Catholic Caucus: Sunday Mass Readings, 11-05-17, Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

USCCB.org/RNAB ^ | 11-05-17 | Revised New American Bible

[Salvation]

Slideshow of the Gospel

[Salvation]

Marriage = One Man and One Woman Until Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for November 5, 2017:

“The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt 23:11-12) Who doesn’t want to be noticed and applauded? Jesus’ words certainly sound like a paradox. Do small things with great love today – sometimes it’s the little, hidden things that make the […]

[Salvation]

Every Earthly Pleasure is a Passing Joy

Pastor’s Column

31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 5, 2017 

“The greatest among you will be your servant.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled,

and whoever humbles himself will be exalted”

      from Matthew 23:1-12

Many in this world place great value in things that, in the end, are of little importance. The gospel today can help open our eyes to what Christ expects of us as his followers. Three false gods of the worldly, an inordinate desire for wealth, fame and power, are turned upside down by the teachings and life of Jesus Christ. How many there are that have all but sold their souls in order to acquire power, wealth or fame, having little concern for morality or the people that they hurt along the way in achievement of these very temporary assets. Others spend all their time seeking bodily health but have little or no concern for their souls. The world may promise us happiness if we have lots of these things, but it is a lie: they do not last. Every earthly pleasure is a passing joy.

Jesus set us an example by his own life as to what truly matters in this world. By listening to him, we will be ready to enter into eternity well-equipped and wealthy forever. Jesus, who alone among us has pre-existence, could have chosen to be born in any circumstance, but instead he entered a world of poverty, with a father who took humble jobs to support their family and who were even forced to be refugees when those in power sought to kill him. Bethlehem and Nazareth, both then and now, are not centers of wealth and power; and Jesus had none of these things either. None of us would willingly choose such conditions in which to be born, but Jesus did. Jesus will say to us on the last day of our lives: “I taught you what was important by my life, how I lived and how I died. Did you imitate me in some way?”

How much humility do I have? Pride is putting my will, my way above all other things; humility seeks God’s will, God’s way. Sometimes we are misjudged, perhaps even publicly. Or we may suffer some kind of involuntary reversal of health or finances, or are unable, by ourselves, to find a way out of our problems. But, then we can ask ourselves, what am I here to learn, really? Life is in the end not about wealth, fame and power at all, but of growing in holiness by accepting in humility what God permits in our lives as we strive to better our condition, and to serve Christ by serving others. Those who listen to the scriptures and the church will find themselves very wealthy, indeed, at the end of their lives, while those who did not listen will find that every earthly pleasure is a passing joy.

                                                                        Father Gary

[Salvation]

Reflections from Scott Hahn

Calling the Fathers: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Download Audio File

Readings:
Malachi 1:14-2:2, 8-10
Psalm 131:1-3
1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13
Matthew 23:1-12

Though they were Moses’ successors, the Pharisees and scribes exalted themselves, made their mastery of the law a badge of social privilege. Worse, they had lorded the law over the people (see Matthew 20:25). Like the priests Malachi condemns in today’s First Reading, they caused many to falter and be closed off from God.

In a word, Israel’s leaders failed to be good spiritual fathers of God’s people. Moses was a humble father-figure, preaching the law but also practicing it – interceding and begging God’s mercy and forgiveness of the people’s sins (see Exodus 32:9-14; Psalm 90).

And Jesus reminds us today that all fatherhood – in the family or in the people of God – comes from the our Father in heaven (see Ephesians 3:15).

He doesn’t mean we’re to literally call no man “father.” He himself referred to Israel’s founding fathers (see John 7:42); the apostles taught about natural fatherhood (see Hebrews 12:7-11), and described themselves as spiritual fathers (see 1 Corinthians 4:14-16)

The fatherhood of the apostles and their successors, the Church’s priests and bishops, is a spiritual paternity given to raise us as God’s children. Our fathers give us new life in baptism, and feed us the spiritual milk of the gospel and the Eucharist (see 1 Peter 2:2-3). That’s why Paul, in today’s Epistle, can also compare himself to a nursing mother.

