Given February 12, 2017

                R. We must love God and our brothers and ourselves –
                We are to love God with our whole heart and
                our whole strength and our whole self.

                    Emotions were given in man to be
                purified by grace – to have the proper
                orientation. We must control ourselves –
                We are to become more and more like Jesus,
                DIVINIZED

                    Our love of God is not so we have
                a place of refuge for our own gratification
                and have somewhere, where we hang our
                hat while we continue to not grow
                spiritually and live isolated and prideful,
                negative in religious communities.
 

                Sunday's Readings

Sirach 15: 15-20

Psalm 119: 1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34

1 Corinthians 2: 6-10

Matthew 5: 17-37

‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. In truth I tell you, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, is to disappear from the Law until all its purpose is achieved. Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of Heaven.

‘For I tell you, if your uprightness does not surpass that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of Heaven.
    ‘You have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You shall not kill; and if anyone  does kill he must answer for it before the court. But I say this to you, anyone who is  angry with a brother will answer for it before the court; anyone who calls a brother "Fool"  will answer for it before the Sanhedrin; and anyone who calls him "Traitor" will answer for it in hell fire. So then, if you are bringing your offering to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, go and be reconciled with your brother first, and then come back and present your offering. Come to terms with your opponent in good time while you are still on the way to the court with him, or he may hand you over to the judge and the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison. In truth I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the last penny.

    ‘You have heard how it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say this to you, if a man looks at a woman lustfully, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand should be your downfall, cut it off and throw it away; for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your whole body go to hell.

    ‘It has also been said, Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a writ of dismissal. But I say this to you, everyone who divorces his wife, except for the case of an illicit marriage, makes her an adulteress; and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

    'Again, you have heard how it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but must fulfil your oaths to the Lord. But I say this to you, do not swear at all, either by heaven, since that is God's throne; or by earth, since that is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, since that is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your own head either, since you cannot turn a single hair white or black. All you need say is "Yes" if you mean yes, "No" if you mean no; anything more than this comes from the Evil One.

                R. How offensive it is for God for a
                religious to use the community and
                order to try to force their dysfunction
                and stagnancies on others.

                    God has a plan for a religious order.
                When a person is not doing God's will –
                and serving Him – they are serving
                opposed to what He wants and the
                work they are supposed to be doing
                according to God's will in NOT being
                done.

                    We should live to be more and more
                open as God intends us to be – living
                by His plan and not trying to force
                our dysfunction, our plan for negativism
                against God's will –

                    Being angry and holding out when God
                calls someone in a vocation to serve
                and love Him is at least two steps
                backward. One step for the sin in acting
                in darkness blocking God's work –
                a second step for not doing the plan
                God is expecting of us as our duty
                while we do evil instead.

                    God has a plan and we are
                to seek it – pray to the Holy Spirit for
                the virtues and gifts and absolutely
                don't develop bad controlling habits
                of the deadly sins.

                    When we love another we give
                ourselves as a gift to the other for
                their fulfillment. We don't ignore our
                job and become rescuers where it
                isn't our place. We always seek and
                do what God wants of us – not other
                plans we want for our ego or pain.
                We are always called on by God to
                follow His plan. Satan wants a person
                to go off from the plan.
 

                R. An athlete cannot play a big sport
                without training – He can hurt himself,
                be forced to quit.

                    Why would a man try to hold onto
                anger, darkness, manipulation, pride
                in not loving themselves as the creation of God!

                    Why would a man refuse the necessary
                discipline to grow in the spiritual life
                and be more and more in the image
                of Jesus; Live and seek God the Father's
                plan –

                    What about the musician who
                fails to follow orders of harmony
                and bangs their dissonant undisciplined
                tunes – is life not to grow in
                perfection as God intends – not bang
                it out like a two year old, undisciplined
                banging on the piano –

                    The art of living in the spiritual
                life is living by the instruction of the
                Holy Spirit –

                    Not letting angry emotions, stubbornness,
                selfishness, isolation, manipulation
                and undisciplined ways bang at life
                like a two year old banging on the piano,
                and not stopping for no one.

