On The Day of The Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, Catholics look at Time and Space! The First Catholics had gone through three years of joy by being with The Messiah and Forty Days of suffering His loss.
The question remained: “Would The Catholic Church survive?”
Worldly forces assumed The Only Church-Creating Word 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.” would disappear.
Instead, the First Catholic Pope and Bishops began by replacing the traitor, Judas. Acts 1:15-17 & 20-26 tell us that “It was necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time The Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the Baptism of John until the day on which He was taken up from us, become with us a witness to His Resurrection.”
They let God decide which of the two chosen to replace Judas would be, “and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the Eleven Apostles.”
From that time, The Catholic Church was blessed to be led by Catholic priests and religious upon whom God’s “lot fell”.
God guided and protected His Church so well that 2,000 years later, there are now 1.4 billion Catholics on earth!
In that time, tens of thousands of other denominations have come and gone. Why are they either dead or disappearing?
God did not choose their leaders!
Today’s “Alleluia”, from John 15:16, tells us why there have been more than a hundred billion Catholics in the past 2,000 years! They have all been “chosen” to obey God’s Church-Creating Word to His One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church: “‘I chose you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last.’, says The Lord.”
John 15:9-7 tells us why those who are called to “Be Catholic!” and to “Stay Catholic!” are blessed in every age, despite attacks from those who love themselves more than they love Words of God:
“Jesus said to His disciples: ‘As the Father loves Me, so I also love you. Remain in My love. Ifyou keep My commandments, youwillremain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.” May all be blessed to see That Word of God is telling us that those whom He blesses will “Remain Catholic!”
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Jesus makes His Love for Catholic priests and religious clear: “I have told you this so that My joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is My commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Catholic priests and religious are most obedient to Jesus! They “lay down their lives for their friends” when they take The Holy Vows of Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience that let them live as Jesus did!
That is why they help all Catholics to be forever among: “You are My friends if you do what I command you… I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you ‘friends’, because I have told you everything I have heard from My Father.”
Then, He Who Fulfilled the Messianic Prophecies gives us the best reason to gratefully obey His Command and: “Remain Catholic”!
“It was not you who chose Me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give you. This I command you: love one another.”
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Today’s Simple Rhyme: “Catholics pray: / ‘May I obey, / Jesus!'”
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