Historian William Dalrymple writes: "The Israelis are eliminating one of the last Christian Palestinians strongholds in the West Bank and the place I chose to stay when I was researching the Palestinian Christians in From the Holy Mountain. It is a place with an incredibly ancient history, a cradle of Christianity, and its people have some of the closest DNA matches to the people of the time of Christ. Why is no one reporting this?"

On X (Twitter ) he writes: "Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich officially announces building a new settlement in Jabal al-Makhrur in the town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem. The settlers and the army have begun expelling the citizens and declaring it a closed military zone. Many of its residents are holding a sit-in in a tent and refuse to leave despite all the attacks. This is one of the last Christian Palestinian villages."

And this is also in the same week that Christian prayer services have been banned on Mount Tabor:

This regrettable stance is not isolated; comparable obstructions have also marred other sacred events, including Saturday of the Holy Light in Jerusalem. It is incumbent upon the Israeli authorities to uphold the inviolable rights of freedom of worship, access to holy sites, and the unimpeded performance of religious ceremonies-rights that are both inherent and guaranteed by international law to the indigenous Christian community in the holy land.

Within the last year attacks on Israeli Christians have also increased:

The findings are part of a report by the Jerusalem-based Rossing Center, called Attacks on Christians in Israel and East Jerusalem, which examined the increase in hostilities towards Churches and their members in 2023.

This included "a worrying increase in severe property and physical assaults" affecting communities in Jerusalem's Old City.

Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Hana Bendcowsky from the Rossing Center divided up the problems faced by Christians in the region into 'smash' and 'squeeze', terms used by human rights observers.

"The 'smash' describes incidents such as the attack on the Church of the Flagellation, where a statue was smashed with a hammer", she explained.

These violent attacks are mostly carried out by marginalised young ultra-Orthodox Jewish men with hardline-nationalist views, she added, stressing however that "even among the ultra-Orthodox such behaviour is not normative, the majority would not go into a church and smash a statue of Jesus."

"And the 'squeeze' pushes members of the community away, it is incidents like priests being spat at or a nun being told to take off her cross when she goes to the hospital.

Figured I'd provide a counterweight to @911roofer. I support neither side.

!catholics !christians happy 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First Reading

Wisdom has built her house,

she has set up her seven columns;

she has dressed her meat, mixed her wine,

yes, she has spread her table.

She has sent out her maidens; she calls

from the heights out over the city:

"Let whoever is simple turn in here;

To the one who lacks understanding, she says,

Come, eat of my food,

and drink of the wine I have mixed!

Forsake foolishness that you may live;

advance in the way of understanding."

-Proverbs 9:1-6

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Responsorial Psalm

R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall be ever in my mouth.

Let my soul glory in the LORD;

the lowly will hear me and be glad.

R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Glorify the LORD with me,

let us together extol his name.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me

and delivered me from all my fears.

R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy,

and your faces may not blush with shame.

When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,

and from all his distress he saved him.

R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

-Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

Watch carefully how you live,

not as foolish persons but as wise,

making the most of the opportunity,

because the days are evil.

Therefore, do not continue in ignorance,

but try to understand what is the will of the Lord.

And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery,

but be filled with the Spirit,

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,

singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts,

giving thanks always and for everything

in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.

-Ephesians 5:15-20

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me and I in him, says the Lord.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-John 6:56

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gospel

Jesus said to the crowds:

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give

is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,

"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Jesus said to them,

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you do not have life within you.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

has eternal life,

and I will raise him on the last day.

For my flesh is true food,

and my blood is true drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me and I in him.

Just as the living Father sent me

and I have life because of the Father,

so also the one who feeds on me

will have life because of me.

This is the bread that came down from heaven.

Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,

whoever eats this bread will live forever."

-John 6:51-58

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My priest talked about how in his homily today, the only possible meaning Jesus' words in the Gospel was that his followers must literally eat his flesh. If there was room for a metaphorical interpretation, Jesus would've elaborated on it so that he didn't lose followers, which is said happens in the next few passages.

