Following Along the Path of Jesus

While they were all amazed at his every deed,
Jesus said to his disciples,
"Pay attention to what I am telling you.
The Son of Man is to be handed over to men." 
But they did not understand this saying;
its meaning was hidden from them
so that they should not understand it,
and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Can you imagine being there with Jesus, following Him as he went about day by day?   You would point at this man and relate how Jesus expelled a demon from him or point at another and explain how that child was raised from the dead by Jesus.  You might share the story of how He fed the five thousand with just a few fish and some barley loaves and how there were twelve baskets left over.  Your heart would skip a beat as you observed all of these things.  Then He goes and spoils it all by telling you one day He would be handed over to the authorities and they would kill Him by putting Him on a tree. What could these spoken words mean and why was he saying them?  He was a man that did wondrous deeds what did this talk about being crucified mean? 

As human beings, we are always ready to believe what our eyes can see.  But when what we see with our eyes does not compare favorably with what we have heard we get confused.  The people in our reading saw all of the good and amazing things Jesus did but they did not understand the true mission of Jesus and they were afraid to ask him what His words meant.  Jesus was here to serve us and He did by curing the sick, casting out demons, telling us with authority about the Kingdom of Heaven but He also told us what His ultimate service to us was going to be, death, death on a cross.  We could marvel at the good things but we could protest like Peter when Jesus revealed His ultimate goal. 

Today, in our lives, we can clearly see the good things God has provided for us.  We have all of the things that the world can give us at our fingertips and we marvel at the goodness of the Lord.  Most of us are appropriately thankful for all of these goods but we sometimes fail to hear what Jesus says our obligations are.  He is delighted to provide for us but we have to read what He wants us to do.  He wants us to share for we reap what we did not sow and we drink water that we did not carry.  We experienced the sweetness of the Lord but we have shied away from the bitterness of accepting our cross and following along the Via Dela Rosa with our Lord, walking in his bloodstained footsteps as He gives His all for us. To know Christ is to be a cross-carrier and follower of the One who has shown us the way.

The gifts that God has given you are yours and you can do one of two things with them.  These gifts can be kept hidden and locked away or they can be shared.  If we share them, they will not run out but if we hide them away, rust and moth will change them to the dust that they were made of in the first place.  

Who is Closest to Jesus?

"My mother and my brothers 

are those who hear the word of God and act on it."

What are we to make of this saying of Jesus?  He is informed that His mother and brothers can't get past the crowd to see Him.  He does not yell, "Make way for my mother and brothers to enter."  No, instead he says, ""My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it."

Is He disrespecting His mother?  No, He is reminding us that we are as close as His mother to Him if we follow Him and if we pick up our cross daily and follow Him.  Following Christ makes us part of His family and that is what he is telling us today. 

PLEASE REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR THE POOR SOULS IN PURGATORY. THEY NEED YOUR HELP AND WILL NOT FORGET YOU IN YOUR TIME OF NEED. 

Seeking Is A Way of Life

Seek the LORD while he may be found,
call him while he is near.
Let the scoundrel forsake his way,
and the wicked his thoughts;
let him turn to the LORD for mercy;
to our God, who is generous in forgiving.



For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your waysand my thoughts above your thoughts.

The first reading at mass today is taken from Isiah and is really quite a written reminder to us as to who we are and where we fit into the universe.  

We are to seek the Lord while He may be found - does that mean that there will come a time when He cannot be found? Well, He will always be within our reach, we can push Him just one arm's length away, that's as far away as He will go from us.  He will respect our privacy and our desire to be without Him in our lives but He also will be ready to come at the first whisper of His name.  But, there will come a time when it is too late.  When we take our last breath and still keep our desire to be away from God, well, He will honor our request and we will spend eternity without Him.

