Remembering How Mother Teresa Left Hillary Clinton in Stunned Silence on Abortion

Two very different women on the minds of Christians right now are Mother Teresa, with her canonization on Sept. 4, and Hillary Clinton, with her name on the presidential ballot in November. Hillary stands as the most influential woman in America. Someone who might have foreseen such prominence for Hillary was Mother Teresa. Perhaps that’s why the bold nun from Kolkata, India, persistently challenged the then-first lady’s push to make abortion more widely available.

Let’s back up to where it all began.

Clinton’s arrival upon the national scene became reality when her husband was inaugurated president in January 1993. That same year, in August, both Clintons would greet Pope John Paul II, who came to America for World Youth Day in Denver. John Paul II spoke to both Clintons on the imperative of valuing the life of the unborn child.

It didn’t seem to make much of an impact.

The new first lady was already starting her efforts to revolutionize the health-care industry—which, people forget, she was doing very aggressively that first year, only to back off as her efforts hurt her husband politically.

She said in an October 1993 televised forum discussing her new national healthcare plan that abortion would be made “widely available.” This prompted anxieties over the prospect of taxpayer-funded abortion, sparking the Coates Amendment in the U.S. House of Representatives, which sought to strip abortion funding from the plan. Mrs. Clinton’s intentions sent elected pro-life Democrats like Pennsylvania Gov. Bob Casey into such anger that Casey considered a run for the presidency to dislodge the Clintons.

Clinton’s words also ignited fears over the availability of the abortion pill, RU-486, under her plan. One of her husband’s first acts in office was to push the pill to market through an expedited FDA approval process that pro-lifers insisted was too quick for the safety of the women who would take the pill.

Not at all ignorant of these advances by the Clintons was a nun named Mother Teresa, who in February 1994 made her own visit to America, which included a meeting with the Clintons.

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The occasion was the annual National Prayer Breakfast, a huge ecumenical gathering in Washington. As president, Bill Clinton was a high-profile attendee, with Hillary accompanying him. That year, on Feb. 3, 1994, the keynoter was a very special guest, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and saintly figure who had come all the way from the most impoverished area of the planet, the slums of Kolkata.

According to Kathryn Spink’s authorized biography, the reluctant nun was invited by President Clinton himself.

Held at the Washington Hilton, nearly 3,000 people packed the huge room. Near the dais were the president and first lady, along with the vice president and his wife, and a select few VIPs, including Supreme Court justices and the highest-ranking members of Congress.

Unlike in typical years, where the keynoter sits among the assembled and waits for others to finish before his or her turn, Mother Teresa emerged from a curtain behind the platform only when she was called and then slowly hunched her way to the microphone. Hillary said in her memoir, “Living History,” she was struck by how tiny she was, wearing only socks and sandals in the bitter cold.

The title of the talk was “Whatever You Did Unto One of the Least, You Did Unto Me.” She began by talking about Jesus and John the Baptist in their wombs, about their mothers, Mary and Elizabeth, and how the “unborn child” in the womb of Elizabeth—John the Baptist—leapt for joy as he felt the presence of Christ in the room when Mary entered to speak to Elizabeth.

Hillary might have seen what was coming.

She next spoke of love, of selfishness, of a lack of love for the unborn—and a lack of want of the unborn because of one’s selfishness. Jesus, said the sister, who brought joy while still in the womb of Mary, had died on the cross “because that is what it took for him to do good to us—to save us from our selfishness in sin.”

Peggy Noonan, the former Reagan speechwriter and a pro-life Catholic, was there. She says that by this point in the talk some attendees began shifting in their seats, as a lot of what the lady from Kolkata had to say was striking too close to home.

Then the sister said something that made everyone very uncomfortable: “But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because Jesus said, ‘If you receive a little child, you receive me.’ So every abortion is the denial of receiving Jesus, the neglect of receiving Jesus.”

Here, Noonan described a “cool deep silence” that enveloped the room, but only for a brief moment, and then applause started on the right side of the room and then spread throughout the crowd, as people began clapping and standing; the ballroom was swept up in nonstop applause, which Noonan says lasted five to six minutes.

Yet some did not clap at all. Hillary Clinton did not, and neither did her husband; nor did Vice President Al Gore and Tipper Gore. They sat there, in the glare of the hot lights, all eyes in the crowd fixed upon them, as they tried not to move or be noticed, conspicuous in their lack of response, clearly uncomfortable as the applause raged on.

The tiny, weak, aged lady was only warming up. She had seen and experienced real suffering and couldn’t care less about making momentarily uncomfortable a crowd of a few thousand financially comfortable people who had never known real material deprivation and whose only crisis each morning was traffic or a long line at Starbucks.

She returned to that selfishness point:

“By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. [Abortion is] really a war against the child, and I hate the killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that the mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? … Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love one another, but to use violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.”

