Catholics are blessed with the guidance of St. Jude 17:20-25 in Today’s Reading: “Beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the Apostles of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Those “words” include the only Church-Creating Command of Jesus 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.'”
Catholics have been blessed to be in His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church for the past 2,000 years. We follow Jude’s instruction: “Build yourselves up in your most Holy Faith; pray in The Holy Spirit.” Catholics know! “The Holy Spirit” does not want us to reject grateful obedience to Any Word of Jesus!”
Then, we see that Jude wants us to “Be Catholic!” and “Stay Catholic!” by telling those blessed to believe most meaningfully in The Bible: “Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.”
Catholics know what that means! There is “eternal life” in Heaven for those blessed to have what Jesus gave to His Catholic Church: “the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.” We are blessed with Baptism, Confession/Absolution, Communion, Confirmation, Marriage, and Healing provided by our Blessed Catholic priests, religious, and people who become God’s “Holy Orders” in their life on earth.
St. Jude then tells us how to deal with those who think they know more than Jesus about anything: “On those who waver, have mercy; save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear, abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.”
Then, St. Jude tells us how important Catholic priests are! Their God-given power to absolve us of our sins is specifically identified by John 20:23: “Those whose sins you forgive on earth are forgiven in Heaven.”
Jude explains to Bible-respecting believers: “To the one (Jesus/Catholic priest) who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant in the presence of His glory to to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come.”
Those blessed to honor Jesus and our Catholic priests enough to receive “Absolution”, “Communion” and the other “keys to The Kingdom of Heaven” are predicted in Today’s Psalm 63:2-6, “My soul is searching for You, O Lord my God… You are My God Whom I seek; for You my flesh pines and my soul thirsts, parched, lifeless, and without water… I will bless you while I live… I will call upon Your Name… As with the riches of a banquet, shall my soul be satisfied…”
Catholics are blessed to have obeyed that prophesied “soul-satisfying” call to Catholic Communion in today’s Alleluia from Colossians 3:16-17, and we are blessed to: “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly; giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
What a joy to “Be Catholic!” and obey Christ’s Call to Catholic Communion that Jesus repeated 12 times in John 6 and twice more at His Last Supper on earth: “If you do not eat My Body and drink My Blood, you do not have life in you.”
May all be blessed to “Be Catholic!” and “Stay Catholic!” And, may all who let themselves be led away from The Church realize that a sincere Confession is all we need to regain “the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven”!
Five or ten minutes to spend eternity in Heaven! Helpful to read and share The Power of Christ’s Word on earth!
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Today’s Simple Rhyme: “If I listen to God, and not to me, / high in Heaven my soul will be! Forever!”
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