Psalm 9:11, Philippians 3:17---4:1, Luke 16:1-8, Psalm 122:1-5

Psalm 9:11

11 Those who cherish your name, O Lord, can rely on you, for you have never forsaken those who look to you.

Beloved, the live long day I cherish Your Holy Name and look to You for help. You have always come to my rescue. May I keep You ever before me and may You rule me all the days of my life.

Philippians 3:17---4:1

17 Unite in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and look at those who walk in our way of life. 18 For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. I have said it to you many times, and now I repeat it with tears: 19 they are heading for ruin; their belly is their god and they feel proud of what should be their shame. They only think of earthly things.

20 For us, our citizenship is in heaven, from where we await the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord. 21 He will transfigure our lowly body, making it like his own body, radiant in Glo­ry, through the power which is his to submit everything to him­self.

4 • 1 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, you my glory and crown, be steadfast in the Lord.

Beloved, St. Paul can confidently exhort us to obey him because he was so perfectly conformed to You. This should be true of everyone who calls himself your follower. He reminds us that our home is not here but that we are citizens of heaven. What awaits those those who walk in Your footsteps and imitate You is beyond our imagination. St. Paul boldly tells us that You will make us like Yourself as You make us one in You. Who in their right mind would not do everything possible to attain such a glorious future. May I love as tenderly as St. Paul in imitation of You. Loving concern for those weaker than I must be foremost as I witness to them.

Luke 16:1-8

1 At another time Jesus told his disciples, “There was a rich man whose steward was reported to him for fraudulent ser­vice. 2 He summoned the steward and asked him: ‘What is this I hear about you? I want you to render an account of your service for it is about to be terminated.’
3 The steward thought to himself: ‘What am I to do now? My master will surely dismiss me. I am not strong enough to do hard work, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do: I must make sure that when I am dismissed, there will be some people to welcome me into their house.’
5 So he called his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first who came: ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The reply was: ‘A hun­dred jars of oil.’ The steward said: ‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write there fifty.’ 7 To the second he put the same question: ‘How much do you owe?’ The answer was: ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ Then he said: ‘Take your bill and write eight hundred.’

8 The master commended the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the people of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light.

How true Beloved, the people of the world can squeeze blood out of a stone but we who follow You sincerely are so poor in our knowledge of spiritual things. The Church has a rich heritage of memories in her 2000 year history and we know so very little, with the result that we are unable to stand our ground and hold our own against the worldly-wise.

We are duty bound to root ourselves firmly in Your Word, in Your Church and in Apostolic Tradition so that we can speak boldly, wisely and with clarity about what we believe in and why. We must be able to give a clear and reasoned account of our beliefs. We need to take the time necessary to educate ourselves. It will be time well spent as we come to understand the riches of our Catholic/Christian heritage.

Psalm 122:1-5

1 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
2 And now we have set foot
within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem, just like a city,
where everything falls into place!
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord, the assembly of Israel,
to give thanks to the Lord’s name,
5 There stand the courts of justice
the offices of the house of David.

This is the Church You established - the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We who are cradle Catholics ought to fall on our knees in gratitude at this gift freely given to us. We were born in Catholic homes, of Catholic parents - that is why You warn us over and over again in Scripture, "From the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Lk 12:48 And again, "Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.: Mt 13:12 if they make no attempt to foster growth.

Thank You my Beloved for the gift of being in a Catholic home and being raised in a Catholic environment.