OUR LADY OF FATIMA AND THE RICH YOUNG MAN
In Matthew 19 we read not only the teachings of Jesus on Divorce and Remarriage but the account of the Rich young man who asked "What good deed must I do to earn eternal life?" (Jerusalem Bible translation}. Jesus goes on to answer Jesus tells him to keep the rules, sorry, keep the Commandments. "Which ones?" asks the young man. It is a surprising reply for a Jew in those times, although as I indicated it is now surprising today when so many badly instructed clergy believe that this part of the dialogue should be ignored and we should move quickly on to the bit that talks about giving to the poor. But Jesus had been asked a question about how to earn eternal life and he answered with the basics. "These, you shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness. Honour your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbour as yourself"
At this point the dialogue could well have ended. Jesus was as rigid in this as he had been on Divorce and Remarriage. You must obey the Commandments, you must obey the rules. Well of course it is no problem in our new church. We are all as Catholic united in Fatih against Abortion, or the killing of babies in the womb. We are all a witness to the world of the teachings of Christ about killing little human beings. Your parish probably celebrates Life Sunday every year but if you have never heard of that Sunday then probably.
Adultery, well that is where we have to realise we live in a modern age. OK, the teachings of Jesus were good in their times and he did not have the social insights that we have today from University Professors, male but mostly female. I remember listening to one lady at a Catholic Teachers training College telling the future teachers ho backward the Church was on matters of Sex. It turned out she was a Lesbian. and of course we are mature enough to realise that 'boys will be boys' and girls will just have to accept that. It does no harm. Well girls will have babies outside marriage, and Catholic girls will go for abortions, and faithfulness in marriage is totally collapsing, but we are a Church that gies to the poor so we can ignore the teachings of Christ in the Gospel and use our own conscience. At Fatima Our Lady told the children that the majority of souls go to Hell because of the sins of impurity. But then who is she? she is only a woman.
Stealing comes in all forms. We can steal money, we steal a persons good name by our tongues. We can get our own way in situations by simply lying. Off course whenever would do that. But ignoring the Jesus of the Bible and promoting a false Jesus made in our own image and likeness which we preach to others is theft. You are robbing people of their Faith.
False witness is slandering someone's name and calling them a fool because their version of the Faith is different from ours. There is an awful lot of false witness going on in the Church today over the question of Communion for the Divorced and Remarried,yet in Matthew 19 we go to the only authority whose words we should believe, the words of Jesus Christ.
Honouring your father and your mother seems idle enough. Yet thee are horrific stories of children fighting with their parents and not speaking to their parents for years. In old age we have a duty to look after our elderly parents as they looked after us when we were children. too often parents are seen as a burden rather than someone who needs our help.
Love your neighbour as yourself. This one is about much more than just being friends at Ch8urch. It is about that busybody who keeps phoning us at awkward times, or who comes round uninvited, just when we want to watch something on the Television. It is about being nice to someone who has offended you. It is forgiving someone who has done a great wrong to you. It is about being as concerned with the soul of someone else as you are concerned with your own. Yes, we can give money to Oxfam, and Children in Need and feel good about it but it is when you give to someone at some cost to yourself then you are loving your neighbour as yourself.
"O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, and lead all souls to Heaven especially those who in most need of your mercy."
So according to the Jesus of Scripture there is a great deal more in obeying rules than the popular Jesus of our times. We must win our Salvation.
At this point the dialogue could well have ended. Jesus was as rigid in this as he had been on Divorce and Remarriage. You must obey the Commandments, you must obey the rules. Well of course it is no problem in our new church. We are all as Catholic united in Fatih against Abortion, or the killing of babies in the womb. We are all a witness to the world of the teachings of Christ about killing little human beings. Your parish probably celebrates Life Sunday every year but if you have never heard of that Sunday then probably.
Adultery, well that is where we have to realise we live in a modern age. OK, the teachings of Jesus were good in their times and he did not have the social insights that we have today from University Professors, male but mostly female. I remember listening to one lady at a Catholic Teachers training College telling the future teachers ho backward the Church was on matters of Sex. It turned out she was a Lesbian. and of course we are mature enough to realise that 'boys will be boys' and girls will just have to accept that. It does no harm. Well girls will have babies outside marriage, and Catholic girls will go for abortions, and faithfulness in marriage is totally collapsing, but we are a Church that gies to the poor so we can ignore the teachings of Christ in the Gospel and use our own conscience. At Fatima Our Lady told the children that the majority of souls go to Hell because of the sins of impurity. But then who is she? she is only a woman.
Stealing comes in all forms. We can steal money, we steal a persons good name by our tongues. We can get our own way in situations by simply lying. Off course whenever would do that. But ignoring the Jesus of the Bible and promoting a false Jesus made in our own image and likeness which we preach to others is theft. You are robbing people of their Faith.
False witness is slandering someone's name and calling them a fool because their version of the Faith is different from ours. There is an awful lot of false witness going on in the Church today over the question of Communion for the Divorced and Remarried,yet in Matthew 19 we go to the only authority whose words we should believe, the words of Jesus Christ.
Honouring your father and your mother seems idle enough. Yet thee are horrific stories of children fighting with their parents and not speaking to their parents for years. In old age we have a duty to look after our elderly parents as they looked after us when we were children. too often parents are seen as a burden rather than someone who needs our help.
Love your neighbour as yourself. This one is about much more than just being friends at Ch8urch. It is about that busybody who keeps phoning us at awkward times, or who comes round uninvited, just when we want to watch something on the Television. It is about being nice to someone who has offended you. It is forgiving someone who has done a great wrong to you. It is about being as concerned with the soul of someone else as you are concerned with your own. Yes, we can give money to Oxfam, and Children in Need and feel good about it but it is when you give to someone at some cost to yourself then you are loving your neighbour as yourself.
"O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, and lead all souls to Heaven especially those who in most need of your mercy."
So according to the Jesus of Scripture there is a great deal more in obeying rules than the popular Jesus of our times. We must win our Salvation.
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