​READ

2 Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. 3 When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they begged him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5  for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue.” 6 And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.  (Luke 7:2–10, RSV2CE)

REFLECTION

A centurion (not a Jew) had a slave (not even a family member) who was sick. 

Very compassionate man for his own slave and the Jews because he helped build their synagogues. 

Sent the elders of the Jews (Jesus’ own people to intercede), sent his friends, (did not feel worthy and does not presume to come to Jesus himself). (Why Catholics ask for intercession from Mary and other Holy Saints  already in His presence-not worthy and not presumptuous)

He heard of Jesus. Believed in Him. Knew He had absolute authority. Knows about authority himself so understands that Jesus has it and needs to only say the word. 

Jesus marvels that someone (not even a Jew) finally understands and believes! Because of the centurions belief Jesus does what he requests. 

RESOLUTION

Jesus I believe you are God. I believe you have absolute authority. My prayers are feeble because I don’t know if it’s your will. It’s not that I don’t believe you can do it (you can do all things) it’s that I don’t know the plan and don’t want to presume that my want is your way (your ways are higher than mine). [am I using that as a crutch because I don’t believe?] I pray for the grace to pray with more conviction because even my prayer is a gift from you, you are the one guiding my prayer to begin with. Help my unbelief.

REST

Thank you Holy Spirit for guiding my prayer. Thank you Jesus for your absolute authority that we can count on. Thank you for wanting to answer our prayers. I believe in you! Amen. 

​God is Father and He does not leave us alone, He is always willing to advise us, to encourage us, to welcome us. But He never imposes His will. Why? Because He wants to be loved and not feared. And also, God wants children, not slaves: free children. And love can only be lived in freedom. 

Pope Francis

​READ

43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45  The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? 47  Every one who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But he who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”  (Luke 6:43–49, RSV2CE)

REFLECTION

A good tree bears good fruit. A bad tree bears bad fruit. 

If my heart treasure is good (GOD) I will be connected to the vine and produce obedience that leads to life. 

Off my heart treasure is bad (anything over obedience to God-the only good) I am severed from the vine and producing bad fruit and dying. 

If Jesus is The Lord, why would I not obey Him? He is the Master of life and knows how all humanity was made and what is best for life and the healing of souls. 

If I know Jesus is the Lord and I obey Him, I am building my life on Him, the perfect foundation. When the storm comes He will hold me up. 

If I do not obey, it shows I do not really believe He is the Lord. It is unbelief and therefore I am not in the kingdom. 

If I do not believe and I am not obeying my foundation is not solid. I am building my life on what will be ruined and destroyed. 

Obedience shows my belief. If I believe I will obey. If I obey I will be healing my soul and building on Him! He will not let me fall. I must treasure God above all in the world. God must be my only aim. Focusing on keeping Him as my treasure by staying in close communion and fighting my evil tendencies, living my grace filled self, and renouncing, reject, and rebuking all evil. I must forgive to be forgiven and judge not or I will be judged the exact same. Let God be God! BELIEF, HUMILITY and OBEDIENCE saves. 

RESOLUTION

Jesus, I do believe you are The Lord. I choose to obey you and build on you. I will Trust in your direction. Help me keep my eyes on you and live for You as my aim, my only good! Help me not look at others and let you deal with them. I am to fight my own evil tendencies with grace and renouncing the evil trying to seduce me. Help me be humble, believe you, obey you and be  fruit for salvation because You are my treasure!

REST

Thank you my God for loving me and wanting me to be yours. Thank you for wanting me to bear good fruit and build a solid foundation. Thank you for giving me directions that will heal my soul. Thank you for being my only Good I can build my life on that will not fail. Thank you for being my treasure! Help me live who you made me to be. I Trust In You!

​“Whenever the devil seduces a soul into carrying out his evil works, we respond with the spiritual weapons he cannot imitate: humble prayer, penance, and forgiveness. 

This is the same love Christ showed each of us on the Cross when He prayed, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” 

This is strength. This is how we win the spiritual battle. Difficult, yes, but immensely powerful.”

Monsignor Rossetti

​READ

37 “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38  give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”  (Luke 6:37–38, RSV2CE)

REFLECTION

Jesus specifically says to me not to judge or condemn others and I will not be judged or condemned. 

The reason I am angry and frustrated is because I am looking and judging what others are doing and then condemning them. 

