Lamps and Oil

Day's Saints 
Our Lady of Montevergine
Ambrosinian of Armenia

Gospel Mt 25:1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise,
'Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.'
But the wise ones replied,
'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'
But he said in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'
Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour."

+

What store would be open at midnight so the foolish virgins might buy oil for their lamps? 

For those prepared, the door was open, they were invited to a feast, and rested with the bridegroom. Although they could trim their lamps and light them, there was insufficient oil in the lamp to keep the flame alive.

Perhaps the Lord  wants to prevent us being locked out of the wedding feast. Preparation means vigilance and practice. If we are distracted and not paying attention, all sorts of misfortunes can happen and we will be caught off guard. That is all He asks of us; He wishes us to go into the wedding feast with Him, not be caught off guard unready.

The Gospel speaks about the day the Kingdom of Heaven appears and the old world passes away. "passes away" sounds peaceful and serene, but that day may not be tranquil, as we can see in nature, that changes in things is often accompanied by great violence. The way to stay awake is to distract ourselves, strangely enough. We should not be resting, taking our ease, but working and praying and caring for our brothers and sisters.

If He comes in the middle of the night, we should be ready to spring into action and use our preparations to make ourselves presentable and ready to receive the Bridegroom. The lamps are the symbol of our light, which as humans, is not great; far greater is the light of God which shines whether we see it or not. Blessed are those who believe even if they have not seen, and have prepared themselves with holy exercises to be ready so we know what to do. The purpose of the lamps is for us to see, since God sees whether He has a lamp lit or not. The truth is, that He loves us very much and would rather we not be locked out. Those who strive to keep their hearts open will always be welcome, and their minds will be at ease, because of the peace that surrounds the Lord.

The wedding feast is a participation in divine delights, and the wedding night is for the enjoyment of the Bridegroom and the Bride. The bride knows there is light whether she can see it or not, for the privations and griefs that have gone before have purified her to receive the Groom. She has known of the coming of a great darkness, but she knows it is preparation for union, and is not unduly disturbed. It is penitential to be unable to participate sensibly in the presence of the Lord, but one can grow used to it and because of faith, unconcerned, because there is a certainty of His mastery of our existence that instills peace in us, in other words, the presence of God. And when it comes, the soul has been prepared and it is not painful anymore, and suddenly the light awakens the soul that has waited so long and so anxiously for union.

Yet, that is not the perfection of His charity toward us, since Heaven is the perfect presence and possession of the beloved. Thus, even though the possession of the bliss of His presence is immense, it is not the utmost degree, and the soul gladly waits for the gift of that union in heaven which surpasses anything the soul has encountered before.

Thus, the soul deals with deprivations for a greater good it cannot see but of which it is convinced and is happy to anticipate. The anticipation is sufficient for the soul that loves perfectly; it does not thirst for something unobtainable any more.

Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to sacrifice what will please the Lord to forsake in order to possess Him. The soul is restless until it is finally fulfilled, and that moment is when the soul enters heaven.

St. John of the Cross spoke about the union he experienced which was overwhelming, so that in order to attend to earthly business, he was wont to rap his knuckles hard enough to distract himself so he could devote attention to those with whom he had to deal. And still, there was more, and he knew it was better, and he was anxious to consummate the union completely. 

Wise people are not rattled by the threat of wars and invasions and mass destruction, for God is present to those He loves and who love Him, and for them the love is enough and more than enough to put up with a little unpleasantness, for they are not the ones going to perdition.

Life is our preparation grounds. Let us make the most of that gift to prepare ourselves to belong to God and to be in union with Him. We may be unprepared at the moment, but if we make a start, it will be enough to become prepared. 

