Can you decipher the Catholic phrases represented in these word puzzles? The first, for example, is “Walking on Water”:
Solutions [Highlight to Reveal]: “Go in Peace,” “Three Days in the Tomb,” “Passover Lamb,” “Jesus Rose on the Third Day,” “Virgin Mary,” “Separated Brethren,” “Ark of the Covenant,” “Love Covers Many (a Multitude of) Sins,” “The Second Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians.”
General Intention: Parents and Teachers
That parents and teachers may help the new generation to grow in upright conscience and life.
Missionary Intention: The Church in Africa
That the local Church in Africa, faithfully proclaiming the Gospel, may promote peace and justice.
By St. Basil the Great (330-379 AD)
You are going to leave your money behind you here whether you wish to or not. On the other band, you will take with you to the Lord the honor that you have won through good works. In the presence of the universal judge, all the people will surround you, acclaim you as a public benefactor, and tell of your generosity and kindness.
Do you not see how people throw away their wealth on theatrical performances, boxing contests, mimes and fights between men and wild beasts, which are sickening to see, and all for the sake of fleeting honor and popular applause? If you are miserly with your money, how can you expect any similar honor? Your reward for the right use of the things of this world will be everlasting glory, a crown of righteousness, and the kingdom of heaven; God will welcome you, the angels will praise you, all men who have existed since the world began will call you blessed. Do you care nothing for these things, and spurn the hopes that lie in the future for the sake of your present enjoyment. Come, distribute your wealth freely, give generously to those who are in need. Earn for yourself the psalmist’s praise: He gave freely to the poor; his righteousness will endure forever.
How grateful you should be to your own benefactor; how you should beam with joy at the honor of having other people come to your door, instead of being obliged to go to theirs! But you are now ill-humoured and unapproachable; you avoid meeting people, in case you might be forced to loosen your purse-strings even a little. You can say only one thing: “I have nothing to give you. I am only a poor man.” A poor man you certainly are, and destitute of all real riches; you are poor in love, generosity, faith in God and hope of eternal happiness.
In the Gospel’s Parable of the Rich Fool, a rich man’s land produces bountifully. Upon seeing this, which of the following does the rich man say:
A) “I shall fill my barns and give the rest to the poor.”
B) “I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones to store everything away.”
C) “I shall keep only what I need and give the rest away.”
D) “Lord, what do you want me to do with all of this wealth?”
Which response do you think would have pleased the Lord most?
Two weeks ago, Martha approached Jesus to complain about her sister, “Tell her to help me.” Today, a man goes to Jesus to complain about his brother, “Tell my brother to share the inheritance with me.” While both complaints are seemingly appeals for justice, Jesus refuses them. They are actually centered on selfishness rather than love. Jesus says, “it will not be taken from her,” and “take care to guard against all greed.”
The rich man in the parable says to himself, “You have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry,” but the God says, “You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you.” The rich man is about to come to face his judgment as a truly poor man—possessing no wealth “in what matters to God.”
Martha is corrected for being obsessed with her anxious, self-centered work. The Rich Man is condemned for aspiring to an easy life of leisure. We are called to avoid both errors as we work diligently with generous love to accrue the kind of riches that God esteems.
They say a rumor can travel around the world while truth is still pulling its boots on.
In each of these cases, the initial headlines and news reports took the popes’ words out of their larger contexts and trumpeted them with a significance which they never had. Many reporters know little about religion and misunderstand the Catholic news stories they cover. Some reporters are hostile toward Catholicism and tend to report on the Church as if it were changing to accord with their views. The lesson here is that initial media coverage about a Pope saying something controversial can be relied upon to be unreliable. Do not be unsettled when you hear such “news reports.” Just wait a few days for the neglected facts and the unremarkable full story to catch up.
Parishable Items 