For all of us it is a daily struggle to remain sinless and righteous before the Lord our God. There is always the inclination to sin and it is very easy for us to give in. However we must resist with all our might! We shall shout out our battle cry each day as we fight to overcome impatience, rage, sexual desires, greed and any sin that takes us away from God our Loving Father. We must also endeavour to work out our differences between ourselves for in the struggle to do so we are embracing our Lord’s command to love one another.
In order for us to succeed we must strive to live in the Spirit seeking the guidance and counsel of the Holy Spirit desiring the spiritual gifts with which to glorify the Lord our God. For our Lord Jesus had assured us when He said “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen
Saint John Paul II Pray for us….
First reading
Romans 7:18-25 ·
Every time I want to do good it is something evil that comes to hand
I know of nothing good living in me – living, that is, in my unspiritual self – for though the will to do what is good is in me, the performance is not, with the result that instead of doing the good things I want to do, I carry out the sinful things I do not want. When I act against my will, then, it is not my true self doing it, but sin which lives in me.
In fact, this seems to be the rule, that every single time I want to do good it is something evil that comes to hand. In my inmost self I dearly love God’s Law, but I can see that my body follows a different law that battles against the law which my reason dictates. This is what makes me a prisoner of that law of sin which lives inside my body.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Gospel
Luke 12:54-59
Do you not know how to interpret these times?
Jesus said to the crowds: ‘When you see a cloud looming up in the west you say at once that rain is coming, and so it does. And when the wind is from the south you say it will be hot, and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the face of the earth and the sky. How is it you do not know how to interpret these times?
‘Why not judge for yourselves what is right? For example: when you go to court with your opponent, try to settle with him on the way, or he may drag you before the judge and the judge hand you over to the bailiff and the bailiff have you thrown into prison. I tell you, you will not get out till you have paid the very last penny.’
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