I have pain enough to remember the cross and the passion of a Lord who loved me enough the allow Himself to be stripped naked and be fastened to a piece of wood with nails. He loved me enough so that I can deny myself; He has not yet asked me to die, but I die for Him every day in a thousand ways, all of which are sufficient so that I may merit some of His pain and suffering. He does not ask the overwhelming, but He frequently overwhelms because He is good and He is love. I have no doubt the source of the pain, for the cross is plain enough, surrounded by such love as surrounds it and washes us thoroughly of sin and unites us in a pristine way to become one by He who must unite us. The end is not in doubt, and the ends are the means of becoming ready, so that the brutality of the nails is not lost on me and can satisfy my love of Him.

Lamps and Oil

Day's Saints 
Our Lady of Montevergine
Ambrosinian of Armenia

Gospel Mt 25:1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable:
"The Kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins
who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
Five of them were foolish and five were wise.
The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,
brought no oil with them,
but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.
Since the bridegroom was long delayed,
they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight, there was a cry,
'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.
The foolish ones said to the wise,
'Give us some of your oil,
for our lamps are going out.'
But the wise ones replied,
'No, for there may not be enough for us and you.
Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'
While they went off to buy it,
the bridegroom came
and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.
Then the door was locked.
Afterwards the other virgins came and said,
'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'
But he said in reply,
'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'
Therefore, stay awake,
for you know neither the day nor the hour."

+

What store would be open at midnight so the foolish virgins might buy oil for their lamps? 

For those prepared, the door was open, they were invited to a feast, and rested with the bridegroom. Although they could trim their lamps and light them, there was insufficient oil in the lamp to keep the flame alive.

Perhaps the Lord  wants to prevent us being locked out of the wedding feast. Preparation means vigilance and practice. If we are distracted and not paying attention, all sorts of misfortunes can happen and we will be caught off guard. That is all He asks of us; He wishes us to go into the wedding feast with Him, not be caught off guard unready.

The Gospel speaks about the day the Kingdom of Heaven appears and the old world passes away. "passes away" sounds peaceful and serene, but that day may not be tranquil, as we can see in nature, that changes in things is often accompanied by great violence. The way to stay awake is to distract ourselves, strangely enough. We should not be resting, taking our ease, but working and praying and caring for our brothers and sisters.

If He comes in the middle of the night, we should be ready to spring into action and use our preparations to make ourselves presentable and ready to receive the Bridegroom. The lamps are the symbol of our light, which as humans, is not great; far greater is the light of God which shines whether we see it or not. Blessed are those who believe even if they have not seen, and have prepared themselves with holy exercises to be ready so we know what to do. The purpose of the lamps is for us to see, since God sees whether He has a lamp lit or not. The truth is, that He loves us very much and would rather we not be locked out. Those who strive to keep their hearts open will always be welcome, and their minds will be at ease, because of the peace that surrounds the Lord.

The wedding feast is a participation in divine delights, and the wedding night is for the enjoyment of the Bridegroom and the Bride. The bride knows there is light whether she can see it or not, for the privations and griefs that have gone before have purified her to receive the Groom. She has known of the coming of a great darkness, but she knows it is preparation for union, and is not unduly disturbed. It is penitential to be unable to participate sensibly in the presence of the Lord, but one can grow used to it and because of faith, unconcerned, because there is a certainty of His mastery of our existence that instills peace in us, in other words, the presence of God. And when it comes, the soul has been prepared and it is not painful anymore, and suddenly the light awakens the soul that has waited so long and so anxiously for union.

Yet, that is not the perfection of His charity toward us, since Heaven is the perfect presence and possession of the beloved. Thus, even though the possession of the bliss of His presence is immense, it is not the utmost degree, and the soul gladly waits for the gift of that union in heaven which surpasses anything the soul has encountered before.

Thus, the soul deals with deprivations for a greater good it cannot see but of which it is convinced and is happy to anticipate. The anticipation is sufficient for the soul that loves perfectly; it does not thirst for something unobtainable any more.

Now is the time to prepare. Now is the time to sacrifice what will please the Lord to forsake in order to possess Him. The soul is restless until it is finally fulfilled, and that moment is when the soul enters heaven.

