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Tuesday, September 3rd
2024
Memorial of
Saint Gergory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
·
1 Corinthians 2:10-16
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Psalms 145:8-14
·
Luke 7:16
·
Luke 4:31-37
Christians, right
before Jesus went down to Capernaum, he had been in his hometown of
Nazareth.
Yes, Jesus, the Christ and Lord
testified from the Book of Isaiah about how the prophecy that Isaiah
had testified had been fulfilled in him that very day.
Christ Jesus testified to factual
history that all the Nazarenes and Israelites knew and had heard.
However, Christ Jesus opened their
eyes to the meaning of these testimonies and when they realized,
they were enraged with Christ Jesus for they could not honestly,
plausibly or credibly deny what he was saying was anything other
than the truth and it was something: they would have preferred that
it had remained in the dark.
Christians, two incidents of the
history of Israel were: that Elijah only went unto the widow in
Zarephath and blessed her in abundance of oil and flower, while the
rest of Israel suffered the three and a half years that the skies
did not give their rains.
The second thing was; although
there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha, yet none
did he cleanse, but only Naaman the Syrian.
Christ Jesus used these examples of
Elijah and Elisha; examples of how the Lord God our Heavenly Father
does things according to his purpose and not according to the
commands of the people: for the Nazarenes were baiting Jesus, the
son of Joseph and Mary, the carpenter boy, to do the same things in
Nazareth that he had done in Capernaum and Jesus Christ explained to
them; it does not work that way: for the wind blows where it lists
and you hear the sound thereof but cannot tell from where it comes
and to where it goes; so is every one who is born of the Holy
Spirit.
Yes, Christians, Jesus went [back]
down to Capernaum and the Capernaite’s were astonished for he spoke
with authority: Christ Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and
when he testified, unto the people he spoke truth and the people
sensed that authority of what he spoke as truth, unsupplantable
truth: for it was the truth then; it is the truth now and it will be
the truth forever.
Jesus is Lord!
Now Christians, what is Saint Paul
saying when he testifies: the Spirit scrutinizes everything, even
the depts of God; is Saint Paul saying that we may scrutinize how to
create, as God the Heavenly Father did – for God said, let there be
light and there was, and he saw that it was good – no of course this
is not the depths of God that the Spirit searches!
We get some understanding to this
depth that the spirit searches and scrutinizes from what Saint Paul
testifies in the Book of Romans, saying: because that
which may be known about God is manifest in them; for God has
shown It unto them.
Therefore, we understand that in
the spirit we can scrutinize all things that pertain between man and
God; whereas, the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto the natural person.
The natural man is unable to know
the Spiritual things of God, because they are discerned and
understood spiritually.
Now, Christ Jesus has given his
peace unto us and it is a peace that goes beyond all understanding;
whereas, the natural man, those who are preferring darkness:
arrogance, pride, immoralities and living in the thoughts and
imaginations of their eternal destruction and desolation, which they
perceive as an event that they can, through management, prevent: is
a concern about mammon; hence, no person can serve two masters, we
cannot serve God and mammon.
Christians, as well, the only way
to manage or prevent our eternal destruction is: if we repent and
believe in Christ Jesus’s Gospel for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
Now, Christians, Saint John,
Apostle testifies: for all that is in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life: these are not
from God the Heavenly Father but are of the world.
Yes Christians, we know that the
world will pass away and the lust thereof, and we also know that the
person who does the will of God, they will abide forever.
Yes, Christians, Saint Paul,
Apostle makes it clear that we have not receive the spirit of the
world but the Spirit who is from God. Truly, Christians, the
language has a subtleness which is easy to overlook, for instance:
Saint Paul testifies to the Galatians: if we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit.
The New American Standard
Exhaustive Concordance gives a whole account of the single word if,
and this word should not be overlooked but understood in the
complexities of its meaning.
