**Pathetic Situation**

        Part of today's Gospel Acclamation is based on what Peter realized about Jesus in John 6:68: "You have the words of everlasting life." Everlasting life is the greatest gift God wants us to have, and also the greatest gift we can possibly expect to receive. Then pride gets in our way and we get all bogged down. What a pathetic situation!

*****God Is All About Love***

        In today's First Reading from 1 Corinthians, Paul gives a beautiful discourse on the way of love. Let me quote these four verses from Chapter 13: "Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, love is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." Now you can measure yourself against Paul's criteria and see how loving you are.

**Sign of End Times**

        In Matthew 5:37, Jesus says to his disciples, "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one." I love this saying—it highlights the importance of being non-duplicitous and reflects how Jesus teaches. We should all strive to be like that. Unfortunately, many people do not talk straight when dealing with others. Even the Church no longer speaks clearly, causing great confusion among the flock. The end times are definitely here.

***A Timely Reminder***

        The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this saying of Jesus to his disciples: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." Certainly, Jesus will always be with us. As long as we are alive, we must decide what to do with him. I am simply here to remind everyone that he is patiently waiting for our response, and our time is limited.

***Sorrow of Today's Church***

        Today is the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. In the First Reading from 1 Corinthians 12, Paul stresses that we are many parts of one body, all baptized in one Spirit. The problem with the Church today is that many of its members no longer listen to the Holy Spirit and have started going their own way, bringing great sorrow to the Lord and the faithful. This could very well be a sign of the end times—meaning we need to be all the more vigilant, ready, and praying for God's mercy.

***'Christ, Our Only Lifeline***

         We absolutely need Christ! As sinners, we must repent to God to rid ourselves of our sins. For us Catholics, we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which was instituted by Christ. For this reason, Christ is our lifeline—he is far more important to us than we are to ourselves. Without him, we are nothing; with him, we will be safe and secure for all eternity!

***Know Your True Reason**

        Christians are in the world, but not of the world—the difference is immense. If you belong to the world, you will pass away with it. But if you are not of the world, you belong to God and will live forever! The right choice is a no-brainer. If this isn't clear to you, I challenge you to find your true, honest reason, if only to be fair to yourself. Refusing to think about it only proves all the more that you need to.

****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.