Today at Holy Mass we hear from St Luke…Far too many people think Jesus was just some hippie…......”Its all good”…..Today’s reading tells us other wise….”Jesus entered the temple area and proceeded to drive out those who were selling things, saying to them, “It is written, My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves”….As we read, Jesus literally and physically drove out thieves from the Temple…But how does Jesus do the same thing today?….Each of us, our very bodies are a Temple of the Holy Spirit…Jesus had and has one purpose, to free us from sin and enable us to live a life of grace….To this very day, Christ is “driving out sin” from within his Church and don’t forget YOU are his Church!…….Jesus was not some “hippie”….Its not “all good”
Friday, November 22, 2024
This is how Jesus “drives out” sin in the world to this very day…..Grace juxtapose against sin…The two are like oil and water
“My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord; I know them, and they follow me”
Some things just do not go together…One example of that is grace juxtapose against sin…The two are like oil and water…..Like two ends of a magnet, they repel naturally away from each other…This is why St Paul tells us in Scripture…”Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”…….Whenever I hear in the news that a Priest did something very wrong…The main stream press in America by the way only covers the clergy when they do something wrong, when the overwhelming majority of Catholic Priests do good each and everyday…But let me stick to my intended point…When a member of the clergy does something bad….At the root of it, something “broke within them”….....What do I mean by that?….Were they praying their Rosary every day?…..Were they going to a Sacramental Confession once a month (at least) with their Spiritual Director?……Were they receiving the Blessed Sacrament in the state of grace daily at Mass?…..Were they doing a daily Holy Hour in silence before the Blessed Sacrament?…..The answer I will bet is no….Again, something “broke” within them…They “disconnected” themselves from the life of the Holy Spirit…..Like the fallen clergy we sometimes read about in the newspaper, the same thing can happen to us!…..This is why it is essential we do the prescribed activities given to us by Mother Church as well, its not just for the clergy!…......Oh, I can hear it now....…”I don’t need to do that”!….....Really?….....How is the world doing?………You don’t have to look very far to get your answer…….The pull of sin is within us all - No one is exempt!…..However, when we make it our priority to “put on the armor of God” as St Paul rightly notes, we then are prepared to face the temptations of the world…..This is how Jesus “drives out” sin in the world to this very day!
"How sweet to my taste is your promise!"
Today in the gospel, Jesus sees what is happening in the Temple, how sinful men were corrupting it…And Jesus jumps into action…..He literally drove them out….When we make it our business to stay in the state of grace…..Praying daily, Fasting weekly, Going to a Sacramental Confession Monthly, and receiving the Blessed Sacrament as often as we can…....We too “drive out” the “thieves” within our heart that corrupt the Temple of our Body…..This requires as we saw today by Jesus’s example a physical response….We must utilize “the tools” given to us by God and Holy Mother Church…..Do you think the devil is not real? - Big mistake if you do!….The devil is not only very real but he is stronger then you, smarter then you, knows all your weakness and he “prowls the earth like a lion devouring souls”….So what can we do?….St Paul tells us…”Put on the armor of God”….This is how Jesus “drives out” sin in the world to this very day…..Grace juxtapose against sin…The two are like oil and water
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