Still, the word, If, means
according to the New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance: the
introduction of circumstances necessary for a given proposition to
be true; therefore, we have: if we live in the Spirit and this
statement has to be qualified as being true; that is, do we live in
the Spirit; are we baptized in the Holy Spirit; do our lives have
the works of the Holy Spirit or the obvious works of the flesh; do
we in our spirituality wrestle against principalities – again, in
The New American’s standard concordance and in the context of this
testimony gives a different meaning to this word than does the
Webster’s dictionary – again, do we wrestle against spiritual
wickedness in high places or are we complacent and acquiescent to
these spiritual struggles.
Do we in our spiritual wrestling
with the world rulers of this present darkness claim victory in
Christ Jesus or do we faint and not take courage in our spiritual
prayers: first seeking the kingdom of Heaven and the Heavenly
Father’s Righteousness!
Remember, Christ Jesus testified
that he beheld Satan as lightning falling from heaven: that he gave
unto his followers the power to tread on serpents and scorpions
(these two words are not literal but are figurative) and Christ
Jesus gave us all power over our enemy; again, we wrestle not with
flesh and blood, but in our spirituality, we wrestle and struggle:
while we give all glory, praise and thanks to the Lord Christ Jesus:
loving the Lord God the God of Jacob-Israel with all of our heart,
mind, soul and strength.
Again, Christ Jesus testifies that
the ruler of this world has been judged and condemned: do we
remember these things and pray accordingly or are we praying without
faith and belief about the struggles in our daily activities.
Yes Christians, it is only in the
Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit that we may come to realize and
understand the things freely given unto us, by God the Heavenly
Father.
Now Christians, in the name of the
Lord Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful.
Amen.
Tuesday, September 10th
2024
The Twenty-third Week in Ordinary
Time
·
1 Corinthians 6:1-11
·
Psalms 142:1-6 & 9
·
John 16:16
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Luke 6:12-9
Christians, Christ Jesus prayed all through
the night and then in the morning, he called the twelve Apostles:
Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James, Simon, Judas, and then also the betrayer, Judas.
Christians, oh! what a delight it would be to have known
these men in person: before the call of apostleship; during the call
of apostleship; and after the Holy Spirit came upon them and
anointed them in their Apostleship.
Christians, we understand from Saint Paul, Apostle that he
knew that his flesh was wretched.
Saint Paul testifies that he does what he hates and not what
he loves; for the flesh loves to be ingratiated, gratified, and
indulged and in Saint Paul’s ministry, he testifies, clearly,
knowing how individuals’ error in their thinking and thus their
behavior: attributing the pleasure of a sexual act with love.
However, in reality, a person may abhorrently degrade
themselves, to bestiality, and likely have the feeling of sexual
pleasure.
Still, the
sexuality of human’s is only ever a blessed event when a man (a
male) and a woman (a female) have willingly chosen one another and
then before God the Heavenly Father and before witnesses join in
Holy Matrimony and the two become one-new-person in God.
Christians, this, then, marriage becomes the way that a male
and a female can become, mature, live, and grow through all the
trials and tribulations of life and through all the joys and
blessings of life and these: trials, tribulations, joys, and
blessings are intertwined with each other; yet they are separate.
Again, Saint Paul says that he does not do what he loves, but
what he hates, and this takes the spirituality of this discourse
away from the sexual parameter and brings it into the ethics of the
day-to-day hardships: the duties, the have to do and the must do;
for instance, the day-to-day chores and then the carefree of
entertainment: such as watching a baseball game or hiking in the
mountains or water skiing or flying a kite or some other activity
other than a duty or a chore.
Interestingly, we have in the arena of a baseball game those
who are watching for entertainment, and the responsibilities that go
along with that and then there are the players, the coaches, the
ground crews, the concessionaires, and the investors -- all who are
working and performing their duties and there is ethics and then, in
tamer words, euphemistic words, rather than the contrast of love and
hate, we have the likes and dislikes of being neighborly.
Christians, we are to fear the Lord God the Heavenly Father
and we are to have a Christly regard for our neighbor: love the Lord
God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and love our
neighbor as we love ourselves.
