The First Places

Hello! and happy good Saturday to all of us; and, it's just 55 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Today's "daily bread":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (31 October 2015)

"JESUS then told a parable to the guests, for HE had noticed how they tried to take the places of honor.  And HE said, 'When you are invited to a wedding party, do not choose the best seat.  It may happen that someone more important than you has been invited, and your host, who invited both of you, will come and say to you:  Please give this person your place.'  What shame is yours when you take the lowest seat!

Whenever you are invited, go rather to the lowest seat, so that your host may come and say to you: 'Friend, you must come up higher.'  And this will be a great honor for you in the presence of all other guests.  For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised." - Luke 14:7-11 

(Here JESUS develops a biblical proverb inviting us to be modest in social gatherings.  Such behavior befits GOD's children.  Whatever the area of human activity may be, we should let others seek the first place, while stepping on other people as they do so.  We know that what matters is not what is seen:  GOD knows how to exalt the humble and place them where it best suits HIM. 

 

Moreover, when we go from the earthly church to the Kingdom of heaven, there will be changes in who occupies the first places.  Someone who was pope, or bishop or a prominent "Catholic" may count less than the little old lady who was selling newspapers.)

  

Why Have The Jews Not Believed?

Hello! and happy TGIF to all of us; and, it's just 56 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our "food for the soul" today:

 

THE GOOD NEWS (30 October 2015)

"I tell you sincerely in CHRIST, and my conscience assures me in the Holy Spirit that I am not lying:  I have great sadness and constant anguish for the Jews.  I would even desire that I myself suffer the curse of being cut off from CHRIST, instead of my brethren:  I mean my own people, my kin.  They are Israelites whom GOD adopted, and on them rests HIS Glory.  Theirs are the covenants, the Law, the worship and the promises of GOD.  They are descendants of the Patriarchs and from their race CHRIST was born, HE who as GOD is above all distinctions.  Blessed be HE forever and ever:  Amen!" - Romans 8:1-5

(Paul, being a Jew, shares the worries of the few Jews who have believed in CHRIST.  Why did the chosen people not recognize their Savior?  If they were a chosen nation, why were so few selected? 

 

It is the same worry of Catholic families when their children do not go to Church or when teenagers declare they have lost their faith.  It is the same uneasiness we feel in the course of a mission:  those who habitually go to Church are perhaps the hardest to lead to conversion and are the ones that most obstruct the evangelization of outsiders.

 

Faith is not transmitted in heritage from father to son, mother to daughter.  There have certainly been times and cultural systems where a whole nation followed the same religion and apparently shared the same faith.  The Book of the Acts shows how on several occasions the conversion of the head of the family brought about the baptism of the whole household.  Faith, however, will always be a grace of GOD.  In our days people have acquired complete autonomy and live in a world where all beliefs meet:  faith can no longer be a family possession.)

 

Alas For You, Jerusalem!

Hello! and happy good Thursday to all of us; and, it's just 57 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our "daily bread" for today:

"At that time some Pharisees came to JESUS and gave HIM this warning, 'Leave this place and go on your way, for Herod wants to kill you.'  JESUS said to them, 'Go and give that fox my answer: 'I drive out demons and heal today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my course!'  Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and for a little longer, for it would not be fitting for a prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem. 



Jerusalem During JESUS' Time

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone your apostles!  How often have I tried to bring together your children, as a bird gathers her young under her wings, but you refused!  From now on you will be left with your temple and you will no longer see me until the time when you will say: Blessed  is he who comes in the name of the LORD." - Luke 13:31-35 

(For Luke, disciple of Paul, it is certitude:  the day will come when Israel will  recognize CHRIST.  For JESUS has come to save Israel, which means to give sense to its history.  It will then, doubtless be the end of all other histories.)

