Saturday - June 15, 2019
"I can't do big things, but I want everything to be for the glory of God."
~~St. Dominic Savio
"I can't do big things, but I want everything to be for the glory of God."
~~St. Dominic Savio
June 15 2019
Saturday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 364
Reading 12 COR 5:14-21
Brothers and sisters:
The love of Christ impels us,
once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;
therefore, all have died.
He indeed died for all,
so that those who live might no longer live for themselves
but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;
even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,
yet now we know him so no longer.
So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God,
who has reconciled us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
The love of Christ impels us,
once we have come to the conviction that one died for all;
therefore, all have died.
He indeed died for all,
so that those who live might no longer live for themselves
but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
Consequently, from now on we regard no one according to the flesh;
even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh,
yet now we know him so no longer.
So whoever is in Christ is a new creation:
the old things have passed away;
behold, new things have come.
And all this is from God,
who has reconciled us to himself through Christ
and given us the ministry of reconciliation,
namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,
not counting their trespasses against them
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
So we are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Responsorial PsalmPS 103:1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12
R.(8a) The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us.
R. The Lord is kind and merciful.
AlleluiaPS 119:36A, 29B
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Incline my heart, O God, to your decrees;
and favor me with your law.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Incline my heart, O God, to your decrees;
and favor me with your law.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 5:33-37
Jesus said to his disciples:
"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But I say to you, do not swear at all;
not by heaven, for it is God's throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your head,
for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'
Anything more is from the Evil One."
"You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do not take a false oath,
but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
But I say to you, do not swear at all;
not by heaven, for it is God's throne;
nor by the earth, for it is his footstool;
nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Do not swear by your head,
for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.'
Anything more is from the Evil One."
******************************
Rebuking the Devil Can be Easy!
I'm going to let you in on a secret that the Devil does not want you to know: Demons do exist, and they are trying to interfere with your relationship with Christ, because they are afraid of what you will do if you become fully aware of what you can accomplish through the Holy Spirit.
The US bishops have published a book of Pope Francis' teachings about rebuking the devil. This comes at the perfect time! As I've said in past editions of "Insider's View" and in recent episodes of the podcast show FOOTSTEPS TO HEAVEN, we live in a critical time spiritually. The devil's influence has penetrated the Church -- alarmingly in the hierarchy who were called to protect us from the Devil by good example and by good teachings.
Some of us are wondering how accountable Pope Francis is in the devil's infiltration into church hierarchy by allowing abuses to go unstopped. I certainly don't know the answer to this question, but I do know that Jesus told us not to judge; leave that to God. And I also know that Pope Francis's teachings about rebuking the devil are valid and very pertinent.
It's not just in Church hierarchy that the devil has won some souls. Many in the pew (especially in my country and other Western societies) have embraced Satan's lies about what is right and wrong -- the self-idolatry of moral relativism -- without understanding the damage that this is doing to their eternal souls and to countless other people.
Satan has been hiding under the guise that demons are not real or that, at most, they don't care about the average Christian. Otherwise good people would not be tricked into turning away from the moral teachings of Christ. I used to be one of these victims many years ago before meeting the Holy Spirit.
"What most pleases the Devil is that his existence is disbelieved; about this, he is truly happy!" said Fr. Gabriele Amorth, who rescued thousands of people through exorcisms between 1986 and his death at 91 in 2016. "Indeed, he does everything possible to keep himself hidden to make it appear as self-evident that evil powers do not exist. This has been, and is now, his greatest triumph."
the baptism of the Holy Spirit snatched me from the Devil's hands and energized my faith in Christ, enlivened the scriptures, and empowered my prayers. It activated the Spirit of Truth in my thinking; now I could understand that the lies I had believed were, in fact, lies. It set me free from the enslavement to sins that I had not realized were sinful. And it exposed the Devil and routed demons from my life while putting me onto the path of holiness.
In Christ, I became a new creation. The old passed away. But being a follower of Christ was not enough to make me recognize the tactics of the devil. Having a personal relationship with Jesus is only Step One. Jesus commanded us to go farther. Step Two is a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit.
How is your relationship with the Holy Spirit? Are you willing to make a deeper commitment to the Holy Spirit and develop a more personal, more effective relationship with him?
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God Bless You.....
Rosary Family
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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