Colossians

1:1 From Paul, (the name “Paul” means “small”, or “humble”) appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy (“Timothy” means “honoring God”. Paul and Timothy both participated in writing The Letter to The Colossians, which may have been “penned” by Timothy whle being approved and personally signed by “Paul”.)

2. to the saints in Colossae, our faithful brothers in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father. (“Grace” and “Peace” were the first gifts Paul and Timothy asked God to give to the Catholics in Colossae.)

3. We have never failed to remember you in our prayers and to give thanks for you to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

4. ever since we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you show towards all the saints

5. because of the hope which is stored up for you in heaven. It is only recently that you heard of this, when it was announced in the message of the truth. The Good News6. which has reached you is spreading all over the world and producing the same results as it has among you ever since the day when you heard about God’s grace and understood what this really is. (Faith begins to grow “since the first day it is heard.” May every Catholic be blessed to use that as a Motivating Principle in our lives.)

7. Epaphras, (The name means “lovely” or “charming”) who taught you, is one of our closest fellow workers and a faithful deputy for us as Christ’s servant, (That blessed man used his life to help an entire City become Catholic.)

8. and it was he who told us all about your love in the Spirit. (Epaphras knew he needed the best possible advice to accomplish the most important work of his life, his Catholic mission to Colossae. He turned to Paul and Timothy for their advice and help. May every Catholic rely on help from Saints as we explain the eternal joy of Being Catholic!)

9. That will explain why, ever since the day he told us, we have never failed to pray for you, and what we ask God is that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will. (Catholics see the connection: When we ask Catholic Saints for help, they give it to us!)

10. So you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God. (Accepting “leadership” from Catholic Saints, priests, and religious gives us The Greatest Gift on earth: ‘increasing our knowledge of God!’”

11. You will have in you the strength, based on His own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, (May we all be blessed to “bear anything joyfully”!

12. thanking The Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light. (The gift of “joyful” obedience lets us join wth God’s most beloved souls in Heaven and “inherit the light”. The only alternative is “inheriting” darkness.)13. (That teaching is repeated): Because that is what He has done: He has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of The Son Whom He loves,

14. and in Him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins. (The only “free people” on earth are those who have confessed their sins to a Catholic priest and received “Absolution” from Catholic priests, the only people on earth to whom John 20:23 refers as having been given This Divine Power: “Those whose sins you forgive on earth are forgiven in Heaven.” That is how “darkness” is replaced with “light”. Next, St. Paul reduces the necessary Catholic Teaching for the people of Colossae and every place on earth by formally telling us WHO Jesus IS, The Head of All Creation:

15. He is the image of the unseen God and the first-born of all creation, (That means Jesus goes back over 13 trillion light years, when our powerful telescopes measure star movements well enough to know when God said “Let there be light and there was light” pouring into darkness from God’s light-emitting “Star Programs”, His First Creation Program Downloads.)

16. for in Him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers – all things were created through Him and for Him. (Catholics understand: Jesus embodies The Living Creation Program When He Took Human Form on earth.)

17 Before anything was created, He existed, and he holds all things in unity. (The Entire Creation Program was Downloaded, and Jesus is God’s Living, Human, and Eternal Embodiment of That Download.) Now the Church is His body, He is its head.

18. As He is the Beginning, He was first to be born from the dead, (Before Jesus, all was “dead”.) so that He should be first in every way;

19. because God wanted all perfection to be found in Him20. and all things to be reconciled through Him and for Him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when He made peace by His death on the cross. (The Entire Creation Program, Written and Downloaded in a universe we now see is 30 trillion light years from one side to another, has been sanctified! Everyone can look into the sky, even with telescopes that orbit the earth and sun, and see no end to God’s Power!) The blessed people of Colossae see what they gain in following Jesus with enough respect to “Be Catholic”:

21 Not long ago, you were foreigners and enemies, in the way that you used to think and the evil things that you did; (St. Paul describes every person on earth before they are Catholic.)

22. but now He has reconciled you, by His death and in that mortal body. Now you are able to appear before Him holy, pure and blameless : (Your sins are taken away by priestly Absolution so you may obey The Call to Catholic Communion that Jesus repeated 12 times in the last half of John 6 and twice more at The Last Supper: “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood you do not have life in you.” Receiving Catholic Communion lets us be “reconciled”.)