We are then reminded about the wonder that God is and how far above our human ways He is.  Scoundrels and the Wicked are called to repent and call upon God.  Who are these scoundrels and who are the wicked?  It is you and me. Oh, I know that there are persons in this world that are far better at being a scoundrel and being wicked than I am.  I am a poor sinner. By that I mean I am not really good at it because my conscience calls to me and the prompting of the Holy Spirit convict me of my sin.  The professional sinner can sin and think nothing of it.  He (or she) goes through life trampling on the laws of God and not fearing the consequences of the sinful acts. Those of us who are poor sinners, we know enough to call to God and to return to the path of holiness before it is too late. 

This week, in all you do, Seek The Lord Where He May Be Found!  

Please, Please, Please pray for the poor souls in Purgatory.  I know I sound like a broken record but they really need YOU to step up and pray for them,...Thank you. 

Taking Root and Growing - The 2nd Step of Knowing

Those on rocky ground are the ones who, when they hear,

receive the word with joy, but they have no root;

they believe only for a time and fall away in time of temptation.

The parable of the sower and the seed is a familiar story to most Christians. The sower goes out and sows the seeds and they land in different places. Some land on the path where there is no soil and the birds come and eat the seeds. Some fall on the rocky ground and they sprout up but have no roots and they die. Some of the seeds fall among thorns and are choked out. Finally, some seed falls on good earth and it provides a good yield. 

I would tell the owner of this farm to sow his seeds more carefully but since the seed represents the truth of the Gospel, it is to be sown near and wide to everyone.  The soil it lands in is how we receive and take the word to heart. Today, we are going to concern ourselves with the seed that landed on the rocky ground.  Jesus says that this seed represents people who joyfully receive the Good News but believe it only for a short time and they fall away. What on earth could cause this?  Surely, the Gospel is news of great joy and paying attention to it will help bring the hearer of it to a joyful union with God in heaven, who would want to lose that?

We Catholics are probably the Christian people most at risk for becoming the seed in the rocky soil.   Many of us have not taken the time to learn more about our faith since we were confirmed.  Our Protestant brothers and sisters tend to be more deeply rooted in the Word of God and are not afraid to let people know that they are Christians, that they love God and Jesus.  Now they have their problems too.  They also tend to believe in the very dangerous doctrine "once saved, always saved" where once you have accepted Christ as your personal God and Savior, you are absolutely and positively going to heaven no matter what sins you commit during your lifetime.   We know, based on Scripture that knowing the Word is not the same as living the Word.  We have to live the Word for it to be effective in our lives.  

The one problem about not being rooted deeply in your beliefs comes at the time when turmoil strikes your life. A person with only a smile and a nod to the teachings of Jesus will look at his or her situation and decide that this Jesus stuff can be favorably compared to the pile of horse exhaust on the horse barn floor.  They will then go off on their own and after forgetting the teachings of Jesus, really make a mess of things.  Those of us who are deeply rooted in Christ will know that the troubles of this world are but temporary and we will know where to turn and the experience will actually make us stronger in Christ. 

How can you stay off of the rocky path?  It is simple. Develop a hunger for truth.  Study the Catholic faith, read the doctors of the Church.  If that is too theological for you, there are dozens of good Catholic books put out by authors grounded solidly in the faith who write in simple and easy to understand ways.  If you don't like to read, buy a Kindle, it will read books to you!  Make it a point to learn one new fact about your Catholic faith each month and soon you will be a brilliant scholar that can help your spouse, children, friends, and family to a better life with more happiness and fulfillment in it than ever before.  I guess the secret is to challenge yourself to be better.  This will help you to grow and growing is always better than withering and dying.  

Matthew Kelly, a wonderful Catholic Christian writer, and speaker says it best.  If you are called home to God after 60, 70, 80 or more years on earth, how are you going to explain to God that you did not have time to read His Book?   

Leave the rocky ground beginning today and transplant yourself and bear lots of fruit!  

Pray for the poor souls in Purgatory. They live with great joy and great hope because they will soon be with God. They cannot help themselves, they depend on us.  A simple Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be said for them takes so little of our time but beans so much for the,.  Won't you pray for them now?  Someone you know might be one prayer away from being freed. Do it now. 

They Lost Everything ! ! !

