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Tuesday, August 6th
2024
The Feast of the Transfiguration of
the Lord
·
Daniel 7:9-10 & 13-14
·
Psalms 97:1-2, 5-6 & 9
·
2 Peter 1:16-19
·
Matthew 17:5
·
Mark 9:2-10
Christians, why were Peter, James and his
brother John chosen, out of the twelve, to witness Christ Jesus’s
transfiguration, while the others, the nine apostles were left
behind.
…, In
speculation, we may realize that it was because in heart, mind,
soul, and strength and conscience and maturity: these were in the
maturity place, whereas, they had grown to receive this occasion as
a blessing.
Now
Christians, in this testimony from Daniel, there are some points
proclaimed that the enemies of Christ Jesus are wanting
and trying to destroy, but of course, to no avail: one, Christ
Jesus’s kingship will not be destroyed; second, that because we may
not understand it does not change the truth: Christ Jesus was; he
existed, before he came into the world as Jesus of Nazareth,
wherewith we see in Daniel’s testimony: one like the Son of man
coming on the clouds; and the third point is that the books were
open and the court was convened: it is not this place of cotton
candy, lollipops, never a care may be but rather the image of heaven
we see from Daniel is a court of the highest of high law: where none
can lie; where none can deceive for the truth is known and the truth
is the way and the life that is realized.
Yes Christians, fear of the Lord is wisdom; and departing
from evil is understanding, again, committing no sin is
understanding.
…, Saint
John, Apostle testifies: whosoever is born of God does not sin; for
Christ Jesus’s gospel, his seed, remains in them: and they cannot
sin, because they are born of God.
Still, let us not forget what Saint Paul taught about the
Corinthians, who were born again, but they then chose to live
according to the flesh, and indeed like Adam and Eve fell from
grace, again, and they did sin.
Yet, …, here again, Saint John, Apostle tells us: we are not
to sin, sin not!
Still,
if any person does sin, we have an advocate, with God the Heavenly
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; whereas, Jesus Christ’s
testimony is: repent and believe in the Gospel, that being, Christ
Jesus’s words and teachings, yes, repent for the kingdom of Heaven
is at hand.
Hesitate not
Christians: do not be among those who Saint Jude, the brother of
James testifies, they who choose to make the grace of Christ Jesus
lasciviousness; when truly, Christ Jesus’s grace is the substance
that we are saved by and as you know, Christ Jesus says: unless, we
repent in no way will we enter into the kingdom of heaven, in no way
will we be saved: if we do not repent and turn away from our sins
and sinfulness.
Yes
Christians, realize that the imagery that we read from this
testimony from Daniel is for our edification, for our building up
and relatable understanding: for indeed, we know that no person has
seen God the Heavenly Father.
Truly, God is a being who with his word created heaven and
the earth: again, through the word, this being the Son, the Lord
Christ Jesus, the word made flesh, God the Heavenly Father
re-created humankind – giving to those who he calls the gift of
being born from above, that is, born from God, Christ Jesus’s grace
and truth.
Yes, Daniel
testifies he saw the Lord Christ Jesus receiving dominion, glory and
kingship and that all peoples, nations and language serve him; that
his dominion is everlasting.
So, then Christians, when we read from the Book of Jude, we
understand: some individuals despise dominion: so then, also, we
know; true dominion belongs to Christ Jesus and with his Gospel of
repentance and it is in accordance with his Gospel, this is the
measure that we must measure accordingly; and when we fail to do so,
then we must repent.
Now
Christians, let us realize this Psalm: it testifies that the Lord is
king!
It says, let the
earth rejoice; let the multitude of islands be glad: these being the
glory, the joy, the love, the life, the law of the Ten Commandments
known and realized as truth, the majesty, the truth, the repentance,
the forgiveness, the holy spirit’s gift of self-control, gentleness
and faith; whereas, the many clouds of darkness that are round about
him are: those who refuse to repent; those who prefer the darkness;
those who are deceivers; those whose light is darkness – like some
shady used car salesperson, who cajole you into believing the lie,
but the light of life is the Lord Christ Jesus and justice and
judgment are the foundation of his throne.
Christians when we read this next testimony, Psalm, it talks
of the mountains melting like wax before the Lord, we should also
realize that Saint John the Baptist testifies: “Prepare ye the way
of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
Yes Christians, we should also realize that the Psalmist was
well aware of the great success of King David and other leaders;
moreover, the mighty deeds where not forgotten, by all, and some
Israelites remembered the times of Samson, the judge; some
remembered Gideon, the judge; and some remembered Deborah and Barak
and indeed, the mountains: people like the Philistines and the
Midianites melted like wax before God the Heavenly Father’s great
arm of strength that he lent to these people known as the
Israelites.