When I have this haughty attitude I am putting myself in the place of God thinking I know the right judgment. In reality there are many weaknesses due to unseen circumstances and pain that result in bad decision choices. What I see as a serious issue could be minor compared to what the person is dealing with. I AM NOT GOD. 

My own pride is killing myself. When I am in a judgemental and prideful state I am cutting myself off from grace and stand judged and condemned myself. I now am a branch being shriveled close to falling off The Vine. 

Forgiveness not wanting to retaliate or demand my rights. It is leaving all the consequences to God, letting the person fall into the hands of God who knows perfect judgment. When I release, God can do what’s right and I am free and the person is rightly judged. 

If I do not forgive, I am holding on to poison that is destroying my soul not the person I am frustrated with. If I want forgiveness from God, I must be willing to do the same to my fellow neighbor (who I treat like I want to be treated). Holding on to unforgiveness is actually killing myself. 

The measure I give will be the measure I get. God does not lie. I am choosing my own destruction looking at and judging others. I must kill this tendency in me. It is from the devil. The devil wanted to be like God and tries to get me to do the same. 

Jesus, deliver me from this evil that plagues me. 

RESOLUTION 

Every time I start to look at another in any type of evaluation, help me turn my eyes to You my savior, cling to you, praise and thank you for something specific, and especially for the mercy and grace you give me! I choose to renounce, reject, and rebuke the evil tactics that are actually killing my own soul. 

REST

Thank you God for your word that wants to heal me. Thank you for telling me that I am the one responsible for my own demise. You have given me the Word to open my eyes and help me know what to do. Thank you my Father for your love, mercy, and grace! Help me extend it to others instead of judgement, unforgiveness, and condemnation! I repent! Amen. 

​READ

91 [90] He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High,

who abides in the shadow of the Almighty,

2 will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;

my God, in whom I trust.”

3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence;

4 he will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

5 You will not fear the terror of the night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand;

but it will not come near you.

8 You will only look with your eyes

and see the recompense of the wicked.

9 Because you have made the Lord your refuge,

the Most High your habitation,

10 no evil shall befall you,

no scourge come near your tent.

11  For he will give his angels charge of you

to guard you in all your ways.

12 On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.

13  You will tread on the lion and the adder,

the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

14 Because he clings to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him, because he knows my name.

15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will rescue him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,

and show him my salvation.  (Psalm 91:1–16, RSV2CE)

REFLECTION 

I must Dwell and abide in the shelter and shadow of the Most High

God The Lord is my refuge and fortress, and I trust in Him

He delivers me, He covers me,  He is my faithful shield 

I will not fear!

Angels have charge over me to protect and guard

I cling to God in Love

God protects and answers me because I love Him, I know Him, I call to Him

God will be with me, rescue me, honor me, and satisfy me with salvation. 

RESOLUTION 

Choose to stay and live in God, He is where life and protection is. Cling in love. He wants to be with me and give me salvation. I choose no fear!

REST

Thank you my God for your love. Thank you for wanting me to know and be with you. Thank you for wanting to protect me and be my refuge. I will love trust and abide in You! Amen. 

​Purgatory

The fact of Purgatory follows immediately from the fact of Judgement. The completely real alone can meet the Absolute. We have to give all to gain all. If we accept God’s invitation to absolute truth, absolute love and absolute beauty, we are laying ourselves open to be riven by truth ‘to the division of soul and spirit’, to be consumed in the fire of a love which sweeps through all we have and are and to be seared by a beauty whose lightning flashes through us. All that exists in ourselves which is not loving, truthful and beautiful; all our egotism, our lies, our pretences, our self-sufficiency; everything in us that we have withheld from God and his love; all that lies in those dark recesses of our being where holiness has not penetrated; all that is not fully responsive to the absoluteness of God will be burned up ‘at the brightness of his coming’.

Into this purifying fire of love we will gladly plunge if we have chosen God at the moment of Judgement, for we will be secure in the knowledge that only the good in us can meet the good of him and we will be longing to be made clean and whole so that we may be fit to be with him. This purgation will be a pain; but its pain will be one that we shall gladly bear, that we shall long to bear, for we shall see in the light of unveiled truth how unprepared we yet are to let it illuminate us through and through. Our happy agony will be a longing for purification and our willing suffering to attain it.