23. as long as you persevere and stand firm on the solid base of the faith, never letting yourselves drift away from the hope promised by the Good News, which you have heard, which has been preached to the whole human race, (The literal translation of “to the whole human race” is ‘to all things under the sky’, an even more inclusive meaning that may tell us that God’s Words are audible in hell, causing endless anguish to the willfully disobedient!) and of which I, Paul, have become the servant. (May all Catholics be blessed to stand firmly, gratefully, and respectfully in The Only Church Spoken Into Being by Words of Jesus to His First Catholic Pope!) Paul spent the first part of his life working for what The Jerusalem Establishment had turned into The Jewish Faith. He worked hard to persecute Catholics. When he “saw the light” of Jesus on the Road to Damascus, he spent the following decades in grateful obedience to Jesus and His One, Holy,Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

24. It makes me happy to suffer for you, as I am suffering now, and in my own body to do what I can to make up all that has still to be undergone by Christ for the sake of His body, the Church.

25. I became the servant of the Church when God made me responsible for delivering God’s message to you,

26. the message which was a mystery hidden for generations and centuries and has now been revealed to his saints. (The “message which was a mystery” had been “hidden” for 13 trillion light years! It was first “revealed” to Gentiles when the “three wise men” were blessed to see that Babylonian star charts of moon, planet, and constellation movements, by then 2,000 years old, should be seen in light of God’s Words to His Prophets. That let the First Gentiles actually “see” God in His cradle with Mary and Joseph at The First Epiphany that celebrated the fact that God and His Saving Grace be made visible to Gentile and Jewish peoples!

27. It was God’s purpose to reveal it to them and to show all the rich glory of this mystery to pagans (Gentiles). The mystery is Christ among you, your hope of glory: (It was God, Himself, Who revealed Himself to take living form among us and give every person and people on earth our only “hope of glory”.)

28. this is the Christ we proclaim, this is the wisdom in which we thoroughly train (St. Paul uses the word “train” and not merely “teach”!) everyone and instruct everyone, to make them all perfect in Christ.

29. It is for this I struggle wearily on, helped only by His power driving me irresistibly. Every earthly “power” and spirit of evil was against St. Paul and the First Catholics. The “power of God” prevailed, blessing everyone on earth with the possibility of obtaining The Ultimate Freedom: to be free to choose to “the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven” from The One Church and Pope empowered to provide them for all the coming years of The Creation Program from Mt 16:18-20: “And I say unto you thou art Peter and on this rock I buildMy Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.” The use of the pronoun “you” assures us that Jesus Christ, Himself, promises us that His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is The Living Body of Christ on earth.

2:1 Yes, I want you to know that I do have to struggle hard for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for so many others who have never seen me face to face. St. Paul spent decades struggling to effectively communicate so the first Catholics could have “the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven” for their immortal souls.

2. It is all to bind you together in love and to stir your minds (Catholics know from personal experience that many people hate to have their “minds stirred” and re-order their thoughts around what many hate to think exists: A higher truth than their opinions.), so that your understanding may come to full development, until you really know God’s secret

3. in which all the jewels of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. (By re-ordering our thoughts to be aligned with St. Paul and other Catholics, we see the “hidden” order of God’s Wisdom reaching back 13 trillion light years and into space by the same distance in space.)

4. I say this to make sure that no one deceives you with specious arguments. (As we grow in understanding of the enormity of space and time that Catholicism makes more easily understood, we are less likely to be “deceived” by self-serving silliness that is not as broad and deep.)

5. I may be absent in body, but in spirit I am there among you, delighted to find you all in harmony and to see how firm your faith in Christ is. (The only thing more “delightful” than our own Catholic Faith is helping others have the joy of sharing in it.)St. Paul warns us to live according to The True Faith and avoid false teaching.

6. You must live your whole life according to the Christ you have received: Jesus the Lord; (We must not fall into disobedience to Any Word of Christ, including His Church-Creating Word to His First Catholic Pope, no matter how tempting to our vanity they may be.)

7. you must be rooted in Him and built on Him and held firm by the faith you have been taught, and full of thanksgiving. (We must never let ourselves follow any Faith that did not come directly from Jesus Christ.)

8. Make sure that no one traps you and deprives you of your freedom by some secondhand, empty, rational philosophy based on the principles of this world instead of on Christ. (All that does not come from God comes from those who want to separate our souls, and our donations, from Jesus and His Church.)

9. In His Body lives the fullness of divinity, and in him you too find your own (“His Body” was crucified and buried. At His Resurrection, “His Body” took living form on earth in His Catholic Church, “The Body of Christ on Earth”.)

