Wednesday, November 2, 2022, All Souls

Wisdom 3:1-9
1 Corinthians 15:51-57
Psalm 23:1-6
View Readings

HOW OFTEN TO PRAY FOR THE DEAD
“Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of Himself. As gold in the furnace, He proved them, and as sacrificial offerings He took them to Himself.” —Wisdom 3:5-6

The Lord has made it clear through various Jewish traditions (see 2 Mc 12:43-44), the early Church (see Mt 12:32), and the Church Fathers that we should pray for those who have died. Because the Church prays for the dead at Mass each day, it is safe to say that the Holy Spirit leads us to pray daily for the dead. However, we need to ask the Holy Spirit how often each day we should pray for the dead. It is important to serve the dead as much as the Lord wills because they depend on us greatly and our prayers make a great difference for them.

St. Augustine preached: “There is no sort of doubt that the dead are helped by the prayers of Holy Church and the sacrifice of salvation, and by alms” (Sermon 172). St. Augustine exhorted us to show “solicitude and care and zeal in offering up for them those things which help the spirits of the departed — alms, and prayers, and supplication” (ibid).

Pray for the dead daily and as frequently as the Lord wills. “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.”

Prayer: Holy Spirit, help me in my weakness for I do not know how to pray for the dead as I ought (see Rm 8:26).

Promise: “This corruptible body must be clothed with incorruptibility; this mortal body with immortality.” —1 Cor 15:53

Praise: Purgatory is the antechamber to heaven; it is God’s “waiting room.” Through His mercy, He allows us to pray for deceased souls and assist them in their final passage to the beatific vision.



-----------------------------------------------------------------
 

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, October 31, 2022,

Philippians 2:1-4
Psalm 131:1-3
Luke 14:12-14
View Readings

WHAT IF JESUS IS RIGHT AGAIN?
“When you have a reception, invite beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind.” —Luke 14:13

The welfare system is not working. Thank God it’s keeping people alive. However, it’s not setting them free. It may even be enslaving and conditioning people in a generational cycle.

The nuclear family is under attack. Thank God for marital faithfulness in a society of broken promises, broken families, and broken hearts. Yet the nuclear family is not thriving. It is struggling merely to survive.

What if the nuclear family became an extended family — even a Christian community? What if welfare was not a government program? What if family hospitality took the place of welfare? What if Jesus intends today’s Gospel reading to be taken seriously? What if Jesus is right again about loving the poor, offering hospitality, being family, and living life?

Are you trying to share meals with “beggars and the crippled, the lame and the blind”? (Lk 14:13) Are you caring for the poor in a hands-on way? Are you caring for your brothers and sisters in Christ in a practical way?

If we lived in Christian community as described in Acts of the Apostles, maybe we would do the acts of the apostles in feeding and freeing the poor. Jesus is right.

Prayer: Father, may my love for the poor open me to living in practical Christian community.

Promise: “Hope in the Lord, both now and forever.” —Ps 131:3

Praise: Clarence took in a fellow Christian when he became homeless until he found a job again.

(For an Introduction to Small Christian Communities, view, download or order our booklet or listen to, download or order our CD 76-1 and CD 76-3 or DVD 76 on our website.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, November 1, 2022, All Saints

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
1 John 3:1-3
Psalm 24:1-6
View Readings

PURE HOLINESS
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” —Matthew 5:8, RSV-CE

Saints see God, for they are pure in heart. They are pure as Jesus is pure (1 Jn 3:3). “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rv 7:14). “They are pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rv 14:4). Saints have been refined “like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord” (Mal 3:3). “By obedience to the truth,” saints “have purified” themselves “for a genuine love” of their brothers and sisters (1 Pt 1:22). Jesus has opened “a fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness” (Zec 13:1).

Therefore, “let us purify ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, and in the fear of God strive to fulfill our consecration perfectly” (2 Cor 7:1). Let us purify ourselves completely as soon as possible. Let us finish our purgatory before death and in the near future. This will please the Lord and make us more holy, free, and joyful. The more purified we are in our holiness, the deeper is our love for others and the greater is our service to them.

What the world needs now is what it has always needed — great saints. “Holy men and women have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult circumstances throughout the Church’s history. Today we have a tremendous need of saints, for whom we must assiduously implore God” (Consecrated Life, Pope St. John Paul II, 35). Be pure to be holy.

Prayer: Father, make me holy as soon as possible — whatever it takes.

Promise: “Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.” —Ps 24:3-4

Praise: The Church’s greatest saints were made of flesh and blood, just like us. How will we imitate them in serving the risen Jesus?



-----------------------------------------------------------------

You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, October 29, 2022,

Philippians 1:18-26
Psalm 42:2-3, 5
Luke 14:1, 7-11
View Readings

DOWNWARDLY MOBILE
“What you should do when you have been invited is go and sit in the lowest place.” —Luke 14:10

Jesus compared life to a wedding party at which we must be careful to “sit in the lowest place.” The Lord may change our seat, but that’s up to Him. Our responsibility is to sit in the lowest place. Which are the lowest places in life? Low-paying jobs, houses or apartments in poor areas, a simple lifestyle, a single life for the Lord, the responsibility of a large family, or a religious vocation are sometimes the lowest places.

Some of today’s lowest places were formerly high places, and the Lord may make them high places again when He exalts those who have humbled themselves (Lk 14:11). Then we will look for other low places. Jesus did this when He took the lowest place by becoming man (Phil 2:7). Then He chose to be born in a stable and laid in a manger (Lk 2:7). He found an even lower place by being crucified as a criminal (Lk 23:33). Jesus still looked for a place lower than the lowest. He found it in the Eucharist. Here Jesus became present under the appearances of common bread and wine, becoming our spiritual food and drink (see Jn 6:55).

Some Christians are called to be downwardly mobile — looking for less money, a simpler lifestyle, or a less appreciated job. We are absurd to the world as Jesus is (see 1 Cor 1:18).

Prayer: Father, may I not miss any opportunity to “empty” myself as Jesus did (see Phil 2:7).

Promise: “All that matters is that in any and every way, whether from specious motives or genuine ones, Christ is being proclaimed!” —Phil 1:18

Praise: Luke joyfully works in a low-paying job and doing volunteer work in solidarity with the involuntarily poor.

(For a related teaching on Life Decisions, view, download or order our booklet or listen to, download or order our CD 44-1 or DVD 44 on our website.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------


You can find One Bread, One Body archives, the letter to readers, OBOB eBook edition, and an online donation form at http://www.presentationministries.com/series/obob

-----------------------------------------------------------------