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God commands you to pray, but He forbids you to worry.
- John Vianney -
(Whenever you worry, turn your concern over to God's care and proceed with your day as though all is well.)
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Webinar by Philip St. Romain, D. Min.
September 10, 2020. 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. CDT
An election is coming up in the U.S. and in other countries, and many evaluate the candidates in terms of which one is more "pro-life." But what do we really mean by this term? Drawing from biblical and scientific resources, this webinar will broaden the usual focus by reflecting on the critical role of human influence in creation. We will identify specific actions that each of us can take to promote and defend
life.
Register: https://tinyurl.com/yxn5qauz
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2 THES 2:1-3, 14-17; PS 96:10-13
MT 23:23-26
Jesus said:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”
USCCB Lectionary
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Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain,
2018 (3rd ed.)
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Matthew 23: 23-26 (Keeping priorities straight)
Every Jew acknowledged the importance of paying tithes on crops. That the scribes and Pharisees have extended this responsibility to small plots of kitchen seasonings indicates to Jesus just how off-center they have become in their legalistic zeal. He goes on to say that commitments and responsibilities which detract from justice, mercy, and good faith will leave us empty inside.
• In what does true religion consist? Do any of your present commitments and responsibilities detract from your practice of true religion?
• With what has the cup of your soul been filled recently? I pray for the grace to be filled with love.
Paperback, Kindle and eBook
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Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622)
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BOOK I: CONTAINING A PREPARATION FOR THE WHOLE TREATISE
Chapter 17: That we have not the power to love God above all things
In a word, Theotimus, our wretched nature spoilt by sin, is like palm-trees in this land of ours, which indeed make some imperfect productions and as it were experiments of fruits, but to bear entire, ripe and seasoned dates--that is, reserved for hotter climates. For so our human heart naturally produces certain beginnings of God's love, but to proceed
so far as to love him above all things, which is the true ripeness of the love due unto this supreme goodness,--this belongs only to hearts animated and assisted with heavenly grace, and which are in the state of holy charity. This little imperfect love of which nature by itself feels the stirrings, is but a will without will, a will that would but wills not, a sterile will, which does not produce true effects, a will sick of the palsy, which sees the healthful pond of holy love, but has not the
strength to throw itself into it. To conclude, this will is an abortion of good will, which has not the life of generous strength necessary to effectually prefer God before all things. Whereupon the Apostle speaking in the person of the sinner, cries out: To will good is present with me, but to accomplish that which is good I find not.
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