St. John of the Cross spoke about the union he experienced which was overwhelming, so that in order to attend to earthly business, he was wont to rap his knuckles hard enough to distract himself so he could devote attention to those with whom he had to deal. And still, there was more, and he knew it was better, and he was anxious to consummate the union completely. 

Wise people are not rattled by the threat of wars and invasions and mass destruction, for God is present to those He loves and who love Him, and for them the love is enough and more than enough to put up with a little unpleasantness, for they are not the ones going to perdition.

Life is our preparation grounds. Let us make the most of that gift to prepare ourselves to belong to God and to be in union with Him. We may be unprepared at the moment, but if we make a start, it will be enough to become prepared. 

I have pain enough to remember the cross and the passion of a Lord who loved me enough the allow Himself to be stripped naked and be fastened to a piece of wood with nails. He loved me enough so that I can deny myself; He has not yet asked me to die, but I die for Him every day in a thousand ways, all of which are sufficient so that I may merit some of His pain and suffering. He does not ask the overwhelming, but He frequently overwhelms because He is good and He is love. I have no doubt the source of the pain, for the cross is plain enough, surrounded by such love as surrounds it and washes us thoroughly of sin and unites us in a pristine way to become one by He who must unite us. The end is not in doubt, and the ends are the means of becoming ready, so that the brutality of the nails is not lost on me and can satisfy my love of Him.

Freedom

Day's Saints
Edwold the Hermit
John the Baptist

Gospel Mk 6:17-29
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
"It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers,
his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias' own daughter came in
and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
"Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you."
He even swore many things to her,
"I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom."
She went out and said to her mother,
"What shall I ask for?"
She replied, "The head of John the Baptist."
The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request,
"I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist."
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

+

I urge you as fellow lovers of Christ, to pray for the country in which you live, so that it is not disgraced by fools and madmen. Through the instigation of God, that country worked to liberate the world, and evil has been at work ever since devising ways to use its institutions against it. If it is lost, the world will regret it, because it is a sin to discard the liberty it has attained through the mercy and grace of God.

To disregard the sacrifices made by so many would be a sin beyond all measure, because freedom is a gift from God, and all too often is bought at the price of blood, pain and death, and our nation has been no stranger to any of these things.

God made us all, and there is no way He intended that the divisions among us were meant to be. Those who love evil and lawlessness and hatred are not Americans, but their country is in hell, and if you doubt it, do nothing, do not even pray a single Rosary to save it, and you will have your wish, but be certain that as many as the adherents of evil are, the number of those who are faithful to the things that made us great are like a great cloud illuminated by the glory of God because of His ardent love.

Political parties are part of being human beings, and since God made us all different and unique, we cannot function or even fathom how, to make our way in life with only a single voice. But the voice of God reverberates through the great cloud of those who love Him, drawing them to Him to enkindle the great fire that will  usher in the Kingdom of God in which will reside all those who love the Lord.

He made us to converse with one another, and to sit down in the hall of decision, and discuss the business of the country. Those who will not abide by the results of the people's choice, who wish to overthrow their decision will go down in history as great losers, who threw out the great blessing of the Lord's freedom. Use the freedom of God to to preserve human liberty which is so precious a gift, to do and seek His Will, otherwise only errors and failures will ensue to our great shame.

If you doubt and hesitate, ask the dead who gave their lives to preserve our freedom, what to do, and you cannot do wrong. Otherwise, you are saying that their sacrifice was wrong, and the evil one who hates liberty and humanity so much was right, and the hatreds and violence through which we have trod with such ardor and weariness will have been negated and may never return.

May the Lord of Heaven and Earth, Jesus Christ commune with us, imparting knowledge of His Will to us so that we may inherit what He wishes so ardently to be ours. He gave up His freedom to allow Himslef to be sacrificed by crucifixion, so that we would know freedom, and its cost. His cost is our gain, but the cost of evil is eternal disgrace that our pettiness should have prevailed at a time when men should have united to serve God and seek His Will so that we might gather as brothers and sisters united in God Himself.