The little nun was doing what pro-choicers find unacceptable and might have booed out of the room if not for her moral authority. She kept describing abortion as “killing.”

She concluded by asking for prayers for her ministry, by asking for the blessing of God’s love and by telling the 3,000 that she would pray for them and their families: “God bless you all.” She then parted as she came, through the curtain behind the platform.

Throughout the talk’s high points on abortion—the raw nerve—the Clintons and Gores remained in stone silence. One attendee, a pro-life Catholic and high-level appointee in the Reagan administration, later told me: “It was an outrage, an abomination, very rude. Mrs. Clinton in particular just sat there. I will never forget that moment. It told me all I needed to know about her.”

To his credit, Bill Clinton realized that his behavior and that of his wife and the others was indeed rude. According to Spink, he apologized to Mother Teresa after the speech.

Hillary responded later that day—sort of. In commenting on Mother Teresa’s remarks, she must have briefly given the nun hope that she, too, would speak on behalf of the unborn when she began, “I have always believed that Christ wanted us to be joyous, to look at the face of creation and to know that there was more joy than any of us could imagine.”

As the “Champion of Calcutta” held her breath, however, she was disappointed, as Mrs. Clinton did what she has long done—applied the thought very selectively, restricted it solely to her understanding of economics, not unborn life, as she followed: “Or as Mother Teresa told us this morning, to see the joy on the face of a homeless beggar, who is picked up off the street and brought in to die, says joyously, ‘Thank you.’”

Hillary’s remarks were an extraordinary example of psychological-ideological compartmentalization, a surreal mastery of ignoring the obvious, of hearing only what one wants to hear.

Mother Teresa had come to give a major moral statement on abortion and did so in a way that shocked the entire crowd. And then Clinton flatly ignored the entire message in her follow-up remarks, carefully lifting a smaller item from the nun’s address, one with which she agreed, then placed it fully out of its context and used it for an entirely separate political purpose with which she was politically satisfied. Her reaction was inexpressibly strange, but no surprise.

And it was not like Clinton did not get the point.

“She [Mother Teresa] had just delivered a speech against abortion,” explained Clinton in assessing the keynote address in her memoirs, almost 10 years later. In the minutes after the talk, said Hillary, the nun persisted, taking the abortion issue directly to Hillary’s face: “[S]he wanted to talk to me,” said the first lady. “Mother Teresa was unerringly direct. She disagreed with my views on a woman’s right to choose and told me so.”

In other words, there was no mistaking the message that day, nor that Hillary got it unerringly.

On the other hand, Hillary later, perhaps upon further reflection with the help of an aide, identified a crucial component of the speech that she did not need to take out of context to find common ground: Mother Teresa had said: “Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Give me the child. I’m willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child.” Echoing the Malcolm Muggeridge phrase that introduced her to the West, Mother Teresa said, “I will tell you something beautiful. We are fighting abortion by adoption.”

Now that was something that Hillary could applaud. Babies outside the womb, by her reckoning, merit her and society’s protection.

In the course of one of their subsequent conversations, Clinton made clear to Mother Teresa that while she supported legalized abortion, she also wanted to see more adoptions, presumably as an alternative. The nun told the first lady she had placed more than 3,000 orphaned babies into adoptive homes in India. Hillary said she would like to visit the orphanage in New Delhi. A year later, she and daughter Chelsea did just that, visiting one of the Missionary of Charity homes in New Delhi, a facility that, said Hillary, “would not have passed inspection in the U.S.” because there were too many cribs crowded together.

Mother Teresa informed the first lady of her goal of establishing a home in Washington, where mothers could take care of their babies until they found adoptive or foster homes. In turn, Hillary went to bat for her, rounding up pro bono lawyers to do legal work, fighting through the bureaucracy of the District of Columbia and doing what she could to lend a hand to create a home for infant children near Chevy Chase Circle, just over the Washington, D.C., line. She telephoned community leaders and pastors from nearby Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal and Presbyterian churches, calling them to the White House to see where and how they could help. Moving the bureaucracy, said Hillary, turned out to be harder than she had imagined.

Regardless, Hillary Clinton apparently helped quite a bit.

Mother Teresa was equally relentless on her end. When she felt the project was lagging, she sent a letter to the first lady, checking on the progress. “She sent emissaries to spur me on,” recalled Hillary. “She called me from Vietnam, she called me from India, always with the same message: When do I get my center for babies?”

On June 19, 1995, the shelter for children opened, the Mother Teresa Home for Infant Children. This led to a photo op of Hillary and Mother Teresa clasping hands in the newly decorated nursery and smiling at one another. A reporter could not resist asking the uncomfortable question: Yes, conceded the first lady, of course they had discussed their “philosophical differences” over abortion.