Moreover, we are to treat others as we want to be treated and
to those who mistreat us, we are to pray; understanding, that we do
not overcome hate with more hate but that we overcome hate with
goodness.
Again, do not
be overcome with evil; rather overcome evil with good.
Now, Christians the testimony that Saint Paul, Apostle
expounds begins with Saint Paul recognizing and admonishing the
Corinthians for not understanding that there are the unjust, within
the system of the law: Saint Paul saying, how dare you go before the
unjust, when you should settle this dispute between the brethren;
especially, since it was between the brethren.
Still, this discourse testimony is clearly not only about
material possessions, but of matters of life and death and sexual
abuse, which they also had to deal with such things, in the days
Saint Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians.
Know in certainty, in the days Saint Paul wrote this letter
to the Corinthians: the politicians in Greece were given over to
their reprobate minds and did not believe in God the Heavenly
Father; rather, they believed in idols.
Therefore, these politicians being lost in the unbelief --
what regard did they have for Christ Jesus’s righteousness: his way,
truth and life, but they likely commended this man for his adultery,
who Saint Paul admonished, and said to drive out the wicked person
from among you.
Saint
Paul tells the Corinthians of their rightful place in history,
saying: do you not know [and understand] that the saints shall judge
the world.
In the
Book of Revelation, we know the certainty of this former phrase
and as well, there is a certainty to it elsewhere, saying: that the
twelve apostles along with the twelve tribes of Israel and the queen
of the south and the men of Nineveh with the Lord Christ Jesus will
sit in judgment against humankind.
Still, as the days moved forward from the time of First
Corinthians, in this age of Christ Jesus, we went through many
seasons: the dark ages were a most interesting time.
The question is asked; since the Church had the Gospel of the
Lord Christ Jesus, why did we ever go through the dark ages: what
were the priests, bishops, cardinals and popes doing that allowed
such darkness to happen -- when they had the very Gospels that we
have today and the letters of Saint Paul too.
The only answer, to the past history, must be founded in the
love of our brethren with admonishment, admonishment being love, and
also the recognition that the past history was ordained by God the
Heavenly Father to bring us to the place that we are now in, in our
present history.
Remember, Christians, we are very much present still in the age of
the Lord Christ Jesus: for his prophecy is yet unfulfilled and the
Lord Christ Jesus calls this generation a wicked and adulterous one:
for the word of God and the Lord Christ Jesus stands before us and
yet some pretend otherwise.
Yes, Christians, the responsibilities that Saint Paul make us
aware may be considered in various ways: first is that we will judge
angels, that will be a big responsibility, but remember, Satan and
his demons, they who are named in the Book of Enoch are
fallen angels: falling mainly from their false pride and this tends
towards the time of Revelation.
However, Saint Paul, Apostle, also testifies that we wrestle
against angels, principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places, and this is something that we do every day in the
present; moreover, in our prayers, we must decide these things
according to the Righteousness, being in right standing with God the
Heavenly Father and receiving the blessings of our faithfulness or
the reward of our faithlessness: again, this being a generation of
vipers, how can they, being evil, speak good things? for out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
This generation believes abortion is a good thing, yet we
know that this is an evil thing, for we are not to kill, knowing
that the law is made manifest in the spirit and that we must repent
of our sins and sinfulness, and as well, we know that those who are
murderers have no part in the kingdom of God.
Saint John, Apostle testifies: whosoever hates their brother
is a murderer: and we know that no murderer has eternal life abiding
in them: (brother in this sentence is a figure of speech and it
pertains to more individuals than our flesh and blood brothers or
sisters.)
So, now, as we
again perceive from Saint Paul’s, Apostle’s testimony, that indeed,
we will have judgment of things pertaining to life, and so we must
have goodness when it comes time to have agreements between one
another over material possessions and we are to admonish, reprove,
expose, rebuke: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the
pride of life for these things are not of God the Heavenly Father.