For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. Those who want to be rich are falling into temptation and into a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils,

We weep with those who have lost everything in hurricane and earthquake.  Millions of people have had their lives permanently changed by what we whimsically call "acts of God" as if God sits on His throne charting out all of the disasters that befall those on Earth.  The truth is, God has set the rules of nature in motion and sometimes these disasters do occur but they were not planned nor ordained by God, they are just physical realities following the laws of nature. 

These disasters do bring into focus what the letter to Timothy quoted above has told us.  We can live without a lot of things that we now consider vital.  There is one commercial that I like because it exposes the flaw in our thinking.  A man is in his kitchen and says that all we need is bread, water, and the internet to survive.  

Our prayers and charitable acts need to flow in a giant tidal wave to help our brothers and sisters that are facing the peril of the loss of everything including bread, water, clothing, shelter and every modern convenience.  While we are doing what we can, we should imagine what our friends are going through and realize that next time, we could be the victims of the laws of nature the next time something happens because the rules of nature apply to everyone. 

The poor souls in purgatory know that someday they will see God face to face and that gives them perfect joy but the fact that they cannot see Him now hurts them beyond belief. Please pray for the poor souls today.

Too Many Widows Burying Their Children Today

Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.    
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
"Do not weep."


He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this, the bearers halted,
and he said, "Young man, I tell you, arise!"
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.

A parent should never have to bury a child, it is not the natural way of things.  Traditionally, our children are to grow up, make their way in life, and eventually carry on our name in the world by having children of their own. Their last acts of love for us are supposed to be to care for us in our old age and to bury us once we have died. 

Back in the time of our Lord this poor woman who is described as a widow was burying her only son. In that day a woman who was alone without a man to care for her needs was in the most pitiful condition.  She could not conduct business, she was not allowed to work and she would have been reduced to begging for her bread.  Some would have looked at her as being almost evil because the death of her son would have been seen as a punishment for some sin that had been committed by either herself or her son.  

Jesus knew all of these things and He took pity on the poor widow. He restored to her the son that would look after her and make sure she was okay.  Jesus would perform this act one more time and that would be from the deathbed of His cross when He made sure His widowed mother would be taken care of once He died. He told John the Apostle that she was now his mother and he told Mary that John was now her son.  

There are many children being killed today.  In the streets of Chicago in the Brighton Park neighborhood where I grew up violence is claiming the youth. A scant seven blocks from my ancestral home four people were gunned down just the other day.  Drugs and guns, a most deadly combination are forcing parents to bury their children and the hope for a better life for the next generation is extinguished by the juice of a flower and lead bullets.  I fear that there is no cure for this malady that afflicts our modern cities. The disease of drug addiction and the scourge of guns intertwine to enrich the funeral director and rob us of a peaceful future.  For we have yet to learn that violence begets violence and that putting trust in the things of this world, in wealth that will tarnish is a foolishness that will follow us into eternity, but the goods, the treasure will remain here for others to fight over. 

I ask for prayers.  Please pray for America and for the youth that lives here. Pray that they be given the wisdom to know that widowed mothers should not have to buy funeral goods for their sons and daughters. I ask for prayers for those that are addicted to drugs and alcohol that they may find their way out of their prison and into the light of sobriety.  I ask for prayers for those that deal in drugs, guns, and violence that they may be inspired to throw down the tools of their trade and to come out of their dirty business lest they slip into the firey gehenna where the flame never goes out.  There are just too many dead children and we must make it stop. 

The poor souls in purgatory need you to pray for them today. Please spend a quick moment in prayer for them, they will not forget you for doing this for them. 

He's Gotta Be Kidding, Right?

Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.

The vengeful will suffer the LORD's vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail.

Forgive your neighbor's injustice;

then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven.

Could anyone nourish anger against another and expect healing from the LORD?

Could anyone refuse mercy to another like himself, can he seek pardon for his own sins?

If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins?

remember your last days, set enmity aside;  remember death and decay, and cease from sin!   