Mother Teresa, ever the peacemaker, stepped in to underscore where the focus should be at that particular moment, namely, on where they agreed: “We want to save the children,” she said. The nun, slow and frail, held Hillary’s arm as they toured the facility, examining the freshly painted nursery and rows of bassinets awaiting infants.

This was not the end of the relationship, which Hillary has always looked back upon with fondness. In the short time she had left on earth, Mother Teresa continued to try to change Clinton’s view on abortion. According to Hillary, “she sent me dozens of notes and messages with the same gentle entreaty.” She dealt with the first lady with patience and kindness, but firm conviction: “Mother Teresa never lectured or scolded me; her admonitions were always loving and heartfelt,” wrote Hillary, adding that she had “the greatest respect for her opposition to abortion.” Mother Teresa saw in Hillary a potentially huge convert to the pro-life cause, and never gave up, but to no avail.

Two years after their tour through the foster home in Chevy Chase, on a Friday, Sept. 5, 1997, Mother Teresa’s heart beat its last. The funeral Mass was held at St. Thomas Church in Middleton Row, Kolkata. Hillary Clinton was there.

After the memorial service, Clinton unexpectedly found herself invited to a private meeting at the motherhouse, the headquarters of the order founded by Mother Teresa. As the nuns formed a circle around the coffin, where they stood in silent meditation, one of them, Sister Nirmala, mother’s successor, asked the first lady if she would offer a prayer. Later confessing to feeling inadequate to do so, Hillary hesitated and then bowed her head and thanked God for “the privilege” of having known this “tiny, forceful, saintly woman.”

It was a complex, intriguing, touching, but also frustrating relationship. What to make of all of this today?

Well, tragically, Hillary Clinton has become far more fanatical for “abortion rights” (and for redefining marriage and the ever-expanding “LGBTQ” agenda)—and at the expense of religious liberty—than Mother Teresa could have foreseen. Or maybe she did foresee it. Maybe the little nun saw it coming. Maybe she perceived that Hillary Clinton was poised to one day have an even greater impact. Perhaps something spoke to her. And perhaps a sign of her genuine saintliness was her vigorous attempt to reach out to Hillary Clinton and try to salvage, if not improve, the road ahead.

With her canonization, Catholics might look to Mother Teresa now for some formal intercession, as Mrs. Clinton’s trajectory increasingly foreshadows a dark future for the unborn and for religious liberty in America.

Source: http://www.lifenews.com/2016/09/08/remembe...ce-on-abortion/

Looks good, can't wait to watch it!

Feast of Saint Andrew, Apostle
Lectionary: 684



Reading 1 (Rom 10:9-18)

Brothers and sisters:
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For one believes with the heart and so is justified,
and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.
The Scripture says,
No one who believes in him will be put to shame.
There is no distinction between Jew and Greek;
the same Lord is Lord of all,
enriching all who call upon him.
For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
And how can they hear without someone to preach?
And how can people preach unless they are sent?
As it is written,
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!
But not everyone has heeded the good news;
for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?
Thus faith comes from what is heard,
and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.
But I ask, did they not hear?
Certainly they did; for

Their voice has gone forth to all the earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 19:8, 9, 10, 11)

R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul;
The decree of the LORD is trustworthy,
giving wisdom to the simple.
R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

The precepts of the LORD are right,
rejoicing the heart;
The command of the LORD is clear,
enlightening the eye.
R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
The ordinances of the LORD are true,
all of them just.
R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

They are more precious than gold,
than a heap of purest gold;
Sweeter also than syrup
or honey from the comb.
R. The judgments of the Lord are true, and all of them are just.

Alleluia (Mt 4:19)

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Come after me, says the Lord,
and I will make you fishers of men.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel (Mt 4:18-22)

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers,
Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew,
casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
He said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
He walked along from there and saw two other brothers,
James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John.
They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets.
He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father
and followed him.



REFLECTION

Wednesday 30th, November 2016
I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.

At the start of his mission, Jesus calls four fishermen to follow him—Simon and his brother Andrew, then James and his brother John. He will make them fishers of men.

The call is mysterious. Jesus does not consider their credentials. Can they learn? Can they follow instructions? Will they persevere? Jesus takes risks.

Given their present work, the four disciples must be responsible, courageous, and sturdy. They, too, have the ability to risk. Their muscles must be well developed as they can throw nets as far as possible to catch more fish. After fishing, they mend their nets and make them ready for another catch next day or night.

Just as they easily throw nets and mend them, they also find no difficulty in leaving these behind when Jesus calls them. What makes them respond so easily? We can only guess. We presume they have heard Jesus’ earlier invitation, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We cannot belittle these fisher folk. They have been waiting for the coming of God as preached by the Messiah. Long have they been oppressed by the toll tax imposed by the Romans before they could get their catch to the market. Their new calling is to engage in the spread of God’s Kingdom.

Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2016,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.) http://www.ssp.ph/

The first century Christians were called Christians because Christ means anointed. We follow Christ and are anointed at our Baptism.

Christos: the Anointed One, Messiah, Christ
Original Word: Χριστός, οῦ, ὁ
Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine
Transliteration: Christos
Phonetic Spelling: (khris-tos')
Short Definition: Anointed One, the Messiah, the Christ
Definition: Anointed One; the Messiah, the Christ.

God your God has anointed thee.

Laudate Dominum!!!

Thursday of the First Week in Advent
Lectionary: 178

Reading 1 (Is 26:1-6)

On that day they will sing this song in the land of Judah:

“A strong city have we;
he sets up walls and ramparts to protect us.
Open up the gates
to let in a nation that is just,
one that keeps faith.
A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace;
in peace, for its trust in you.”

Trust in the LORD forever!
For the LORD is an eternal Rock.
He humbles those in high places,
and the lofty city he brings down;
He tumbles it to the ground,
levels it with the dust.
It is trampled underfoot by the needy,
by the footsteps of the poor.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 118:1 and 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a)

R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Open to me the gates of justice;
I will enter them and give thanks to the LORD.
This gate is the LORD’s;
the just shall enter it.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

O LORD, grant salvation!
O LORD, grant prosperity!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
The LORD is God, and he has given us light.
R. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Alleluia (Is 55:6)

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call him while he is near.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel (Mt 7:21, 24-27)

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’
will enter the Kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them
will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock.
And everyone who listens to these words of mine
but does not act on them
will be like a fool who built his house on sand.
The rain fell, the floods came,
and the winds blew and buffeted the house.
And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”



REFLECTION: Thursday 01st, December 2016
LIKE A WISE MAN.

Jesus wants his disciples to be wise. In the Gospel, the wise man is a disciple who hears Jesus’ words and lives them. It is easy for a disciple to be listening and listening, but if he does not act on Jesus’ words, he is not wise. Doing Jesus’ words is concretizing and incarnating them. The words do not remain up in the air; they are not mere ideas but concrete realities. They can be sensed. Their effect is shown in improved attitude, behavior, and environment.

Jesus further explains with a parable. The wise man builds his house on rock, on solid and steady foundation. The house withstands storms. It is not swept away by strong flood currents. It will not collapse even when the earth quakes.

If we hear and act on Jesus’ words, our world will not easily crumble. We can maintain our poise and sanity in the face of rejection, betrayal, and crisis. If we listen to scripture readings and homilies and attend bible studies, but what we learn we do not apply and we do not change, we remain very vulnerable and prone to collapse and fall.

SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2016,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.) http://www.ssp.ph/

14 Bible Verses Every Catholic Business Owner, Executive and CEO Needs To Read
The Bible is an extraordinarily rich with wisdom for business owners who want to be ambassadors of Christ in the marketplace

All too often, business owners and executives look at business as merely a way to earn wealth and miss out on opportunities to do more. But some business leaders want to become ambassadors of Christ in the Marketplace. They want to justly earn profits, but they want to do so in a way that is responsible, virtuous, and Christlike. The Bible is extraordinarily rich with wisdom for business owners who want to operate their companies as something more than just a means to create wealth. Here are 14 verses from the Bible that every Catholic business leader needs to remember:

Proverbs 16:8 “Better a little with justice, than a large income with injustice.”

Proverbs 10:4 “The slack hand impoverishes, but the busy hand brings riches.”

Psalm 127:2 “It is vain for you to rise early and put off your rest at night, To eat bread earned by hard toil— all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.”

Proverbs 23:4 “Do not wear yourself out to gain wealth, cease to be worried about it”

Proverbs 20:4 “In seedtime sluggards do not plow; when they look for the harvest, it is not there.”

Colossians 3:23-24 “Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance”

Psalm 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build.”

Luke 16:10 “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones.”

Proverbs 4:7 “The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom; whatever else you get, get understanding.”

Proverbs 14:23 “In all labor there is profit, but mere talk tends only to loss.”

Proverbs 21:5 “The plans of the diligent end in profit, but those of the hasty end in loss.”

Leviticus 19:13 “You shall not exploit your neighbor. You shall not commit robbery. You shall not withhold overnight the wages of your laborer.”

Proverbs 13:11 “ Wealth won quickly dwindles away, but gathered little by little, it grows.”

Mark 8:36 “What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”

Source: http://legatus.org/14-bible-verses

Enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate that leads to destruction.

The narrow gate is the true laver of regeneration before the veil that sanctifies the priesthood of God.
The narrow gate is baptism into the church and a sacramental life in Faith hope and charity.