Imagine leaving your faith for a bagle. pic.twitter.com/ihpI0FVivP

— Catholic Arena (@CatholicArena) August 14, 2024

Oh no:

https://x.com/CW_Tomlinson/status/1823918223894413653

https://x.com/SleeplessSW/status/1823809928412467254

@Corinthian

@Raphael-Ambrosius-Costeau

This is a worthwhile 4 minute explanation for anyone with questions or curiosity about the Assumption.

We believe that the body which bore the Holy Body of the Son of God has not known the corruption of the flesh, the lot of all sinners. From the fact that God was pleased to dwell in Mary's womb and that he preserved her from all sins (Immaculate Conception), he could not equally let her body and her soul sink into corruption and experience decay. So, the Pope affirms, Mary was assumed Body and Soul in the glory of her Son. If the Immaculate Conception was the preparation for Mary's role in God's plan of salvation, the Assumption can be seen as the coronation for this Marian mission, the reward of God to her "Fiat Voluntas Tua" and her virtuous life. In Mary, we see clearly that God always rewards mankind, when this one accepts to give way to His will and to live in righteousness.

Here are the Scriptural readings for the day. Marian Holy Days are my favorites outside of Holy Week, and the passages tying her together as the Ark of the New Covenant are truly beautiful. I love the Blessed Virgin so much. One of my future daughters will be named Maria 100%. If we only have sons I might even consider naming the last Mario.

Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. The woman herself fled into the desert where she had a place prepared by God.

For !primarysourceschads here is the 1950 Apostalic Constitution of Pope Pius XII defining the Dogma.

45. Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith.

What significance does she have? Why do you all pray to her? It seems a little blasphemous to me. All she did was not let Joseph nut in her and give birth to Jesus.

I'd simp for Mary Magdalene before Mother Mary

Woody says he loves God too much to shoot in the air pic.twitter.com/8S4HKVh5rM

— THUGGERDAILY ひ (@ThuggerDaily) August 12, 2024

!catholics !christians Happy Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time!

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First Reading

Elijah went a day's journey into the desert,

until he came to a broom tree and sat beneath it.

He prayed for death saying:

"This is enough, O LORD!

Take my life, for I am no better than my fathers."

He lay down and fell asleep under the broom tree,

but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat.

Elijah looked and there at his head was a hearth cake

and a jug of water.

After he ate and drank, he lay down again,

but the angel of the LORD came back a second time,

touched him, and ordered,

"Get up and eat, else the journey will be too long for you!"

He got up, ate, and drank;

then strengthened by that food,

he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.

-1 Kings 19:4-8

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Responsorial Psalm

R. (9a) Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

I will bless the LORD at all times;

his praise shall be ever in my mouth.

Let my soul glory in the LORD;

the lowly will hear me and be glad.

R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Glorify the LORD with me,

Let us together extol his name.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me

And delivered me from all my fears.

R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

Look to him that you may be radiant with joy.

And your faces may not blush with shame.

When the afflicted man called out, the LORD heard,

And from all his distress he saved him.

R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

The angel of the LORD encamps

around those who fear him and delivers them.

Taste and see how good the LORD is;

blessed the man who takes refuge in him.

R. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.

-Psalms 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,

with which you were sealed for the day of redemption.

All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling

must be removed from you, along with all malice.

And be kind to one another, compassionate,

forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.

So be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love,

as Christ loved us and handed himself over for us

as a sacrificial offering to God for a fragrant aroma.

-Ephesians 4:30-5:2

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven, says the Lord;

whoever eats this bread will live forever.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-John 6:51

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gospel

The Jews murmured about Jesus because he said,

"I am the bread that came down from heaven, "

and they said,

"Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?

Do we not know his father and mother?

Then how can he say,

'I have come down from heaven'?"

Jesus answered and said to them,

"Stop murmuring among yourselves.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,

and I will raise him on the last day.