Yes
Christians, we also have the remembrance of what Christ Jesus
teaches, testifying: love your enemies; bless them that curse you;
do good to them that hate you; and pray for them which despitefully
use you and persecute you: for we are to be of those fellow-servants
and brethren that have the testimony of the Lord Christ Jesus and
have the love that is in Jesus Christ loving not only the just but
the unjust: understanding that we do not return evil for evil but
that we ever follow the good that is in Christ Jesus: exposing
lawlessness, bringing to light darkness and exposing evil, while
seeking justice and first seeking the kingdom of heaven and the
Heavenly Father’s righteousness.
Yes Christians, the Lord Jesus Christ received dignities,
that being, honor and glory from God the Father: when God appealed
and communicated to all the minds and hearts of the people,
gathered, at the place where Saint John, the Baptist, baptized the
Lord Christ Jesus: God the Heavenly Father declaring this is my Son,
my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.
In polar-contrast, we are
aware of those individuals whose light is darkness; their arrogance
they proclaim as light; their pridefulness and vainglory they
proclaim as benevolence: as they defile the flesh, despise dominion
and speak evil of dignities.
Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us
pray and be thankful.
Amen.
Tuesday, August 13th
2024
The Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
·
Ezekiel 2:8—3:4
·
Psalm 119:14, 24, 72, 103, 111 &131
·
Matthew 11:29
·
Matthew 18:1-5, 10 & 12-14
Christians, the Apostles were decidedly men,
and while Christ Jesus was with them: he kept them in the name of
God the Heavenly Father.
Whereas, they acted as men of the flesh, wondering who was the
greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is vanity and covetous, and
then the Lord Christ Jesus taught them, who indeed is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven.
Still, let us also remember, what Saint Paul, Apostle
testifies: there is neither Jew nor Greek for we are all one in
Christ Jesus.
Christians, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, who
put together a marriage for his son; he sent forth his servants,
saying, call them who are bidden to come: the dinner is prepared,
the feast is filled with great foods and all things are ready, come
to the marriage.
However, all those who were invited were occupied with their own
wants and desires and temptations and sent message to the king that
they could not attend.
So, Christians, the king, sent out and gather whomever he could
find: on the highway and on the roadways both bad and good and the
wedding was furnished with guests.
Now as the king came down to greet the guests, he noticed one
of them was not wearing a wedding garment.
Christians, the wedding garment that the guest was not
wearing, this person was not clothed in the Gospel of the Lord
Christ Jesus; this person who was cast out into the darkness, where
there is wailing and gnashing of teeth, was not dressed with the
seed, that is, the word of God, the Lord Christ Jesus.
Yes Christians, Jesus Christ was not in him, so he was bound
hand and foot and taken away, and they cast him into the outer
darkness.
This teaching
about the word of Christ Jesus being with us, and, in us,
and that we must abide in Christ Jesus’s word is also
expressed in the Parable of the Ten Virgins: five of them waited for
the Lord Christ Jesus and the word of God was with them and yes,
they were filled with the oil of Christ Jesus’s gospel, while five
of them only waited in pretense, and the word of God the Lord Christ
Jesus was not in them: they did not live according to Christ Jesus’s
words and teachings but they lived in accordance of their
imaginations of Christ Jesus’s words and teachings.
Yes, it being a parable, it is still a sorrowful thing that
the Ten Virgins did not have Saint Paul’s, Apostle’s teaching: for
Saint Paul admonishes us and instructs us, through the Holy Spirit,
that we are to cast down all our imaginations and everything that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God: bringing all of our
thoughts, under the power of the Gospel of the Lord Christ Jesus.
Yes Christians, Ezekiel was to obey and not rebel, not prefer
the darkness: Christians, we are not to believe that we will do
greater things absent Christ Jesus’s words and teachings.
Christians, Lucifer was cast out of the kingdom of heaven for
in his pride, he believed himself to be greater than God the
Heavenly Father.
Truly,
Christ Jesus tells us: the person who believes in him, that the
works he did, they shall also do; and even greater, works, because
Christ Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Heavenly Father.