Remember, that God shows no partiality in judgment but is
righteous: we cannot favor according to our animalistic, our fleshes
impressions, instincts, wants and desires; rather, we must determine
and judge in accordance with Christ Jesus’s Gospel of repentance: in
accordance with Jesus Christ’s right and true, his, Jesus’s, love
and mercy, in accordance with what is just and righteousness in
faith and in Christ Jesus’s words and teachings and in the grace and
truth that Jesus Christ did bring unto humankind -- in the hopes, of
bringing those that are sick to health through repentance and in the
hopes of bringing what is lost into the light: the light being the
way, the truth and the life that is the Lord Christ Jesus.
Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us
pray and be thankful.
Amen.
Tuesday, September 17th
2024
The Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary
Time
·
1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27-31
·
Psalm 100:1-5
·
Luke 7:16
·
Luke 7:11-17
Christians, Christ Jesus travelled south to
Nain from Capernaum and before he started this journey, he marveled,
testifying, of the centurion slave owner, (a Centurion being a
commander of a hundred men in the Roman Army), Jesus Christ, saying:
“I tell you not even in Israel have I found such faith:” to
understand this marveled faith declaration, by Christ Jesus, as
Christians struggling to understand what is faith, we have this
Centurion as a prime example of faith, but it also involves
considerations.
Christians, while approaching Nain, we get this phrase of testimony:
as Jesus drew near the gate; truly this phrase is more than –
walking to a gate to get the mail – for the use of the noun, gate,
has many considerations but such considerations should not distract
us from the Gospel’s message of: “Repent and believe in the Gospel
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” but should help embellish our
understanding of our relationship with our creator, God the Heavenly
Father, the God of Jacob-Isreal.
Christians, we see from a definition of the word gate that it
is a barrier to close and to open: to the repentant and those with
worthy deeds the gates of heaven will be open but to those who
choose not to repent and choose not to believe in the Gospel of the
Lord Christ Jesus -- having unworthy deeds, the gates of the
unquenchable fires of hell will be open, but the gates of heaven
will have a great fixed gulf between them, which cannot be crossed.
Christians, let us briefly explore the gates, in this time of
Christ Jesus: there was the city gate, where courts of held justice
were frequent – as in, judge at the gate; there also is the gates of
prophecy, for prophets would testify at the gate to those coming and
going; also, criminals and sinners were punished outside of the
gates, by and through the gates of righteousness; and there are the
gates of hell, too.
Moreover, the Temple was constructed with various gates, and the
East Gate was singular to the other gates.
For in the testimony from Ezekiel: we learn that the glory of
God our Heavenly Father came to the temple by the gate that faced
east: in spiritual recognition of God the creator of heaven and the
earth and not the corporal circumstance of the sunrise.
Christians, so let us see and understand: as Christ Jesus
drew near the gate, at Nain, there was a human happening of
extraordinary circumstances about to occur -- through and by the
mighty works of the Lord Christ Jesus.
Yes, Christians, Jesus so loved this mother, who had lost her
only son that he took pity upon her and raise the dead man to life:
can we as Christians doubt that Jesus was also thinking of and
considering his own mom, the Blessed Mary, the mother of God: when
he took pity upon this mother from Nain, pity for her lost and dead
son and raised him from the dead.
The extraordinary occurrence was this: Jesus, the Christ
having recently healed the Centurion’s servant had a procession of
his disciples and Apostles and others following him to Nain, where
he noticed this funeral procession.
Christ Jesus took pity upon the mother of the dead man and
told him to arise, and the dead man did arise.
Being human and always the sinner: the imagination of the
sons of the mortician must have been wondering, if he was still
going to get paid: what about all the spices, the foods, the
charities given for the funeral – if we consider the Pharisees; it
was the likes of these: the material things that they were concerned
and the fact that Jesus, the Christ had raised this man back to
life: for the Pharisees, the scribes, the priests, and the elders it
was a complication of finances and power and authority – also
considering in truth and righteousness: what is Caesar’s give to
Caesar but what is God’s give to God.