The Twelve

Hi! and happy good mid-week to all of us; and, it's just 58 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Today's "food for the soul":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (28 October 2015)

"At this time JESUS went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with GOD.  When day came, HE called HIS disciples to HIM and chose twelve of them whom HE called apostles: Simon, whom HE named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor." - Luke 6:12-16

(JESUS keeps those whom HE loves the most in HIS prayer.  The success of HIS mission will depend upon them; other people's faith will rest on them.  JESUS does not want their call to be HIS own will: before calling them, HE wants to be certain that HE is doing the FATHER's will.  For the simple reason that CHRIST chose them and entrusted HIS Church to them, they will be tested in a thousand ways.  Therefore, JESUS wants to safeguard them through the power of HIS prayer.  The day before HIS death HE will have the consolation that not one of those the FATHER gave HIM has been lost.)

 

The Famous 12 Apostles At Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia

The Universe, Too, Waits For Its Redemption!

Hello! and happy good Tuesday to all of us; and, it's just 59 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.   Our today's "daily bread":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (27 October 2015)

"I consider that the suffering of our present life cannot be compared with the Glory that will be revealed and given to us.  All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in glory of the children of GOD.  For if now the created world was unable to attain its purpose, this did not come from itself, but from the one who subjected it.  But it is not without hope; for even the created world will be freed from this fate of death and share the freedom and glory of the children of GOD.

We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth.  Not creation alone , but even ourselves, although the Spirit was given to us as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day when GOD will give us full rights and rescue our bodies as well. 

In hope we already have salvation.  But if we saw what we hoped for, there would no longer be hope:  how can you hope for what is already seen?  So we hope for what we do not see and we will receive it through patient hope." - Romans 8:18-25

 

(Creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth.  We see in the world more contradictions and tensions than peaceful progress:  in fact this earth is not our permanent residence.  On the contrary it is a place of sorrow, and dark faith prepares us for what we await from GOD:  we wait for our full status of sons and daughters.  Nature cannot but participate with us at this birth of which the passion of JESUS is the sign.  It will share in the "liberty and glory of the children of GOD":  it would be difficult to think that resurrected persons will not have a place in a spiritualized and transfigured world.)

 

The Healing On A Sabbath Day

Hi! and happy good opening day of the week; and, it's just 60 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our first-thing-first today:

 

THE GOOD NEWS (26 October 2015)

"JESUS was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath and a crippled woman was there.  An evil spirit had kept her bent for eighteen years so that she could not straighten up at all.  On seeing her, JESUS called her and said, 'Woman you are freed from you infirmity.'  Then HE laid HIS hands upon her and immediately she was made straight and praised GOD. 

But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant because JESUS had performed this healing on the Sabbath day and he said to the people, 'There are six days in which to work; come on those days to be healed and not on the Sabbath.'

But the LORD replied, 'You hypocrites!  Everyone of you unties his ox or his donkey on the Sabbath and leads it out of the barn to give it water.  And here you have a daughter of Abraham whom Satan had bound for eighteen years.  Should she not be freed from her bonds on the Sabbath?'

When JESUS said this, all HIS opponents felt ashamed.  But the people rejoiced at the many wonders that happened through HIM." - Luke 13:10-17

 

(The word untie was used by the Jews to express that someone's sin or penalty was cancelled.  It also meant freeing an animal from its yoke.  JESUS frees the human person and invites us to follow HIS example.

 

We should not be surprised at the indignation of the chief of the synagogue. Since he had never been able to help his sick sister, he must have felt discredited by JESUS' move.  Would it not be the same with us?  It never occurred to JESUS to ask the authorities for permission to save people.)

4th Sunday, October 2015

Hi! and happy holy and family day to all of us; and, it's just 61 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our today's first-thing-first:

 

THE GOOD NEWS (25 October 2015)

 

                1st Reading  :  Jeremiah 31:7-9

 

                Psalm           :  Psalm 126:1-6

 

                2nd Reading:  Hebrew 5:1-6

 

               Gospel          :  Mark 10:46-52



"They came to Jericho.  As JESUS was leaving Jericho with HIS disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.  On hearing that it was JESUS of Nazareth passing by, he began to call out, 'Son of David, JESUS, have mercy on me!'  Many people scolded him and told him to keep quiet, but he shouted all the louder, 'Son of David, have mercy on me!'