Now Christians, it is clear that the works Christ Jesus did
was to bring us the grace and truth of repentance and he warns us
that we must repent and turn away from our sin and sinfulness for
the kingdom of heaven is at hand: Christ Jesus died; Christ Jesus
has Risen; Christ Jesus will come again to judge the living and the
dead, and his kingdom is eternal.
So, yes, Christians, let us fill our bellies with the Gospel
of the Lord Christ Jesus as did Ezekiel fill his stomach with the
word of God: for unto Ezekiel the word of God, in his mouth, was as
sweet as honey and we as Christians are also to testify to the sweet
honey of God’s word: his way, truth, and life and the peace and joy
of heart and mind that manifest in the testifying to Christ Jesus’s
Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sin and sinfulness.
Yes, Christians, let us pray that we may come to know the
Lord Christ Jesus and know the power of his resurrection; and that
we may be in fellowship with his sufferings; being made conformable
unto his death: if by any means, we might attain unto the
resurrection from the dead.
Yes Christians, as Christ Jesus looked out over the
multitudes he was filled with compassion; he wept; he was sorrowful
for they were as sheep without a shepherd and they knew not the
delight of God’s word, the joy of life, of love, of truth, of
everlasting light for they were preferring the darkness: the
delusions of an unnatural mind and the base of the flesh, which the
flesh is of no avail and its sinfulness leads to eternal torment and
condemnation.
Yes
Christians, these multitudes whom Christ Jesus looked out upon were
fearful: they were alienated in their minds and hostile, for their
works were evil, and they had not yet come to know of the
resurrection and the glories that Christ Jesus would cause through
faith that we receive, when we walk and live in Christ Jesus’s words
and teachings.
Christians, let us also look at the Psalm; although this psalm may
not be accredited to King David, we know that many of them were;
still, King David’s personal relationship with God the Heavenly
Father was one of delight, rejoicing and giving thanks to God the
Heavenly Father.
Still,
let us remember the words and teachings of the Lord Christ Jesus:
among them who are born of women, there has not risen a greater than
John the Baptist; notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of
heaven is greater than he.
Christians, therefore by Christ Jesus’s words; Saint John in
regard to Christ Jesus’s testimony none were greater; moreover,
because of Christ Jesus, we now as Christians have been translated
from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light and our
relationship with Christ Jesus is through the Holy Spirit and
through Christ Jesus’s words and teachings; truly, the kingdom of
God is within us.
Now
Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be
thankful.
Amen.
Tuesday, August 20th
2024
Memorial of Saint Bernard, Abbot and
Doctor of the Church
·
Ezekiel 25:1:10
·
Deuteronomy 32:26-28, 30 & 35-36
·
2 Corinthians 8:9
·
Matthew 19:23-30
Christians are the rich to be besmirched
because they are wealthy: are they not our neighbors as are the poor
and are we not commanded to love our neighbors as we love ourselves;
indeed, the testimony is that to be children of God the Lord Christ
Jesus we are to love the just and the unjust and also the evil and
the good.
Still, the
Psalmist sings: the person who will dwell in the tabernacle of the
Lord shall contemn the vile person, while we are to honor the person
who fears the Lord.
Christians, if you see contradiction in these statements then you
have not perceived the truth: God the Heavenly Father looks upon his
creation: the just, the unjust, the evil and the wicked, the vile
and those who fear the Lord and he loves his creation, while he
rightly rewards each according to their deeds.
To those who have done wicked and are vile and are unjust
their reward will be eternal condemnation, which is also the reward
for those who mock and do not believe: repent for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.
Now
the reward for those who testify to truth from their heart and those
who have brought the imaginations of their minds under the authority
of Christ Jesus’s Gospel and those who seek justice and those who
fear the Lord, their reward will be eternal life in the love, the
light, the goodness, kindness, and peace and joy of God the Heavenly
Father’s eternal kingdom: repent for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
Saint Peter,
Apostle asks, the Lord Christ Jesus, “Who can be saved?” and Jesus
replies, “For men this is impossible, but for God all things are
possible.”
Again, there
is no word play in what Christ Jesus is teaching but there is keen
insight of hearts and minds that love the Lord God the Heavenly
Father even before they love their own lives, so we may see that for
all people, rich, wealthy, poor, poverty-bound it is impossible to
be saved, but that with God all things are possible.
Yes, truly, it is by the grace manifested through Christ
Jesus’s blood, his blood sacrifice, that humankind may be saved.
Still, with the rich person, they may tend to lean on their
wealth; whereas, the poverty-bound individual may lean upon the Lord
Christ Jesus.
