St. Joseph Catholic Church, Winter Haven, Florida

The LORD said to Abram: "Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you." Abram went as the LORD directed him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai, his brother's son Lot, all the possessions that they had accumulated, and the persons they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land as far as the sacred place at Shechem, by the terebinth of Moreh. (The Canaanites were then in the land.) The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So Abram built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country east of Bethel, pitching his tent with Bethel to the west and Ai to the east. He built an altar there to the LORD and invoked the LORD by name. Then Abram journeyed on by stages to the Negeb.

Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down; He sees all mankind. See, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, upon those who hope for his kindness, But see, the eyes of the LORD are upon those who fear him, Upon those who hope for his kindness, To deliver them from death and preserve them in spite of famine. Our soul waits for the LORD, who is our help and our shield, May your kindness, O LORD, be upon us who have put our hope in you.

Jesus said to his disciples: "Stop judging, that you may not be judged. For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you. Why do you notice the splinter in your brother's eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother's eye."

If people would only be humble about their own shortcomings, how little it takes to disarm ill-feeling, how little it costs to put things right! It's humble people God protects and preserves, God loves and comforts; he stoops down and gives his grace lavishly, raising the humble to heights of glory, as soon as neglect has done its work. Such a one he chooses for his confidant, beckons to him gently and calls him apart. Only a humble person takes it calmly when put to the blush; what does it matter? It is God, not the world, that gives him countenance. Never think that you have made any progress, till you have learned to regard all as your betters. Peace in your own soul first of all, then you can think about making peace between other people. Peaceable folk do more good than learned folk do. When someone is at the mercy of their own feelings, they misinterprets the most innocent actions, always ready to believe the worst; whereas the peaceable see good everywhere; at peace in themselves, they aren't suspicious of others. It's when you become discontented and unbalanced that your mind is torn by suspicions; there is no rest for you, no rest for those around you. You are always saying the wrong thing, and missing your chance of doing the right thing; you are jealous about your rights, and forget that you have duties. If you will begin by having a high standard yourself then you can afford to have a high standard for other people.

I hear the whisperings of many: "Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him!" All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. "Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him." But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion. O LORD of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart, Let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause. Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD, For he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked!

For your sake I bear insult, and shame covers my face. I have become an outcast to my brothers, a stranger to my mother's sons, because zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who blaspheme you fall upon me. But I pray to you, O LORD, for the time of your favor, O God! In your great kindness answer me with your constant help. Answer me, O LORD, for bounteous is your kindness: in your great mercy turn toward me. “See, you lowly ones, and be glad; you who seek God, may your hearts revive! "See, you lowly ones, and be glad; You who seek God, may your hearts revive! For the LORD hears the poor, and his own who are in bonds he spurns not.” For the LORD hears the poor, And his own who are in bonds he spurns not." Let the heavens and the earth sing praise, the seas and whatever moves in them!"

Brothers and sisters: Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all men, inasmuch as all sinned— for up to the time of the law, sin was in the world, though sin is not accounted when there is no law. But death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin after the pattern of the trespass of Adam, who is the type of the one who was to come. But the gift is not like the transgression. For if by that one person's transgression the many died, how much more did the grace of God and the gracious gift of the one person Jesus Christ overflow for the many.

Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father."

From the highest heaven, God offers the riches of his grace to all men. He is himself the source of salvation and of light, whence mercy and goodness flow eternally. But not all men make use of his strength and his grace in the perfect exercise of virtue and the realization of its marvels; only those do it who put their resolutions into practice and who prove their attachment to God through actions, those who have completely turned away from evil, who firmly adhere to God’s commandments and who fix the eyes of their spirit on Christ, the Sun of justice (Mal 3:20). From the highest heaven, Christ offers the help of his arm to those who fight, and he exhorts them through these words of the Gospel: “Whoever acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my father in heaven.” As a servant of God, every one of the saints acknowledges that, in this transitory life and before mortal men, he is for Christ; he does so during a short lapse of time and in the presence of a small number of men. Whereas our Lord Jesus Christ… will acknowledge us in the world of eternity, before God his Father, surrounded by the angels and the archangels and all the powers of heaven, in the presence of all men, from Adam to the end of time. For all will rise and will stand before Christ’s tribunal. Then, in the presence of all and visible to all, he will make known, he will glorify, and he will crown those who proved their faith to him until the end.