Think of the commandments, hate not your neighbor; remember the Most High's covenant, and overlook faults.

                                                                                                                       

Oh My Goodness ! What I am to  make of this reading from the book of Sirach?  This spells out something that is quite hard for me to do and it spells it out in simple terms that even a two figure I.Q. person like me can understand!  God expects me to forgive and not to take vengeance against someone who hurt me!  There has to be a loophole somewhere.  I know, this is from the Old Testament, that's it! Forget about this, I am covered by the New Testament. What do you mean this subject is also covered in the New Testament?    

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,

"Lord, if my brother sins against me,

how often must I forgive?

As many as seven times?" 

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 

That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king

who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 

When he began the accounting,

a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 

Since he had no way of paying it back,

his master ordered him to be sold,

along with his wife, his children, and all his property,

in payment of the debt. 

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,

'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'

Moved with compassion the master of that servant

let him go and forgave him the loan. 

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants

who owed him a much smaller amount. 

He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,

'Pay back what you owe.'

Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,

'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

But he refused. 

Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison

until he paid back the debt. 

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,

they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master

and reported the whole affair. 

His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! 

I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 

Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,

as I had pity on you?'

Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers

until he should pay back the whole debt. 

So will my heavenly Father do to you,

unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."

Oh My Goodness !  It looks like I am trapped!  I am charged with forgiving my fellow servants if I am to expect God to forgive me.  How can I do this?  Doesn't God understand just how deeply I was hurt and how grave the offense against me was?   

As I have gone through life, I have acquired hurts and scars and painful endings.  Outside the person that the world sees appears to be as strong as steel but inside the hurts have accumulated and have become very heavy on my back. These things have affected me and my thoughts in ways that would astound and frighten the child of God that lives inside of me. This child of God can turn into a mean spirited brat child seeking only the self satisfaction that payback for the hurts afflicted on him which will lead me away from God and into sin.  

I am commanded by God to forgive those who have injured me. I am to release all of the negativity that we are carrying around in my soul.  God indeed knows how deep the hurts have penetrated my very soul.  He is also aware of the gravity of the offense committed against me and he still insists that I grant pardon to my fellow creatures.  If I do this He will not consider the gravity of the offenses I committed against Him.  He will forget the injuries I have heaped up against Him as I thoughtlessly have gone through life and He will cast memories of my sins so far away that they will be remembered no more.  

On the other hand, if I insist on my way, if I insist on attaining complete satisfaction from those who hurt me, then He will insist on in immediate payment in full when I stand before Him on my judgement day.  On that day I will stand before God naked and afraid and without the means to pay my debts to Him. He will deal with me as I dealt with my fellow humans on earth and hand me over to the torturers until I have paid the last penny of my debt. 

Friends, this is serious stuff. Your whole eternity hinges on how you love and how you forgive. Face the facts.  The sins committed against you pale compared to the sins you committed against God.  We must forgive in our hearts those that have done us wrong. 

  

THAT DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE TO GO BACK TO THAT PERSON  FOR ANOTHER HELPING OF THE OFFENSE.  It is not expected, for example, for a wife who has been beaten by a husband to return to him to make forgiveness complete. We just need to be like God to those who offend us and forgive and forget and leave vengeance to God's care. Clear your heart of all hate and resentment. Grant pardon even to those who don't deserve it. If you can't do it yourself then give it all to the Lord to handle for you. He is the expert, He will help you do this, and He will heal you and welcome you to be with Him forever in heaven. 

THE POOR SOULS IN PURGATORY WOULD BE FOREVER GRATEFUL TO YOU IF YOU OFFERED A PRAYER FOR THEM THIS DAY. PLEASE PRAY FOR MEMBERS OF YOUR FAMILY THAT MAY BE THERE AND PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SOUL THAT HAS BEEN THERE THE LONGEST AND HAS NO ONE TO PRAY FOR HIM OR HER.

The Importance of a Good Foundation

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' but not do what I command? 

I will show you what someone is like who comes to me,
listens to my words, and acts on them.