It is written in the prophets:

They shall all be taught by God.

Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.

Not that anyone has seen the Father

except the one who is from God;

he has seen the Father.

Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life.

Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;

this is the bread that comes down from heaven

so that one may eat it and not die.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

whoever eats this bread will live forever;

and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."

-John 6:41-51

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We are now on the third week of the Bread of Life saga. The first reading is a mighty demonstration of God's power, as He can turn even the greatest " " into a " ." In the Gospel I find it interesting that Jesus says no one has seen the Father except him. I wonder if that means in the workings of Heaven, the Father only directly interacts with the Son who in turns interacts with the angels?

May god heal the warped minds of redditards

!catholics !christians happy Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First Reading

The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

The Israelites said to them,

"Would that we had died at the LORD's hand in the land of Egypt,

as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread!

But you had to lead us into this desert

to make the whole community die of famine!"

Then the LORD said to Moses,

"I will now rain down bread from heaven for you.

Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion;

thus will I test them,

to see whether they follow my instructions or not.

"I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites.

Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh,

and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread,

so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God."

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp.

In the morning a dew lay all about the camp,

and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert

were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground.

On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, "What is this?"

for they did not know what it was.

But Moses told them,

"This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat."

-Exodus 16:24, 12-15

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Responsorial Psalm

R. (24b) The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

What we have heard and know,

and what our fathers have declared to us,

We will declare to the generation to come

the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength

and the wonders that he wrought.

R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

He commanded the skies above

and opened the doors of heaven;

he rained manna upon them for food

and gave them heavenly bread.

R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

Man ate the bread of angels,

food he sent them in abundance.

And he brought them to his holy land,

to the mountains his right hand had won.

R. The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

Psalms 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

I declare and testify in the Lord

that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,

in the futility of their minds;

that is not how you learned Christ,

assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him,

as truth is in Jesus,

that you should put away the old self of your former way of life,

corrupted through deceitful desires,

and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,

and put on the new self,

created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

-Ephesians 4:17, 20-24

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

One does not live on bread alone,

but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-Matthew 4:4b

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gospel

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,

they themselves got into boats

and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

And when they found him across the sea they said to him,

"Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Jesus answered them and said,

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

you are looking for me not because you saw signs

but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Do not work for food that perishes

but for the food that endures for eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give you.

For on him the Father, God, has set his seal."

So they said to him,

"What can we do to accomplish the works of God?"

Jesus answered and said to them,

"This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."

So they said to him,

"What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?

What can you do?

Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:

He gave them bread from heaven to eat."

So Jesus said to them,

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven;

my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world."

So they said to him,

"Sir, give us this bread always."

Jesus said to them,

"I am the bread of life;

whoever comes to me will never hunger,

and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

-John 6:24-35

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

New Testament references to the Old Testament are so kino. The passage from John is very similar to the passage from Exodus. The Israelites come to Moses/Jesus asking for bread and are told that they will receive it from Heaven. While the bread from the Old Testament feeds the body, the bread of life feeds the soul. The bread of the Old Testament comes from God, while the bread of the New Testament is God.

The dumb mick distant cousins of mine too dumb to have gotten off the island have apostatized and turned to Moloch. It is absolutely shocking to see what has happened in just a few decades. Please pray for them. There is no greater evil in the world today than the ritual sacrifice of children for pagan promises of wealth. It is being performed all around us today.

A devotion kept within my family on special feasts was the Litany of All Saints of Ireland, dating back centuries but this is a version published in 1921. If you have the time, these prayers are most needed.

For the sake of brevity, I ask you to join me:

O Lord, our God.

We place our trust in You,

Because you are mercy itself.

We repent of our sins and turn to You for mercy.

We trust You to provide for our every need, according to Your will.

Help us to forgive others as You forgive us.

We promise to be merciful by our deeds, words and prayers.

Though we have fears because of human weakness, we rely on Your infinite goodness and mercy.

We entrust to You the future of our planet, our Church, our nations, our families and all our needs.

