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November 4, 2015 Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop Reading 1 Rom 13:8-10 Brothers and sisters:Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.The commandments, You shall not commit adultery;you shall not kill;you shall not steal;you shall not covet,and whatever other commandment there may be,are summed up in this saying, namely,You shall love your neighbor as yourself.Love does no evil to the neighbor;hence, love is the fulfillment of the law. Responsorial Psalm PS 112:1b-2, 4-5, 9 R. ( 5a) Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in...

"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom" (James 3:13). A wise person is a gentle person. A believer will demonstrate that he possesses the wisdom of God not only by his behavior, but also by his attitude. True wisdom is characterized by gentleness and is the opposite of self-promotion and arrogance. Gentleness is the trait that characterized our Lord. In Matthew 11:29 He says, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart." It is also a trait...

"Faith is . . . the conviction of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). True faith goes beyond assurance to action. When the writer said, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen", he used two parallel and almost identical phrases to define faith. We've seen that faith is the assurance that all God's promises will come to pass in His time. "The conviction of things not seen" takes the same truth a step further by implying a response to what we believe and are assured of. James addressed the issue this way: "Someone may...

***According to him, liberalism for believers is as dangerous as communismMoscow, November 2, Interfax - Head of the charitable organization Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Franklin Graham is concerned that Americans abandon Christian norms of morality. "Americans ruled God out of their lives," Graham said at his meeting with Chief Rabbi of Russia Berel Lazar in Moscow, the rabbi's press service reports on Monday. Graham said that he was also concerned that his compatriots abandoned biblical moral principles under pressure of secularists. According to him, earlier many westerners worried that "the world will become atheistic under communist...

November 3, 2015 Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Rom 12:5-16ab Brothers and sisters:We, though many, are one Body in Christand individually parts of one another.Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,let us exercise them:if prophecy, in proportion to the faith;if ministry, in ministering;if one is a teacher, in teaching;if one exhorts, in exhortation;if one contributes, in generosity;if one is over others, with diligence;if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be sincere;hate what is evil,hold on to what is good;love one another with mutual affection;anticipate one...

If you are not a Christian or do not consider yourself a Christian stop reading. This doesn't apply to you. But if you ARE a Christian or consider yourself a Christian please think about this. Most Christians who observe Halloween see it as harmless. But the real question is "What would Jesus do?". When we apply our modern standards to biblical truth it looks ridiculous. And that's the intent of the following...to show how ridiculous it is for Christians to keep Halloween. It's humorous but I guarantee it will make some of you angry. If it DOES make you angry...

November 2, 2015 The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed(All Souls) The following are a selection of the readings that may be chosen for this day. Reading 1 Wis 3:1-9 The souls of the just are in the hand of God,and no torment shall touch them.They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;and their passing away was thought an afflictionand their going forth from us, utter destruction.But they are in peace.For if before men, indeed, they be punished,yet is their hope full of immortality;chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,because God tried themand found them...

"Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom" (James 3:13). Wisdom is the art of living life skillfully. Most philosophers throughout history have believed that if a person could acquire anything, it should be wisdom, because wisdom would allow him to obtain anything else. That philosophy matches Scripture. Proverbs 4:7 says, "Acquire wisdom; and with all your acquiring, get understanding." Many people claim to be wise, but it's also true that no fool in our world is a self-confessed fool - everyone believes he's an expert. The...

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval" (Heb. 11:1-2). Christian faith produces righteous deeds. Hebrews 11 has been called "The Heroes of Faith," "The Faith Chapter," "The Saints' Hall of Fame," "The Honor Roll of the Old Testament Saints," and "The Westminster Abbey of Scripture." Those are appropriate titles because this chapter highlights the virtues of faith as demonstrated in the lives of great Old Testament saints. It also reminds us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Such a reminder was...

November 1, 2015 Solemnity of All Saints Reading 1 Rv 7:2-4, 9-14 I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,holding the seal of the living God.He cried out in a loud voice to the four angelswho were given power to damage the land and the sea,“Do not damage the land or the sea or the treesuntil we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,one hundred and forty-four thousand markedfrom every tribe of the children of Israel. After this I had...