JESUS stopped and said, 'Call him.'  So they called the blind man saying, 'Take heart.  Get up, HE is calling you.'  He immediately threw aside his cloak, jumped up and went to JESUS.

Then JESUS asked him, 'What do you want me to do for you?'  The blind man said, 'Master, let me see again!'  And JESUS said to him, 'Go your way, your faith has made you well.'  And immediately he could see, and he followed JESUS along the road." - Mark 10:46-52

 

(GOD is the one who moves us to ask something of HIM.  The blind man understands that if he lets this opportunity go by, there will not be another chance, which is why he shouts all the more while the rest try to silence him.

 

Son of David!  was a way of designating the Messiah.)

The Fig Tree Without Fruit

Hello! and happy good Saturday to all of us; and, it's just 62 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  For our today's "daily bread":

THE GOOD NEWS (24 October 2015)

"One day some persons told JESUS what had occurred in the Temple:  Pilate had Galileans killed and their blood mingled with the blood of their sacrifices.  JESUS replied, 'Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this?  I tell you: no. But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.

And those eighteen persons in Siloah who were crushed when the tower fell, do you think they were more guilty than all the others in Jerusalem?  I tell you: no.  But unless you change your ways, you will all perish as they did.'

And JESUS continued with this story, 'A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard and he came looking for fruit on it, but found none.  Then he said to the gardener: 'Look here, for three years now I have been looking for figs on this tree and I have found none.  Cut it down, why should it use up the ground?'  The gardener replied:  'Leave it one more year, so that I may dig around it and add some fertilizer; and perhaps it will bear fruit from now on.  But if it doesn't, you can cut it down'." - Luke 13:1-9 

The Fig Tree Without Fruit

 

(In this passage JESUS questions the idea we have of GOD's punishment.  We cannot believe in GOD without believing in justice.  For the Greeks whose gods were capricious and not very honest, justice was a divine power superior to the gods.  We always tend to make ourselves the center of the world and believe we are better than others.  If misfortune falls on someone else, we think it is just, but when it is our turn, we ask:  "What have I done against GOD that this should happen to me?"

The Gospel deals with several aspects of the question.  First of all let us try to free of a ghetto mentality [see Luke 6:32]:  the evil done by our enemies is not worse than the evil we do.

The justice of GOD goes far beyond our justice, and is only really fulfilled in the next life [the case of Lazarus, Luke 16:19]. 

 

The misfortune, which to us here below appears as the "punishment of GOD," is no more than a sign, a pedagogical measure used by GOD to make us aware of our sin.  And GOD often converts a sinner by granting him unexpected favors [see the case of Zaccheus, Luke 19:1].

 

Then why is there so much about GOD's punishment in the Old Testament?  GOD's people did not know yet an afterlife, so it was necessary to speak of GOD's punishment in this life, for these people to believe in HIS justice.  In fact GOD continues to give such signs both for persons and for communities.  It is good to know how to recognize them, keeping in mind they are not the last word of GOD's justice.)

Conversion

Hi! and happy TGIF to all of us; and, it's only 63 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  For our today's "food for the soul":"

THE GOOD NEWS (23 October 2015)

"JESUS said to the crowds, 'When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once:  'A shower is coming.'  And so it happens.  And when the wind blows from the south, you say:  'It will be hot'; and so it is.  You superficial people!  You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you don't understand the present times.  And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit?  When you go with your accuser before the court, try to settle the case on the way, lest he drag you before the judge and the judge deliver you to the jailer, and the jailer throw you in prison.  I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny." - Luke 12:54-59 

Paul's Conversion On The Way To Damascus

(The signs which are seen around JESUS are enough for everyone to understand that now is the time announced by the prophets, when people must be converted and Israel must acknowledge its Savior:  tomorrow will be too late.

When you go with the accuser before the court...  In Matthew's Gospel this refers to reconciliation between brothers sisters.  Luke, instead, uses this phrase in reference to our conversion.  We are on our way to GOD's judgment and it is the same as going before the authorities; therefore, we must take advantage of the time given to us to straighten out our situation.  We must not waste this moment when we can be saved from Judgment by believing in CHRIST's message.)