Still, the
truth is; whether we are rich or whether we are poor, it is greed
that is the sin and both: the poverty-bound and the wealthy are
subject to the sin of greed, therefore, it is the person who repents
of this sin and all sinfulness and first seeks the kingdom of heaven
and the Heavenly Father’s righteousness that has the chance of hope
to be saved in Christ Jesus’s eternal kingdom.
As the servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated unto the gospel of God the Heavenly Father, Saint Paul
testifies that it is inexcusable of man, humankind, people: the rich
or poor, the just or unjust, the vile or those who fear the Lord for,
whosoever, we may judge, then we also judge, ourselves, and condemn
ourselves; for we are all subject to the same wretchedness of flesh;
its temptations, desires and sins and if we judge another we judge
ourselves.
Still, as we
are commanded by God to love the just and the unjust: the unjust
will receive their reward of eternal damnation, while the just will
receive their reward of eternal life in the Lord Christ Jesus.
God the Heavenly Father did not destroy the people of Noah’s
time because they were just, but unjust; God did not destroy Sodom
and Gomorrah because they were faithful to the call of Holy
Matrimony but they mocked it and perverted themselves; and God did
not destroy the people during the time of the dispersion because
they walked in faithful regard to His words and teachings; moreover,
as Saint Peter testifies In the Book of Acts that Moses said
unto our fathers, a prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto
you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall you hear in all
things, whatsoever, he shall say unto you; moreover, it shall come
to pass that every soul, which will not hear that prophet,
shall be destroyed from the people.
Now Christians, in this testimony from Ezekiel it states that
the word of the Lord came to him.
The testimony says, that the Lord God our Heavenly Father is
displeased, to wrath, with many in his creation, so much so that he
knows, they cannot be redeemed, and therefore, allows them to be
destroyed by the most barbarous of nations.
Now it was not that the Prince of Tyre was wealthy; rather it
was because he thought of himself as a god and did not remember the
commandment of the Lord God: thou shalt not have any gods before me.
For this Prince of Tyre was rooted in evil, for he loved his
money: because of his great wealth his heart had forgotten the truth
of life, the love of God the Heavenly Father.
Yes, Christians, it was not because the Prince of Tyre was
wealthy, beyond means, any more so than King Solomon who was far more
wealthy than this Tyre Prince, and God the Heavenly Father did not
punish either of them because of their great wealth but God punished
both of them for forgetting who they were and committing idolatry:
King Solomon built temples unto false gods and the Prince of Tyre
believed himself to be a god.
Now Christians, what does Saint John, the Baptist mean when
he says, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the
world.”
Now Christ Jesus
testifies: “Except a person be born again, they cannot see the
kingdom of God.”
Still,
Saint John testifies: if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God cleanses us from all sin.
Then Saint John testifies: if we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Now if we confess our sins, he, the Lord Christ Jesus is
faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
Yes, Christians, our sins are taken away when we confess our sins,
repent, that is turn away from our sinfulness and go and sin no
more.
Now Christians, in
the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful.
Amen….
Tuesday, August 27th
2024
Memorial of Saint Monica
·
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 & 14-17
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Psalm 96:10-13
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Hebrews 4:12
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Matthew 23:23-26
Christians, recognize that Christ Jesus did
say woe to hypocrites, the scribes and Pharisees. Still,
Christians, what is this woe that Christ Jesus testified against the
hypocrites, Pharisees, and scribes? Woeful is described as being
weak, and indeed even though the Pharisees and scribes and
hypocrites were elders and leaders, they feared Christ Jesus because
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and some Pharisees,
hypocrites and some scribes were preferring the darkness too the
light of truth. Woe is also wailing and lamentation, and
lamentation is a specific word for wailing and crying. Woe is also
an expression of grief and a denunciation: as in, we denounce all
the works of Satan and the evil and darkness that they are. What is
Christ Jesus doing when he denounces and says woe to the Pharisees
and scribes; he is exposing that they are committing idolatry and
have not kept God the Heavenly Father’s words and teachings, his
commandments. Yes, we read in the book of Micah that God came down
and testifies against the sins and sinfulness that the people have
committed and are doing. The testimony is that God will tread on
high places and the mountains shall be molten under him, the valleys
cleft, as wax before the fire and as waters that are poured down a
steep place. Christians, so Micah is testifying what God the
Heavenly Father told him to say and some of the mountains of those
days and this testimony was exposing Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
kings of Judah and the time period was before the dispersion and