Not by works of justice do we enter the veil, the flesh, the church, the Kingdom of heaven that contains weeds in the wheat,

4But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior appeared: 5Not by the works of justice, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, by the laver of regeneration, and renovation of the Holy Ghost; 6Whom he hath poured forth upon us abundantly, through Jesus Christ our Savior: 7That, being justified by his grace, we may be heirs, according to hope of life everlasting. 8It is a faithful saying: and these things I will have thee affirm constantly: that they, who believe in God, may be careful to excel in good works.

Titus 3
I work out my SALVATION in fear and trembling.

The problem is, many now ignore or deny the detrimental nature of original sin. To be saved by the blood of the Lamb is to be baptized into Christ Jesus, the glorified Mystical Water, Blood, and Spirit that flows from the rib of the true Adam.

If Paul says you are saved by grace and not works of the law, and Abraham was not justified by works and also says, if I have all faith and no charity I am nothing, and Christ will come and judge everyone according to their works, and James says faith without works is dead, and Abraham was justified by works then can you ignore one aspect of salvation in order to just accept the other?

Does Paul contradict himself or is there more to the story? How could Paul say, I work out my salvation in fear and trembling in one sentence and say you are saved by grace as an instantaneous event in another, and Christ say he who endures till the end will be saved?

Paul often mixes up the laws of grace with the laws of circumcision, sacrificing bulls and goats, Sabbaths etc in the 613 commandments of mosaic law. This is why Peter says the unlearned and unwise can read Paul's letters to their own destruction. He was beat half to death by Jews by saying the mosaic law does not Justify. This obviously had a major impact on how he wrote. Baptized Jews who (secretly entered in Jude 1) to the church were trying to force the rituals of mosaic law on Gentile converts. This is why when he talks about law and grace he often says "or isn't he the God of both Jews and Gentiles." You are no longer Jew or Gentiles freeman or slave because we have all been baptized into Christ Jesus.

The problem is, the modern world has denied the incredible implications of original sin and the need for baptism. ( I was born in iniquity in my mothers womb. Psalms 50. Who can make unclean seed clean? Job 14) When Paul refers to salvation as an instantaneous event he is referring to baptism which removes original sin and active sin up to the point of baptism. Again, I can't stress this enough, when he says you are no longer under the law he is referring to the mosaic law baptized pharasees were trying to force on Jewish converts. Sacrificing bulls and goats, feast days and Sabbaths, circumcision. ..

You have been baptized into Christ Jesus.
Baptism now saves you.
Truly truly unless you are born of water and spirit you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
There are three that give testimony on earth the water the spirit and the blood and THESE THREE ARE ONE.
Out of his pierced side came water and blood. Baptism of the mystical body of Christ.

Suffer the little children to come unto me . The primary reason for baptism is redemption through the blood of the Lamb. Baptism destroys original sin . Nothing unclean can enter God's church nor heaven so it frees our souls to be able to enter both. It is entrance into the Holy Nation the Royal Priesthood, Grace given freely. Since we are born into iniquities God has given us a free gift to remove them as soon as we come into the world. Circumcision is a pedagogue of baptism, a teacher of its mysteries.

Both Peter and Paul tell us we are first brought into the church through baptism which is the water that sanctifies, grace given freely, purging of previous sins, the laver of regeneration, purification of the bride which is needed before the wedding. Do not come to the wedding without a wedding garment or there will be weeping and nashing of teeth. Do not pour new wine ( this is my blood) into old wine skins.

After we have been baptized into Christ Jesus which makes us an heir to the promise of Abraham we secure our election and we are CAREFUL to excel in good works.

Which had been some time incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water.

1 Peter 3:20
3As all things of his divine power which appertain to life and godliness, are given us, through the knowledge of him who hath called us by his own proper glory and virtue. 4By whom he hath given us most great and precious promises: that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature:( dying to the Old man and rising in the new in baptism ) flying the corruption of that concupiscence which is in the world.( Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect) 5And you, employing all care, minister in your faith, virtue; and in virtue, knowledge; 6And in knowledge, abstinence; and in abstinence, patience; and in patience, godliness; 7And in godliness, love of brotherhood; and in love of brotherhood, charity. ( If I have all faith and no charity I am nothing. Faith without works is dead )) 8For if these things be with you and abound, they will make you to be neither empty nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9For he that hath not these things with him, is blind, and groping, having forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10Wherefore, brethren, labour the more, that by good works you may make sure your calling and election.

2 Peter 1
Not of works of justice are we brought into the family of God but through the grace given freely of baptism which applies the mystical water spirit and blood of the cross to the eternal soul.

And after WE MUST BE CAREFUL TO EXCEL IN GOOD WORKS IN ORDER TO SECURE OUR ELECTION.

25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it: 26That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: ( Baptism)27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any; such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish.

Ephesians 5
19Having therefore, brethren, a confidence in the entering into the holies by the blood of Christ; 20A new and living way which he hath dedicated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh, 21And a high priest over the house of God: 22Let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with clean water. 2( Baptism )

Hebrews 10
17And the spirit and the bride say: Come. And he that heareth, let him say: Come. And he that thirsteth, let him come: and he that will, let him take the water of life, freely.