God’s fatherhood likewise transcends all human notions of fatherhood and motherhood. Perhaps that’s why the Psalm chosen for today includes one of the rare biblical images of God’s maternal care (see Isaiah 66:13).

His only Son has shown us the Father (see John 14:9) coming to gather His children as a hen gathers her young (see Matthew 23:37). We’re all brothers and sisters, our Lord tells us today. And all of us – even our spiritual fathers – are to trust in Him, humbly, like children on our mothers’ laps.

[Salvation]

31st Sunday - "Practice what you preach"

"All their works are performed to be seen . . .

The greatest among you must be your servant"

Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10

1 Thessalonians 2:7b-9,

Matthew 23:1-12

The Word:  http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110517.cfm

I distinctly remember the day after my priestly ordination being asked by my brothers and sister, “Does this mean we have to call you ‘Father’ now?” I jokingly turned to them and said, “Of course!”  Well, that hasn’t come to pass and to family at least you are who you are, regardless of the position you hold.

Yet, in light of today’s Gospel in which Jesus warns about too much emphasis on titles of honor such as “Rabbi,” “Father,” and “Master” the question of my family may not be so off the mark.  They quickly reminded me that despite being called to the priesthood, I was still the same guy.  Not a bad lesson in humility for any of us. Titles don’t give automatic super human qualities.  In fact, they may often expose more of our flaws. 

So this weekend we see Jesus at it again with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders of his time. If it isn’t the Roman taxes and who gets what portion, God or Caesar, or the question about which commandment is greatest, now it’s a question about authority and their personal hypocrisy as Jesus challenges the leaders on every front.  Their deception and ill intent towards him was clear and Our Lord wastes no time in confronting them with the truth. It’s no wonder they were out to get him. 

But, it’s also good to know that not all these leaders were corrupt.  The people generally did respect them and their position was a great help to the general population, especially in Jerusalem, about staying on the mark in regards to the Sacred Law, albeit in overly burdensome ways. 

So, what we see today and in similar confrontations with Jesus and the Pharisees is also a reflection of the Church of Matthew’s time.  For as the early Jews for Jesus communities began to form after the Pentecost event, they met with increasing hostility and suspicion from Jewish authorities especially in regards to Temple worship.

So, Matthew presents these scenes to us between Jesus and the Pharisees as both an historical event and a like experience of the early Christians. He uses these examples in order to confront the Jewish authorities of his own time about 40 years after the Pentecost moment. Still, there is no doubt that Jesus poured salt into the prideful wound of the leaders of his time and their resentment led eventually to his arrest and death. 

Today’s Gospel may somewhat confuse us on one level.  Jesus tells the crowds to “. . . do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you . . .”for these men represent the authority of Moses.  Yet he rightly adds: “. . . do not follow their example.”  It was their outward show of ostentatious behavior, “they preach but do not practice . . . widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels . . . love places of honor . . .”  which was done by the Pharisees not to encourage religious observance but to draw attention only to themselves and ultimately away from God.  So Jesus warns the crowd to respect their position but do not follow their example which was a bold accusation to make considering their influence over the people and collusion with Roman authorities. It was that blatant, arrogant sin of hypocrisy that Jesus seemed to rail against more than any other.  

Jesus goes on to warn the crowds about their lust for prestige, honor and recognition, and their love for “places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues,” and public shows of respect in the “marketplace” and attractive titles of superiority.  They must have been quite the “prima donnas” as the saying goes.  In a sickening display of ego centered behavior their empty personal examples incur our Lord’s courageous warning to the people to reject what they see.  These are false leaders, not authentic, we might say. In doing all of this, Matthew in his Gospel compares the leadership of his own converts with that of the general Jewish community leadership around him. 

In today’s first reading from the prophet Malachi we hear a similar warning about the Jewish authority and the need for right example: “You have turned aside from the way, and have caused many to falter by your instruction . . .” I think those of us entrusted with the responsibility of leading Christian community, aka our parishes and its pastors to name an obvious example, myself among them of course, and our Bishops in their Dioceses, will be held to a certain standard of judgment when the Lord calls us home.  Don’t lead people astray, preach and practice the truth, give honest and good example to those you lead!  Ouch, but right on course.

