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THE FIRST EPISTLE OF CLEMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS St. Clement of Rome Chap. I. The salutation. Praise of the Corinthians before the breaking forth of schism among them. THE Church of God which sojourns at Rome, to the Church of God sojourning at Corinth, to them that are called and sanctified by the will of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, from Almighty God through Jesus Christ, be multiplied. Owing, dear brethren, to the sudden and successive calamitous events which have happened to ourselves, we feel that we have been somewhat tardy in turning our...

The Price of the Vision " In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord . . . —Isaiah 6:1 " Our soul’s personal history with God is often an account of the death of our heroes. Over and over again God has to remove our friends to put Himself in their place, and that is when we falter, fail, and become discouraged. Let me think about this personally— when the person died who represented for me all that God was, did I give up on everything in life? Did I become ill or disheartened? Or did...

Proverb 13 (NKJV) Wisdom Loves Righteousness 01 A wise son heeds his father's instruction, 00 But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke. 02 A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth, 00 But the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence. 03 He who guards his mouth preserves his life, 00 But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction. 04 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; 00 But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. 05 A righteous man hates lying, 00 But a wicked man is...

July 13, 2014Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Is 55:10-11 Thus says the LORD:Just as from the heavensthe rain and snow come downand do not return theretill they have watered the earth,making it fertile and fruitful,giving seed to the one who sowsand bread to the one who eats,so shall my word bethat goes forth from my mouth;my word shall not return to me void,but shall do my will,achieving the end for which I sent it. Responsorial Psalm Ps 65:10, 11, 12-13, 14 R/ (Lk 8:8) The seed that falls on good ground will yield a fruitful harvest.You...

Our altar boys practically fight for the honor of being the thurifer. That's the name for the server who carries the thurible — the censer — in the procession at Mass.  They like being thurifer because they get to wear the more ornate lace surplice, and they know thurifer is the most complicated job and is reserved for the older, more experienced boys. The use of incense is optional for most Masses.  It's used to purify the coffin at funerals and to bless statues and images.  However, many Catholic priests choose not to use incense at Mass, and the...

The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church " . . . till we all come . . . to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ . . . —Ephesians 4:13 " Reconciliation means the restoring of the relationship between the entire human race and God, putting it back to what God designed it to be. This is what Jesus Christ did in redemption. The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconciliation of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in...

A little something for the weekend.Over at Real Clear Religion, Nicholas G. Hahn III has a slideshow of the ugliest churches in the world. They represent several denominations, but the vast majority are – you guessed it – Roman Catholic.Below are just a few of these architectural miscarriages, all of them Catholic. See the rest here.       

Proverb 12 (NKJV) The House of the Righteous Shall Stand 01 Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, 00 But he who hates correction is stupid. 02 A good man obtains favor from the LORD, 00 But a man of wicked intentions He will condemn. 03 A man is not established by wickedness, 00 But the root of the righteous cannot be moved. 04 An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, 00 But she who causes shame is like rottenness in his bones. 05 The thoughts of the righteous are right, 00 But the counsels of the wicked are...

July 12, 2014Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time    Reading 1 Is 6:1-8 In the year King Uzziah died,I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne,with the train of his garment filling the temple.Seraphim were stationed above; each of them had six wings:with two they veiled their faces,with two they veiled their feet,and with two they hovered aloft. They cried one to the other,“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts!All the earth is filled with his glory!”At the sound of that cry, the frame of the door shookand the house was filled with...

Speak to Your Mountains Today's Scripture “And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith (a firm relying trust) and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done.” (Matthew 21:21, AMP) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria We’ve all had seasons when the challenges of life feel overwhelming. During those times, it’s tempting to talk about how bad things are. Maybe you received a bad medical report,...

The Spiritually Vigorous Saint " . . . that I may know Him . . . —Philippians 3:10 " A saint is not to take the initiative toward self-realization, but toward knowing Jesus Christ. A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him. The Holy...

One of the basic principles of modern architecture is “form follows function.” In other words, ask what a building is for and you will know how it should be built. When you are building a garage or an office building or a hospital or a school things a fairly straightforward: a garage is to protect a car and store things. An office building is a place where people work safely and efficiently. A hospital has to have everything necessary for the health care, treatment and comfort of its patients. That’s easy enough.Architects will quibble about the “form follows function”...

Proverb 11 (NKJV) The Folly of Wickedness01 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, 00 But a just weight is His delight. 02 When pride comes, then comes shame; 00 But with the humble is wisdom. 03 The integrity of the upright will guide them, 00 But the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them. 04 Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, 00 But righteousness delivers from death. 05 The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way aright, 00 But the wicked will fall by his own wickedness. 06 The righteousness of the upright...

July 11, 2014Memorial of Saint Benedict, Abbot    Reading 1 Hos 14:2-10 Thus says the LORD:Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God;you have collapsed through your guilt.Take with you words,and return to the LORD;Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity,and receive what is good, that we may renderas offerings the bullocks from our stalls.Assyria will not save us,nor shall we have horses to mount;We shall say no more, ‘Our god,’to the work of our hands;for in you the orphan finds compassion.”I will heal their defection, says the LORD,I will love them freely;for my wrath is turned away from them.I...

Words Matter Today's Scripture “The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.” (Isaiah 50:4, NIV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Your words are important. They matter. Even more so, God’s Word matters. When your words become His Words, that’s when you’ll see an explosion of His goodness, favor and abundance in your everyday life! Not only that, there are people God has placed in your life who are waiting for you to speak God’s...

The Spiritually Lazy Saint " Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together . . . —Hebrews 10:24-25 " We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough roads of life, and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. The ideas put forth in these verses from Hebrews 10 are those of stirring up one another and of keeping ourselves together. Both of these require initiative— our willingness to take the first step toward...

When I say this is a prophecy I don’t want to suggest that I have had some sort of supernatural vision. This is not a prophecy in that sense, but a prophecy because prophets not only sometimes have supernatural revelations, but they are people who are also able to see the big picture, understand the times and circumstances and know the past so they can therefore predict the future.So here is my prediction: the vocations crisis in the Catholic Church in the United States is over.Here’s why: Fifty years after the revolution of the Second Vatican Council we are moving...

Many actually believe they have been actually reading proverbs all along from chapter 1 to 9, but in fact those 9 chapters were originally written more as an introduction to proverbs, whereas chapter 10 is where Solomon's Proverbs actually begins. There are proverbs in the first 9 chapters, but not in the same way as the rest of the book. From here on forth, most of the proverbs are short an pithy, with two sentences in one verse. These verses correspond with each other by an opposition of terms and sentiments. The second verse is contrasted with the first...

July 10, 2014Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time   Reading 1 Hos 11:1-4, 8e-9 Thus says the LORD:When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son.The more I called them,the farther they went from me,Sacrificing to the Baalsand burning incense to idols.Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk,who took them in my arms;I drew them with human cords,with bands of love;I fostered them like onewho raises an infant to his cheeks;Yet, though I stooped to feed my child,they did not know that I was their healer. My heart is...

Choose Life and Blessing Today's Scripture “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19, NKJV) Today's Word from Joel and Victoria Did you know that with your words you can either bless your future or curse your future? Your words have creative power. If you want to know what your life is going to be like five years from now, just listen to what you’re saying about yourself today! Too many people...