Cristy Li

Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth or rust consume and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your heart is, there your heart will be also.
–Matthew 6:19-21 (NRSVCE) -Image Courtesy: Franciscan Friars

Right Attitude Toward Riches

Wakefulness over wealth wastes away one’s flesh
and anxiety about it drives away sleep.

Wakeful anxiety prevents slumber and a sever illness carries off sleep.

The rich person toils to make a meager living and if he ever rests he becomes needy.

One who loves gold will not be justified, one who pursues money will be led astray by it.

Many have come to ruin because of gold and their destruction has met them face-to-face.

It is a stumbling block to those who are avid for it and every fool will be taken captive by it.

Blessed is the rich person who is found blameless and who does not go after gold. Who is he,

that we may praise him? For he has done wonders among his people. Who has been tested by it

and been found perfect? Let it be for him a ground of boasting. Who has had the power to

transgress and did not transgress, to do evil and did not do it? His prosperity will be

established and the assembly will proclaim his acts of charity. –Sirach 31:1-11

Fear The Lord

The spirit of those who fear the Lord will live,
for their hope is in Him who saves them. (See also: Romans 6:23)

Those who fear the Lord will not be timid or play the coward, for He is their hope.

Happy is the soul that fears the Lord! To whom does he look? Who is his support?

The eyes of the Lord are on those who love Him, a mighty shield and strong support, a shelter

from scorching wind and a shade from noonday sun, a guard against stumbling

and a help against falling.

He (The Lord) lifts up the soul and makes the eyes sparkle;
He (The Lord) gives health, life and blessing. –Sirach 34:14-20

• You May Know the Joy of Salvation and Eternal Life Today
  Through The Good News of Christ Jesus

Returning a kindness is like a grain offering;
Giving to the poor is like a thanksgiving offering. –Sirach 35:2

Keeping the Law is worth many offerings; It is a fellowship offering in itself. Returning a kindness is like a grain offering; Giving to the poor is like a thanksgiving offering.

Keeping away from sin will please the Lord and make atonement for sin but don’t come to the Temple without an offering; the Law requires that you bring one. When someone righteous offers a sacrifice and the fat drips down on the alter, a pleasant smell rises to the Most High. The Lord will accept the offerings made by a righteous person and will not forget them. Praise the Lord by making generous offerings to Him; Don’t be stingy with the first of your crops. Be cheerful with every gift you make and when you pay your tithes, do it gladly. Give to the Most High as He has given to you, just as generously as you can. The Lord always repays and will do it many times over but don’t try to bribe Him or rely on offerings that you have obtained dishonestly. He will not accept them.

The Lord will give each of us what our thoughts and actions deserve. Because of the Lord’s mercy, His people will be happy when He has judged their case. –Sirach 35:1-12; 19

The Rich Man

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man run up and knelt before Him and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’

Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the Commandments: You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.”

The man said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go sell what you own and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me.”

When he (the rich man) heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to His Disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God!”

The Disciples were perplexed by these words but Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”

They (Disciples) were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’

Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible but not for God; For God all things are possible.”

Peter began to say to Him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed You.’

Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for My sake and for the sake of ‘The Good News’ who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age — houses, brothers, sisters, mothers and children and fields with persecutions — and in the age to come eternal life but many who are first will be last and the last will be first.” –Mark 10:17-31

• You May Know the Joy of Salvation and Eternal Life Today
  Through The Good News of Christ Jesus!

When we give to the poor, the Lord considers it as precious as a valuable ring.
Human kindness is as precious to Him as life itself. –Sirach 17:22

Alms For The Poor

As water extinguishes a blazing fire, so alms-giving atones for sin.

Those who repay favors give thought to the future; When they fall they will find support.

Duties Toward the Poor and the Oppressed

Do not cheat the poor of their living and do not keep needy eyes waiting. Do not grieve the

hungry or anger one in need. Do not add to the troubles of the desperate or delay giving to the

needy. Do not reject a suppliant in distress or turn your face away from the poor. Do not avert

your eyes from the needy and give no one reason to curse you; For if in bitterness of soul some

should curse you, their Creator will hear their prayer. Endear yourself to the congregation,

bow your head low to the Great. Give hearing to the ppr and return their greeting politely.

Rescue to oppressed from the oppressor; do not be hesitant in giving a verdict. Be a father to

orphans and be like a husband to their mother; You will then be like a son of the Most High and

He will love you more than does your mother. –Sirach 3:30-31; 4:1-10

Jesus Warns Against Hypocrisy & Covetousness

“Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become

known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light and what you

have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.

I tell you My Friends (Jesus’ Disciples) do not fear those who kill the body and after can do

nothing more but I will warn you whom to fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed has

authority to cast into Hell! Yes I tell you, fear Him!

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight but

even the hairs of your head are all counted.

Do not be afraid; You are more value than many sparrows.

I tell you, everyone who acknowledges Me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge

before the Angels of God but whoever denies Me before others will be denied before the Angels

of God.

Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven but whoever blasphemes

against the Holy Spirit will, not be forgiven.

When they bring you before the Synagogues, the rulers and the authorities do not worry about

how you are to defend yourselves or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very

hour what you ought to say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance

with me.’ Jesus said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you? — Take

care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the

abundance of possessions.”

Then Jesus told the crowd a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly and he

thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then the rich man

said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones and there I will store all my

grain and my goods and I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many

years; relax, eat, drink and be merry.’

However, God said to him (the rich man), “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded

of you and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So it is with those who store up

treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Do Not Worry

Jesus said to His Disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat

or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food and the body more than

clothing. Consider the ravens: They neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouses nor

barn and yet God feeds them. Of how how more value are you than birds!

Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do

so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest?

Consider the lilies, how they grow: They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all

his glory was not clothed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive

today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you

— you of little faith!

Do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink and do not keep

worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things and Your Father

knows that you need them. Instead strive for His Kingdom and these things will be given to you

as well.

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is Your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell

your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing

treasure in Heaven where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure

is, there your heart will be also.” –Luke 12:1-34

Major U.S. Cities Saw Unprecedented Murder Spike in 2020  -Image Courtesy: Forbes

What the Holy Scriptures Teach About the Dangers of the Last Days

There will be terrifying (distressing) times in the Last Days. People will be self-centered (lovers

of themselves) and lovers of money, proud, haughty, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,

irreligious, callous, implacable, slanderous, licentious, brutal, hating what is good, traitors,

reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, as they make a pretense of

religion but deny its power. Avoid Them!  –2 Timothy 3:1-5

God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity

The Guilt of Humankind

For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those

who by their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them

because God has shown it to them. Ever since the Creation of the world His eternal power and

Divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things He

has made. So they are without excuse, for though they knew God, they did not honor Him as

God or give Thanks to Him but they became futile in their thinking and their senseless minds

were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and they exchanged the glory of the

Immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals

or reptiles.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the degrading of their

bodies among themselves because they exchanged the Truth about God for a Lie and worshiped

and served the creature (Satan) rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Since they did

not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind and to things that should

not be done. They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of

envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanders, God-haters, insolent,

haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless,

ruthless. They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die — yet they

not only do them but even applaud others who practice them. –Romans 1:18-25; 28-32

• Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God has come near;
  Repent and Believe in The Good News!” –Mark 1:15

• You May Experience the Joy of Salvation Today
  Through The Good News of Jesus Christ!

Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. –Psalm 111:2

Praise For God’s Wonderful Works

Praise the Lord!

I will give Thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,

in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

Great are the works of the Lord,

studied by all who delight in them.

Full of honor and majesty is His work

and His righteousness endures forever!

He has gained renown by His wonderful deeds;

The Lord is Gracious and Merciful.

He provides food for those who fear Him;

He is ever mindful of His Covenant.

He has shown His people the power of His works,

in giving them the heritage of the nations.

The works of His hands are faithful and just;

All His Precepts are Trustworthy.

They are established forever and ever,

to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.

He has sent redemption to His people;

He has Commanded His Covenant forever.

Holy and awesome is His name!

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

all those who practice it have a good understanding.

His praise endures forever!  –Psalm 111:1-10

Prayer of St. Paul

“I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the Saint’s and for this

reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the

God of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and

revelation as you come to know Him, so that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may

know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious

inheritance among the Saint’s and what is the immeasurable greatness of His great power. God

put this power to work in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His

right hand in the Heavenly places, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and

above every name that is named, (See: Hebrews 1:3-4; Hebrews 10:12-13) not only in this age

but also the age to come and He has put all things under His feet and has made Him the head

over all things for the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all!

Amen.”  –Ephesians 1:15-23

• You May Know the Joy of Salvation and Eternal Life Today
  Through The Good News of Christ Jesus!

Related: For Today’s Holy Scripture Readings and More, Visit: -USCCB

Pray, Pray, Pray!  -Image Courtesy: Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word

Beloved: This is the boldness we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He

hears us and if we knows that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained

the requests made of Him. If you see your brother or sister committing what is not a mortal

sin, (See: Sin — CCC 1846-1876) you will ask and God will give life to such a one — to those

whose sin is not mortal. There is sin that is mortal; I do not say that you should pray about that.

All wrongdoing is sin but there is sin that is not mortal. We know that those who are born of

God do not sin but the one who was born of God protects them and the evil one does not touch

them. We know that we are God’s children and that the whole world lies under the power of the

evil one. We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may

know Him who is true; We are in Him who is True, in His Son Jesus Christ! 

He is the true God and eternal life!

Little Children, keep yourselves from idols. –1 John 5:14-21

• You May Know the Joy of Salvation and Eternal Life Today
  Through The Good News of Jesus Christ!

Related: For Today’s Holy Scripture Readings and More, Visit: -USCCB

Who is it that conquers the world
but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God! –1 John 5:5

Testimony Concerning The Son of God

This is the One who came by Water and Blood, Jesus Christ, not with Water only but with the

Water and the Blood and the (Holy) Spirit is the One that testifies, for the Spirit is the Truth.

There are Three that testify: The Spirit, the Water and the Blood and these Three agree. If we

receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; For this is the testimony of God,

that He has testified to His Son.

Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts.

Those who do not believe in God have made Him a liar by not believing in the testimony that

God has given concerning His Son and this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life and this

life is in His Son! Whoever has the Son has life; Whoever does not have the Son of God

does not have life. –1 John 5:6-12

• You May Know the Joy of Salvation and Eternal Life Today
  Through The Good News of Jesus Christ!

Related: For Today’s Holy Scripture Readings and More, Visit: -USCCB

Jesus taught, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.'” –Luke 4:8
(See also: Deuteronomy 6:13;10:20) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me
because He has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor.”  –Luke 4:18A

Beloved, We love because He first loved us . Those who say, ‘I love God’ and hate their brothers

or sisters are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot

love God whom they have not seen. The Commandment we have from Him is this: Those who

love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

 

Faith Conquers the World

 

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God and everyone who loves

the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God

and obey His Commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey His Commandments

and His Commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world

and this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but

the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God! –1 John 4:19-21–5:1-5

Related: For Today’s Holy Scripture Readings and More, Visit: -USCCB