Holy Mother Church dedicates the 30 Days of November to thinking and praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. As we think and pray for them, we remember the Last Four Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. What a great gift from the Church.

"Jesus said to his disciples: “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

"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.

"If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?

"If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours?

"No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

"The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him.

"And Jesus said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16: 9 - 15).

Saturday 5th November 2022 of the 31st week of Ordinary Time is the First Saturday of November. The Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

What is dishonest wealth? Dishonest wealth is any material possession above your material needs today. Who then does your dishonest wealth belong to? Many Church Fathers notably Saints Ambrose and John Chrysostom reply that they belong to the poor. That extra car, coat, shoes, cash belong to the poor. All belong to the poor who are in need of these necessities right here and right now. They do not belong to your grandchildren who are not yet born and may never be born.

What will be your reward if you obey God on this? "My God will fully supply whatever you need, in accord with his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4: 19).

What if you choose to live in disobedience on this commandment? Then understand clearly:  "No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Daily Bible Verse @
SeekFirstcommunity.com

"Everything, even sweeping, scraping vegetables, weeding a garden and waiting on the sick could be a prayer, if it were offered to God." (St Martin de Poress, OP).

"The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

"So Jesus addressed this parable to them. “What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?

"And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,

"‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one would not light a lamp and sweep the house, searching carefully until she finds it? And when she does find it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says to them,

‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ In just the same way, I tell you, there will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  (Luke 15: 1 - 10).

Thursday 4th November 2022 of 31st Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of St Martin de Poress (1579 - 1639). Martin de Poress, OP was a Dominican lay brother of mixed races. Born in Lima, Peru of a Spanish father and a black mother. His father gave Martin a decent education and His creator, the eternal Physician, endowed Martin with immense pharmaceutical and medical skills. He deployed these gifts in the service of the poor and animals.

Martin was not disgusted with the menial tasks he was alloted: cooking, cleaning and sweeping. He fed the unwanted and the hungry that came to the monastery looking for food. He cured the sick in the infirmary. He fed and cured animals in the backyard.

In our key Scripture from the famous Luke's Chapter 15, Jesus exclaims joyfully "Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep."  Thank You Jesus for the lesson You teach me in this parable. You teach me the power of One. You have also reminded me of the power of the mustard seed. Help me to follow Your example My Good Shepherd.

"I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance."

Great saints who repented:
#1 Mary Magdalene
#2 Paul the Apostle
#3 Peter Chief Apostle
#4 Augustine
#5 Francis of Asissi
#6 Ignatius Loyola

Martin de Poress was highly gifted and talented. He humbled himself and never raised his voice or showed off his skills. He accepted the humble place given to him by his brother Dominicans and worked cheerfully in the kitchen and as a doorkeeper. Even in these humble places, he still became the salt of the earth and the light of Christ. God blessed him with miraculous powers. After his death in 1639, the power of his intercession and miraculous power made Martin a favorite patron saint in the Church. I took Martin as my Confirmation name and a patron saint. Martin is the patron saint of Social Justice and Healthcare workers.

St Martin de Poress pray for us.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

"Charity is that with which no man is lost, and without which no man is saved."  (St. Charles Borromeo).

"Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property.

"He summoned him and said, ‘What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship, because you can no longer be my steward.’

"The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.’

"He called in his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’ Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.’

"And the master commended that dishonest steward for ­acting prudently. For the children of this world are more ­prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.” (Luke 16: 1 - 8).

Friday 4th November 2022 of the 31st Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of St Charles Borromeo. (1538 - 1584). Cardinal, Archbishop of the famous See of Milan, the See of St Ambrose. Borromeo was born into wealth and splendor but was not possessed by his wealth and patrimony.
St Charles Borromeo was one of the architects of the successful conclusion of the Council of Trent. A great reformer, he worked hard for the implementation of the decrees of the Council. He established seminaries and had catechisms produced.

The Church teaches us to have constantly in mind the Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell. There is no escaping this truth. Our key Scripture for today deals with Judgment in accounting terms. Every steward knows that once or twice a year, he renders account of his stewardship to his master in terms of profit and loss. After our death, we will render an account of our stewardship to the Eternal and Merciful Judge, Jesus.

At our birth, we received gifts of Time, Talent and Treasure. How have you invested your gifts? What are the returns on the investments? If you show profits, you will hear  "Welcome" and be promoted to eternal life. If you do not report profits, you will hear "Depart from Me..."

This life is short. Even if you live to 90, it is still a short life especially compared to eternity. It is the duty of Religion to remind everyone of this truth. Do not put all your eggs in the one basket of money and material prosperity.

Some people like St Charles Borromeo are born into wealth but are detached from material things. Other people are born into poverty and become scrooges all their life. Great mystery. It profits a man nothing to own the whole world and lose his eternal soul. Here is one of the powerful sayings of St Charles Borromeo:

"Know and recall that there is no greater wealth and treasure, nothing more excellent and fruitful, than to love God and serve him, and that everything else passes like smoke and shadow."

St Charles Borromeo is the patron saint of catechists and seminarians.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

PURGATORY: ONLY GOD CAN MEND A BROKEN EGG.

"Jesus said to the crowds:

“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

"And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.

"For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day.”  (John 6: 37 - 40).

Wednesday 2nd November 2022 of the 31st Week of Ordinary Time is the Commemoration of all the holy souls in Purgatory.

Jesus prays, yearns, cries for the salvation of all men and women. The loving mercy of God makes this possible through the providential existence of Purgatory. Without Purgatory, only a few people will be saved.

The Church teaches from the very beginning that:
"All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven." (CCC 1030).

Where do people go for the cleansing or purification after they take their last breath and close their eyes in death? "The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned." (CCC 1031).

The unbelievers think that the dead are lost and would decay in the ground like organic matters. They do not believe that man has a soul. But the word of God answers the unbelievers thus:

"They [the dead] seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace." (Wisdom 3: 2 - 3).

We celebrate the feast of All Souls because the Church teaches that the souls in Purgatory can benefit from our prayers.

The Book of Wisdom, our first Reading gives us the end game of Divine Providence on the Souls in Purgatory:

"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).

"My intercession is everlasting even in the glory of eternity because I chose to keep the wounds in My hands and in My feet and in My side. They constitute an uninterrupted pleading for the sake of all: for those in glory that they may go from light to light and from sweetness to sweetness; for those on earth that they may find in My wounds healing, purity, and holiness; and for the souls in purgatory that by the merits of My holy wounds they may be refreshed and delivered."  (IN SINU JESU, Friday, March 28, 2008).

Remember the Poor Souls in Purgatory daily in your prayers.

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com