Still, history has taught over centuries of human leadership that we have seen power seriously abused:  tyrants, dictators, emperors, military leaders and even some Popes, have all provided plenty of examples of abusive power.  Yet, despite that we have also seen saintly and virtuous examples from some of the same, though it often seems those are sadly not the majority.  So, Jesus’ warning today is not so much about titles of honor as much as it is about the abuse of power. 

So, what we hear about authentic leadership in the readings today may cause us to deflect it away from ourselves to our politicians and our Church leaders of our time.  Yet, Jesus reveals to us by pointing out bad leadership to remind us how we all must be as his disciples, regardless of our positions.  The Gospel is about personal conversion ot the form of Christ Jesus and so we must follow the example of the only one who is truly authentic and truly the Holy One – Christ himself who not only told us but showed us. 

He concludes the Gospel today by saying: “The greatest among you must be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”  As leaders in our own particular way, whether those formally given positions of authority or responsibility over others or not, is that we are all called to live a life of loving service after his example.  The greatest leaders are the greatest selfless servants and Jesus himself is the purest example of what that means for us all. 

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

Almighty and merciful God, 

by whose gift your faithful offer you

right and praiseworthy service, grant

that we may hasten without stumbling

to receive the things your have promised. 

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

one God for ever and ever. 

Amen. 

[Salvation]

Regnum Christi

November 5, 2017 – Follow Me, I Am Meek and Humble of Heart

05 Nov 2017

Thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

Matthew 23:1-12

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father– the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Introductory Prayer: Jesus Christ, where else can I turn each day but to you? One day, I will make that final turn to you, and it will last for all eternity. Yet as in everything else, you set the pace, you take the initiative, and you are the protagonist. You will turn and look my way first and I, as I strive daily to do, will respond and gaze back into your eyes. This moment of prayer is a rehearsal for that final turn to you. Amen.

Petition: Lord Jesus, teach me to be humble as you were humble.

1. True Greatness: Jesus Christ, the lord of history and the world, came to show us what it means to be humble. His divinity did not keep him aloof, but rather he emptied himself, stripping himself of all glory to serve us humbly, eventually dying for us on the cross. Such humility is astonishing. Who could ever imitate such lowliness? We have trouble tolerating even minor offenses against our person or reputation. Christ voluntarily assumed our human nature and subjected himself to shame, insult and torture in order to save us.

2. Authority Not Their Own: The Pharisees were in a position of authority, having been lifted up from the mere dust from which God made them to the noble position of arbiters and interpreters of the law. For that reason, Christ tells his listeners to obey what they say – not on account of their own authority, but because of the authority given them by God. However, many of the Pharisees were more interested in the honors and privileges of their position than in being the link between souls and God. Contrast their example with the model of humility set by Christ.

3. Promise of Freedom: Christ came to earth to liberate us. He freed us from sin and death and has given meaning to human suffering. He did this not in a proud way but as a humble servant. As a lamb led to slaughter, he took upon his shoulders the punishment for our sins. Far from coming to judge us, he came to free us and let the judgment fall on himself. How does my concept of freedom mesh with that of Christ setting us free from sin? Am I convinced that the freest person in this life is the person who has strived to form virtue and thus can joyfully and easily choose to do good and not evil? Do I humbly ask Our Lord for the grace to act rightly knowing I cannot do anything good without his help?

Conversation with Christ: Lord, Jesus Christ, you chose the path of humble service to attract souls to your heavenly Father. Help me continue the work of calling souls to him. Remind me that my proud behavior can do nothing to gain these souls. Inspire me with your grace so that I may love you more than myself.

Resolution: I will refrain from boasting about my personal achievements. Instead, today I will seek to praise three other people for something they have done well.

[Salvation]

Scripture Speaks: Love in Service

Gayle Somers

Today, Jesus denounces the Pharisees and scribes as outrageous hypocrites, yet He tells His disciples to do whatever they say. Why?

