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“‘Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven’” (Matthew 6:20). The believer is to be generous in his giving. The early church was not interested in accumulating great wealth for itself. In Acts 2, for example, thousands of pilgrims gathered in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost. When Peter preached the gospel on that day, 3,000 persons became believers, and soon afterward thousands more were added to the church. The pilgrims who became believers didn’t want to return to their former homes since they were now part of the church. So the believers in Jerusalem had to absorb them. Since many...

How Justice and Mercy are Alike with God Msgr. Charles Pope • August 12, 2018 • Many people today set mercy and justice in opposition to each other, but where is mercy if justice is absent? Could the victims of genocide really be said to experience mercy if their unrepentant killers were ushered past them into the Kingdom of Heaven? Could Heaven even be Heaven if unrepentant sinners dwelled there? At some point, mercy demands that justice rightly separate what is stubbornly evil from what is good. For now, there is a time of mercy and access to the...

Proverb 13 (NKJV) Wisdom Loves Righteousness 01 A wise son heeds his father's instruction, 00 But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. 02 A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, 00 But the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence. 03 He who guards his mouth preserves his life, 00 But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction. 04 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; 00 But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. 05 A righteous man hates lying, 00 But a wicked man is...

August 13, 2018 Monday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Ez 1:2-5, 24-28c On the fifth day of the fourth month of the fifth year,that is, of King Jehoiachin's exile,The word of the LORD came to the priest Ezekiel,the son of Buzi,in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar.—There the hand of the LORD came upon me. As I looked, a stormwind came from the North,a huge cloud with flashing fire enveloped in brightness,from the midst of which (the midst of the fire)something gleamed like electrum.Within it were figures resembling four living creaturesthat looked...

(God)Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life, But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,indignation and wrath,(Romans 2:6-8)The Infinite, personal God of the Bible, is going to judge the world in Righteousness. The standard is absolute perfection, it could be no less. “The Righteousness that he requires, is the righteousness his righteousness requires him to require…”(anon). Put aside the question of Jew or Gentile, and consider, what does Righteousness according to God’s...

Cor Orans Revisited...Read Hilary's Cor orans, Part I HERE.[Editor’s Note: “Cor Orans” (“Praying Heart”) is the title of an April 1, 2018 document that implements instructions on how to apply Pope Francis’ 2016 Apostolic Constitution – “Vultum Dei Quaerere” (“Seek the Face of God”) addressed to Catholic women religious in contemplative communities. MJM]One of the abiding characteristics of documents coming from the current administration in the Vatican is the aspect of “bait and switch,” the clever couching of completely opposite intentions in pious Catholic language. Many of the critics-of-the-critics of Amoris Laetitia pointed to the “good” passages of that document...

"Love is patient . . . kind . . . not jealous . . . does not brag . . . is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly . . . does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:4-7). Love is difficult to define, but it can be described by the behavior it produces. Paul painted a portrait of the kind of love Jesus wants to produce...

“‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal’” (Matthew 6:19). Heaven is the only safe place for treasure. In the Orient during biblical times, wealth was basically preserved in three ways. There was no paper, there were no bank books, there was nothing to match the kind of system we have. Wealth was identified in literal commodities: garments, grain, and gold or precious metals. Garments in the Bible were always an expression of wealth. In Judges 14:12 Samson told the Philistines that if they could answer his...

Oh my beloved, my heart rejoices greatly when I think about my Heavenly Father’s wondrous love towards you and me; sinners saved by His ETERNAL grace and mercy (John 3:16-17, 1 John 3:1-4)! To all of us that know God the Father by means of Jesus Christ our Savior, we are called His sons or children (John 1:12, Rom 8:14-19, 1 John 3:1-3)! Such wondrous truths cannot even begin to be fully comprehended by His redeemed ones (1 Cor. 2:9)! It will take all of FOREVER just to begin to experience and enjoy the PERFECT LOVE of our Heavenly Father!...

Far Greater Than These (Lyrics) (Matt. 19:27-30, 1 Cor. 2:9, 1 John 3:1-3, 1 Peter 1:18-19, Rev. 21; 22:1-5) If I possessed, all riches and lands And jewels that exceed all the grains of the sand But far greater than these, vaster then earth's vanities Is my Father's wondrous love for me As I ponder the glorious thought Of this world's wonders my Savior has wrought But far greater than these, vaster than the galaxies Is my Father's wondrous love for me Eyes have no seen, nor the glories been told His majestic ways, His children shall behold But far...

