GOSPEL - Mt 7:21, 24-27
Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. “Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim
till all the world adore His sacred Name.
Come, Christians, follow where the Master trod,
Our King victorious, Christ, the Son of God. Refrain
Led on their way by this triumphant sign,
the hosts of God in conqueringranks combine. Refrain
Each newborn soldier of the Crucified
bears on the brow the seal of Him who died. Refrain
O Lord, once lifted on the glorious tree,
Thy death hath brought us life eternally. Refrain
So shall our song of triumph ever be:
Praise to the Crucified for victory. Refrain
Thursday is dedicated to the Blessed Sacrament
STUDY - Excerpt from
Staying close to the Church [Part 1]Do we have a solid base? Yes! We have the rock of St. Peter as our base. We have everything given to us by Christ. We are blessed to be an apostolic Church. What Christ revealed to the Apostles was practiced, believed, and lived. The Apostles took the message of the Gospel to the ends of the known world at that time. This message continued to be passed on faithfully in the west and east by the Church Fathers. As Christianity became more accepted and even legal in the 300’s, oral or Sacred Tradition began to be written down and solidified in the Bible (393 AD) and the Ecumenical Councils, which began in 325 AD. For example, the first Ecumenical Council, the Council of Nicea, formulated the Nicene Creed. We truly see the leadership of the Bishops of the Church through the Councils.
Another way of thinking of this base is a cockroach. A cockroach has 6 legs, 3 pairs a front, middle and back pair. The interesting thing is that at any one time one of the legs from each pair has to be on the ground. For example front right, middle left, back right. The back legs provide thrust, the middle balance, the front direction. The Church has Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture and Magisterium and they are always providing the grounding the foundation the Church needs. The back legs are Sacred Tradition, the thrust and power that the teachings of Christ and the apostles give when the go out with power to the whole world. The middle legs are Sacred Scripture, the written tradition that brings stability and balance and the front leads are of course the Pope and Bishops united in guiding and leading the Church. The cockroach is one of the oldest species on the planet because it is fast, stable and has good direction; these are the same reasons why the Church is indestructible.