"Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

"It is I, Paul, who am telling you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. Once again I declare to every man who has himself ?circumcised that he is bound to observe the entire law.

"You are separated from Christ, you who are trying to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we await the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love." (Galatians 5 : 1 - 6).

Tuesday 11th October 2022 of the 28th Week of Ordinary Time is the feast of Pope St John XXIII. (1881 - 1963). Italian. Pontiff.
Pope St John XXIII convened the Second Vatican Council which transformed the Church. He wrote the popular encyclical Pacem in Terris. He was a humble and well beloved Pope and was popularly called the Good Pope. I like very much this quote below from him:

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but what is still possible for you to do." (Pope St John XXIII).

In the Letter to the Galatians, we have been exploring: The Holy Spirit, faith and grace. These are principles that make living the Christian life easy and delightful.

Where is the Holy Spirit in your life? In Baptism we received Him. But have you activated Him? You activate Him by faith which means by trusting in the promise of Christ. You cannot receive or activate the Holy Spirit by work. Only by faith. Prayer is the Activator of the power of faith. Ask for the Holy Spirit in faith and God will grant you this gift at once.

The Holy Spirit in us is transforming us degree by degree. He causes us to wait in patience for the work of transformation to be advanced in us until we become the holy children of God. This is salvation. The saints have reached this stage. They live by faith and not by sight or feeling. And certainly not dependent on their works.

10.11  "O Mary of the Rosary, keep me recollected when I say these prayers of yours; bind me forever, with your rosary, to Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed be Jesus, my love." (Pope St John XXIII).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

“In all created things discern the providence and wisdom of God, and in all things give Him thanks.”  (St. Teresa of Avila).

"As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee. As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him.

"They stood at a distance from him and raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”

"And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”

"As they were going they were cleansed.

"And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him.

"He was a Samaritan.

"Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”

"Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.” (Luke 17: 11 - 19).

Sunday 9th October of the 28th week of Ordinary Time.

The first Reading from 2 Kings and the Gospel from St Luke teaches us the importance of Thanksgiving. “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine?" Asked Jesus. Was Jesus hurt that nine lepers who were healed of the terrible malady of leprosy walked away without giving thanks. I bet he was. Here is why:

Worship is at the heart religion. At the heart of worship is Thanksgiving. God does not eat steak, barbecue or drink champagne or wine. He has no need for gold or silver. God feeds on: "Sacrifice of thanksgiving." And again in the same Psalm 50: "Pay your sacrifice of thanksgiving to God." Imperative!

Do not walk away after realizing that your prayers have been answered. You are now pregnant, got the job, home, health, money, etc. Return and Give Thanks.

The Church teaches on the Prayer of Thanksgiving:
"Thanksgiving characterizes the prayer of the Church which, in celebrating the Eucharist, reveals and becomes more fully what she is. Indeed, in the work of salvation, Christ sets creation free from sin and death to consecrate it anew and make it return to the Father, for his glory. The thanksgiving of the members of the Body participates in that of their Head." (CCC 2637).

Do not deny God your sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

10. 9  "The Rosary is a meditation and contemplation of the mysteries of our Lord's life in the company of his Mother." (St John Henry Newman).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com

"Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." (St John Paul II).

"Brothers and sisters: It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the freeborn woman. The son of the slave woman was born naturally, the son of the freeborn through a promise. Now this is an allegory. These women represent two covenants. One was from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. But the Jerusalem above is freeborn, and she is our mother. For it is written:

"Rejoice, you barren one who bore no children; break forth and shout, you who were not in labor; for more numerous are the children of the deserted one than of her who has a husband.

"Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are children not of the slave woman but of the freeborn woman.

"For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery." (Cf Galatians 4: 22 to 5:1).

Monday 10th October 2022 of the 28th Week of Ordinary Time.

Rejoice brothers and sisters, we are free. The Son has truly made us free. Free from what?

#1 Free from compulsive habits of sin: pornography, lying, cheating, anger.
#2 Free from crippling fears, worries and doubts.
#3 Free from the spirit of Unbelief that denies us all the benefits of our filial adoption as the children of the Father and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

Here is how the Son freed me from almost two decades of tobacco addiction?

It was the eve of Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras. A fine Tuesday afternoon. I was amongst friends and suddenly I said: "Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. I have done nothing in Lent for many years. I will not smoke tomorrow. I wanted to observe Lent only for Ash Wednesday." Laughter broke out among my friends. "Impossible! Impossible!" They intoned. I did not smoke on Ash Wednesday. And Thursday, Friday, Saturday and for a whole week. In exactly 7 days, the desire for tobacco was removed from me. The itch simply dried up.

How did it happen? I was saved by grace through faith. For I did not doubt that It was the merciful love of Christ that set me free. At the time, I did not have any "filthy works" I could point to. No regular prayer life. No Sacraments. No corporal or spiritual works of mercy. Jesus did it so that all the honor and glory should come to Him. Also that I could bear witness to His merciful love as I am doing today. I may also add that a couple of years later, Jesus again intervened in my life and set me free completely from dependency on alcohol.

What is your addiction? Whatever it is, the Son wants to set you free.

10. 10 . "It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities and will lift them to the desire of eternal things.  Oh, that soul would sanctify themselves by this means!" (4th Promise of the Blessed Virgin Mary to those devoted to the Holy Rosary).

Daily Bible Verse @ SeekFirstcommunity.com