When we get outside the time-cycle to which we are accustomed, we use symbolic expressions to explain truths in terms which we can understand. Most persons think of Purgatory in terms of duration, of a period of purgation until the work of love is finished; but we can, with equal validity, think of it in terms of intensity and conceive of it as instantaneous. Each way of thinking is complementary to the other. What is clear is that the more that requires purification in us the greater must be the intensity or duration of the purgation. God has given us his grace in sufficient abundance for us to complete this purification in this life so that we could go as we are when we die straight into the vision of his glory. Unfortunately, most of us have not used fully this grace and to a greater or less degree will need further purification before we can find ourselves able to dare to stand in God’s presence.

Our suffering in this life is, then, a powerful alchemy through which we can turn the lead in us – inert, soft and dull – into gold ‘refined by the fire’. Any suffering willingly accepted as God’s providence for us is a purifying one and no moments in our lives need be wasted. Moreover, those joys and ecstasies in life which spring from what is right and loving and good are equally part of our purgation. Nature itself leads towards it and no human experience other than that which comes from selfishness and sin can lead us away from it.

Purgatory, then, begins before death and continues after it. In this present life it is hard for us to see things as clearly and absolutely as we would wish; at death ‘we shall know as we are known’. We saw that full human love demands a kind of death in us, so, completely, does the acceptance of the Absolute. It is an agony, for we have to let go everything that is not ourselves, to open up all those hidden corners and sealed-off reserves in us to the blinding light of God; it is a joy, for the pain is as nothing to the’ glory which is being revealed in us’, the love that is sweeping ecstatically through us and the beauty that is transforming us into itself.

​If we accept God’s invitation to absolute truth, absolute love and absolute beauty, we are laying ourselves open to be riven by truth ‘to the division of soul and spirit’, to be consumed in the fire of a love which sweeps through all we have and are and to be seared by a beauty whose lightning flashes through us. All that exists in ourselves which is not loving, truthful and beautiful; all our egotism, our lies, our pretences, our self-sufficiency; everything in us that we have withheld from God and his love; all that lies in those dark recesses of our being where holiness has not penetrated; all that is not fully responsive to the absoluteness of God will be burned up ‘at the brightness of his coming’.

​READ

27 “But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your cloak do not withhold your coat as well. 30 Give to every one who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again. 31  And as you wish that men would do to you, do so to them.

32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35  But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.  (Luke 6:27–36, RSV2CE)

REFLECTION

Jesus says to the disciples (the ones that can hear). Help me hear!!

Love your enemies. (Want good for them - especially God who is all goodness)

Do good to those that hate you. Do not hate back, instead do good so they see God who is all goodness. They will probably still hate because they don’t like goodness. Misery likes to spread misery. 

Bless those that curse you. Bless them by asking God to give them seeing eyes. 

Pray for those who abuse you. Pray the Lord open their hearts to see their destructing ways. 

To him that hits offer the other side. Do not retaliate, stand and even be willing to be hit again. 

To him who takes offer another thing. Offer even more when someone takes, it is disorienting and makes them think. 

Anyone who begs, give it. God is so good, he never refuses someone who begs so we too should give when beggars ask. 

Someone who takes your goods don’t ask for it back. Let it all go, it’s just stuff, you have a greater treasure-God himself!

Do to others what you want done to you. If you were in their shoes what would you want to happen? MERCY

God wants us to be like him and also gain merit. 

People who expect a return for what they do, gain nothing. It is an exchange. If I love someone and they love me, we are even. I have gained nothing above the exchange. 

But those who go beyond, gain a merit in God’s ways. He wants us to merit from Him, acting godly. God says he will reward us, He wants to give rewards. God gives to all people even the ungrateful and selfish so too should we! We are to imitate Him. He is MERCY. 

RESOLUTION

I am to bless, pray for, not retaliate, offer my stuff, give when asked, let my stuff go, and go beyond, to gain a merit not an exchange. You my God, want me to be like you who are full of mercy to ungrateful and selfish people (who I am!) This is a high call when my feelings get in the way. I feel anger and hurt when this stuff happens. I have to redirect my hurt into gaining a merit for you (show your character) and from you. You want me to use these opportunities as eliciting a blessing (for them and myself). Help me see these as opportunities when they arise instead of the hurt. Now, every pain becomes an opportunity to be like you and call down blessings on both parties! You are amazing!

REST

Thank you Jesus for loving ungrateful and selfish people, of whom I am definitely one. Help me stop being like that and have Mercy on all. We are blinded by our pain, anger, and needs that we fear won’t be met. Thank you for showing me that you want us all to be blessed., especially wanting us to know You. You are Love and Mercy. Heal my heart! Help me spread you! Amen.