Today’s Catholic Reading from 2 Timothy 4:10-17 was written by St. Paul while he was jailed in Rome. He tells us about the two kinds of people in the world. Some are like Demas: “Beloved: Demas, enamored of the present world, deserted me and went to Thessalonika . .” Then, Paul tells us about early Catholics followers who spread Catholic Teaching where they were sent: “Crescens to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.”
Paul had introduced thousands of people to The Church Spoken Into Being by The 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.” Only a handful of people helped St. Paul begin the Catholic Conversion of Europe.
Catholics realize that God’s Timetable had much of the world’s DNA “Upgraded” by the migrations of Abraham’s ancestors and The Twelve Tribes. Their families had been spreading out from over-crowded farms for 1,500 years since Moses, so the world was ready to Be Catholic!
Paul tells us how few were needed to bring God to the world: “Luke is the only one with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is helpful to me in the ministry. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.” Then, he told Timothy: “When you come, bring the cloak I left with Carpus in Troas, the papyrus rolls, and especially the parchments.”
Then, Paul identified a typical anti-Catholic and described his fate: “Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm; The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. You too, be on guard against him, for he has strongly resisted our teaching.”
Then, Paul told every Catholic our duty: “At my first defense, no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them! But, The Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it.”
Today’s Psalm, 145:10-13, 17-18, is a Prophecy of every Catholic’s mission: “Your friends make known, O Lord, the glorious splendor of Your Kingdom. Make known to men Your Might and the glorious splendor of Your Kingdom” because “Your Kingdom is a Kingdom for all ages, and Your Dominion endures through all generations.”
Catholics realise how the Truth of John 15:16 applies to us: “I chose you from the world to go and bear fruit that will last’ says The Lord.”
Paul, Crescens, Titus, Luke, Mark, and Timothy were as faithful as the 36 pairs of Disciples Jesus sent forth in Luke 10:1-9 “to every town and place He intended to visit. He said to them, ‘The Harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few . . . Go on your way; behold I am sending you like lambs among wolves.”
The “job description” of Catholic priests and religious who would be blessed to take Holy Vows of Poverty, Celibacy, and Obedience for the following 2,000 years was given: “Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. . . Cure the sick and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.'”
That, of course, leads us back to The 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 Chuch and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I give you the keys to The Kingdom of Heaven.”
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Today’s Simple Rhyme: “May all believe / and get the ‘keys’ / TO ‘The Kingdom of Heaven’.”
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