Revelation 22
26For you are all the children of God by faith, in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ, have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.29And if you be Christ's, then are you the seed of Abraham, heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 3
After you have entered the church the Family of God be careful to excel in good works so that you can make sure of your calling and election.

Augustine Exposition on the Psalms (136)
Baptism

9. “Who brought out Israel from the midst of them” Psalm 135:11. He brought out also His saints and faithful ones from the midst of the wicked. “With a mighty Hand and stretched-out Arm” Psalm 135:12. What more powerful, what more out-stretched, than that of which is said “To whom is the Arm of the Lord revealed?” Isaiah 53:1 “Who divided the Red Sea in two parts” Psalm 135:13. He divided also in such wise, that the same baptism should be to some unto life, to others unto death. “And brought out Israel through the midst of it” Psalm 135:14. So too He brings out His renewed people through the laver of regeneration. “And overthrew Pharaoh and his power in the Red Sea” Psalm 135:15. He quickly destroys both the sin of His people and the guilt thereof by baptism.

The spirit and the bride say come. ...come take of the water of life freely given.

The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, grace given freely.

Friday of the First Week in Advent
Lectionary: 179

Reading 1 (Is 29:17-24)

Thus says the Lord GOD:
But a very little while,
and Lebanon shall be changed into an orchard,
and the orchard be regarded as a forest!
On that day the deaf shall hear
the words of a book;
And out of gloom and darkness,
the eyes of the blind shall see.
The lowly will ever find joy in the LORD,
and the poor rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
For the tyrant will be no more
and the arrogant will have gone;
All who are alert to do evil will be cut off,
those whose mere word condemns a man,
Who ensnare his defender at the gate,
and leave the just man with an empty claim.
Therefore thus says the LORD,
the God of the house of Jacob,
who redeemed Abraham:
Now Jacob shall have nothing to be ashamed of,
nor shall his face grow pale.
When his children see
the work of my hands in his midst,
They shall keep my name holy;
they shall reverence the Holy One of Jacob,
and be in awe of the God of Israel.
Those who err in spirit shall acquire understanding,
and those who find fault shall receive instruction.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14)

R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

One thing I ask of the LORD;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the LORD
and contemplate his temple.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, our Lord shall come with power;
he will enlighten the eyes of his servants.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Reading (MT 9:27-31)

As Jesus passed [by], two blind men followed [him],
crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!”
When he entered the house,
the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them,
“Do you believe that I can do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they said to him.
Then he touched their eyes and said,
“Let it be done for you according to your faith.”
And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly,
“See that no one knows about this.”
But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.



REFLECTION
Friday 02nd, December 2016

DO YOU BELIEVE THAT I CAN DO THIS? Jesus poses this question to the two blind men, who cry out for mercy, as He enters the house of Peter in Capernaum. It is not an ordinary question. It challenges the two blind men to believe in His power or, if they do already, to proclaim their faith again in public, for they have just done it when they first cry out. The two readily say, “Yes, Lord,” and Jesus grants them the big favor they are asking. Jesus answers their prayer, matching their faith.

The Gospel teaches us the necessity of faith if we want to benefit from the healing power of Jesus. We cannot make Jesus do miracles for us if we do not have faith. Faith is essential. It is more than making a mental assent that He can do everything, but recognizing Him as Lord.

Many times we are indisposed with our prayers, because something is wrong with our faith. We doubt if God can actually heal our infirmities or help us with our problems, but we just pray anyway.

The Gospel reminds us that if we cry out to God with unwavering faith, God will answer us. We should then firm up our faith, “Yes, Lord, I believe You can do it.”

When you pray, do you believe that God can grant your petitions?

SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2016,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.) http://www.ssp.ph/

The Good Samaritan: Not Just a Good Neighbor



Providence is a powerful force—it’s God’s invisible hand guiding our lives. I experience Providence in different ways. Most frequently it happens on the phone with my clients when a story or metaphor comes to mind that I don’t normally use, and it hits home in a way I could not have possibly planned. It happens in used-book stores (one of my vices). I will find a book or an author on a topic I have just discovered and want to explore. Or in this instance, I found in my library, from three different sources, something new on the parable of the Good Samaritan. Fr. Michael Gaitley’s 33 Days to Merciful Love, Bishop Robert Barron’s sermon, and Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth all interpreted this parable as a beautiful metaphor for God’s mercy. So I got the message, and an article was inspired!

In my pastoral counseling practice, I have many perfectionists. They are always working hard to do all the right things, yet are never quite sure what the right things are, thus finding themselves in an unsolvable dilemma. They work to be loved and feel they are only as good as their last performance. When they contact me, they are exhausted and suffering in their relationships, including their relationship with God. But our behavior can’t make God love us any more than he already does. We don’t work for love, we work from it (1 Jn 4:19). They have reversed what our faith teaches and bought into a heresy called Jansenism.