I Have Come To Bring Fire!

Hello! and happy good Thursday to all of us; and, it's just 64 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  For our today's "daily bread":

THE GOOD NEWS (22 October 2015)

"I have come to bring fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already kindled; but I have a baptism to undergo and what anguish I feel until it is over! 

Do you think that I have come to bring peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but rather division.  From now on, in one house five will be divided; three against two, and two against three.  They will be divided, father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law." - Luke 12:49-53

(I have come to bring fire.  Must we think of fire as referring to something precise such as love, the Gospel or the gift of the Holy Spirit?  It is better to stay with the image of the fire that purifies, burns all that is old, gives warmth and fosters life; fire of the judgment of GOD destroying all that is not surrendered to its reforming action.

JESUS comes to remake the world and to bring the jewels that will remain for eternity out of the rubble.  Those who follow JESUS must participate in this work of salvation, directed at a situation combining work, violence, suffering as well as great dreams wise or mad.

I have a baptism to undergo...  JESUS is the leader and will be the first one to face death as a means of obtaining resurrection.  This step, as "agonizing" for JESUS as it is for us, is the baptism of fire that introduces us into a glorious and eternal life.  It is the true baptism of which the others, baptisms of water and Spirit, are only a preparation.

I came to bring division.  This is followed by words of JESUS that are so upsetting for those who expect of HIM a peaceful life.  JESUS is a source of division among nations and social groups.  Often people have tried to use religion as cement for national unity or family peace.  It is true that faith is a factor in peace and understanding; but it also separates those who are truly alive from those others, be they relatives or friends, who cannot have all that is now the most important to these true believers.  Many times, the wound and the scandal of this separation are so painful for them, that they turn into our persecutors.

The Gospel does not put this world on the road to an earthly paradise, but it challenges it to grow.  The death of JESUS brings into full light what was hidden in hearts; likewise, it reveals the lies and the violence underlying our societies, just as it revealed those which underlay the Jewish Society of HIS time.) 

True Righteousness

Hello! and happy good mid-week to all of us; and, it's only 65 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our Wednesday's first-thing-first:

 

THE GOOD NEWS (21 October 2015)

"Do not allow sin any control over your mortal bodies; do not submit yourselves to its evil inclinations, and do not give your members over to sin, as instruments to do evil.  On the contrary, offer yourselves as persons returned from death to life, and let the members of your body be as holy instruments at the service of GOD.  Sin will not lord it over you again, for you are not under the Law, but under grace. 

I ask again:  are we to sin because we are not under the Law, but under grace?  Certainly not.  If you have given yourselves up to someone as his slave, you are to obey the one who commands you, aren't you?  Now with sin you go to death, and by accepting faith you go to the right way.  Let us give thanks to GOD for, after having sin as your master, you have been given to another, that is, to the doctrine of faith, to which you listen willingly.  And being free from sin, you began to serve true righteousness..." - Romans 6:12-18

 

(The faithful, although conscious of belonging totally to CHRIST, commit sins every day.  Their sins, however, do not deprive them of what is most important, trust in the FATHER, which allows them to stand up after each fall.  They know that they are and always will be sinners whom GOD forgives, as long as they try to amend and be better.  We achieve freedom day by day by voluntarily submitting to the requirements of a better life.

 

In Paul's time there were cases of slaves being exchanged by owners.  A free person with debts could sell himself to his debtor in payment of his debts.  The comparison used by Paul teaches us to be meekly at the disposal of the SPIRIT, as slaves who are not owners of their own persons.  Let us look at what the SPIRIT advises before making any decision.

 

The Christian's life must appear like slavery to whoever looks at it externally.  Yet the Christian feels and knows himself to be free.  The best example might be that of a mother totally dedicated to her sick child:  she is totally free, because she has no other law than her love.)

