"But Yours eat and drink!"

Here, the "Hypocrisy" of the Scribes and Pharisees is made quite evident. This should be a lesson for each and every one of us, and that is, to Avoid, like the plague, Comparing ourselves with others, and by so doing, somehow try to justify our failings by pointing the attention to others. I can Always find someone worse than myself, so the Comparison is a False one.

If I feel the need to justify myself before others, I have an Ego problem. Why should I give a hoot what others think of me? Is not The "Only" Person that I must seek to please is Our Lord and Him Alone?

By so doing, I will Comport myself in such a way, that fulfilling my Obligations before God and Man, my actions will be Beyond Reproach, and therefore, Never be an Issue. And when up against Injustices and the repricussions due perhaps, to the Jealosy of others, I will have no fear of them, but instead, will accept any and all Reprimands and Rebukes as "Medals of Honor."

Humility does not reside in self-belittlement, but rather in The Truth. And as long as I do my best to fulfill the Duties and Demands of my Vocation with Faith in God's Love and Mercy, seeking to Obey my Heavenly Father's Will, I will have No Fear of the judgements of others. In fact, often times the criticism and even the Hatred of one's peers, is a "Sign" that you are Fulfilling The Will of God and thus angering the forces of evil.

Opposition Often shows us that we are on the Right path, for the Devil and his minions will do all in thier power to undermine any Good that we seek to accomplish. It is for this reason that we should always seek Counsel from those whom we consider to be Wise in the ways of The Spirit, While at the same time taking advantage of The Sacrament of Confession as often as possible.

By Uniting our Spiritual Life with our Daily Activities, we will travel on an Even Path, one that will allow us, not only to Fulfill The Demands of our Vocation, but at the same time, with the Help of Divine Grace, Perfect every action, thereby "Becoming," as we are Called to Be, The Incarnation of Our Lords Presence in the world.

God Bless You

"Pope St Gregory The Great"

"The First Monk Elected to The Papacy on this day in 590, St Gregory The Great, was a Champion of The Poor and an Advocate for Peace, defining The Papacy as One Who is a, "Servant of The Servants of God"

We can clearly see that quite Early in The History of Christianity, we find that after the Death of one of the Monks from His Monastery, He, as Pope, Ordered 30 days of Masses to be celebrated for The Repose of his Soul.

As Catholic Christians, we Pray for The Holy Souls in Purgatory, which can infuriate those opposed to The Church, which, rather than founded on Tradition, thier disbelief in Purgatory was a heretical concept created in the 15th Century, in order, along with thier Rejection of The Papacy, The Holy Eucharist, Confession, The Priesthood, and Devotion to The Mother of God, would effectively make thier revolt, so completely Different from Catholocism that, once devoid of it's Doctrines, would make Faith in Jesus Christ a much easier Proposition, and therefore few would want to return to follow the Rigorisms that had been the Constant Teachings of The Church since Apostolic times.

It wasn't untill the 1500's that these heresies were created, and one might ask, what kind of God would leave His Church, Founded by His Only Begotten Son, in Absolute Error for Fifteen Hundred Years? Therefore, One would need quite a bit of "Mental Gymnastics" to justify such a teaching.

By the Recognition of this "Third Tier" of The Mystical Body of Christ, The Church "Penitent," we are able to comprehend The Fullness of our Faith. While at the same time Embracing the other Two, which are The Church "Triumphant" those Souls who have made it to Heaven, and finally, The Church "Militant," those of us, upon this earth, Waging the War against Evil.

To be continuously aware of these Three Ellements of The Mystical Body of Christ, enables us, First The Strength, afforded by Grace to Conquer the Evil Within Ourselves, and in the world, Second, The Heavenly aspect, which affords us The "Hope" of, one day achieving The Blessedness of The Saints, and Finally The Penitent Church, the knowledge of which, affords us the Grace to practice Charity, by Praying and offering Sacrifices for the Spiritual Benefit of those who have gone before us, the practice of which has been done since The very Beginnings of The Church.

All Three make up The "Family" of Christians, and at Every Sacrifice of The Mass, ALL, Including The Nine Choirs of Angels, are PRESENT Along With us. This Wondrous Aspect of our Faith, along with The Continuous Guidance of The Holy Spirit in Protecting The Deposit of Faith down throughout the Centuries, Affords us all, The Certitude that if we Continue on The Path Given and Manifested to us By Christ and His Church, The Victory over, Ignorance, Injustice and Sin, will be ours.

Let us then, along with The Entire Mystical Body of Christ, work Diligently for the Fulfillment of the Very Words of our Lord and SaviourJesus, found in The Prayer That He Himself Taught us, "THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN."

God Bless You

"We are God's Co-Workers"

In The Spiritual Exercizes of St Ignatius, we Contemplate The Two "Standards," That of Christ, and that of Satan.

This is the "Choice" that each one of us makes in life, either I am the Torchbearer for my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or I will Champion the standard of Satan.

In One, I Find my Leader Jesus, Standing "With" me, and in the other, I find that the followers of Satan must Grovel before him and, like the Coward he is, sends his Captives out before him to do his dirty work.