                    Division with authority and
                our brothers God calls us to work with
                is not the child of light God calls to
                order and love and hope and faithfulness
                to our vocation.

                    It takes a doctor many years to learn
                what he needs to know, it takes
                an accountant time to learn – a lawyer
                time to know and pass the bar –

                    Why do we think relationships,
                love can be undisciplined and
                manipulation of people in disorder
                and force.

                    We must learn to respect and love others
                as God wants of us. Think of all the effort
                a man can use to try to force undisciplined
                ways on others. God calls us to love –
                to die to our selfishness and rise in
                Him. It means learning to grow in
                relationships God has called us to, to
                do His work – in structure, in giving
                and receiving – in doing God's will –
                obeying God's plan – not having a
                plan of our own opposed to God.

                    The purpose of the St. Ignatius Spiritual
                Exercises is this –
 

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, 
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.11

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

    Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
    and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
    no decision is made under the influence of any
    inordinate attachment

                 R. We are to give ourselves to others – like
                a person – like Jesus – to see Jesus in
                others –

                    Giving and taking in friendship!

                    Welcome others in love into your life!

                It is Becoming one with God and letting
                    God operate in us.

                God called us to love our brothers!

                Life is not supposed to be lived to
                    get power for ourselves over others –
                    that is pride –

                We can see what happened to Eve in
                    the Garden because of pride –

                The more you want your way and try
                    to force it hurting others – the
                    more you turned your back to
                    learning a lesson about friendship
                    and love of God.

                    God created us to interact – to work
                with others, to have friends, God
                commands us to love –
 

                R. God created us for heaven, to know
                    the infinite – we can not take
                    material things with us when we die –

                We need grace to transform us more
                    and more in the image of Jesus.

                    Most of our own sufferings can come
                from our own dissatisfaction, our
                unresolved conflicts, our neglecting
                the goal God wants for us in directing
                our lives toward eternal life –

                    The mystery is unraveled and the
                unrest quieted by peace when we
                are truthful about ourselves
                and focused on God's plan for us.

                    How are we seeking to satisfy
                ourselves – are we seeing our lives
                through the eyes of God the Father
                who uniquely created us, with
                unique talents, for a purpose –

                    We will never be completely satisfied
                in this life – there is always an ache
                in our soul for the completeness
                which only comes in eternal life
                in heaven. We must recognize
                this!

                    We are limited here below, but we
                were made for the infinite in heaven –
                We must seek Him, let go to Him,
                surrender to the Father's Plan –
                seek virtue and gifts from the Holy Spirit –
                We must live in the life God
                intended for us –
                God wants us to be with Him
                eternally in heaven – to grow in
                our image and likeness of Him –
                Which is to love – to be alive in Him –
                to be saturated more and more with
                His grace –

                    Jesus is our Savior.

                Song: A Song from Jesus

                Song: God's Love

                R. Faith helps us see God's plan –
                    we share in His knowing activity –
                    we see ourselves and the world
                        in the Father's plan –

                We see insight into the hidden mysteries –

                We reach to love with the Heart of Jesus.

                We hope for eternal salvation for ourselves
                    and we hope for eternal salvation for our
                    brothers because we genuinely
                    love more and more like Jesus
                    who died for them.

                Have we accepted ourselves with
                    our faults and limitations and
                    are we seeking to grow to
                    be more the ideal self
                    created by God –

                The devil tries to shame a person and
                    in pride tells them to hide their
                    imperfections.

                Jesus tells us to grow to be more
                    perfect as our heavenly Father is
                    perfect – so we have to
                    recognize our imperfections –
                    defects of character –

                What is the real situation about
                    ourselves – seeking God's help
                    to do His will and to improve our
                    faults, health etc.

                ^{Given October 29, 2016}

                R. Please spread blessed holy water
                (You can also mix Jesus and Mary water
                with your blessed Holy Water if you have it.)
                in your yard, around your house,
                in the state you live in.