All may be blessed to know that St. Paul is telling us to “Be as Catholic as we can!” in Today’s Reading from 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10, 16-18:
“We instruct you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to shun any brother who walks in a disorderly way and not according to the tradition they received from us.”
The “tradition” that St. Paul and the early Catholics followed in an “orderly way” was built upon The Church-Creating Word Spoken by He Who Fulfilled the Messianic Prophecies to His 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.'”
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Questions! “Do those who knowingly refuse to live according to the ‘tradition’ provided by Catholic Teachings ‘walk in a disorderly way ‘?”
Answer: It is always ‘disorderly’ to replace God’s ‘orders’ with self-serving preferences. “For you know how one must imitate us. For we did not act in a disorderly way among you, …”
Then, St. Paul tells us a sign of self-serving “disorder”! “… nor did we eat food received free from anyone. On the contrary, in toil and drudgery, night and day we worked, so as not to burden any of you.”
“What other ‘tradition’ did St. Paul give to help us live in an ‘orderly way’ ?”
Answer: “He was very clear! ‘… Rather, we wanted to present ourselves as a model for you, so that you might imitate us. In fact, when we were with you, we instructed you that if anyone was unwilling to work, neither should that one eat.’”
Another question! “Did St. Paul ask God to let us follow the ‘orderly tradition’ the First Catholic Bishops gave their lives to leave on earth?”
Answer: St. Paul ended Today’s Reading with his Prayer Request that all may be as Catholic as we can! ‘May the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.’”
That “orderly tradition” is so important that he told us: “This greeting is in my own hand, Paul’s. This is the sign in every letter; this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.” Is there a better reason to “Be as Catholic as we can!”?
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Today’s Psalm 128:1-2, 4-5, confirms the need to be among: “Blessed are those who fear the LORD” and choose to “walk in His ways”!
Our “Alleluia” from 1 John 2:5 makes that clear! “Whoever keeps the word of Christ, the love of God is truly perfected in him.”
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Today, Matthew 23:27-32 tells us what happens to those who refused to walk in His “orderly ways”!
“Jesus said, ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.” Catholics are blessed to realize that the “woe” that Jesus promises to “hypocrites” includes spending eternity in agony for the unrepentant among them.
Then, Jesus describes those who pretend to be believers in every age in this “Hidden Catholic Prophecy”: “You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth. … on the outside you appear righteous, but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.”
Jesus again predicts their eternal fate! “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You build the tombs of the Prophets and adorn the memorials of the righteous, and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have joined them in shedding the Prophets’ blood.'”
Jesus lets us understand what those who condemn their own souls by choosing to walk in “disorderly ways” predict about themselves and the “woe” that is their fate; they all tell the same lie:
“Thus, you bear witness against yourselves that you are the children of those who murdered the Prophets; now, fill up what your ancestors measured out!”
Catholics see that what their “ancestors measured out”, and that they will “fill up” are the pits of hell.
Pseudo-intellectual nonsense leads many to ignore the Words of Psalmists, Prophets, and He Whom they predicted and not strive to “Be as Catholic as we can!” Some turn that into a New Word that only Catholics know: “bacawec”!
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Today’s Simple Rhyme: “If we do not find Jesus / unholy demons seize us.”
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