Gospel (Read Mt 23:1-12)

In the many parables He taught, Jesus gave His enemies, the religious elites of Jerusalem, ample opportunities to recognize Him as their Messiah and be converted. Their response, instead, was to try to trap and silence Him. In today’s Gospel, He now gives a direct warning to His followers about the dangers they present to God’s people. However, He begins His warning with a surprising exhortation: “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.” This presents a conundrum to the modern mind. Why would Jesus bind His followers to obeying people whom He denounces as fakes?

Jesus makes reference to “the chair of Moses.” In the synagogues, when teachers of the Law of Moses read the Scripture, they stood up. When they instructed the congregation about its meaning, they sat down, just as Jesus did in the synagogue in Nazareth when He began His public ministry (read Lk 4:16-20). Clearly, this “chair of Moses” was a seat of teaching authority in the Old Covenant. Moses was long dead, but the authority God gave him to lead His people and deliver His Word to them lived on in the “chair,” or office of leadership. The one who sat and taught in it was able to preach truthfully, otherwise Jesus would never have instructed His disciples to fully obey it. However, the authority provided by the chair of Moses did not translate into personal holiness for those who sat in it, as Jesus makes clear: “For they preach but they do not practice.” To live in accordance with what a man authoritatively taught from the chair of Moses was a personal, individual decision. We might say that while the charism of truth conferred by the chair of Moses made a man’s teaching infallible (free from error), it did not make him impeccable (free from sin).

Does this sound familiar? Of course, it does! This principle is the same one at work in the Chair of Peter, the papacy, where the teaching authority of the New Covenant resides. It is very important for us as Catholics to see that it was Jesus Himself who suggested that this charism of truthful, authoritative teaching can actually work, even when it is exercised by men who choose not to live the truth they teach. The promise Jesus made to Peter when He gave him the keys to the kingdom (see Mt 16:13-20) was that the gates of hell would never prevail against His Church. His Church was to be built on the foundation of Peter, on the office of leadership Peter would fill. Those who sit in the Chair of Peter teach with infallible authority. A Church that can teach error would not be one protected from hell! A Church that cannot teach truth authoritatively is doomed to constant fracture and disunity. However, the popes who sit in that Chair are not by any means thereby impeccable (free from sin). We know our history includes men who chose to live up to the truth they taught, as well as, sadly, those who didn’t.

Here, Jesus exposes the teachers of the Law in His day as hypocrites, men who perform all their religious works in order to be seen and honored by others. Even the way they dressed reflected their love of themselves. Phylacteries were small boxes containing Scripture passages that Jews wore on their arms and foreheads to keep the Word of God close to their actions and thoughts. The bigger the boxes were, the more obvious was the show of piety. Tassels, too, were regulated by Mosaic law (read Num. 15:38). Making them more visible was another ostentatious flash of apparent compliance with that Law.

These men loved their reputations. That is why Jesus warned His followers against desiring titles of respect and honor—rabbi, father, master. This was not, of course, an absolute prohibition against the use of these titles. Even the New Testament writers use “father” for natural fathers (read Heb 12:7-11) and for spiritual fathers in the Church (read 1 Cor 4:15; Philem 10). The spiritual fatherhood of priests in the Church today is an extension of this practice. Jesus’ warning was against pride, not titles: “The greatest among you must be your servant.” Those who seek to exalt themselves set themselves up for a fall. Those who consciously choose the way of humility and service, who give no thought to their own status or reputations, have nothing to worry about. Their futures are in God’s hands.

Possible response: Lord Jesus, help me choose obedience and humility and to forget about looking spiritual.

First Reading (Read Malachi 1:14b-2:2b, 8-10)

Malachi was a prophet in Judah at the time when Jews who had been exiles in Babylon were allowed to return and rebuild their nation (about 460 B.C.). They had rebuilt the Temple, restored the priesthood, and attempted to regain what they had lost through infidelity to the covenant. However, disillusionment had set in. Prosperity had not returned to their land, enemies surrounded them, and they suffered from drought, bad crops, and famine. Many began to doubt God’s love. It looked to them as though the evil and self-reliant were the ones who prospered.

