Gospel, that being, the Lord Christ Jesus’s Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sin and sinfulness….  Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful….  Amen….

 

Tuesday, September 26th 2023

The Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time

·         Ezra 6:7-8, 12 & 14 -20

·         Psalm 122:1-5

·         Luke 11:28

·         Luke 8:19-21  

Christians, let us indulge completely in the word of God our Lord Christ Jesus: Christ Jesus says, the person and people who act on his word are his brothers and sisters….  This word act -- as we deepen our knowledge upon it, we come to understand that it means: to do, to bring forth, to make, to accomplish, to bear and bearing, to observe, and these are a few logos, cosmologies, forms, ideas, structures, exegesis, explanations of this single word: act or to act – to do, to make, to live accordingly….  Consider further the word observe: for it also has two apparent meanings that come out of it through common understanding: one of these being to look at, to see, to behold but the other common meaning is the one which corresponds with the meaning of the verb act in this teaching about who is and who is not Christ Jesus’s brothers and sisters and that is: when we observe the word of God, our Lord Christ Jesus; it means that we act upon it; we live accordingly to Christ Jesus’s Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sin and sinfulness; and what we do not do is simply look at it or observe it or see that it is there and then do nothing in our lives, our hearts and minds….  For as Christ Jesus teaches: it is the person who builds their lives accordingly to his Gospel that loves him, that is, loves God the Heavenly Father, the Son, the Lord Christ Jesus by and through the Holy Spirit – by keeping, observing, acting and doing and living accordingly to Christ Jesus’s Gospel of spirit and life….  Whereas, the person or people who see Christ Jesus’s Gospel, but choose not to conform their lives to it; who choose to believe their meaning and understanding of life is greater than Christ Jesus’s words of spirit and life; and who do not believe in Christ Jesus according to his Gospel, the Gospel that all humankind will be judge by accordingly; and these who do not keep Christ Jesus’s words and teachings are those who do not love him, they only act, pretend that they love Christ Jesus but in reality they love and prefer the way of the world and do not love Christ Jesus: Christ Jesus being the way, the truth and the life….  Yes, Christians, as Christ Jesus said of the Pharisees, those who pretended to honor the God of Jacob-Isreal and those who pretended to honor the God of Abraham that they only loved and honored God with lip-service but their hearts were far from him….  This phrase their hearts were far from him, we know that this is true: for they did not keep, observe, act, do or live accordingly to the word of God the Heavenly Father, the God and Eternal Father of all creation….  Now Christians, let us look at the demonstrable sibling relation, although, not the normal brother and sister relationship that was supposed to be under the twelve-tribes of Israel, that being: the brother-to-brother relationship that did exist between the exiled Israelites and Darius….  The first consideration is that God the Heavenly Father caused Cyrus to make a decree and Cyrus believed that the God of Jacob-Israel was God….  We also see this similar behavioral belief and understanding in the time of Abraham: for God the Heavenly Father told Abraham those who curse you -- that God would curse and those who blessed Abraham -- God would bless, and during Abraham’s life there were those who came to realize this truth….  So, Darius, son of Ahasuerus, they who succeeded Cyrus and Cyrus the II, Cyrus being the king who decreed that the Israelites were to be taken back to Jerusalem and the temple built, in the name of God the Heavenly Father, was to be rebuilt….  Now there is a clear difference between what God our Heavenly Father did between, the Persian king, Cyrus and the king of Assyria, who is unnamed: for with Cyrus, God the Heavenly Father was honored by Cyrus; whereas, with the Assyrian king, God the Heavenly Father employed him to be his rod and staff….  This Assyrian king had it in his mind to destroy and to cut off many nations, but God our Heavenly Father sent him against the hypocritical nation and God’s wrath came upon both Samaria and Jerusalem….  The king of Assyria thought to himself, “Are not my princes altogether kings?  Is not Calno as Carchemish and Samaria as Damascus?  This king boasted that he had made the kingdom of idols and that his idols exceled those of Jerusalem and Samaria: in other words, the king of Assyria said and believed that his god’s were greater than God and that the Assyrian king’s idols were greater than the idols in both the cities of Jerusalem and Samaria: they being under the hand of God the Heavenly Father….”  Yet, remember, at this time both Jerusalem and Samaria as testified to by the Prophet Isaiah were worse than Sodom and Gomorrah and should have been done away with completely, but God saved a remnant….  So, God in this case employed the Assyrian king to destroy both Samaria and Jerusalem: take away their spoils, to tread them down like the mire of the streets – like smashing a spider or bug under the foot….  However, because of the haughtiness and arrogance and pride of the king of Assyria, once this unnamed king of Assyria had finished his work that God the Heavenly Father employed him to do that being God our Heavenly Father’s rod and staff, God rose up against the nation of Assyria and its kings, and under its current dominion it was completely destroyed by Cyrus and then to Darius, who under the governor and the prophets: Haggai and Zechariah, son of Iddo and others allowed the Israelites to once again rebuild the temple that Solomon, son of David had first built to honor the name of God our Heavenly Father….  One thing is clear; if the Israelites would have been faithful to God our Heavenly Father and kept his word as given to them from Moses and Aaron the very temple that Soloman had built would be standing this day….  Yet, as Saint Paul teaches that under the law nothing came to perfection for, they were indeed slaves to their flesh; whereas, now, because of Christ Jesus we are no longer slaves to our flesh….  Saint Paul testifies that his flesh is wretched, meaning, that his flesh is sinful but because of Christ Jesus’s grace we are no longer slaves to the flesh….  Still, Saint Paul, apostle testified that he has warned us and warned us again that those who commit the sins of the flesh are living, as being under the flesh, and they in no way will enter into the kingdom of heaven….  Saint Paul lists a whole list of sinful things, but it is sufficed to say here that the sins of immoralities, the sins of inequities, the sins of pride and envy, the sins of being haughty and arrogant against God, which is blasphemy, the sins of vanity and vainglory and all the defiling sins of the flesh that we may commit: that if we do not repent of our sins and sinfulness, we will in no way enter into the kingdom of heaven….  Again, Christ Jesus says, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it,” that is, live accordingly with the way, the truth, and the life of our Lord Christ Jesus….  Now Christians, in the name of the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, our Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful….  Amen….

 

 

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