That one is like a man building a house,
who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock;
when the flood came, the river burst against that house
but could not shake it because it had been well built.
But the one who listens and does not act
is like a person who built a house on the ground
without a foundation.
When the river burst against it,
it collapsed at once and was completely destroyed."

In the past two weeks, hurricane Harvey and hurricane Irma have destroyed both people and buildings in the lands that they visited more efficiently than any modern army could using conventional weapons.  Buildings on some islands were reduced to unrecognizable piles of rubble and many of those that dwelled in these buildings lost their lives.  On the other hand, I watched reporters standing in the midst of the raging rain and wind reporting on the storms.  One of the reporters had a sturdy rope around a concrete pillar that he could hold on to when the winds got too intense.  The pillar was attached to a concrete structure, built on higher ground, with the foundation sunk deeply to bedrock.  This building was not moved when the rains came and the winds sang their loud songs of destruction. 

We are like buildings.  We can build our foundation on the things of this world and watch as the storms of life take apart what we had worked so hard to build.  We can trust in electronics, and money, and glitter and glitz and when the floods of disaster touch our life we will be left with nothing but ourselves. 

On the other hand, we can build our lives based on the truth that has been given to us by Jesus. Our lives can be built on pillars sunk down to the bedrock of truth and when the winds come and floods of evil times touch our lives we will be safe and secure because Jesus is our foundation and we shall not be moved. 

Purgatory is a place of hope and those that are there are secure in the fact that they will, someday be with God in heaven. They are in Purgatory to cleanse the effects of sin from themselves and to lose attachment to sin. They need our prayers. Please remember them in your daily prayers, they will remember those that helped them.  Thank you. 

Importance Of Prayer

Jesus departed to the mountain to pray,
and he spent the night in prayer to God.
When day came, he called his disciples to himself,
and from them he chose Twelve, whom he also named Apostles:


Simon, whom he named Peter, and his brother Andrew,
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus,
Simon who was called a Zealot,
and Judas the son of James,
and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

If prayer wasn't important, then Jesus would not have done it.  But, if we look carefully in the Bible we can see that Jesus prays an awful lot. In this reading, He prays before calling the disciples from their everyday affairs and bringing them into the work of being fishers of men. 

Very often we are afraid of prayer because we believe that we do not do it well.  We look at people such as Thomas Merton, Saint Francis, monks, brothers, sisters, and nuns we have known and we know we cannot pray like they can pray.  We never have the words to say like they do.  Well, let me assure you of something, everyone on earth is an expert at prayer because prayer does not require expertise. 

God does not want flowery talk with a lot of "thee's and thous" sprinkled on top like doughnut toppings.  God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit want to hear from you, not from St. Francis, unless you are St. Francis!  Speak to God in your prayers as if He is in the chair across from you. He wants to know what you want to tell Him and He knows what you haven't said as well.  To grow in prayer is to grow in the trust of God.  The more you speak to Him as a friend, the more you will realize that God's friendship has no end and that the love he has for you is real and deep and infinite.  

We have, through Christ, an immediate audience with God. Do not be afraid, He is listening. 

Please pray for the poor souls in Purgatory.  The time for doing good is on this side of death's door. these souls cannot help themselves. An Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be take only a moment or two but it brings them such comfort.  Won't you take a moment now for them?

Miracles of Love,Healing, and Faith

After Jesus left the synagogue, he entered the house of Simon.
Simon's mother-in-law was afflicted with a severe fever,
and they interceded with him about her.
He stood over her, rebuked the fever, and it left her.
She got up immediately and waited on them.

This story shows a miracle of Jesus.  His miracles were not for the person that received them alone.  If it was just for that person alone, it would have been done in private without even the disciples around to see it.  In this miracle, Jesus intervened in the natural order of things, being sick and having a fever is very natural and in His time most certainly might have ended up with the woman dying. For her part, she is cured and immediately arises from her sick bed and begins to wait on them. 