Freedom is not in sexual indulgence, unholy marriages or the salughter of unborn children for the sake of convenience. Freedom is not in ways of devising the means of enslaving our brothers and sisters, and our country will not persist if its constituents pursue the path of slavery so that power might be had. That power will enslave all who enslaved others, because God will not permit enslavers to be free at the cost of slavery imposed on brothers and sisters. Those who seek to enslave will be disgraced and shamed forever. That pertains not only to our country, but to every country that seeks to enslave others by virtue of conquest and intimidation, killing opposition and forbidding brothers and sisters from thinking and acting in accord with truth and freedom.

Our status of being brothers and sisters to one another is a manifest of the Will of God. Political parties are not greater than Will of God which tells us "Love one another as I have loved you." Remember what His love cost Him and realize what we were born into. Rights and privileges must extend to all equally since God treats us all in equality. It is our humanity that is important, and not our privileges or our rights, for in seeking to preserve rights, all too often we find it necessary to step on the rights of someone else. There is no right to do evil, to  kill infants or to enslave other human beings, because our status as children of God is the origin of freedom, and so long as we seek God's Will in the things we gather ro discuss and decide as fellow citizens, we will reap the protection of our rights from God, and live in freedom to do His Will. 

It is shameful that those who have been elected and sat in decision making should decide to throw away everyone's freeom because they cannot abide the freedom all of a sudden, anymore. To do so is to repudiate the sacrifice of so many lives to preserve what we have, and to defend the right to live. Neither Stalin nor Hitler could impose their will on all human beings, and God stirred up His children to oppose and destroy them in order to protect freedom into which they were all born.

Freedom is not for the acquisition of things. Freedom is not for the enjoyment of pleasure. Freedom is not for the killing of innocents who have a right to live, once they have been conceived. Freedom is not for the killing of members of different races. These things have been told us by God who insists that we observe them so that everyone may pass through life and death to live and love forever. Those who have been freed, have no right to destroy others or destroy what others have worked so hard to create and preserve. But without vigilant and diligent concern for one another, none of us can be in the freedom of God. It exists in His love and nowhere else. Thus, to ignore the needs of others whose lives are in danger of extinction because they lack food, water and shelter, is to be like those who nailed the Savior to the cross.

Freedom

Day's Saints
Edwold the Hermit
John the Baptist

Gospel Mk 6:17-29
Herod was the one who had John the Baptist arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
"It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
She had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers,
his military officers, and the leading men of Galilee.
Herodias' own daughter came in
and performed a dance that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
"Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you."
He even swore many things to her,
"I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom."
She went out and said to her mother,
"What shall I ask for?"
She replied, "The head of John the Baptist."
The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request,
"I want you to give me at once
on a platter the head of John the Baptist."
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner with orders
to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

+

I urge you as fellow lovers of Christ, to pray for the country in which you live, so that it is not disgraced by fools and madmen. Through the instigation of God, that country worked to liberate the world, and evil has been at work ever since devising ways to use its institutions against it. If it is lost, the world will regret it, because it is a sin to discard the liberty it has attained through the mercy and grace of God.

To disregard the sacrifices made by so many would be a sin beyond all measure, because freedom is a gift from God, and all too often is bought at the price of blood, pain and death, and our nation has been no stranger to any of these things.

God made us all, and there is no way He intended that the divisions among us were meant to be. Those who love evil and lawlessness and hatred are not Americans, but their country is in hell, and if you doubt it, do nothing, do not even pray a single Rosary to save it, and you will have your wish, but be certain that as many as the adherents of evil are, the number of those who are faithful to the things that made us great are like a great cloud illuminated by the glory of God because of His ardent love.

Political parties are part of being human beings, and since God made us all different and unique, we cannot function or even fathom how, to make our way in life with only a single voice. But the voice of God reverberates through the great cloud of those who love Him, drawing them to Him to enkindle the great fire that will  usher in the Kingdom of God in which will reside all those who love the Lord.

