GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY : Friday - November 11, 2022

 

Friday - November 11, 2022

When we have to reply to anyone who has insulted us, we should be careful to do it always with gentleness. A soft answer extinguishes the fire of wrath.

~~St. Alphonsus Liguori

November 11, 2022

MEMORIAL OF SAINT MARTIN OF TOURS, BISHOP

Lectionary: 494

 

Reading I     

                                                                                    2 JN 4-9

 

[Chosen Lady:]

I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth

just as we were commanded by the Father.

But now, Lady, I ask you,

not as though I were writing a new commandment

but the one we have had from the beginning:

let us love one another.

For this is love, that we walk according to his commandments;

this is the commandment, as you heard from the beginning,

in which you should walk.

 

Many deceivers have gone out into the world,

those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh;

such is the deceitful one and the antichrist.

Look to yourselves that you do not lose what we worked for

but may receive a full recompense.

Anyone who is so “progressive”

as not to remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God;

whoever remains in the teaching has the Father and the Son.

 

Responsorial Psalm                                  PS 119:1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18

 

R. (1b) Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

Blessed are they whose way is blameless,

who walk in the law of the LORD.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

Blessed are they who observe his decrees,

who seek him with all their heart.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

 With all my heart I seek you;

let me not stray from your commands.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

Within my heart I treasure your promise,

that I may not sin against you.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

Be good to your servant, that I may live

and keep your words.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

Open my eyes, that I may consider

the wonders of your law.

R. Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord!

 

Alleluia                                                                      LK 17:26-37

 

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Stand erect and raise your heads

because your redemption is at hand.

R. Alleluia

 

Gospel                                                                       LK 17:20-25

 

Jesus said to his disciples:

“As it was in the days of Noah,

so it will be in the days of the Son of Man;

they were eating and drinking,

marrying and giving in marriage up to the day

that Noah entered the ark,

and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot:

they were eating, drinking, buying,

selling, planting, building;

on the day when Lot left Sodom,

fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all.

So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.

On that day, someone who is on the housetop

and whose belongings are in the house

must not go down to get them,

and likewise one in the field

must not return to what was left behind.

Remember the wife of Lot.

Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it,

but whoever loses it will save it.

I tell you, on that night there will be two people in one bed;

one will be taken, the other left.

And there will be two women grinding meal together;

one will be taken, the other left.”

They said to him in reply, “Where, Lord?”

He said to them, “Where the body is,

there also the vultures will gather.”

 

**********************************

STAYING ROOTED IN TRUTH

Today’s readings warn about being so “progressive” that we’re no longer rooted in the teachings of Christ.

 

The norms and regulations of the Catholic Church do provide room for growth, adaptations for special needs, and changes in how we worship based on timeliness and cultures. Canon Law and Church documents mention the necessity of adaptability, as long as moral laws are not broken and the teachings of Christ are not rejected.

 

Moral laws never change. Human interpretations of moral laws should never be guided by worldly ideas or “political correctness.” Our Church (the “Chosen Lady” of today’s first reading) should be growing more and more into the image of Christ.

 

Signs that more growth is needed are all around us. You have seen it yourself. There are priests who don’t even try to be like Christ. There are bishops who exert their authority without compassion and collaboration. There are laity who condemn others while ignoring their own need to advance their own faith life. And there are many who live and spread heretical teachings about moral issues.

 

God isn’t finished maturing his beloved Church.

 

When “progress” means redefining the truth to suit our own purposes, we no longer have God, as today’s first reading points out. “Progressive” decisions occur when we allow ourselves to be swayed by the winds of non-Christian influences. We’re most vulnerable to this when we don’t like what the Church teaches, which happens because we don’t understand what the Church is really teaching. To use the analogy that Jesus provides in the Gospel reading, “wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather” — we flock to what’s decaying, because the world tells us it’s appetizing and we choose to believe it.

 

The “antichrist” or “deceiver” is anyone who rejects the truth. We can discern what is not a truth – what is not truly of God – by its unloving character and its unscriptural basis. However, love and scripture are often claimed as validations for deceptions. We must become better educated, double-checking everything against the documents of the Church (which are readily available on the internet), because these teachings are based upon and help explain the scriptures.

 

Every day, we’re exposed to the ideas and pressures of people who are gambling with their eternal happiness. They are like the folks in Noah’s day, as Jesus pointed out, doing what feels right to them up until the very end, without regard to the warnings and commandments of God. They think they’re sparing themselves from unhappiness and destruction, but “whoever tries to preserve his life by his own methods will lose it.”

 

Today's Prayer

 

Lord, help me to persevere in the good path You suggest to me. Don’t let me stray from You. Rather, may my works bear abundant fruit with Your love rooted in me. Amen. 

 

God Bless You.....

The Rosary Family

The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”