Whenever I would hear the Good Samaritan parable, I would focus on what I was supposed to do, missing the very rich message of God’s mercy. But with this new interpretation, the Holy Spirit has been bringing some clients to tears and all to a deeper appreciation of his love and mercy.

The Parable and Interpretation
A man was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho. The first surprise from the early Church fathers is, this is man’s journey from the “heavenly city” to “sin city”—he is walking away from God. He is beaten, stripped, robbed, and left half-dead—this is original sin. The priest and Levite, both schooled in the law and the prophets, pass by and are of little help to man in original sin.

Then along comes an outcast, a half-breed, a Samaritan. He simply responds to the wounded man without being asked. But this Samaritan is not just a good neighbor—he is Jesus! As a good father, Jesus is always drawn to the woundedness of his children, even the woundedness of sin: “where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more” (Rom.5:20). St. Therese’s little way makes a similar point. Her doing little things with great love is only half of the story. The other half is to live as spiritual children; we must stay little—we must acknowledge our faults, hurts, wounds, and sins to God—to open the floodgates of love and mercy towards us. St. Faustina puts an exclamation point on this. Regarding hardened sinners, she says, “These souls have a right of priority to My compassionate Heart, they have first access to My mercy”! (Diary, 1541) In his merciful love, Jesus pours wine—the blood of Christ!—on the wound. He puts all the love in the universe into that wine and pours it into our woundedness for healing. Pause and reflect on that: all the love of the universe penetrating your wounds. Then comes the oil, tying in four more sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Orders.

Jesus carries us to the inn. Imagine you are in the arms of Jesus, being carried, half-dead in sin—some of your own making, some done to you—to a place of help. You can rest in his arms. In another surprise, the inn is the Church, the hospital for sinners. The inn keeper might be a priest, family member, or friend who helps you through a dark time in your life.

Psychologically we desperately need another to initiate loving us, and we need to be loved despite our faults and sins so we can feel loved and secure. Thankfully, our Papa obliges us on both counts! He initiates, and our sin does not have the power to stop him from loving us. He can’t stop being who he is—love! His love, in both forms, is clear in this parable, as well as in the story of our Abba’s pursuit of Adam and Eve after the fall and in Jesus’ pursuit of us, taking on our humanity. He is a good father! When my perfectionistic clients experience this, they work less for love and more from love.

The Ultimate Challenge
Up until recently, I had always and only heard this parable as a challenge to be a good neighbor, and I’ve always had a hard time living up to it! Now we have the rest of the story: the Good Samaritan is Jesus! He always pursues us, even when we don’t ask for it—even in our sins. We must receive the Good Samaritan’s love and mercy first, or we have nothing to give away (1 Jn 4:19). And then our response to this love is repentance—going beyond the mind we have now/giving up the lies we believe about God or ourselves—and then going to confession. This is followed by The Ultimate Challenge: to be that good neighbor or the inn keeper in a world where everyone is wounded by something! Be like Jesus—be a good spiritual father in a dark and lonely world!

Source: http://catholicexchange.com/good-samaritan..._eid=6396f20ec0


This post has been edited by khool: Dec 2 2016, 10:03 AM

Tantum Ergo Sacramentum EUCHARISTIC BENEDICITON

Tuesday of the Second Week in Advent
Lectionary: 182

Reading 1 (Is 40:1-11)

Comfort, give comfort to my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her
that her service is at an end,
her guilt is expiated;
Indeed, she has received from the hand of the LORD
double for all her sins.

A voice cries out:
In the desert prepare the way of the LORD!
Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!
Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill shall be made low;
The rugged land shall be made a plain,
the rough country, a broad valley.
Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together;
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

A voice says, “Cry out!”
I answer, “What shall I cry out?”
“All flesh is grass,
and all their glory like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower wilts,
when the breath of the LORD blows upon it.
So then, the people is the grass.
Though the grass withers and the flower wilts,
the word of our God stands forever.”

Go up onto a high mountain,
Zion, herald of glad tidings;
Cry out at the top of your voice,
Jerusalem, herald of good news!
Fear not to cry out
and say to the cities of Judah:
Here is your God!
Here comes with power
the Lord GOD,
who rules by his strong arm;
Here is his reward with him,
his recompense before him.
Like a shepherd he feeds his flock;
in his arms he gathers the lambs,
Carrying them in his bosom,
and leading the ewes with care.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 96:1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12, 13)

R. The Lord our God comes with power.

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name;
announce his salvation, day after day.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.

Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Say among the nations: The LORD is king;
he governs the peoples with equity.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;
let the sea and what fills it resound;
let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!
Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.