also the prophecies that would come to be before, during and after
the dispersion. Truly, we know that all that God the Heavenly
Father testified through Micah came to pass and to be. Another
point is that God the Heavenly Father tells us that he will wail and
howl and that he will get to the root, saying, that he will go
stripped and naked: the wailing he will do will be like dragons –
leaving Samaria in desolation, breaking to pieces all idolatry, and
returning the emptiness of harlotry to the harlot: burning these
things into the pit of nothingness that they are or as we read in
the Gospels of Matthew and Luke such will be broken into pieces and
ground into powder. Now also Christians, Micah testifies that God
the Heavenly Father will howl like an owl, in mourning, for his love
and the loss because of the incurable wounds that these mountains
and valleys, the transgressions of Jacob: Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah
are named but there are others and not only from the Israelites, but
also the other nations: for God takes no pleasure in the destruction
of his creation. Christians, so we know that Saint John the Baptist
testifies that the axe is already laid at the root of the trees,
testifying, that every tree that does not bring forth good fruit
will be hewn down and cast into the fire; we also know that the good
fruits of Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit of truth and life are:
love, joy, faithfulness, goodness, kindness, patience, gentleness,
generosity and self-control and that the works of the flesh these are
obvious: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, sodomy, lasciviousness
— the abominations, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance – strife,
quarrels, emulations – this being having the warmth of feeling for
or against in jealousy. Christians, the word of God tells us that
God our Heavenly Father is a jealous God but we know that emulations
and jealousy are sinful fruits, so what is the difference. The
difference is that God our Heavenly Father looks out upon his
creation and sees that some prefer the darkness, the sins of the
flesh over the light of truth: God knows that the sins of the flesh
are of no avail and that the wage of sin is death. Now as Christ
Jesus would go and pray for the people, so too did God the Heavenly
Father pray that they will see the light of truth and choose life:
God said to the Israelites on Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim: today, I
put before you, life and death, choose life, and we, Christians have
this same choice in front of us today; wherefore it says, in the Book
of Hebrews; today, if you hear the word of the Lord harden not
your hearts but choose, first to seek the kingdom of heaven and God
the Heavenly Father’s righteousness: in judgment God the Heavenly
Father shows no partiality. Now Christians, let us look at what is
likely in human eyes or disposition an incongruity of the word of
God and realize the truth: when Christ Jesus says, the kingdom of
heaven is at hand, he also tells us that no person, no angel, and
not even he, himself knows the exact day or hour and that only God
the Heavenly Father knows this moment; still the kingdom of heaven
is at hand and we must repent and believe in the Gospel: your mortal
life may be asked of you this day and your chance of repentance is
diminished; for there is more than one judgment, the first judgment
and then there is the final judgment. However, when men or women or
false prophets tell you or even if in your own imaginations and
spirit have the idea that the day of Christ Jesus is at hand; do not
be deceived and let nothing deceive you. Truly Christians, the day
that Christ Jesus will come again the sky will be as filled with
lightening from north to south and from east to west and it will be
unmistakable; this day will not be a day that is darkness pretending
to be light but it will be the true light of Christ Jesus: Jesus
Christ who testifies to us in word and through the Holy Spirit that
we must repent of our sins, believe in his Gospel, that being, the
Gospel that God the Heavenly Father, the God of Jacob-Israel, gave
unto Christ Jesus to minister unto the lost sheep of Israel and then
also to all of humankind and Christ Jesus testifies that we must
repent and believe in the Gospel for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand. Yes Christians, there is another line of testimony here from
Saint Paul, Apostle that is qualified by Christ Jesus; Saint Paul
says, that we are called to this end: to obtain, to possess, to be
baptized in the Holy Spirit not from men but from God, to be in
heart, mind, soul and strength filled with and to have at hand the
glory of our Lord Christ Jesus. For Christ Jesus testifies: the
glory that God the Heavenly Father gave to him, he, Christ Jesus has
given unto us; so that we may be one, even as God the Heavenly
Father and the Son the Lord Christ Jesus are one: Jesus through the
Holy Spirit baptized in us; and Christ Jesus being one with God the
Heavenly Father, that we may be made perfect in one; and that the
world may know that Christ Jesus was indeed sent by God the Heavenly
Father and that God the Heavenly Father loves us; as God also was
well pleased with his Son, the Lord Christ Jesus and did love him
too. Now Christians, in the name of our Wonderful Lord Christ
Jesus, our Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, great high priest,
Counselor, and Mighty God let us pray and be thankful. Amen.
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