10. in the one who is the head of every Sovereignty and Power. (Not only is He Who Fulfilled The Prophecies The Head of His Church, but also of every Order of Angels.)

11. In him you have been circumcised, with a circumcision not performed by human hand, but by the complete stripping of your body of flesh. This is circumcision according to Christ. (Circumcised men may lose what will be one or two square inches of skin. Catholics strive to be “circumcised” of every thought, word, and feeling that will keep us from being closer to God.)

12. You have been buried with him, when you were Baptized; and by Baptism, too, you have been raised up with him through your belief in the power of God who raised him from the dead. (“Baptism” is The Sacrament that lets us be “circumcised” of Original Sin that would otherwise separate us from Jesus.)13. You were dead, because you were sinners and had not been circumcised: He has brought you to life with him, he has forgiven us all our sins. (The only valid “circumcision” is Baptism.)

14. He has overridden the Law, and cancelled every record of the debt that we had to pay; he has done away with it by nailing it to the cross: (Once we are Baptized, the “debt” we inherited from Adam and Eve’s Original Sin of disobedience is removed.)

15. and so he got rid of the Sovereignties and the Powers, and paraded them in public, behind him in His triumphal procession. (Catholics look outside our Churches and see “parades” of people following the fallen angels who are false gods.)

16. From now onwards, never let anyone else decide what you should eat or drink, or whether you are to observe annual festivals, New Moons or sabbaths. (Since Moses, Profiteers of Protestantism have replaced God’s Teaching with Marketing Plans designed to enrich themselves. Pay no attention to any of them! We must not let them keep our souls from Heaven, no matter how desirable they may seem to be or how much they praise us for donating to them!)

17. These were only pale reflections of what was coming: the reality is Christ. (Only Christ provided The Fulness of Truth in His Church-Creating Word to The First Catholic Pope: “And I say unto you thou art Peter and on this rock I build My Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.”)

18. Do not be taken in by people who like groveling to angels and worshipping them; people like that are always going on about some vision they have had, inflating themselves to a false importance with their worldly outlook. (Many “angels” ruled Families, Tribes, and Nations of People when known as Zeus, Baal, and thousands of others. Those who made money by running the temples of denominations glorifying fallen angels after they had “fallen” before The Power of God did not like to see their earthly positions replaced by Jesus and His Catholic Church! They moved many of their followers to become vicious anti-Catholics.)

19. A man of this sort is not united to the head, and it is the head that adds strength and holds the whole body together, with all its joints and sinews; and this is the only way in which it can reach its full growth in God. (We were made with a soul, spirit, mind, and body. Only our soul is immortal and can go to Heaven. Every evil on earth wants us to focus on our spirit, mind, and body while ignoring the eternal fate of our immortal soul.)

20. If you have really died with Christ to the principles of this world, why do you still let rules dictate to you, as though you were still living in the world? (St. Paul is reminding every Catholic on earth to focus on obeying Jesus and not be “dictated to” by earthly rules that keep us from better obedience to “Loving God and our neighbor as ourselves.”)

2:21 ‘It is forbidden to pick up this, it is forbidden to taste that, it is forbidden to touch something else’; (Mindless obsessions with silly rules are part of many Protestant Marketing Plans that keep many gullible, praise-loving people from being Catholic enough to get their soul into Heaven.)

22. all these prohibitions are only concerned with things that perish by their very use – an example of human doctrines and regulations! (Every non-Catholic Marketing Plan is filled with different sets of rules carefully designed to appeal to different kinds of donors. One kind of people were attracted, for instance, to the first Mormon’s endorsement and encouragement of polygamy.)

23. It may be argued that true wisdom is to be found in these, with their self-imposed devotions, their self-abasement, and their severe treatment of the body; but once the flesh starts to protest, they are no use at all. (The Profiteers of Every Kind of Protestantism, even those who deny that God exists, can never provide “true wisdom” that comes only from Jesus Christ, “The Head of His Catholic Body”.)

Continues with reasons to replace all desires with one: Obedience to The Teaching of Jesus Christ and the Life-Giving Union that only comes by “Being as Catholic as we can.”

3:1 Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in Heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. (Holy Communion, The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ provided by The Miracle of Transubstantiation, did come to us from Heaven. Anything that keeps us from receiving That Holy Food should and cannot be, a good part of us.)

2. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth, (Some may look for the connection between all we see, hear, and think with Jesus. The only connection we often see is the realization that we are, not, and should be looking, hearing, thinking, and talking about things that do bring us closer to Jesus.)