Malachi announced that their difficulties came from a poison within—unfaithfulness again to the covenant. There was the problem of corrupt worship being offered by the priests. They were irreverent and perfunctory in their Temple duties. The example they set for the people was leading them astray. In particular, they were very lax about the kind of offerings people brought to the Temple for sacrifice. This indifference to the precepts of the Law bred indifference in the people, too. They became stingy and deceitful. A failure in the covenant inevitably meant failure in the life of the community. Breaking faith with God will always mean breaking faith with one another.

Malachi warns the priests that the blessings they enjoyed in their Temple service (an elevated status among the people) would be turned to curses if they didn’t turn from their unfaithfulness. This history helps us understand the grave warning Jesus gave His followers about the example set by corrupt religious elites. The temptation to abuse religious authority is present in every age, including our own. God’s covenant with His people will always stand. Each one of us, priest and layman, must decide whether he will heed God’s call to listen, to lay His commandments to heart, and to give glory to His Name, just as Malachi urged in his day. The question he asks is one that stirs up a decision about allegiance through all the ages: “Has not the one God created us? Why, then, do you break faith with one another, violating the covenant of our fathers?”

Possible response: Heavenly Father, please give grace to Your priests to serve well the Covenant Jesus made in His blood.

Psalm (Read Ps 131:1-3)

The psalmist gives us a prayer that can be a path away from the temptation to religious vanity and pride—the very danger about which Jesus warns His followers (and Malachi preached against in his day). What can we do when we find we want to busy ourselves with “great things” in order to impress others or ourselves or God? We can pray with the psalmist: “O, LORD, my heart is not proud, nor are my eyes haughty…I have stilled and quieted my soul like a weaned child.” The great weapon against the “busyness” of impressing others with our showy religiosity is stillness before the LORD. When we are at rest, “like a weaned child on its mother’s lap,” we are not depending on our many good works to gain a reputation for us with others or with God. How helpful this can be to us, in our over-stimulated lives! With the psalmist we can say, “In You, LORD, I have found my peace.”

Possible response: The psalm is, itself, a response to our other readings. Read it again prayerfully to make it your own.

Second Reading (Read 1 Thess 2:7b-9, 13)

Our readings have instructed us about bad examples among those given religious authority. Now, St. Paul gives us the example of how a true servant of the Lord lives. See how he describes the gentle, tender love he and his missionary companions showed to the people to whom they were sent to preach the Gospel. These men were not merely performing a religious duty. They shared “not only the Gospel of God, but [their] very selves as well.” St. Paul and the others worked by their own hands (he was a tentmaker) so that their support would not be a financial burden on the new converts. Consequently, the people who heard him preach understood that his message was “not a human word…but…the Word of God.” Human beings preached a Divine Word (just as those in the chair of Moses did in the Old Covenant and those in the Chair of Peter do in the New Covenant). Because St. Paul chose to live up to the truth he preached, the Word of God was not discredited and was “at work in you who believe.”

Good shepherds lead their sheep to rich pasture.

Possible response: Lord Jesus, thank You for the many good priests I have known in Your Church, men who share not only the Gospel but their very selves as well.

[Salvation]

The Insidious Sin of Pride

Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D.

A hundred and fifty years before Christ, they were the good guys. The Greeks were in charge and decided that, if they were to unify their kingdom politically, they needed to unify it religiously. So they imposed Greek ways on the Jews, including worshiping idols and eating pork. You can read about the Jews’ military resistance to this tyranny in the two books of Maccabees.

In these same books, you can read about the spiritual resistance of pious laymen who stood up for the Law and the traditions of the rabbis, who sought to preserve the faith of Israel and live it with passion. The members of this renewal movement became known as the Pharisees.

Yet obviously something went terribly wrong with God’s champions. Because just a few generations later, when the Son of God appeared in their midst, they rejected Him. How did it happen? They succumbed to an insidious disease that they didn’t even know they had.

Today, there are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) like this. One of them, HPV, is a virus that has no symptoms at all. A woman often does not know that she has it . . . until, that is, she is diagnosed with deadly cervical cancer.

The Pharisees would have wagged their fingers at such women, as they did at the woman caught in adultery (John 8). “Serves them right– the wages of sin is death!”

