Friday 23rd week, Year A

REMOVE THE LOG IN YOUR OWN EYES FIRST.

Frank Mihalic cites this story.

One man was planning to go to Italy to see the Pope. He has saved money for so many years.
The day before he left,  he went to his barber to have a haircut and he told the barber he will be going to Italy the following day. The barber tried to discourage him. 'are you going with Italian Airline ' 'yes I am' was the reply. The barber said you will not like it,  their services are so awful.  'What are you going to do?'  'I want to go and see the Pope '. The barber answered ha forget it, you will not see him,  you are a nobody. You are mister zero.
But the man gathered courage and left.  Six weeks later,  he came back and went straight to the barber.  My friend I went to Italy,  I used Italian airline,  their service was amazing and wonderful.  I even saw the Pope,  infact I even kissed his ring.

The barber became excited and wanting to know more he asked, what did the Pope tell you,  what did he say to you?  The man replied "he looked down at me and said, 'where  did you get that awful haircut? '

First of all, Remove the log in your own eyes 👀 so that you will see clearly the splinter in your brother's eyes 👀.

Our Lord Jesus Christ in today's Gospel condemned hypocrisy and faultfinding.
We need to always have a constant and sincere examination of conscience everyday so that we will realize that we are always not perfect and in need of God's love and mercy.

God bless you.

Wednesday, 22nd Week, Year A. SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT

The Gregorian Chant is the work of Saint Gregory the Great. He stands out as a model for all Christians. He was from a very wealthy family, he was even at a time the Prefect of Rome,  something similar to a Prime Minister or a governor but Inspite of all these, he left his father's wealth, sold all he had even his own house and turned it into a monastery.
He recognized that he needed to do this to be able to gain eternal life.

Yesterday,  Saint Paul said that the Spirt of God searches and knows the heart of all people. And if we disposed ourselves to the Holy Spirit,  we will become spiritual persons.

Today, however he tells us how we shall be,  when we decide not to walk in the Spirit,  when we don't pay attention to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.  Then we will not be able to receive the solid food 🍲 of the Spirit. We will only be fed with milk which is the food of infants.

We are not supposed to be infants in the Spirit.  Cos we are baptized,  and many are confirmed. We need to constantly pray and create the enabling heart that will be conducive to the Spirit of God.

Jesus shows us how we are to do this in the Gospel of today. He went to a lonely place to pray in order to gain more strength 💪 from the Father and guidance of The Holy Spirit .

We should constantly pray, for it is in prayer that we realize God's plan for our lives .

May Pope Saint Gregory the Great continue to intercede for us .

Tuesday, 22nd Week, Year A. ALLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The Spirit of God searches and know all the depths of man and even the depths of God.

A spiritual man pleases God but an unspiritual man doesn't, because his mind is only on the things of the world 🌍. He has not disposed himself to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit guides and helps us in all our undertakings but we need to create and cooperate with Him.
The Spirit of God enabled Jesus to speak with authority and to cast out the demon in today's Gospel .

Let us be open to The Spirit of God . He will direct us and guide us in the right way and we will be able to say to all the evils 😈 and sins around 'BE QUIET.' (PHIMOTHETI)

May God give us the courage to shun all distractions that can make us insensitive to the promptings of The Holy Spirit .

Amen .

God bless You