****Easy Sin, but Potentially Deadly****

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 18, Jesus told the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant to Peter. Once again, the Lord made it clear how important it is to always forgive others. Withholding forgiveness is an easy sin to commit, so we must be extra vigilant. I am posting this as a warning: Don't let this common sin become the obstacle that blocks you from entering heaven!

**How to Be the Lord's**

        These are Paul's wise words from today's Second Reading from Romans 14: "None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s." Certainly, to die for oneself does not make any sense, but to die for the Lord—who loves us and  died for us—makes perfect sense. It follows that living for him should precede our death. To become the Lord's, we must go with him all the way.

**Today's Lesson**

        Psalm 103:8 is today's Responsorial Psalm response. It reads: "The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger, and rich in compassion." We may be kind and merciful, but what we can always work on is being "slow to anger" and "rich in compassion."

**Cool Truth**

        Today's First Reading comes from Sirach 27 and 28. Here are the first three verses: "Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight. The vengeful will suffer the LORD’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail. Forgive your neighbor’s injustice; then when you pray, your own sins will be forgiven." They give excellent advice in total conformity with what Christ teaches. Forgive others and you will be forgiven—how cool that is!

**Keeping Your Thoughts Pure**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 6, Jesus said to his disciples, "A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks." Every sinful act begins as a thought in the heart. By keeping your heart pure, you remain holy; conversely, evildoers lose control of their thoughts, sinking deeper and deeper into their own traps.

*****Great Catholic Crisis*****

        In today's First Reading from 1 Corinthians 10, Paul writes, "We, though many, are One Body, for we all partake of the one bread." I dare say that the Church is so fractured today because many no longer take the Holy Eucharist seriously. A 2022 research study showed that 31% of Mass-going Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist—even 5% would be a crisis! In my humble opinion, the Church should drop everything to address this problem first, yet I do not detect any sense of urgency. If the Eucharist is merely a symbol, it will be the end of Catholicism. Might this be another sign of the end times?

********MOST AMAZING GOD********

       The late summer weather has been great. It gets a little hot in the late afternoon, but cools off nicely overnight. When you get up the next morning, a new day begins with a perfect temperature of around 70°F. 

         I am amazed that the Lord God has created this perfect planet in the vast universe for us to dwell on. We have the right environment, sunlight, water, and everything else we need for survival. We tumble through space, yet we feel no movement. The earth rotates on its own axis while revolving around the sun, creating day, night, and our seasons. This has likely been going on for billions of years! Who else but our Lord God could set things up so amazingly? I have nothing but total admiration.

        When you also consider how he loved us and sacrificed his own Son to save us from sin—so that we may enter a place even more perfect than this planet for all eternity—my gratitude is so overwhelming that I gladly surrender myself to him completely. My existence is now complete! 

**Final Determiner of Our Eternity**

        In John 14, Jesus declares to his disciples, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Therefore, he is the final determiner of our eternal destiny. He is our only Savior and the sole pathway to eternal life.

***Never Underestimate God***

         God is always far greater than we can possibly imagine. As a result, we don't abandon ourselves to him enough, thereby missing out on his wonders. We must trust in him fully, and then some! Of course, we should ask for his help judiciously in times of need. The Lord himself multiplied bread and fish to feed thousands only when no other human solution existed. We will recognize those moments if we trust in him. In sum, remember that truly, nothing is impossible for our God.

**Yearning for God with the Right Motivation**

        Today's reading from Psalm 84 begins with this verse: "My soul yearns and pines for the courts of the LORD. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God." While I yearn to go to the LORD, I wonder if I have the right motivation. I truly love God, which is a good reason. However, if my yearning stems merely from being sick and tired of this mundane world, that would reveal impatience and a desire to escape my earthly obligations. The right attitude is to remain patient and faithful in this world for as long as the Lord desires, all while continuing to yearn for him. Doing so will make my joy greater than ever on that day.