Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth. JN 17:17
1 KINGS 10:1-10 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
The queen of Sheba was impressed not only by the wisdom of Solomon but with his way of life as well as those of the people of his kingdom. She recognized that all that he had received was a gift from God and the blessings were not just for him but for the whole of Israel because of the great love that He had for His people: Blessed be the Lord your God who has granted you his favour, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because of the Lord’s everlasting love for Israel, he has made you king to deal out law and justice. But Solomon forgot that what God had given He could just as easily take away and He did. He sinned gravely and lost God's favor.
But You O Lord are greater than Solomon ever was. We, Your servants, we who are members of Your household, we who are members of the Church You founded with Peter at its head and You its Cornerstone are blessed more abundantly than those who lived in the palace of Solomon. The wisdom and wealth of Solomon left the queen of Sheba breathless but we take the riches of the Church and the graces of the Sacraments lightly if at all and we live like beggars when in truth we are members of the household of God, daughters and sons of the King, and heirs with You to the Kingdom of Heaven. We are truly to be pitied, Lord. Be merciful O Lord, open our eyes that we may see and return to the Father's house where we will dine on the finest wheat and sweet honey from the Rock of our salvation.
PSALM 36(37):5-6,30-31,39-40 ©
Commit your life to the Lord,
trust in him and he will act,
so that your justice breaks forth like the light,
your cause like the noon-day sun.
so that your justice breaks forth like the light,
your cause like the noon-day sun.
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom
and his lips speak what is right;
the law of his God is in his heart,
his steps shall be saved from stumbling.
the law of his God is in his heart,
his steps shall be saved from stumbling.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord,
their stronghold in time of distress.
The Lord helps them and delivers them
and saves them: for their refuge is in him.
The Lord helps them and delivers them
and saves them: for their refuge is in him.
The just man’s mouth utters wisdom.
MARK 7:14-23 ©
My Soul's Beloved,
It boggles the mind that Christians today have selective amnesia when it comes to Your Word. Many can quote chapter and verse from Scripture often doing so selectively, out of context using it as a pretext to emphasize a pet theory, especially to those who are not as well versed or perhaps even ignorant of Scripture. There is no room for misunderstanding Your words when You speak of gravely sinful things which make us unclean: ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’
Many who actually believe they are good Christians are guilty of many of these sins and it is a wondrous thing to behold how artfully duplicitous they are in conning themselves that these are not just grave sins but they are sins that are anathema to God. They freely commit the seven deadly sins or promote them with impunity and still believe that Your favor rests on them.
Thank You, Beloved, for the Catholic Church that can never teach error for You have assured her that the gates of hell shall never prevail against her. You O Lord are Truth and we, the members of Your mystical body, the Church, are consecrated in the Truth. We will sin, fall, and fail miserably as individuals but the Church will remain the City of God high on the hill whose Light is a welcoming beacon to all.
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