!catholics !christians happy 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time!
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First Reading
Moses said to the people:
"Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
In your observance of the commandments of the LORD, your God,
which I enjoin upon you,
you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
'This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.'
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?"
-Dt 4:1-2, 6-8
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Responsorial Psalm
R. (1a) The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Whoever walks blamelessly and does justice;
who thinks the truth in his heart
and slanders not with his tongue.
R. The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Who harms not his fellow man,
nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
by whom the reprobate is despised,
while he honors those who fear the LORD.
R. The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
Who lends not his money at usury
and accepts no bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
shall never be disturbed.
R. The one who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord.
-Ps 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5
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Second Reading
Dearest brothers and sisters:
All good giving and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.
He willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their affliction
and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
-Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
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Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
The Father willed to give us birth by the word of truth
that we may be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
-Jas 1:18
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Gospel
When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem
gathered around Jesus,
they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals
with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands.
—For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews,
do not eat without carefully washing their hands,
keeping the tradition of the elders.
And on coming from the marketplace
they do not eat without purifying themselves.
And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed,
the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. —
So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him,
"Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?"
He responded,
"Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition."
He summoned the crowd again and said to them,
"Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.
"From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile."
-Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
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This one is very late but I didn't notice a post for this week which made me sad. I don't have a talent for giving biblical insights but I will say that always keep a look for not just your actions externally but also look inwards and examine your own heart. I wish you all a wonderful weekend and hope you have a great week next week.
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There's a tropical storm here so it was extremely rainy/windy at Mass yesterday. It was unusually cool as a result which was nice for me since you have to go to the mall if you want Mass with air conditioning. A young couple was seated in the pew in front of us and their daughter had a hooded blanket to prevent the rain blowing in from hitting her in the face. She was adorable.
!Pinoypride stay dry out there folks. Is it flooding where you are?
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They have a fricking Catholic
Church 
in the fricking mall, b-word?
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Every mall in Manila has a Chapel attached to one of the local parishes that has Mass offered 1-3x daily during the week and a full schedule from opening till 7-8pm on Sundays, yes. In the provinces it's hit and miss but other major cities like on Cebu or Davao do the same. Air conditioning is a big deal in the Philippines as you could imagine
but other than Africa and maaaybe still parts of SA this is hands down the most !Catholics country on earth.
Although catechesis here is generally not fantastic about 85-90% of the country identifies as "moderately" or "very" religious in polls and Mass is still standing room only at most parishes on most Sundays.
Pinoys are truly God's chosen people. 
Personally I prefer the vibe at a physical Church building, but when we go on weekdays I'd say 2/3 times it's popping in at noon or 5:30pm at the nearest mall since it's like 800m down the street.
Edit: there are even permanent standing Confessionals in the garden of one of the major malls in Makati.
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That's interesting
because I see a fricking lot of trad caths give crap to Protestants for strip mall churches. Thats really 
awesome 
though, motherlover! Gives an opportunity for more people to be at a fricking church 
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If Trads had to go to Mass in 90F/30C+ heat with 80-90% humidity and no air conditioning they'd change their tune about proper decorum vis-a-vis dress code and architecture very quickly. It's also probably worth pointing out that in Manila especially there's not much grass to touch and most people are poor, so malls have become the family hangout spot of choice on weekends to get out of the heat and relax. The playgrounds/arcades/theaters/food courts are always packed as well not just the Chapels.
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Shoot I don't know how the fricking Amish here do that when the fricking heat and humidity is fricking about the fricking same in the fricking summer
in TN.
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Chapels on malls? Now that's something I never heard about
Churches here normally have AC. This reminds me the austral winter is ending and spring/summer is looming. Today we have a comfortable 9C-20C temps but next week there's a heat wave coming so temps will rise to 35C
, these types of heat waves are unfortunately common during spring and they're starting earlier because of climate change. I need to move to the Patagonia 
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