When was the last time you went for the sacrament of reconciliation? If your immediate response is simply to say that it is a private affair between yourself and God then indeed you are far off from following after Your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Yes indeed a Christian is accountable to the Lord our God, but if you are a true believer and have grown in your faith then you know that we are all accountable for and to our brethren as well. For through Jesus our Lord we are all One Body in Him.
Therefore sin is never a private affair, it affects the whole Body! So let us all repent of our sins, renounce the works of the enemies and if we have not been regular in receiving the sacramental grace of absolution through reconciliation then we should go this very weekend! Receiving absolution is NOT enough we must fill any and all void places in our body, mind and spirit with all that is Holy unto God. The Word of God, constant prayer, regular reception of Holy Eucharist, and living a life in the Holy Spirit. All these will ensure that there is no room for any evil to return, and so we remain steadfast, holy as our Heavenly Father is Holy.
Lord I am with and for You now and forever. Amen
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First reading
Joel 1:13-15,2:1-2 ·
Let all tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming
Priests, put on sackcloth and lament.
Ministers of the altar, wail.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth,
you ministers of my God.
For the house of our God has been deprived
of oblation and libation.
Order a fast,
proclaim a solemn assembly;
elders, call together
all the inhabitants of the country
to the house of the Lord your God.
Cry out to the Lord,
‘Oh, what a day!
For the day of the Lord is near,
it comes as a devastation from Shaddai.’
Sound the trumpet in Zion,
give the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the country tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming,
yes, it is near.
Day of darkness and gloom,
day of cloud and blackness.
Like the dawn there spreads across the mountains
a vast and mighty host,
such as has never been before,
such as will never be again
to the remotest ages.
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Gospel
Luke 11:15-26
The finger of God has overtaken you
When Jesus had cast out a devil, some of the people said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.’ Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.
‘He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.
‘When an unclean spirit goes out of a man it wanders through waterless country looking for a place to rest, and not finding one it says, “I will go back to the home I came from.” But on arrival, finding it swept and tidied, it then goes off and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and set up house there, so that the man ends up by being worse than he was before.’
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