In one, there is The Dignity of The Sons and Daughters of God, and in the other, they are no more than Miserable Slaves to be used at will.

In The Standard of Christ, one is Self Governed by Love, and in the standard of Satan they are Dominated by Fear and Hate.

This Spiritual duality is quite easily descovered in the lives of those individuals who follow One or the other.

There are those, who filled with The Love of God, bring Peace, Kindness, Compassion and Mercy wherever they go, and to Whomsoever they meet, thus Raising up Humanity, Respectful of The Freedom of each individual to Seek The Joy and Liberty that is thier Right, a Right that Comes from God and God Alone.

And the others, who, filled with thier own self importance, will tend to be Judgemental, Negative, even Merciless to those they consider thier enemies, and filled with a Demonic Hate They will seek only to destroy any and all who get in the way of thier agenda, which is the Destruction of The Soul of each individual they meet, bringing, Want, Misery and Dispair, always hidden under the Sheep's clothing of Deception, promising a Utopia devoid of any Personal responsibility and supplying Every sort of pseudo need.

This Spiritual Battle, once hidden by the Evil one, is now in the open, and can plainly be witnessed by anyone with Reason and Common Sense. Yet all is not Lost, for not only are we Guaranteed The Victory over Evil by Our Beloved Lord through His Passion, Death and Resurrection, but I must always remember, and take heart, that the Devil, who is "The father of Lies," will always scream loudest that he has Won, the closer he comes to loosing Everything!

God Bless God!

& God Bless You

"Natural VS Spiritual"

It is obvious that there are Two ways of "SEEING the World;"

Earthly and Spiritually.

To the atheist, everything revolves around the "Finite" and therefore, they stifle their ability to see all the "Possibilities." It is for this reason that it has generally been the Experience of Man, that great advances in Human development, both physically and Socially, have been through Men and Women of Faith.

The proof is Obvious, especially when contemplating those societies that reject or Supress Belief in God, there is always the Smothering of "Imagination and Descovery." Think of it, when was the last great Cure in Medicine that was touted by a Communist or Socialist Regime? One would be hard pressed to find anything, except, of course, those "advancements" in Control and Supression of thier people.

The "Spiritual" view, on the other hand, has "Inspired" Individuals to Reach for The Heavens, for thier Belief in a Divine Supreme Being, Who Created All things, enables us to go way Beyond the Natural Order, in able to Descover what the "Physicalist" fails to see.

The mind of Man, once United to the Divine, is able to Perceive Infinite Possibilities, while at the same time is Humbled by The Greatness of Divine Providence. Without such Faith, knowledge can become destructive, for without "Moral Principles" to guide them, Egotistical Pride will envelope thier research, leading them to a "Self serving" preoccupation, thereby limiting any sort of Positive advancement for anyone but themselves.

Our Faith, God's Greatest Gift to Mankind, enables each one of us to Soar like an Eagle, Above the turmoil of pettiness and self indulgence, to see clearly the needs of others, and because the Motivation behind Every act of The Christian is LOVE, all that they do works for the Good of Everyone.

Therefore, as a Follower of Christ, one is not only raised to a dignity far beyond thier Human Nature, but Because of The very Faith Itself, which Fills the Heart of Every Christian, thier Ability to achieve Great things for the Benefit of Humanity, can be a "World Changing" Force for Good.

Is it any wonder then that all Hell is Enraged against those Faith Filled Individuals, Who seek to Lead others by thier Example and Love of Neighbor, rather than by Force?

Thank God For God!

God Bless You

"I came to you proclaiming Jesus Christ and Him Crucified"

So often, especially in modern times we can hear many Sermons on The Fact that "Jesus Saves," but what is left out is, "Him Crucified."

Such an Omission seems to ignore the Fact that we all must Embrace The Cross, which is an Essential part of our Belief in Christ. And the fact that St John does Not say, "I preach Christ and His Cross" He specifically uses the word "Crucified" turning our attention to Christ ON The Cross.

St John knew that a cross without Christ was simply a "Symbol" of torture and death, whereas, Christ ON The Cross is not only The Definition of Love, but The Representation of our Salvation, as well as an Example to follow. For many murderers and thieves we're Crucified, and the Only way to be certain that it is His, is if He is ON it.

In The Church, We make the sign of the Cross, as a whitness to The Acceptance of our "Participation" in Our Lord's Passion and Death, through The Gift of Baptism.

St Francis of Assisi, when ordered to approach the Sultan Al-Kamil in Egypt, was made to walk upon a carpet filled with Crosses, and after looking down at the carpet, boldly walked up to the sultan, at which time, thinking that Frances was a Hypocrite, said, you walk upon the cross of your Lord Whom you adore? At which St Francis replied, "There were many thieves and murderers Crucified, those crosses belong to them."

St Francis Loved Christ Crucified, seeing in Our Lord upon the Cross, the fulfillment of The Beatitudes, after which he modeled his Community of Friars.

In the same way, I must model my own life upon my Lord Crucified, not the resurrected Christ, for we Hope in that, but rather while living in this "Valley of Tears," it is the Contemplation of our Lord Hanging upon The Cross that will give us the strength and Courage to Conquer our sin and one day come at last to The Resurrection.

God Bless You