Now Christians, Saint Paul talks about the many parts of an
individual’s body: hands, feet, eyes, nose, ears, arms, legs, but
that these many parts are only one body and so too with the Spirit
of Holiness, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit that we are to be
baptized into the one kingdom: the one gate that opens into Christ
Jesus’s kingdom of eternal life.
Christ Jesus prayed for us; that we all may be one: in the
Spirit of truth and the Holy Spirit; as God the Heavenly Father
dwells in and with Christ Jesus, and they Father and Son are one;
also, Jesus Christ prayed that we may be one with God the Heavenly
Father and the Son, the Lord Christ Jesus.
For yes, as Saint Paul, Apostle testifies, we were all
baptized into one Body … and we are given to drink of one Spirit.
Still, as the body is many parts each with their individual
responsibility: the eyes see; the ears hear; the tremendous hands
God the Heavenly Father has given unto us can be used to be
instruments of his holy righteousness or they can be used as
instruments in the preferring of darkness.
The same thing with our legs, they can be used either as
instruments of righteousness and must be used for this life-giving
way or because, we are blessed to be creatures of free will, they,
our legs, can be used as instruments of darkness; doing such deeds
as Christ Jesus testifies about the Elders and Pharisees: that they
are of their father the devil and the lust of their father they do.
Jesus testifies that the devil was a murderer from the
beginning, and did not abide in the truth; because the truth was not
in him.
When the devil,
their father speaks it is a lie, they speak of their own; it is
their character: for the devil is a liar, and the father of lies,
but when Christ Jesus spoke the truth, they did not believe him.
Yes Christians, each of us is a particular member of Christ
Jesus’s body, the Church.
Still, none of these members can be outside of the Gospel of
the Lord Christ Jesus and be considered to be a member of his body:
Saint John, Apostle testifies to the Gospel that we Christians have
received and was declared is, saying: God is light and in him is no
darkness at all!
Therefore, only through our repentance, the acknowledgement that we
are sinners and by the grace of the Lord Christ Jesus are we then
members of Christ Jesus’s body.
Yes, baptized for original sin and then washed clean in Jesus
Christ’s blood through baptism of the Holy Spirit and through
repentance -- the turning away from our sin and sinfulness and by
the grace that is established through the shed blood because of
Christ Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross -- is how we are welcomed into
Jesus’s eternal kingdom and also receive his peace; a peace that
goes beyond all understanding and his joy that is complete.
Now Christians, in the name of the Lord Christ Jesus let us
pray and be thankful.
Amen.
Tuesday, September 24th
2024
The Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary
Time
·
Proverbs 21:1-6 & 10-13
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Psalms 119:1, 27, 30, 34-35 & 44
·
Luke 11:28
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Luke 8:19-21
Christians, this last line of the Gospel
testimony from Luke, as testified from various translations gives us
these statements: those who hear the word of God and act on it or
again, those who hear the word of God and do it. Both of these
statement testimonies are not saying the same thing; yet, we know
that there is only one spirit, the spirit of truth / the Holy
Spirit: although, there are similarities in these
testimonies. Christians, to do the word of God is different than to
act the word of God; whereas we know that the truth is that we do
the word of God – the word of God must be manifest in our lives and
we most certainly do not act the word of God, for to act is the
manifestation of being a hypocrite. Now as it is said in a previous
sentence, the words: act and do have similarities, but they also
have their obvious differences. Christians, we may also rightly
testify that those who are, our brothers and sisters are those who
hear the word of God and live according to it. Still, let us see
the vital reality of these behaviors of choice: to do, to act, and
to living according to and how do we consider them! Christians, let
us now remember the Centurion that asked the Lord Jesus to heal his
slave, for whom this commander of a hundred soldiers had great
compassion and humanity, and she, this slave was a valuable member
of his family and also remember Christ Jesus’s marveled declaration
of his, the Centurion’s faith. Still, let us examine what Jesus,
the Christ said and also the commander and try to ascertain and too
understand – to make certain, why Jesus, the Christ made such a bold
statement about this Centurion: behold, I tell you not in all Israel
have I found such faith; what was this faith! Was it a simple