October is Pastor Appreciation Month and most churches mark it by honoring their spiritual leader with, say, a dinner or maybe a gift. At Charlotte’s Elevation Church, they did a rap video. Clocking in at nearly three minutes, the rap-and-dance music tribute to Pastor Steven Furtick has a cast of maybe 100, including recognizable church staffers such as Chunks Corbett, Elevation’s chief financial officer. His unsmiling face is the video’s first image. “Pastor Appreciation 2015,” which is taking off on Twitter, is modeled after “Downtown,” a rap video from Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. In that video, the rapper is looking...

"For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus Christ provides us with the perfect example of how to defeat temptation. Perhaps you've heard the joke, "I can resist anything but temptation!" Unfortunately, that is all too often true in our lives. Learning how to successfully resist temptation is vitally important, for we sin only when we yield to temptation. Christians throughout history have recognized the importance of resisting temptation. One early believer wrote, "Fly from all...

"All Scripture is . . . profitable for . . . training in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16). God's Word nourishes your spiritual life. We conclude our study of the character and benefits of God's Word by focusing on the benefit that ties all the others together: training in righteousness. Everything the Word accomplishes in you through teaching, reproof, and correction is aimed at increasing your righteousness so you'll "be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:17, NIV). "Training" refers to training or educating a child. The New Testament also uses the term to speak of chastening, which is...

October 31, 2015 Saturday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Rom 11:1-2a, 11-12, 25-29 Brothers and sisters:I ask, then, has God rejected his people? Of course not!For I too am a child of Israel, a descendant of Abraham,of the tribe of Benjamin.God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.Do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah,how he pleads with God against Israel? Hence I ask, did they stumble so as to fall? Of course not!But through their transgressionsalvation has come to the Gentiles,so as to make them jealous.Now if their transgression is enrichment...

Holy Father, Thy wisdom excites our admiration, Thy power fills us with fear, Thy omnipresence turns every spot of earth into holy ground; but how shall we thank Thee enough for Thy mercy which comes down to the lowest part of our need to give us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and for the spirit of heaviness a garment of praise? We bless and magnify Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. When through the blood of the everlasting covenant we children of the shadows reach at last our home in the light, we shall...

"Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:24-25). Christians have been delivered from sin's power and will one day be delivered from its presence. The godly Puritan writer Thomas Watson once said that a sure sign of sanctification is a hatred and loathing of sin. It was his hatred of sin that caused Paul to cry out as he wrapped up his spiritual autobiography, "Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?" That...

"All Scripture is . . . profitable for . . . correction" (2 Tim. 3:16). God's Word strengthens the repentant sinner. If you're a gardening buff, you know that skillful pruning promotes the overall growth and productivity of a plant. Jesus assumed His audience knew as much when He said, "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken...

He had the very best money could by.  With his high education, his father had hoped that he could advance to a position of wealth and prestige.  Yet before even turning 22, this young man’s life was changed forever.  The story, as it is often told, is of this young man trapped outside during an electrical storm – an experience he would later compare to Saul’s Damascus conversion.  It was there, hugging the ground, believing himself near death, that he struck his bargain with God.  Should he survive the storm, he would live his life in the Lord’s service.  And...

There is a large sign posted next to the first tee of the local golf course. The sign declares the rules that govern play. The first rule is a preview of the specific rules that follow. It reads: "The first rule of golf is consideration of others." Consideration for others, in the context of the Christian's liberty in Christ, is the theme of Paul's teaching in Romans 14. With the advent of the new covenant, some rules that were important to the Old Testament were done away with. They were fulfilled by the ministry of Jesus and were no longer...

October 30, 2015 Friday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1 Rom 9:1-5 Brothers and sisters:I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie;my conscience joins with the Holy Spirit in bearing me witnessthat I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christfor the sake of my own people,my kindred according to the flesh. They are children of Israel;theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants,the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises;theirs the patriarchs, and from them,according to the...