 

The Parable Of The Watchful Servants

Hi! and happy good Tuesday to all of us; and, it's just 66 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our today's "daily bread":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (20 October 2015)

 "Be ready, dressed for service, and keep your lamps lit, like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding.  As soon as he comes and knocks, they will open to him.  Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide awake when he comes.  Truly, I tell you, he will put on an apron and have them sit at table and he will wait on them.  Happy are those servants if he finds them awake when he comes at midnight or daybreak!" - Luke 12:35-38

 

(JESUS develops the parable of the servant expecting his master's return.  This servant is here contrasted with the rich who was only concerned about a long and comfortable life.  The servant works for GOD.

 

Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide awake.  Wide-awake, that is, concerned about tomorrow's world.  Wide-awake also means being aware of the truth; we do not consent to call "good" evil and "evil" good; we do not forgive ourselves for allowing evil and we are not intimidated before injustice.)

 

Greed!

Hi! and happy good opening day of the week; and, it's just 67 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Today's "food for the soul":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (19 October 2015)

"Someone in the crowd spoke to JESUS, 'Master, tell my brother to share with me the family inheritance.'  HE replied, 'My friend, who has appointed ME as your judge or your attorney?'  Then JESUS said to the people, 'Be on your guard and avoid every kind of greed, for even though you have many possessions, it is not that which gives you life.' 

And JESUS continued with this story, 'There was a rich man and his land had produced a good harvest.  He thought:  'What shall I do?  For I am short of room to store my harvest.'  So this is what he planned:  'I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones to store all this grain, which is my wealth.  Then I may say to myself:  My friend, you have a lot of good things put by for many years.  Rest, eat, drink and enjoy yourself.'  But GOD said to him:  'You fool!  This very night your life will be taken from you; tell ME who shall get all you have put aside?  This is the lot of the one who stores up riches instead of amassing for GOD'." - Luke 12:13-21 

(Who has appointed me as your judge?  JESUS does not resolve legal differences as do the teachers of the Law since it was the Law that decided civil and religious questions.  JESUS reserves HIS authority for what is essential:  suppressing the greed ingrained in our hearts is more important than looking at every person's right with a magnifying glass.

 

Avoid every kind of greed.   JESUS does not say people should be resigned to mediocrity or destitution, satisfied to have ten people sleep in the same room, and without any opportunity for education.  We know that all this prevents the growth of people in awareness of their dignity and their divine vocation.  JESUS does not criticize our efforts to achieve a more just society, since the whole Bible requires it.

 

It is one thing to seek justice, knowing that without justice there is neither peace nor communion; it is quite another to look at what others have with the desire to share their greed.  Today we clamor for justice, but tomorrow we may only seek more superfluous "necessities".  Such greed will never let us rest and, what is more, it will close the door of the Kingdom on us.

 

Possessions do not give life.  Make sure that your concern to have what you lack does not make you neglect what could give you life now.

 

In this regard, we should allow the poor to speak, all those brothers and sisters of ours who, though immersed in poverty, continue to be persons who live, in the strongest sense of this word.  Should we pity them, or should we count them among the few who already enjoy the Kingdom of GOD?  One of the greatest obstacles preventing the liberation of people is their own greed.  The day they agree to participate in powerful boycotts and not go their own way in the pursuit of advantages for one or other category, they shall begin to live as people.
 

 

What shall I do?  The rich man in the parable planned for larger barns for his sole profit and JESUS condemned him.  We too must consider what we should do to bring about a better distribution of the riches of the world.

 

The person who amasses for GOD knows how to find happiness in the present moment.  Wherever she is, she tries to create a network of social relationships through which everyone gives to others and receives from them instead of wanting and getting things in a selfish way.)

3rd Sunday, October 2015

Hello! and happy holy and family day to all of us; and, it's just 68 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  For this Sunday's first-thing-first:

 

THE GOOD NEWS (18 October 20215)

 

                1st Reading  :  Isaiah 53:10-11

 

                Psalm           :  Psalm 33:4-22

 

                2nd Reading:  Hebrew 4:14-16

 

                Gospel         :  Mark 10:35-45

"We have a great High Priest, JESUS, the Son of GOD, who has entered heaven.  Let us, then, hold fast to the faith we profess.  Our High Priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses, for HE was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sinning.  Let us, then, with confidence approach the throne of grace; we will obtain mercy and, through HIS favor, help in due time." - Hebrew 4:14-16 

 

(It is helpful to look at the role of CHRIST, the High Priest, at this time when the Church reminds us that all the faithful are associated with the priestly role of CHRIST.  We must represent humanity before GOD; we are consecrated to GOD for that purpose.