He made us to converse with one another, and to sit down in the hall of decision, and discuss the business of the country. Those who will not abide by the results of the people's choice, who wish to overthrow their decision will go down in history as great losers, who threw out the great blessing of the Lord's freedom. Use the freedom of God to to preserve human liberty which is so precious a gift, to do and seek His Will, otherwise only errors and failures will ensue to our great shame.

If you doubt and hesitate, ask the dead who gave their lives to preserve our freedom, what to do, and you cannot do wrong. Otherwise, you are saying that their sacrifice was wrong, and the evil one who hates liberty and humanity so much was right, and the hatreds and violence through which we have trod with such ardor and weariness will have been negated and may never return.

May the Lord of Heaven and Earth, Jesus Christ commune with us, imparting knowledge of His Will to us so that we may inherit what He wishes so ardently to be ours. He gave up His freedom to allow Himslef to be sacrificed by crucifixion, so that we would know freedom, and its cost. His cost is our gain, but the cost of evil is eternal disgrace that our pettiness should have prevailed at a time when men should have united to serve God and seek His Will so that we might gather as brothers and sisters united in God Himself.

Freedom is not in sexual indulgence, unholy marriages or the salughter of unborn children for the sake of convenience. Freedom is not in ways of devising the means of enslaving our brothers and sisters, and our country will not persist if its constituents pursue the path of slavery so that power might be had. That power will enslave all who enslaved others, because God will not permit enslavers to be free at the cost of slavery imposed on brothers and sisters. Those who seek to enslave will be disgraced and shamed forever. That pertains not only to our country, but to every country that seeks to enslave others by virtue of conquest and intimidation, killing opposition and forbidding brothers and sisters from thinking and acting in accord with truth and freedom.

Our status of being brothers and sisters to one another is a manifest of the Will of God. Political parties are not greater than Will of God which tells us "Love one another as I have loved you." Remember what His love cost Him and realize what we were born into. Rights and privileges must extend to all equally since God treats us all in equality. It is our humanity that is important, and not our privileges or our rights, for in seeking to preserve rights, all too often we find it necessary to step on the rights of someone else. There is no right to do evil, to  kill infants or to enslave other human beings, because our status as children of God is the origin of freedom, and so long as we seek God's Will in the things we gather ro discuss and decide as fellow citizens, we will reap the protection of our rights from God, and live in freedom to do His Will. 

It is shameful that those who have been elected and sat in decision making should decide to throw away everyone's freeom because they cannot abide the freedom all of a sudden, anymore. To do so is to repudiate the sacrifice of so many lives to preserve what we have, and to defend the right to live. Neither Stalin nor Hitler could impose their will on all human beings, and God stirred up His children to oppose and destroy them in order to protect freedom into which they were all born.

Freedom is not for the acquisition of things. Freedom is not for the enjoyment of pleasure. Freedom is not for the killing of innocents who have a right to live, once they have been conceived. Freedom is not for the killing of members of different races. These things have been told us by God who insists that we observe them so that everyone may pass through life and death to live and love forever. Those who have been freed, have no right to destroy others or destroy what others have worked so hard to create and preserve. But without vigilant and diligent concern for one another, none of us can be in the freedom of God. It exists in His love and nowhere else. Thus, to ignore the needs of others whose lives are in danger of extinction because they lack food, water and shelter, is to be like those who nailed the Savior to the cross.

Inside or Outside

Day's Saints
Joseph Calasanz, Benedictine

Gospel Mt 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

+

Whether in the storm or looking at it
from outside, it is astonishing to see.

Stormy weather has passed us by several times in the last few days. Tropical storms or their remnants have brought cool cloudy weather and some rain. A great deal more rain is needed in places where drought has taken hold amid horrendous heat. The smoke is damaging to the bodies of those forced to breathe it. My own trouble breathing has been exacerbated by it. While not incapacitated by the smoke, 

it has not been helpful.