They shall exult before the LORD, for he comes;
for he comes to rule the earth.
He shall rule the world with justice
and the peoples with his constancy.
R. The Lord our God comes with power.

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The day of the Lord is near:
Behold, he comes to save us.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel (Mt 18:12-14)

Jesus said to his disciples:
“What is your opinion?
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills
and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it
than over the ninety-nine that did not stray.
In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father
that one of these little ones be lost.”



REFLECTION

Go in search of the stray. A good shepherd does not allow any one of his sheep to go astray. He has a staff that brings back to the fold the sheep that may veer away. His voice also helps to keep the sheep within the fold. If the shepherd does not use his voice and staff, many of his sheep will go astray. The shepherd must make his presence felt always.

When the shepherd looks for the lost sheep, he first secures the ninety-nine. He does not leave them alone in the open just like that or something worse may happen. A biblical scholar once said that if the shepherd loses one sheep, he stands to lose all, for he may be removed from his job. It is understandable that when he finds the lost sheep, he rejoices and celebrates because he will retain his job. He proves to be a trusted steward.

Like the shepherd, we should understand the will of the Father. His will is not to lose any of his flock, even the least ones. We should diligently and faithfully do the Father’s will. It is unfortunate if we do not take the effort to bring back the lost members of our community and nurture them with the Word of God and the Eucharist.

Do you seek the lost members of the Church or those who have become complacent with their faith?

SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2016,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.) http://www.ssp.ph/

Memorial of Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Lectionary: 183

Reading 1 (Is 40:25-31)

To whom can you liken me as an equal?
says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high
and see who has created these things:
He leads out their army and numbers them,
calling them all by name.
By his great might and the strength of his power
not one of them is missing!
Why, O Jacob, do you say,
and declare, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD,
and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Do you not know
or have you not heard?
The LORD is the eternal God,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint nor grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.
He gives strength to the fainting;
for the weak he makes vigor abound.
Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,
They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar as with eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 103:1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10)

R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

Bless the LORD, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

Merciful and gracious is the LORD,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes.
R. O bless the Lord, my soul!

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Behold, the Lord comes to save his people;
blessed are those prepared to meet him.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel (Mt 11:28-30)

Jesus said to the crowds:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

REFLECTION

YOU WILL FIND REST. Jesus invites his disciples to draw close to him to find rest. Jesus is not a slave driver. He sends his disciples to work, evangelize, preach the gospel, heal the sick, and cast out demons, yes, but he also asks them to rest, pause for a while, and spend ample time recouping their energies and assessing their performance.

Jesus’ religion is not all work or activism. His followers must find time to be with him in a relaxed and prayerful mode.

Jesus is making a strong statement to those who mistakenly think that discipleship is all activity, leaving no time to rest and to pray. Jesus rejects all kinds of exaggerations, like a lifestyle full of activities and commitments, even if they are done in his name. God knows our real needs. We may commit ourselves to so many parish activities, not because we love Jesus and the Church, but because we have a deep-seated need to be acknowledged by others and so do not give others a chance to serve.

Jesus will appreciate more what we are doing for him if we demonstrate equilibrium in our family, social, professional, and church life.

Do you have time to stop and pray without hurrying up? Do you keep Jesus in command over your life? Do you spend quality time with the Lord?

SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2016,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.) http://www.ssp.ph/

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lectionary: 689



Reading 1 (Gn 3:9-15, 20)

After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”
Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”
The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”
The LORD God then asked the woman,
“Why did you do such a thing?”
The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”

Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
on your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.”

The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 98:1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4)

R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

Reading 2 (Eph 1:3-6, 11-12)

Brothers and sisters:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ,
in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved.

In him we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.

Alleluia (Lk 1:28)

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel (Lk 1:26-38)

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.





REFLECTION

MAY IT BE DONE TO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD. This is the perfect response to God who calls us to do something for Him. Mary makes this beautiful statement when the angel Gabriel brings her God’s invitation to do something ordinary but big. It is ordinary because it is very easy for a girl like her to get pregnant. It is big because she will bear the child Jesus who will change the face of the earth.

The formulation is a more exact rendering of the original Greek word genoito. It represents better the humility of Mary who is talking before God’s messenger. It is not “Let it be done to me…,” as in the Angelus, as if Mary were a landlord.

Mary can respond well to God’s demands because she is “full of grace.” She has all the power and energy to carry out God’s commands. No sin is found in her. Sin debilitates and dissipates us. We live out of focus if we are in sin.

We who are devoted to Mary may well reflect on her simple response and appropriate it as the best expression of our devotion. We can say it in our hearts each time we hear the Word of her Son Jesus in the Liturgy of the Word or when we hear it interpreted by priests, bishops, and the Pope.

SOURCE: “366 Days with the Lord 2016,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.) http://www.ssp.ph/

This post has been edited by khool: Dec 8 2016, 01:02 PM