 

 

 

In the Eucharist, we thank GOD in the name of everyone.  In daily life we must be instruments of the grace of GOD by being people who promote truth, encourage love and establish peaceful relationships.)

 

               

      

Blasphemy!

Hi! and happy good Saturday to all of us; and, it's just 69 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Today's "daily bread":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (17 Ocotober2015)

"I tell you, whoever acknowledges ME before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of GOD.  But the one who denies ME before others will be denied before the angels of GOD.

There will be pardon for the one who criticizes the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit. 

When you are brought before the synagogues, governors and rulers, don't worry about how you will defend yourself or what to say.  For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you have to say." - Luke 12:8-12

 

(To slander or to blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to attribute to a bad spirit a work that is manifestly good.  Those who systematically attribute bad intentions to good work done by others, by the Church, by other parties, sin against the Holy Spirit.  The one who recognizes the truth but not GOD is better off than the one who says he believes in GOD but does not recognize the truth.)

 

Buried Sin Ruins Our Conscience!

Hello! and happy TGIF to all of us; and, it's just 70 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  This Friday's "daily bread':

 

THE GOOD NEWS (16 October 2015)

"Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven, whose iniquity is wiped away.

Blessed are those in whom the LORD sees no guilt, and in whose spirit is found no deceit.

When I kept my sin secret, my body wasted away, I was moaning all day long.

YOUR  hand day and night lay heavy upon me; draining my strength, parching my heart as in the heart of a summer drought.

Then I made known to YOU my sin and uncovered before YOU my fault, saying to myself, 'To the LORD I will now confess my wrong.'

And YOU, YOU forgave my sin, YOU removed my guilt." - Psalm 32:1-5

 

(It is good to clarify what was not really sin but caused by guilt.  On the other hand, nothing is gained in denying a fault and still less a sin.  In Christian language, sin signifies that we committed a wrong not with a law but towards someone we love.

 

Our well-being, in the truest meaning of the word, depends on the quality of our relationship with GOD:  what sin has destroyed will only be restored by trust in GOD who pardons the humble and the repentant.  When we ask GOD to heal someone, we do not separate health of body from health of soul.  Buried sin ruins our conscience.  Confession is always a liberation.) 

 

A Curse Is On You, Teachers Of The Law!

Hi! and happy Thursday to all of us; and, it's just 71 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our today's first-thing-first:

 

THE GOOD NEWS (15 October 2015)

"(The Wisdom of GOD also said,) 'I will send prophets and apostles and this people will kill and persecute some of them.  But the present generation will have to answer for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary.  Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will have to answer for them all.

A curse is on you, teachers of the Law, for you have taken the key of knowledge.  You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering'." - Luke 11:49-52

 

(Those who, before Luke, wrote down this saying of JESUS:  I will send prophets... [which we also read in Matthew 23:34], introduced it with the formula:  "Wisdom says," which was a way of designating JESUS.  When Luke placed these lines within JESUS' discourse, he forgot to take out these words.  Removing them would have made the text a lot clearer.



 

 JESUS states that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law will be mainly responsible for the persecution against the first Christians [against those apostles and prophets HE is going to send].

 The warning of JESUS is equally relevant for Christian institutions and all those who in one way or another guide the community.  We too, perhaps, build a church for the "elite" who unconsciously despise the poor and the lowly.  So very quickly were the prophets paralyzed or eliminated.

 

You yourselves have entered, and you prevented others from entering.  Is not this one of the reasons why so many simple people go to other churches?)

Woe To You Pharisees!