August 12, 2018 Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Reading 1 1 Kgs 19:4-8 Elijah went a day's journey into the desert,until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death saying:"This is enough, O LORD! Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers." He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat. Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cakeand a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again,but the...

"If I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3). Wrong motives rob even the greatest sacrifice of its spiritual benefit. So far in his denunciation of loveless ministries, Paul has addressed what we say, what we know, what we believe, and how we give. Now he comes to the apex of his argument: how we die. Many Christians have made the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom, but even that is useless without love. In Paul's time, many slaves were branded with a hot iron to identify them as belonging to...

“‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth’” (Matthew 6:19). The believer is to use his possessions unselfishly. Some years ago I happened to have contact with two quite wealthy men during the same week. One was a former professor at a major university who through a series of investments made possibly a hundred million dollars. In the process, however, he lost his family, his happiness, and his peace of mind and had aged far beyond his years. The other man, a pastor, also made some investments and acquired great wealth but was not preoccupied with his investments. Because...

August 11, 2018 Memorial of Saint Clare, Virgin Reading 1 Hab 1:12—2:4 Are you not from eternity, O LORD,my holy God, immortal?O LORD, you have marked him for judgment,O Rock, you have readied him punishment!Too pure are your eyes to look upon evil,and the sight of misery you cannot endure.Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silencewhile the wicked man devoursone more just than himself?You have made man like the fish of the sea,like creeping things without a ruler.He brings them all up with his hook,he hauls them away with his net,He gathers them in his seine;and...

"If I give all my possessions to feed the poor . . . but do not have love, it profits me nothing" (1 Cor. 13:3). Love is characterized by self-sacrifice, but not all self-sacrifice is an act of love. If you've ever donated to your church or another charitable organization out of obligation, peer pressure, legalism, guilt, a desire for recognition, or simply a tax deduction, you know what it means to give without love. In our society it's easy to fall prey to that kind of giving because the needs are so great and fund raisers appeal to every...

“‘Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth’” (Matthew 6:19). Wealth comes from God, and we are to manage it wisely for Him. John Wesley was a godly man who devoted his life to serving the Lord. What is not as well known perhaps is that he was rich, gaining most of his wealth from his published hymns and other works. At one point in his life he gave away 40,000 pounds sterling—a fortune in those days. When he died, his estate was worth only twenty-eight pounds, for he had given nearly everything to the Lord’s work. It is...

Proverb 10 (NKJV) A Wise Son and a Foolish Son01 The proverbs of Solomon: 00 A wise son makes a glad father, 00 But a foolish son is the grief of his mother. 02 Treasures of wickedness profit nothing 00 But righteousness delivers from death. 03 The LORD will not allow the righteous soul to famish, 00 But He casts away the desire of the wicked. 04 He who has a slack hand becomes poor, 00 But the hand of the diligent makes rich. 05 He who gathers in summer is a wise son; 00 He who sleeps in...

August 10, 2018 Feast of Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr Reading 1 2 Cor 9:6-10 Brothers and sisters:Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,for God loves a cheerful giver.Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,so that in all things, always having all you need,you may have an abundance for every good work.As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;his righteousness endures forever. The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for foodwill supply...

In Catholic News Service, Global ChurchCatholic News ServiceAug 9, 2018 CONTRIBUTORChinese Catholics pray in late January in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Beijing. (Credit: Roman Pilipey/EPA via CNS.) Two underground parish priests in China's Gansu province have been removed after being accused of holding a summer camp for a youth group at their church. GANSU, China - Two underground parish priests in China’s Gansu province have been removed after being accused of holding a summer camp for a youth group at their church.Father Wang Yiqin of Hui county and Father Li Shidong of Leling in Shandong province...

"If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing" (1 Cor. 13:2). Loveless faith is useless faith. In Matthew 17:19 the disciples came to Jesus wanting to know why they couldn't cast a demonic spirit from a child. Jesus responded, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you" (v. 20). He repeated the same principle in...