Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
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Where in your life are you going the wrong way? The Advent Season allows us to reflect on this question more consciously as we await the Redeemer of the World, Jesus Christ, on Christmas Day. A good place to start is to identify: Which of the Seven Deadly Sins are you struggling with the most at this point in your life? Is it pride, anger, gluttony, lust, envy, greed or sloth? By means of you being human, you are struggling with one or more of them. Where are you most in need of God's mercy? Recently, my wife and I watched the old 1980s movie,...
What is the good news? God loves you just because of who you are. He made you in His image and likeness. There is nothing you can do to make Him love you more or less. His love is unconditional. Let us just let that concept sink in. It is easy for us to simply dismiss this. It is easy for us to simply say, "I have heard that before. So what?" However, let us ponder for awhile the implications. When you are doing virtuous acts and displaying great works of charity and everyone is telling you what a good person you are, God loves you. When you...
Jesus said to his disciples: “Hear the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the Kingdom without understanding it, and the Evil One comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the l...
“Slaves, obey your human masters in everything, not only when being watched, as currying favor, but in simplicity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance; be slaves of the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will receive recompense for the wrong he committed, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, realizing that you too have a Master in heaven.” – Colossians 3:22-4:1 The above S...
“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.” During a recent adult education at our church, a rather startling idea was presented: Are we sometimes carelessly praying a curse upon ourselves when we pray the Lord's Prayer? Specifically, the part of the prayer that is in question is “... and forgive us...
“There was an attempt in Iconium by both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their leaders, to attack and stone Paul and Barnabas. They realized it, and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside, where they continued to proclaim the Good News. At Lystra there was a crippled man, lame from birth, who had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him, saw that he had the faith to be healed, and called out in a loud voice, ‘Stand up straight on your feet.’ He jumped up and b...
During this Easter season, it is good for us to reflect upon that truth identified by both Sts. Augustine and Aquinas in their writings summarily stated that God allows evil, so that a greater good can result. Note that by allowing evil this means in no shape or form that God is the cause of evil. In fact, Augustine states explicitly in Enchiridion, "For almighty God ..., because he is supremely good, would never allow any evil whatsoever to exist in his works if he were not so all-powerful and good as to cause good to emerge from evil itself."...
Jesus said to his disciples: “Beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against p...
This Christmas, “Where are you?” Recall that after the fall of Man, when both Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden, this was the same question God posed to them. It is a reminder that God continues to pursue us even if we reject Him. He does allow us, in our folly, to try to live our lives without Him. Either we come to our senses and return back to Him or He pursues us because we have drifted so far away that we need Him to come after us like a stray sheep needing to be found by the Good Shepherd. This is the good news we are...
During Advent, as we await the coming of the Messiah anew, it is a worthwhile exercise to reflect on the contrast between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. Saint Augustine in one of his sermons does a remarkable job of developing the difference between the voice and the Word. The voice has a temporary nature to it, while the Word is permanent. When one utters with their voice, once the sound ceases the role of the voice is done. However, the Word that was conveyed by the voice is still there. In much the same way, John the Baptist p...
What event occurred in the Americas that was a key reason for the conversion to Christianity of over 8 million native people in just seven years? What piece of art that shows no signs of human origin is still on display today almost 500 years after its creation? What religious feast day is considered the most important after Christmas and Easter to Hispanic people in the Americas? The answer to all three questions have a connection to Our Lady of Guadalupe. During the 16th century, a native person named Juan Diego, who had converted to Christia...
Where are you in your life as we begin this Advent liturgical season? Does your life resemble more the Three Wise Men seeking the Lord because they recognize that they are lacking something in their lives that only Jesus can fulfill? Or maybe King Herod, who viewed the coming of Christ as such a threat to his comfortable existence that he used all means at his disposal to eliminate Jesus? The key difference is dependent upon whether you seek Jesus as your Savior or as an obstacle in your life. During this time of the year, we are given the oppo...
Reading City of God by Saint Augustine, was an important element in my conversion story. In the lengthy book composed of multiple sections, Saint Augustine attempts to answer the question: Why did the Christian Roman Empire fall? In the process, using a Socratic method approach, he painstakingly asks and answers virtually every question that one would have regarding Christianity and what life was like in the Roman Empire. One line of questions that I found fascinating concerned what Roman citizens did for entertainment during the eve...
Genesis 1:26-30; And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon t...
"There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD—but the LORD was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the LORD was not in the earthquake; after the earthquake, fire—but the LORD was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been most zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts, but the Israelites...
"A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace, in peace for it trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever! For the Lord is an eternal Rock " (Isaiah 26:3) Last week, the sermonette concluded with the phrase "if we lose sight of the purpose of our great nation that was formed like no other in the history of mankind, we will become consigned to mediocrity like all of the rest." What is our nation's purpose? We find the answer in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence where it states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that...
"A nation of firm purpose you keep in peace, for it trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3 Do you believe that the United States of America is a nation at peace? You probably would not be alone if your answer to this question was no. Our country is one that appears to be deeply divided, and yet this biblical passage from Isaiah gives us a starting point for examining why the United States is not at peace. Perhaps, the nation lacks a firm purpose. It clearly had one, at one point. However, this might have been forgotten. This issue will be dealt with more...
As King David was approaching Bahurim, there was a man coming out; he was of the same clan as the house of Saul, and his name was Shimei, son of Gera. He kept cursing as he came out, 6 and throwing stones at David and at all King David’s officers, even though all the soldiers, including the royal guard, were on David’s right and on his left. 7Shimei was saying as he cursed: “Get out! Get out! You man of blood, you scoundrel! 8The LORD has paid you back for all the blood shed from the family of Saul,* whom you replaced as king, and the LORD has...