Hello! and happy mid-week to all of us; and, it's just 72 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Today's "food for the soul":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (14 October 2015)

"As JESUS was speaking, a Pharisee asked HIM to have a meal with him.  So HE went and sat at table.  The Pharisee then wondered why JESUS did not first wash HIS hands before dinner.  But the LORD said to him, 'So then, you Pharisees, you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside yourselves you are full of greed and evil.  Fools!  HE who made the outside, also made the inside.  But according to you, by the mere giving of alms everything is made clean'." - Luke 11:37-41 

 

(The Bible does not demand these ritual purifications that Mark also mentions in 7:3, but the teachers of JESUS' time insisted they were necessary.  JESUS rebels against these new religious obligations.  Why do they not pay more attention to inner purification?) 

 

The Saving Justice Of GOD!

Hi! and good happy Tuesday to all of us; and, it's just 73 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our today's "daily bread":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (13 October 2015)

"For I am not ashamed at all of this Good News;  it is GOD's power saving those who believe, first the Jews, and then the Greeks.  This Good News shows us the saving justice of GOD; a justice that saves exclusively by faith, as the Scripture says:  The upright one shall live by faith." - Romans 1:16-17 

 

(HE who is proclaimed Savior by Paul is a crucified Jew, an unknown carpenter.  How often they laughed at Paul when he spoke about this dead man who had risen from the tomb to be the Judge of humankind!

 

The miracles that accompany the preaching of the Gospel are signs of GOD's powerful action in transforming people and history in every place where the Gospel is preached and inspires those who hear it.

 

The word justice used by Paul also signifies uprightness.  On the other hand, when he speaks of the justice of GOD usually he is not saying that GOD is just:  HIS justice denotes an intervention to keep order in the world.  In a special way the justice of GOD has humans to become just, that is, upright before HIS eyes.  It is a matter of understanding that the words justice and just had a wide meaning in the Christian vocabulary and now simply designate all that is good:  being just speaks of a life as GOD would have it.  The just person is rather like a saint, in the way we understand it today, or putting it more modestly, she is as she should be in GOD's eyes.

 

For that reason we shall at times translate GOD justifies us by:  GOD makes us just and holy, or: GOD gifts us with true righteousness.

 

The Jews, like most humans, thought that people become righteous by their own efforts.  Paul retorts that the righteousness GOD wants is something much greater and beyond what human efforts can achieve.  We are upright and friends of GOD when HE allows us to approach HIM after making us holy by HIS grace.

 

The apostles preached the Gospel to two classes of persons:

       - the Jews, prepared by GOD to receive the Savior,

       - the Greeks [or people who spoke the Greek language].  In fact, the Jews considered Greek all those who were subjects of the Roman Empire.  These people did not know the Word of GOD, nor did they have any hope in HIM.

 

Paul shows that all people need the Gospel.  Because the world lives in sin, and all of us to a greater or lesser degree are responsible for existing evil, we must believe in the Gospel if we want to be saved.)

 

Jonah And The Ninevites

Hello! and happy opening day of the week; and, it's just 74 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our today's opening "daily bread":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (12 October 2015)

"As the crowd increased, JESUS began to speak in this way, 'People of the present time are evil people.  They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah.  As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation.  The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here there is greater than Solomon.  The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah's preaching made them turn from their sins, and here there is greater than Jonah'." - Luke 11:29-32 

 (The Ninevites, being sinners, received no other divine sign than the coming of Jonah, who invited them to repent.  JESUS contemporaries believe they are "good" because they belong to the people of GOD, and they do not realize that the hour has come for them to repent as well.

 

Jonah Preaching The Ninevites

The people of Nineveh will rise up with these people and accuse them.  JESUS again uses the traditional image of collective judgment where each one excuses himself by pointing out that others have done worse.  This image retains a deep truth:  all that GOD has given to each one of us should produce fruits for all humanity.)

 

2nd Sunday, October 2015

Hi! and happy holy and family day to all of us; and, it's just 75 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  Our first-thing-first this Sunday:

 

THE GOOD NEWS (11 October 2015)

 

                1st Reading  :  Wisdom 7:7-11

               

                Psalm           :  Psalm 90:12-17

 

                2nd Reading:  Hebrew 4:12-13

 

                Gospel         :  Mark 10:17-30

"I prayed and understanding was given to me;  I asked earnestly and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. 