All this is the result of changes in the atmosphere brought on partially by human activities and partly though the Will of God wishing to get our attention. While there might still be time to avert something far worse, there is very little time left.

Jesus quoted the Scriptures to those who questioned Him. "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart." It is the same thing that has been said before about abandonment to God and the embrace of His Will so that there is nothing of this world that is in the place where Jesus should be. Detachment is necessary to endure or enjoy the Heaven to come.

Wherever you meet resistance to God in your own being or in the world about you, you come face to face not only with evil, but the conflict that can be deadly, trying to give yourself to Him in spite of temptations and the seductive pleasures at odds with the spiritual ideal of Jesus.

In order to help us do penance and deliver us from our own attachments to the things in the world, He is giving everyone an impetus to do what we should and which He has commanded.

God loves us, and because He does, we love one another. There is nothing sweeter than the pure love of a child for his parents, and even a pet cat or dog will love us because that is its function, and such animals will do anything they can to awin our love. How much more should we love the Lord. There is no room for half-hearted love of God, or indifference. Either we love Him completely or we do not love Him at all. It is a hard and bitter lesson to learn, but it echoes what He said about a rich man having a harder time entering heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

I say all this only to remind you of what He has already told you personally. He gives Himself as fully as He can, and wishes you would reciprocate because in the balance, we stand about to be judged and to lose Him at the moment before we are done would be a terrible disappointment.

Judgement is God's sole prerogative, and not ours. We may judge when we should not, because our morality is in its childhood. The mature Christian learns to refrain from judging and does his best to help others avoid God's judgement. Neither presume someone is lost, nor that someone who is lost is saved. We do not know. The courage to ask Him God to tell us where we are deficient will elicit the graces necessary to grow and mature because it will lead to the revelation of God to us and us to ourselves, so that we can see His goodness. That jusdgement is upon the world right now. For some it will be terrible, crushing blow, and for others, it will be a moment of being freed to soar in God.

Inside or Outside

Day's Saints
Joseph Calasanz, Benedictine

Gospel Mt 22:34-40
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,
they gathered together, and one of them,
a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"
He said to him,
"You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

+

Whether in the storm or looking at it
from outside, it is astonishing to see.

Stormy weather has passed us by several times in the last few days. Tropical storms or their remnants have brought cool cloudy weather and some rain. A great deal more rain is needed in places where drought has taken hold amid horrendous heat. The smoke is damaging to the bodies of those forced to breathe it. My own trouble breathing has been exacerbated by it. While not incapacitated by the smoke, 

it has not been helpful.

All this is the result of changes in the atmosphere brought on partially by human activities and partly though the Will of God wishing to get our attention. While there might still be time to avert something far worse, there is very little time left.

Jesus quoted the Scriptures to those who questioned Him. "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart." It is the same thing that has been said before about abandonment to God and the embrace of His Will so that there is nothing of this world that is in the place where Jesus should be. Detachment is necessary to endure or enjoy the Heaven to come.

Wherever you meet resistance to God in your own being or in the world about you, you come face to face not only with evil, but the conflict that can be deadly, trying to give yourself to Him in spite of temptations and the seductive pleasures at odds with the spiritual ideal of Jesus.

In order to help us do penance and deliver us from our own attachments to the things in the world, He is giving everyone an impetus to do what we should and which He has commanded.

God loves us, and because He does, we love one another. There is nothing sweeter than the pure love of a child for his parents, and even a pet cat or dog will love us because that is its function, and such animals will do anything they can to awin our love. How much more should we love the Lord. There is no room for half-hearted love of God, or indifference. Either we love Him completely or we do not love Him at all. It is a hard and bitter lesson to learn, but it echoes what He said about a rich man having a harder time entering heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.

I say all this only to remind you of what He has already told you personally. He gives Himself as fully as He can, and wishes you would reciprocate because in the balance, we stand about to be judged and to lose Him at the moment before we are done would be a terrible disappointment.

