WAR! – You Reap What You Sow!

TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

God’s kingdom is presented as a great banquet in today’s selections from Isaiah and Matthew, who remind me to wear the wedding garment of a worthy life. And Paul assures me that the Lord will supply whatever I need. Do I pray for his help? – Saint Paul Daily Missal


REFLECTION: ON WAR!

“Now the angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said,’I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land which I have sworn to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you, and as for you, you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; What is this you have done? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they will be a snare to you.’ When the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.”

Judges 2:1-4 NASB 1995 – Charles Stanley General Edition
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD

My dear brothers and sisters, incomplete obedience, is disobedience; within that, dire consequences always come, even if done with good intentions. For disobedience opens the door for evil to walk right in unannounced, making men sow evil deeds. Moreover, those who see the evil but remain silent, turning a blind eye to the disobedience, become complicit and shall be judged accordingly, handing over their perceived innocence of what is happening and becoming subject to the evil as a thorn in one’s side, effecting everyone else around them. In short, we reap what we sow, if not in our present, then most definitely in our future and for as long as the disobedience has not been forgiven! This is the message from Judges 2:1-4.

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Moreover, look at what evil has done to us; what are we to do about it? When terrorists do the evil works of Satan, the great liar, how are we to react? How can we control our anger, thirst for revenge, and compulsions to strike back with malice and hatred? Do you all not know that stupidity begets stupidity, hate begets hate, violence begets violence, and depravity begets depravity? Anger is a drug that Satan uses to rouse our baser instincts. Look past the hideous acts of evil; control the brooding anger with measured responses rooted in compassion. For even one act of supposed justified retort done in the name of protecting oneself that results in the death of another will beget death! War has come to many nations and individual families with as little as a word that slights the other, killing their reputation and soaking them in blame. War comes from the belly of the great dragon, which seeks to devour every good thing! Do you all not know that war begets war? When have you ever not seen this to not be true? Because of this, I say to you, my brothers and sister, control your anger! Dismiss your lust for justice if it is also accompanied by the lust of justified killing! For the great deceiver has told you that nothing bad will come to you by defending yourself with anger and vengeance in your heart, convincing you that fighting and killing is better than turning the other cheek… but our LORD said, “Revenge not yourselves, my dearly beloved; but give place unto wrath, for it is written, Revenge is mine, I will repay saith the LORD.”Romans 12:19 Douay-Rheims [Saint Benedict Press] Instead, live your lives in peace, love, and kindness, filled with God’s grace! Come to the great banquet clothed in the wedding garment of Christ’s agape love, worthy of God’s forgiveness, found spotless from the evil that ravages our world. Be like Enoch, who walked with God, who did not die but rather was taken up into heaven alive in God’s love; be like Melchizedek of old, both king and priest revered by Abraham, and be like Jesus who died a hideous death and was raised from the grave so that we might also be numbered as the sons and daughters of God, alive in Him.


FIRST READING:

Sunday, October 15, 2023

The Lord will prepare a feast and wipe away the tears from every face – Is 25:6-10a

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH (Isaias)

And the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees.

And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the bond with which all people were tied and the web that he began over all nations.

He shall cast death down headlong forever: and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken it.

And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have patiently waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyful in his salvation.

10 For the hand of the Lord shall rest in this mountain: and Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is broken in pieces with the wain.


LET US PRAY

LORD, open my lips, and my mouth will proclaim your praise.

Ant. You have left everything to follow me; you will have it all returned a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

Inventory Psalm 95

95 A canticle for David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people.

For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens.

Praise and beauty are before him: holiness and majesty in his sanctuary.

Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour:

Bring to the Lord glory unto his name. Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts:

Adore ye the Lord in his holy court. Let all the earth be moved at his presence.

10 Say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people with justice.

11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, let the sea be moved, and the fulness thereof:

12 The fields and all things that are in them shall be joyful. Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoice

13 Before the face of the Lord, because he cometh: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with his truth.

Psalm 95- Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)

Morning Prayer: Canticle of Zechariah

Lord, our help and guide, make your love the foundation of our lives. May our love for you express itself in our eagerness to do good for others. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Prayer Request: Dear Lord, please protect the people of Israel, and all the innocent Palestinians who have again been forced into a war. Please protect all Ukrainians, all the innocent people of Russia, and all of Europe who continue to face archaic aggression. Please show the aggressors the error of their ways and offer them your grace so the hate that Satan has placed within them is vanquished forever and ever. Amen.

OUR FATHER

Be not you, therefore, like to them, for your Father knoweth what is needful for you before you ask him.

Thus therefore shall you pray: Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our supersubstantial bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation. But deliver us from evil. Amen.

Dismissal

May the Lord bless you, protect you from all evil, and bring you to everlasting life. Amen.