3. because you have died, and now the life you have is hidden with Christ in God. (May we all grow “dead” to things of the world. That’s what Catholic “life” is all about.)

4. But when Christ is revealed – and He is your life – you too will be revealed in all your glory with Him. (The most meaningful “life” we can have comes from living in accord with His “revelation” to us about the overwhelming need to have His Life within us.) What we must do to be close to Christ:

5. That is why you must kill everything in you that belongs only to earthly life: fornication, impurity, guilty passion, evil desires and especially greed, which is the same thing as worshipping a false god; (It is Great Lesson to Learn: ‘greed’ is worse than the sins that precede it. That is a helpful guide: wanting more of anything than we need is a doorway to our soul’s entry into hell. “Greed” manifests worship of a ‘false god’ and automatically puts us in violation of The First Commandment, “Thou shall have no other gods before Me.” “Greed” takes its most destruction form in “gluttony”. May we all be blessed to recognize and be saved from the dangerous demon of “greed”!) There are seven tribes of demons: pride, envy, greed, gluttony, anger, lust, and sloth that are easily remembered by the acronym spelled out by the firstletter of all seven: peggals. The tribe of “greed”, buried near the middle, opens the mind and soul to all the others.

6. all this is the sort of behavior that makes God angry. (It is very hard for any “greedy” person to see their ‘greed’ makes God ‘angry’ at them! Could anyone ‘anger’ God more than billionaires who use the great abilities God gave them to proudly take as much as they can from as many neighbors as possible? Are we any better? May we all be inspired by Catholic priests and religious who take Holy Vows of Poverty, Celibacy, and Chastity: the cure for all seven deadly sins.)

7. And it is the way you used to live when you were surrounded by people doing the same thing, (We used to be among those whose souls were stained. Sins are identical in their effect on separating us from God.)

8. but now you, of all people, must give all these things up: getting angry, being bad-tempered, spitefulness, abusive language and dirty talk; (Loving and obeying Jesus helps us drive away these manifestations of demons within us.)

9. and never tell each other lies. You have stripped off your old behavior with your old self, (We have filled a “garbage can” with demons driven from our mind.)

10. and you have put on a new self which will progress towards true knowledge the more it is renewed in the image of its Creator;

11. and in that image there is no room for distinction between Greek and Jew, between the circumcised or the uncircumcised, or between barbarian and Scythian, slave and free man. There is only Christ. he is everything and he is in everything. (Differences between the various types of DNA that form our neighbors is no longer reason to do anything but love them.)

12. You are God’s chosen race, His saints; He loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and

patience. (The divisions between people are reduced to two: There are those “in God’s Chosen Race) and those who may be blessed to be.)13. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same. (As soon as we see a ‘quarrel begin’ we must work to stop it before it becomes a barrier between people that keeps anyone from “Loving God and their neighbor as yourself.”)

14. Over all these clothes, to keep them together and complete them, put on love. (Obedience to Jesus is seen as “Wearing the very best clothing and being perfectly dressed for every occasion between now and Judgment!”)

15. And may the peace of Christ reign in your hearts, because it is for this that you were called together as parts of one body. Always be thankful. (Every time we learn of unhappy, bitter people whose demons overpower their Love of God and neighbor, we should be “thankful”!)

16. Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, find a home with you. Teach each other, and advise each other, in all wisdom. With gratitude in your hearts sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs to God; (Just as we have “furniture” in our earthly homes, we may have “God’s richness” furnishing our mind and soul.)

17. and never say or do anything except in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. May our “households” be furnished and decorated with This Counsel and Advice!

18. Wives, give way to your husbands, as you should in the Lord. (Many conflicts are thus avoided and all good “wives” know: “There is no better way to win an argument!”)

19. Husbands, love your wives and treat them with gentleness. (Any response but “gentleness” only brings more anger and unhappiness.)

20. Children, be obedient to your parents always, because that is what will please the Lord. (Children blessed to learn “obedience” at home are equipped to spend their lives in “obedience” to God and will be far happier in life.)21. Parents, never drive your children to resentment or you will make them feel frustrated. (Strong, solid marriages do more to keep children from being “driven to resentment” that keeps many unhappy in life here and beyond.)

22. Slaves, be obedient to the men who are called your masters in this world; not only when you are under their eye, as if you had only to please men, but wholeheartedly, out of respect for the Master. (This Teaching gives every person on earth a sense of structure that leads to obeying God and receiving rewards on earth and in Heaven.)