thing? Truly, Christians, it is sort of a simple thing, when we
finally realize the reality of truth about what Christ Jesus said
and the accurate thing that the Centurion uttered. The Centurion
who within himself, believed that he was unworthy of the Lord Christ
Jesus -- even for the Nazarene to step foot into his house,
said: Lord Jesus only say the word and my servant will be healed;
Christ Jesus declaring this statement: a great act of faith, a great
doing of faith, being in accordance with what faith is and the
simple reality of understanding is that the Centurion had faith in
the word that Christ Jesus spoke: thou shalt not have any gods
before me spoke the God of Isreal, the creator of heaven and the
earth and when Christ Jesus comes again, will he find faith upon the
earth! Now Christians, when we consider this proverb of the Lord
God our Heavenly Father directing the heart of the king, let us
remember that God the Heavenly Father testified that his uttered
word does not return to him void, but that it accomplishes what is
pleasing to him and that it shall prosper in the things whereto God
sent it. When we look at this proverb in the context of history,
from the alpha to the omega, it is easily understood and witnessed;
whereas, when we look at it -- in the day-to-day or event-to-event,
we may not be able to ascertain or witness -- as readily God our
Heavenly Father’s almighty hand as clearly or as faithfully as it is
declared and testified; nonetheless, God our Heavenly Father’s
almighty hand is at work. For instance, Christians, do we
ascertain, see clearly, understand what Saint Paul testifies from
the Book of Romans: For the wrath of God is revealed from
heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, [those]
who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Christians in the end of
this age Christ Jesus will come again to judge the living and the
dead and will reward each according to their behavior, we are now
living in the time of behavior. Christians that is to say: we are
now living in the time of faith; the time, when we live the deeds
that Christ Jesus will come again to judge either to the
deeds to the left of God’s word or the deeds to the right of God’s
word or those who do the word of the Lord God, our Lord Christ
Jesus: Jesus Christ being the refulgence, the very image of God the
Heavenly Father: Father and Son being one. Furthermore, Christians,
let no man deceive you and do not be deceived: for God the Heavenly
Father is the same today, yesterday and forever. Christians, the
thing that changed when Christ Jesus translated us from the kingdom
of darkness to the kingdom of light is that he took a way the sin of
Adam: the original sin! Christians, as well, he took away the
need to offer blood sacrifices for our sins, as was obligatory
before Christ Jesus came into the world bringing us light, life,
grace and truth and eternal life. Still, the only way to receive
this salvation in Christ Jesus is through baptism: being both born
of water and of the spirit and through repentance, the
acknowledgement of our sins and sinfulness and the turning away from
these sins, which is believing and acting in accordance with
believing and living according to the Gospel of the Lord Christ
Jesus. Christians, do you not believe in the words and teachings of
the Lord Christ Jesus: if not how can you say you believe in
Jesus! Christians, remember the parable of the wheat and the tares:
repent and believe in the Gospel for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand. This parable tells us that God the Father and Son both spoke
the true words of life, but that the evil one, those who hate God,
came and spoke words that were meant to deceive and blind people,
away, from the way, the truth and the life: Christ Jesus is the way,
the truth and the life. Jesus Christ then testifies that the
children of the evil one -- would not be pulled up or weeded out of
the garden, until the time is ripe. Yet, Christians, Jesus then
testifies: at the end of this age, this age of behavior, this age of
repentance; this age when the choice is clear: to either pretend to
believe in the Lord Christ Jesus and not live truly according to his
words and teachings or to truly love and believe in the Lord Christ
Jesus and the Heavenly Father, which is living according to their
words and teachings; whereas, Christ Jesus will then send his angels
and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin
and all evildoers. Christians to clarify, Saint John the Baptist
was not an evil doer and he exhorted and heralded: repent for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand and likewise, Christ Jesus testified:
the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and
believe in the gospel. Now Christians, in the name of the Lord
Christ Jesus let us pray and be thankful. Amen.
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