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Brother Brian

Listening Faithfully Blog written by Brother Brian © 2009-2023

Reflection 1: Spiritual Accountantcy

” 15 And he said unto them, ‘Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.‘” ~ Luke 16:15

Life is a journey of immense struggles pitted with many victories and defeats. It is a race to the finish line of judgement, once there many will have ran a good race but will have done it without moral conscience and will be damned to hell for all eternity. Many will have ran the same race but prevailed with great love, faith, and ethics, and will be allowed passage into the Kingdom of God. The difference between the two is incalculable if coming from the filter of modern life, celebrating our many luxuries and comforts afforded those with what is termed as the good life. But if viewed from the prism of our Lord and Savior then it becomes more personal, deeply ethical, riveted with countless moral guidelines that help to forge a sinner into a born again child of God. It is not an easy path, in fact it is filled with much sacrifice and with many painful defeats. For to choose to be a child of God is not for the faint of heart and in the end, within the very hour of our death, Jesus promises for the faithful that they shall never taste death.

47 Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” ~John 6:47

For many of us it is hard to put into place a moral life while being surrounded with such temptations which we find at our fingertips on a daily basis. It is hard to not give in to the world of excess and comfort with so many voices telling us we don’t have too. The prevailing belief advertisers drown us with daily is, “Life doesn’t have to be so hard” and “Why wait when you can have it now!” We have become a society of capitalistic carnivores devouring everything while ignoring the implications it places upon our life and our immortal soul. We make recluse justifications to explain away why we can, when the Holy Bible has clearly stated we should not. A world that places more value on things, property, and money, over relationships, love, honor, ethics, and that of our christian savior, who is the savior of every man, women, and child on planet Earth as we know it, is an abomination in the sight of God. There are so many sins, so many fruitless attempts at winning Gods favor while pleasing the flesh. People can be so awesomely good, and in the same breath find ways to be just as evil and destructive. When we look hard at who we have become, the choices we have made, the justifications for actions which caused countless others to suffer, it is then that our deeds will be told, despite the lies of our mortal legacies. For you can preach good all the days of your life, but in private do evil, it is in your heart and therefore God see’s the truth of your life. He can discern the proper judgement from the web of misleading, randomness and noise of sin which has permenantly blacked your heart.

33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.”~ Luke 14:33

Jesus warned against collecting wealth and then not sharing it but rather hording it. He warned against ignoring your own sins while calling to the carpet others sins. He warned against hypocrisy for in the eyes of God it is nothing more than “lip service”. Jesus warns against denying the poor food, clothes, shelter, and mercy. He warns against not raising your child up in the ammunition of the Lord thy God. For he also warned against excess of all kinds, depravity of all kinds, blasphemy of all kinds, and evil works of all kinds. Yet we do them daily, we ignore Him daily, and in doing so we mock Him daily!

32 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven33 But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” ~ Matthew 10:32-33

Be on guard for those who refuse to speak the truth of God, who refuse to hear you speak the truth of God, be warned they are filled with Satan. There are people who get upset when they are shown their immoral ways and are convicted by the light of God, and by His son’s moral teachings and inwardly repress God, reviling against all righteousness, for they are filled with the spirit of Satan. Stand firm and do not waver from the light of God for instead bask within its glorious rays for it shall purify thy soul. Profess daily the miracles of God in your own life, for each day is a true miracle as it was not promised to you before you went to sleep the night before. Be on guard of those who would manipulate your words, the words of others, and the words of God to suit their lying ways, for such is the arch tool of Satan himself. Walk away from profane, perverse, corrupt, immoral, and impure people as they will as soon suck you down with them than to see you happy and free in the light of God. For to disown God is a rejection of the miracle of ones own birth and life; for Satan does not hold the keys to these things; for only God can create life and can bring about death; for only God can destroy thy very soul. Be on guard of those who wish to systematically take from you all the things in your life which bring you happiness, for they have no conscience, no remorse, no ambivalence to using deceit to accomplish their goals. For these people are expert in their disguise and can make the most illogical thing sound logical, the most profane thing sound holy, and the most hurtful thing look to others as self-defense. For God has no tolerance for them and though in the moment they grasp victory, in reality they have only clutched defeat because what God meant for you and was stolen, he will give to you in abundance in Heaven, a reward they shall not reap for they chose a selfish and self serving path.  

21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have I not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?  23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” ~ Matthew 7:21-23

It is truly important to not just know which side of the tracks you are on, but to also profess it, teach it, embrace it, and above all love God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul; to do all things for God with all your strenght and might. It is simply not enough to say you love God to close family and friends then in private do wicked, but rather love God enough to always do good in public and private, for there should only be one message of your life, because there is only one God. Be sure to never take credit for the things which you have accomplished in your life for each accomplishment was first a gift from God, to do so would be to say you willed it to be so and that is a lie. For remember Moses who took credit for the miracle of the rock which sprang water; for the rod was from God, the power was from God, and the very words which Moses spoke to bring forth the water was from God, for such a sin he was denied entry into the promised land. Remember also King David who committed adultery and who God took from him the first born son in payment of the life he had stole from Bathsheba’s first husband Uriah the Hittite. Rather be like Christ who complied with the will of God even until the point of his own death.

1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1

Spiritual accountantcy is the means which we review our own place with God, it is the act of asking where are we in our relationship to God. “Have I done things which God disapproves of, am I saved?”, is the question we need to ask daily and then we need to repent daily. Be assured God loves you, wants you, cares for you, and will never leave you if you never disown Him.

Amen.

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May God bless you and keep you all the days of your life. Amen

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