23. Whatever your work is, put your heart into it as if it were for the Lord and not for men, (Laziness is a sin against Jesus and correctly labeled among The Seven Deadly Sins as “sloth”, a perverted form of “greed”.)

24. knowing that the Lord will repay you by making you his heirs. It is Christ the Lord that you are serving; (Every word and deed is either a “service to Christ”, or, it is not.)

25. anyone who does wrong will be repaid in kind and He does not favor one person more than another. (Catholics see that Jesus will Judge Popes and Bishops with the same standards He applies to the lowest workers in every vineyard on earth.)

4:1 Masters, make sure that your slaves are given what is just and fair, knowing that you too have a Master in Heaven. (As in the previous Chapter, those who are prosperous and important on earth are given that direct, specific order to show how important it is to their souls, each of which will be judged by God according to their treatment of subordinates!)

2. Be persevering in your prayers and be thankful as you stay awake to pray. (Part of “prayers” is being “thankful” for being among those who “pray”! No religion has as many “prayers” as God’s One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church! May we all be blessed to find the “prayers” we need to bring our mind and soul in closer alignment to Jesus and have His “life” in us, forever.)3. Pray for us especially, asking God to show us opportunities for announcing the message and proclaiming the mystery of Christ, for the sake of which I am in chains; (Every Catholic must pray that those who spread God’s Word are blessed by Him to do so, especially His priests and religious!)

4. pray that I may proclaim it as clearly as I ought. (That is a prayer for all to pray! We need God’s Guidance to make His Word as clear as we can to ourselves and to the neighbors we love.)

5. Be tactful with those who are not Christians and be sure you make the best use of your time with them. (We do not tell them they are “wrong”. We do tell them what all of us are “missing” by not being as Catholic as we can.)

6. Talk to them agreeably and with a flavor of wit, and try to fit your answers to the needs of each one. (This is important! Everyone appreciates grace, “wit”, and charm more than being hectored and lectured!) The most important people in Central Turkey helped St. Paul lead millions of people throughout the lands into The Catholic Church.

7. Tychicus (the name appropriately means “good fortune”) will tell you all the news about me. He is a brother I love very much, and a loyal helper and companion in the service of the Lord.

8. I am sending him to you precisely for this purpose: to give you news about us and to reassure you.

9. With him I am sending Onesimus, (the name means “useful, profitable, or beneficial”) that dear and faithful brother who is a fellow citizen of yours. They will tell you everything that is happening here. (Catholics have a duty to spread “The Good News”!)

10. Aristarchus, (His name means “best ruler” or “excellent leader”) who is here in prison with me, sends his greetings, and so does Mark (Meaning “consecrated to Mars” or “warlike” an indication that The Teachings of Christ have prevailed even over those “consecrated” to the god of war!), the cousin ofBarnabas (That name means “son of encouragement” or “son of the prophet”). You were sent some instructions about him; if he comes to you give him a warm welcome.

11. and Jesus Justus (His name fittingly means “Jesus the Just”) adds his greetings. Of all those who have come over from the Circumcision, these are the only ones actually working with me for the kingdom of God. They have been a great comfort to me.

12. Epaphras (We remember that his name means “lovely” or “charming”, a perfect “name” for someone who uses “grace and wit” to bring people to Christ in 4:4, above.) your fellow citizen, sends his greetings; this servant of Christ Jesus never stops battling for you, praying that you will never lapse but always hold perfectly and securely to the will of God.

13. I can testify for him that he works hard for you, as well as for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.

14. Greetings from my dear friend Luke (Meaning “light-giving” or “bringer of light” which few people did better than Luke in The Second Book of The New Testament!) the doctor, and also from Demas. (Which means “the people” or “popular”.)

15. Please give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha (Her name means “sea nymph” or “bride”) and the church which meets in her house.

16. After this letter has been read among you, send it on to be read in the church of the Laodiceans; and get the letter from Laodicea for you to read yourselves.

17. Give Archippus (whose name means “master of the horse” or “chief of the calvary”, showing the appeal of Paul’s Message of Jesus to those identified with the best among the military.) this message, (“This message” is a “Message from Jesus Christ, Himself, to Every Catholic on Earth that gives us our duty to Him in One, Holy Command from God! ‘Remember the service that the Lord wants you to do, and try to carry it out’.(May we all be blessed with the Love of God to be as Catholic as we can!)

18. Here is a greeting in my own handwriting: PAUL. (Paul’s Holy Word was validated for 2,000 years by that handwritten signature on a scroll of papyrus or parchment.) Remember the chains I wear. Grace be with you.