BEADS
OF JOY 02-16-14
“These Are His Standards”
©2014 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
“These Are His Standards”
©2014 James Dacey, Jr. OFS
Today’s Gospel: Matthew 5:17-37 (Fulfillment of The
Law / Teachings) “Think not that I have
come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but
to fulfil them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not
an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever
then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall
be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches
them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
For I tell you, unless
your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven. "You have heard that it was said to the men of old,
`You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.' But I say
to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment;
whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says,
`You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering
your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something
against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled
to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Make friends quickly
with your accuser, while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser
hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in
prison; truly, I say to you, you will never get out till you have paid
the last penny.
"You have heard
that it was said, `You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone
who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his
heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it
is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be
thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and
throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your
whole body go into hell. "It was also said, `Whoever divorces his
wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that
everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, makes her
an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
"Again you have
heard that it was said to the men of old, `You shall not swear falsely, but
shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you, do not
swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth,
for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let
what you say be simply `Yes' or `No'; anything more than this comes from evil.”
My Friends,
Powerful and to the point, that's how I describe
today's gospel. Jesus don't pull no punches and He will not hide the truth, so
He don't offend someone. Jesus is cool, He isn't politically correct. Being
politically correct for the most part always puts our morals on the back shelf.
We need to rather be "Spiritually Correct" or if you will,
"Jesus Correct". That's all that matters, because when we are
all standing in judgment for our actions, our words, and our philosophy; God
alone will tell us what we have earned for all eternity. No politician will
step in for you or me, and give some crazy off the wall explanation why killing
an unborn baby is just fine. Nobody stands with you, except of cause our Lady.
See if we are really in tune with our spiritual life and we are in relationship
with our Lord Jesus and His Mother, many of these issues will never be issues.
We won't allow ourselves to be misled. Today we are reflecting on Matthew
5:17-37 (Fulfillment of The Law / Teachings). Why is it that so many
people think "laws" or "rules" are so
negative? Isn't the laws and the rules that keep things orderly so that
everyone is kept safe physically and spiritually and morally in our world?
Check this out. In Psalm 119 there is much wisdom. Psalm 119 has 176 verses.
Scan through it, there is so much wisdom shared here.
Psalm 119
1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes
and seek him with all their heart—
3 they do no wrong
but follow his ways.
4 You have laid down precepts
that are to be fully obeyed.
9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, LORD;
teach me your decrees.
We must remember who we are dealing with when it comes to sin. Satan has every intention and every intent to mislead us and send us straight to hell with him. Sin don't just arrive at the edge of our thoughts and then go full steam into our lives; rather we allow the thoughts in, and then little by little we justify our actions. There are so many things in society that allow things to happen. We can remember when no cursing was allowed on TV, period. Well then they come up with a list and all the others words were ok, then they allowed only certain networks to say them, then they started allowing certain words from that list. Well now they even allow anything after a certain hour on some networks. You see how little by little the sin is ok. This is the same way sin works in our lives, little by little we allow it and fluff it off.
As many of you know, "Fireproof" is one of my favorite movies. If you get a chance... buy it. You will be very happy you did, there are many very wonderful, very Godly messages throughout the entire movie. Today I'd like to share part of a conversation Caleb and his dad had. Interesting but very relevant to today's gospel. Complete reality check, and if you hear this script in the show, you'd understand what I'm saying.
FIREPROOF (excerpt of script)
Caleb
Why do l need his salvation?
What, am l gonna be thrown into hell?
For what? Because l got divorced?
Caleb's Dad
No. Because you violated his standards.
Caleb
What? Thou shall not kill?
Dad, l help people. l am a good person.
Caleb's Dad
According to you. But God doesn't judge by your standards.
-He uses his.
Caleb
-And what are his?
Caleb's Dad
Well, truth.
Caleb
-Okay.
Caleb's Dad
-Love.
Caleb
-l'm honest.
Caleb's Dad
-Faithfulness.
Caleb
l care about people. l am those things.
Caleb's Dad
Sometimes.
But have you loved God, the one who gave you life?
His standards are so high, he considers hatred to be murder...
...and lust to be adultery.
Caleb
Dad, what about all the good I’ve done?
Caleb's Dad
Son, saving someone from a fire does not make you right with God.
You've broken his commandments.
And one day, you'll answer to him for that.
Pretty powerful exchange isn't it? Get the movie, if you are like me, you will watch it again and again.
LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
Come PRAY THE ROSARY with us every evening Monday through Friday 9pm EST with our
"Our Lady's Rosary Text Vigil Group"…
Invitations posted daily… and throughout the evening…
https://www.facebook.com/RosaryManJim
Psalm 119
1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes
and seek him with all their heart—
3 they do no wrong
but follow his ways.
4 You have laid down precepts
that are to be fully obeyed.
9 How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
By living according to your word.
10 I seek you with all my heart;
do not let me stray from your commands.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
12 Praise be to you, LORD;
teach me your decrees.
We must remember who we are dealing with when it comes to sin. Satan has every intention and every intent to mislead us and send us straight to hell with him. Sin don't just arrive at the edge of our thoughts and then go full steam into our lives; rather we allow the thoughts in, and then little by little we justify our actions. There are so many things in society that allow things to happen. We can remember when no cursing was allowed on TV, period. Well then they come up with a list and all the others words were ok, then they allowed only certain networks to say them, then they started allowing certain words from that list. Well now they even allow anything after a certain hour on some networks. You see how little by little the sin is ok. This is the same way sin works in our lives, little by little we allow it and fluff it off.
As many of you know, "Fireproof" is one of my favorite movies. If you get a chance... buy it. You will be very happy you did, there are many very wonderful, very Godly messages throughout the entire movie. Today I'd like to share part of a conversation Caleb and his dad had. Interesting but very relevant to today's gospel. Complete reality check, and if you hear this script in the show, you'd understand what I'm saying.
FIREPROOF (excerpt of script)
Caleb
Why do l need his salvation?
What, am l gonna be thrown into hell?
For what? Because l got divorced?
Caleb's Dad
No. Because you violated his standards.
Caleb
What? Thou shall not kill?
Dad, l help people. l am a good person.
Caleb's Dad
According to you. But God doesn't judge by your standards.
-He uses his.
Caleb
-And what are his?
Caleb's Dad
Well, truth.
Caleb
-Okay.
Caleb's Dad
-Love.
Caleb
-l'm honest.
Caleb's Dad
-Faithfulness.
Caleb
l care about people. l am those things.
Caleb's Dad
Sometimes.
But have you loved God, the one who gave you life?
His standards are so high, he considers hatred to be murder...
...and lust to be adultery.
Caleb
Dad, what about all the good I’ve done?
Caleb's Dad
Son, saving someone from a fire does not make you right with God.
You've broken his commandments.
And one day, you'll answer to him for that.
Pretty powerful exchange isn't it? Get the movie, if you are like me, you will watch it again and again.
LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
Come PRAY THE ROSARY with us every evening Monday through Friday 9pm EST with our
"Our Lady's Rosary Text Vigil Group"…
Invitations posted daily… and throughout the evening…
https://www.facebook.com/RosaryManJim
Your brother in Christ Jesus
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS
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