Judgement is God's sole prerogative, and not ours. We may judge when we should not, because our morality is in its childhood. The mature Christian learns to refrain from judging and does his best to help others avoid God's judgement. Neither presume someone is lost, nor that someone who is lost is saved. We do not know. The courage to ask Him God to tell us where we are deficient will elicit the graces necessary to grow and mature because it will lead to the revelation of God to us and us to ourselves, so that we can see His goodness. That jusdgement is upon the world right now. For some it will be terrible, crushing blow, and for others, it will be a moment of being freed to soar in God.

Light

DAY'S SAINTS
Gunifort, Martyr
Queenship of Mary

Gospel Mt 19:23-30
Jesus said to his disciples:
"Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich
to enter the Kingdom of heaven.
Again I say to you,
it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God."
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said,
"Who then can be saved?"
Jesus looked at them and said,
"For men this is impossible,
but for God all things are possible."
Then Peter said to him in reply,
"We have given up everything and followed you.
What will there be for us?"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you
that you who have followed me, in the new age,
when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory,
will yourselves sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters
or father or mother or children or lands
for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more,
and will inherit eternal life.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

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We see so little of His light; the
world is filled with His light.

No man who lies and promotes violence and prejudice and hate can enter Heaven, for there is no lie in Jesus, and the world to come is Jesus.

There is also no violence or hatred In Jesus, and anyone who seeks to promote himself as a follower of Jesus who lies, hates and commits violence against his brother will ever see the glory of God in eternity.

Where violence and lies spew from a man's mouth, there is no joy, no peace and no rest, and the causes they espouse cannot last because Jesus is uprooting all such growth in the Body Christ.

Jesus told the truth, even when it caused much dismay amongst those who followed Him and listened to what He had to say. In the world, one of the chief reasons for abandoning the world is to be free to surrender one's whole self to Jesus, and a man must be honest with God and himself to do any good in the world.

A person who lies, cheats, steals and commits violence cannot do any good in the world no matter what he thinks, because to do good one must be good, and if one is doing evil he is not good, but evil, and the results of all his works are all tainted with the corruption of the world. Nothing of the world goes where the Lord has in mind, except that lies and evil and immorality go to hell whence they came, there to suffer forever.

Woe to those who take away a person's freedom, and the things for which they worked so hard; such men are not followers of Jesus, and can never be. The person who says he loves Jesus but is in love with evil and sin cannot love Jesus who is the opposite of all such things. The joy of heaven consists in Jesus and His goodness and His love and nothing more. If you have any notion that you can commit sins and evil and still serve God you are mistaken and sadly misled. Rid yourself of the world and attachments to it, in order to be free of corruption and its stench, asking forgiveness for your sins and offering atonement so you may be free to live as Jesus lived.

The work of God is to transform us to be like Him, and true joy is knowing Jesus and reveling in Him as He is, and heaven is the ultimate expression of His joy. 

If a person has done nothing to be forgiven and has made no attempt to atone for sin has yet to begin the arduous journey that ends in God. Along the way we gain freedom, the ability to see God and know Him as He is, and has begun to be happy belonging to God. Beginning to see Him as He is persuades us to be more like Him, and our affection becomes deeper and more profound and lasting, while nothing of this world has any lasting fascination for us as His creation.

The journey to God begins in desiring to do His Will so that our taste is for the divine and not for the pleasures of this world. That is not to say that the world of God is insipid, for it has a savor for the holy, which surpasses all we have known in our life. He permitted us to taste the good things in the world and to savor them, in the hope that we will be drawn to the Source of all things and desire Him instead. The graces He gives, save us, and protect us and guide us, and no man lives who did not benefit from God's grace. If we have disappointed Him, it is because we were satisfied with the good things we found in life and never desired to see Him more clearly, or to embrace Him for affectionately in the midst of all our collected preferences.

Begin today to love the Lord.