Fornication and adultery are serious sins indeed. In fact, they are expressions of one of the seven capital sins–lust. Many assume that lust is considered by Christianity to be the epitome of sin, the worst possible vice. Actually, in the hierarchy (or should I say “lowerarchy”) of capital sins, the king-pin and most deadly of the seven sins is not lust but pride. Lust wrongly seeks sexual pleasure apart from love and life. Pride seeks greatness apart from God. The tricky thing is that pride can often start in the course of promoting God’s greatness.

Here’s how it works–as people begin applauding as you do God’s work, you think they are applauding for you. It’s a rather pitiful mistake really. Imagine the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem thinking that the crowd had turned out for him!

Such applause, however, can be addicting. The proud person ultimately will do anything to make the ovation happen and keep it going. But there can only be one star. Pride is essentially competitive. So anyone who threatens to steal the show becomes a mortal enemy. Even if he happens to be God.

The proud man does not teach to enlighten, but rather to pontificate, to impress, to appear as the authority. So the Pharisees laid heavy moral burdens upon the shoulders of the people without lifting a finger to help them (Mat 23:4). They coveted the title of “teacher” (that’s what “rabbi” means) and “father” (teachers in the ancient world were regarded as spiritual fathers), but really did not want the responsibility.

When Jesus says to avoid being called “teacher” and “father,” he wasn’t talking about what titles educators and parents should and shouldn’t use; he was talking about an attitude. Humble persons realize that all wisdom and teaching comes from God, even if God happens to be instructing others through their mouths. They know that the applause ultimately is for Him, and they are glad to redirect it back to Him as Mary does when she is praised by her cousin Elizabeth (Luke 1: 42-55).

Pride is deadly because it is so insidious. The further the disease progresses, the blinder the victim becomes until it is nearly impossible for him to recognize his plight. The strutting and posturing of the proud are nothing more than compensation for their own insecurity. The pathetic emperor cannot see what is perfectly plain to everyone else–namely, that he has no clothes.

The humble person, on the other hand, is secure in the love of God and therefore has no need of pomp and circumstance. He is not afraid to look at his own littleness, for He clearly sees the greatness of a God who is not a competitor, but a loving Father.

[Salvation]

One Bread, One Body

One Bread, One Body

Language: English | Español

All Issues > Volume 33, Issue 6

<< Sunday, November 5, 2017 >>

31st Sunday Ordinary Time

Malachi 1:14—2:2, 8-10
1 Thessalonians 2:7-9, 13
View Readings

Psalm 131:1-3
Matthew 23:1-12
Similar Reflections

PRIESTLY PEOPLE

"And now, O priests, this commandment is for you." —Malachi 2:1

"The lips of the priest are to keep knowledge, and instruction is to be sought from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts" (Mal 2:7). When priests do not properly exercise their God-given ministry of teaching, they cause "many to falter" by their instruction (Mal 2:8). Then the Lord, in order to protect His people, tries to correct His priests by turning their blessings into curses (Mal 2:2) and by making the priests "contemptible and base before all the people" (Mal 2:9).

If you are a baptized Christian, you are a priest (1 Pt 2:9; Rv 5:10; Catechism, 783, 1241, 1546). Therefore, the words of God through Malachi apply to you. St. Thomas Aquinas taught: "To teach in order to lead others to faith is the task of every preacher and of each believer" (quoted in Catechism, 904).

What are you teaching others by your conversation and way of living? Do you know your faith so as to be able to teach it rightly and fully? Do you know the teachings of the Church? Have you read the Catechism? Have you ever read one of the Pope's encyclicals? How well do you know the Bible? Have you even tried to learn it? Do you look for opportunities to share your faith? Have you ever invited someone to give his life to Jesus? Could you explain the Mass to those asking questions about it? "I charge you to preach the word, to stay with this task whether convenient or inconvenient — correcting, reproving, appealing — constantly teaching" (2 Tm 4:2).

Prayer: Father, make me hungry for Your Word and not spiritually anorexic.

Promise: "We thank God constantly that in receiving His message from us you took it, not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God at work within you who believe." —1 Thes 2:13

Praise: Praise the risen Jesus, eternal High Priest (see Heb 7:24).

[Salvation]

Pray in front of a Planned Parenthood Clinic to save unborn children.