I preferred her to scepters and thrones and I considered wealth as nothing compared with her.

I preferred her to any jewel of inestimable value, since gold beside her is nothing but a few grains of sand, and silver but mud.  I loved her more than wealth and beauty and even preferred her to light, because her radiance never dies.

She brought with her all other good things, untold riches in her hands." - Wisdom 7:7-11

(This is an invitation to seek Wisdom as one would seek a spouse:  we remember that at this time sovereign rulers would "espouse" such and such divinity which allowed them at times to take possession, in the name of their spouse, of the treasures in his temple.  Seeking the Wisdom of GOD is no different from what we do when we speak of union with CHRIST:  we must not forget that HE is uncreated Wisdom.  This communion is not a matter of something sentimental:  it is the costly and never-ending search for the one who is the Truth.

 

I preferred her to any jewel of inestimable value.  See Matthew 13:44-45.)

 

Blessed Is The One Who Bore You!

Hello! and happy good Saturday to all of us; and, it's just 76 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  For today's "daily bread":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (10 October 2015)

"As JESUS was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to HIM, 'Blessed is the one who bore you and nursed you!'  JESUS replied, 'Surely blessed are those who hear the word of GOD and keep it as well'." - Luke 11:27-28 

 

(The woman envies the mother of JESUS and is full of admiration for HIS way of speaking.  She is mistaken if she thinks that JESUS relatives can be proud on HIS account, and she is wasting her time if she admires HIS words instead of making them her own.  So JESUS turns her towards the FATHER, whose word HE gives, and to herself, whom GOD invites to the family of HIS sons and daughters.

 

As for Mary, the mother of JESUS, the one who believed, she kept all the words and deeds of the LORD in her heart.)

JESUS And Beelzebul

Hello! and happy TGIF to all of us; and, it's just 77 days to go before Christmas, GUYS.  For this weekend's "food for the soul":

 

THE GOOD NEWS (09 October 2015)

"One day JESUS was driving out a dumb demon.  When the demon had been driven out, the mute person could speak, and the people were amazed.  Yet some of them said, 'HE drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.  So others wanted to put HIM to the test by asking HIM for a heavenly sign. 

But JESUS knew their thoughts and said to them, 'Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall.  If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end.  How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul?  If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your fellow members drive out demons?  They will be your judge, then. 

Syrian Civil War

But suppose I drive out demons by the finger of GOD; would not this mean that the kingdom of GOD has come upon you?  As long as the strong and armed man guards his house, his goods are safe.  But when a stronger one attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on and disposes of his spoils.

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters.

When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands looking for a resting place.  And finding none, it says, I will return to my house from which I came.  When it comes, it finds the house swept and everything in order.  Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits even worse than itself.  They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first'." - Luke 11:14-26

 

(HE drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul.  More than the healings, the exorcisms unsettled the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law.  They, the religious authorities, traveled from Jerusalem to see this JESUS for themselves.  The Jews of JESUS' time were obsessed with the belief that illness was a form of possession.  JESUS does not concern HIMSELF with distinguishing between illness and possession.  Actually, the Devil is behind all human misery.  Beelzebul, the name of an ancient idol, was a Jewish term for the Devil.

 

 

By the finger of GOD.  In Exodus 8:15, the same expression is used to designate the power of GOD working miracles.

 

Whoever is not with ME...  This phrase seems to contradict Luke 9:50:  Whoever is not against you is with you. In fact, in Luke 9:50, JESUS admits that HIS spiritual family goes much beyond the visible group of HIS disciples:  those who, without belonging to the church, work for the same goals, must be considered as friends.

 

In Luke 11:23, on the other hand, JESUS speaks of people who refuse to stand with HIM and HIS message and who want to remain uncommitted:  they do not join HIM, and later they will criticize HIM.

 

The Jews believed that evil spirits preferred to live in the desert or, rather, that GOD had banished them there.  Here JESUS is speaking of people who only believe for a while because they do not repent enough of their past sins.  They enjoyed listening to the word, but they did not take the costly measures that would have allowed them to heal the root of evil.)