"You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16: 13 NIV)
Are you tempted to do this to see if you can defy Jesus Christ?
Dishonest wealth also called filthy lucre is tempting. Like the apple in the Garden of Eden.
Bible teachers instruct that filthy lucre follow filthy lust as night follows day.
God gives us this incredible promise:
"Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never forsake you or abandon you.” (Hebrews 13: 5 NABRE)
"Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart
and yield a harvest through perseverance." (Cf Luke 8: 15 RM)
If you embrace the word of God with a generous heart and bear fruit through perseverance, all thanks to Jesus who is the Evergreen Cypress Tree. It is because of Him that we are faithful and fruitful. (Hosea 14: 8)
"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied." (1 Corinthians 15: 19 NIV)
Do you believe in the Resurrection of the dead? Have you considered the truth that God never requires us to believe in anything that is unreasonable? God always provides the grounds for belief. In the case of the certainty of our Resurrection, God reminds us that we are surrounded by clouds of witnesses. (Hebrews 12 : 1) Then there is the inward testimony to the truth: Do you seriously think that your departed loved ones have vanished forever?
Our faith is not in vain. Christ is risen. We shall rise.
"Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother." (John 19: 25 NIV)
Some of us have watched on television the execution of a criminal by lethal injection or by some other means. I have never identified a mother among the small crowd watching the most gruesome sight ever.
When the prophet Simeon said to Mary, "your own soul a sword will pierce," (Luke 2: 35), did Mary take this literally?
Her destiny in the plan of our salvation was to stand close by the cross of Jesus, hear His very last words and share intimately His suffering. After 3 hours on the cross, Jesus said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son." Then to the disciple, John, "Behold, your mother." (John 19: 27)
With this great example of Mary, may we accept with serenity the sufferings we can not avoid.
"With their patience worn out by the journey, the people complained against God and Moses." (Numbers 21: 4-5 RM)
Our life is a Journey of Faith from earth to our true Homeland. How do you sustain your spirit so that your patience is not worn out by the inevitable problems on the Road?
Christ Jesus has given us great and effective tools: Prayer, Word of God, Holy Communion, Sacrament of Reconciliation, etc.
Happy Journeying!
"Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts." (1 Corinthians 12: 31 NABRE)
What is your greatest spiritual gift?
For me, it is the gift of prayer. Prayer can dig you out of any hole.
I believe in prayer. I believe in the word of God. I believe in miracle. I leave the rest to God.
St John Chrysostom, Church Father and Doctor of the Church, whose feast day is today says of prayer:
"Prayer is a treasure undiminished, a mine never exhausted, a sky unobstructed by clouds, a haven unruffled by storm."
St Augustine, another Church Father and Doctor of the Church says: "If you pray well, you live well; if you live well, you die well. If you die well, all is well."
"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes." (1 Corinthians 11: 26 NABRE)
What is "this bread and cup?" St Paul refers to the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Why did he say that in participating in the Eucharist, we acknowledge and proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes? We come to the Eucharist acknowledging that the death of Jesus Christ on the cross is a sacrifice for the Redemption of the world and not a Roman execution of a criminal.
Do the Eucharist often in remembrance of Jesus.