Jesus may not so far have intervened in our lives in such a dramatic fashion but we know that He has even if we have not recognized it at the time it happened.  What Jesus has done for us, things that we do acknowledge, are the things that should give us energy and like Peter's mother in law, we should use this energy to spread the Good News, to proclaim a time of favor and mercy from God.  We are all miracles because we are loved by God.  I do not mean that He loves us in some sort of generic way.  He loves you as a person, He knows you intimately, He is interested in everything that you do, say, and feel.   He wants us to know Him as well as He knows us.  This too is the news we have to share with those around us. The all-powerful God of the universe loves and wants a personal relationship with each of us.  Rise up off of your bed and begin to serve those around you for you are a miracle of love. 

A Thief In The Night

Concerning times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you.

For you, yourselves know very well
that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.


When people are saying, "Peace and security,"
then sudden disaster comes upon them,
like labor pains upon a pregnant woman,
and they will not escape.

Thieves love the darkness.  The darkness conceals them and hides their identity while they do their dark work. The darkness also allows his attack to be a surprise and surprise is good because it will allow the thief to get beyond the victims defenses.  For most of the world, darkness obscures their vision and the day of the Lord's return will catch them asleep and unaware.  They will have gone to bed the previous night quite satisfied with their lot.  Then, the return of the Lord will happen to them and catch them completely by surprise.

For us, the day of the Lord will come while we watch, and wait, and pray.  No thief can break in while a watch is being kept and the Lord, for us, will come as no surprise.  The day of Christ's return may be the end of time or it may be more personal, the day we die. It does not matter which one it is for us for we will be ready for it for our prayers will have been heard and our Savior will take us by the hand and bring us to the land where darkness has no place to call its own. 

Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, and Brothers, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins, and friends, if they have passed, they just might be in purgatory.  Even if no one you know is there, your prayers will not be wasted. Please remember all of the poor souls in purgatory, they need your help and will be grateful. 

A Prophet at Home

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,                            
because he has anointed me
to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,

to let the oppressed go free,
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

It is always nice to come home after a long absence. You arrive and you are among friends and neighbors that you have known your whole life. There is a comfort in that. Today's reading tells about the time when Jesus went home. He must have looked around at the streets where he had played as a child.  He probably saw some of the carpentry that he and his father had worked on together.  He felt very comfortable and at ease in this place.  On the Sabbath, he entered the synagogue and read from the scroll.  They complimented him on the wisdom he displayed. But then they remembered that he was one of them, he had played in these streets and had worked as a carpenter.  Still, he was said to have performed signs and wonders elsewhere, maybe he will do so here, but he did not.  When he was called on it, his neighbors got angry at his response.  They drove him out of the town to the brow of the hill that the town was built on but he walked through their midst and got away.  A prophet is never recognized in his home town. 

So it is with us.  We are called to proclaim the good news to family and friends and strangers.  It is easier to proclaim to a stranger, they don't know you.  When you speak to family or friends, well they remember that you stole from the cookie jar when you were young.  And, wasn't that you that came out of that tavern walking a crooked path? In short, they know you and all of your faults.  They know the good things about you too but it is human nature when confronted with a Gospel that would change their lives and take them from their comfort zone, that they look at who is proclaiming it and and remember that person and his or her sins which makes it more comfortable for them to ignore calls to change their ways. 

Be that as it may, we are still called to proclaim the Gospel to one and all.  We reinforce the Gospel by showing them that we have changed our life, that we have heard, we have listened, and we believe.  Our exterior self should be a reflection of our interior. We should reflect many different aspects of the Gospel, it should shine through and illuminate every aspect of our life.  We should be persons of love, care, kindness, and service.  There should be no person we look down upon and we should treat them all as if they are our sisters and brothers.  This includes our enemies as well.  Using force against force will bring destruction to both the the antagonists.  But wear away the force with love and a little bit at a time a boulder of hate will be worn down to the size of a grain of sand. 

Jesus has anointed us to be His messenger.  Take on this task and your soul will dance with joy.  

The poor souls in purgatory need your help.  Please, pray for them.  An Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be takes but a moment but it means so much for them.