With loud cries we implore your mercy on us and on the whole world.

Look upon us, created in your image and likeness.

Form us in the Heart of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit into the living images of mercy.

May all come to know the depth of Your mercy and sing the praises of Your mercy forever.

Amen!

!catholics !christians good afternoon.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First Reading

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,

twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits,

and fresh grain in the ear.

Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."

But his servant objected,

"How can I set this before a hundred people?"

Elisha insisted, "Give it to the people to eat."

"For thus says the LORD,

'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'"

And when they had eaten, there was some left over,

as the LORD had said.

-2 Kings 4:42-44

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Responsorial Psalm

R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,

and let your faithful ones bless you.

Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you,

and you give them their food in due season;

you open your hand

and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The LORD is just in all his ways

and holy in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

to all who call upon him in truth.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

-Psalms 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

I, a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,

with all humility and gentleness, with patience,

bearing with one another through love,

striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:

one body and one Spirit,

as you were also called to the one hope of your call;

one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

one God and Father of all,

who is over all and through all and in all.

-Ephesians 4:1-6

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

A great prophet has risen in our midst.

God has visited his people.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-Luke 7:16

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gospel

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.

A large crowd followed him,

because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.

Jesus went up on the mountain,

and there he sat down with his disciples.

The Jewish feast of Passover was near.

When Jesus raised his eyes

and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,

he said to Philip,

"Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"

He said this to test him,

because he himself knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered him,

"Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough

for each of them to have a little."

One of his disciples,

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,

"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;

but what good are these for so many?"

Jesus said, "Have the people recline."

Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.

So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,

and distributed them to those who were reclining,

and also as much of the fish as they wanted.

When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,

"Gather the fragments left over,

so that nothing will be wasted."

So they collected them,

and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments

from the five barley loaves

that had been more than they could eat.

When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,

"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."

Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off

to make him king,

he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

-John 6:1-15

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jesus mimics yet exceeds the miracle of Elisha; while Elisha fed 100 men with 20 loaves, Jesus feeds over 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. I find it interesting that Jesus then runs of into the mountains so that the people won't carry him off and make him king. Was the nomadism of Jesus' ministry in order to keep him from building too great of a reputation in any one place?

One parishioner, who asked to remain anonymous due to fear of retaliation, told OSV News that Simeon-Aguinam said in a homily during a weekday Mass in Lent, "God comes first. You cannot be both an Apache and a Catholic. You have to choose. You cannot be both. ... You have to leave those ways and that way of life behind ... you have to choose."

and from the AP article on this:

Larry Gosselin, a Franciscan who served St. Joseph from 1984 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2003, said he sought the approval of 15 Mescalero leaders before Lentz began the painting that took three months to complete.

"He poured all of himself into that painting," said Gosselin, explaining that Lentz sprinkled gold dust on himself and skipped showering, using his body oils to adhere the gold to the canvas. Then he gave the painting to the humble church.

Albert Braun, the priest who helped construct the church building in the 1920s, respected Mescalero Apache traditions in his ministry and was so beloved that he is buried inside the church, near the altar.

Inculturation chads stay winning

Especially in the wake of the blood libel thrown at the Church for its involvement in Canada (which I don't expect average laypeople to be aware was a lie) that homily quote is

Dramatards, !catholics in January I was in La Plata, that's the capital of the Buenos Aires province as the City of Buenos Aires is kind of like the District of Columbia being a separate entity.

La Plata is a planned city founded in 1880 by the Buenos Aires governor Dardo Rocha.

This is what La Plata looks like from the air

The cathedral is located in from of the central square and is dedicated to "Our of Lady of our Sorrows". It was designed in a neogothic style by the architect Pedro Benoit who was also an urbanist and developer of the layout of La Plata.

Here are some pics I took from the cathedral

!engineering

Catholic bishops in Nigeria are calling for changes to an economic cooperation agreement between the EU and Africa, claiming it would force African nations to adopt policies on sexuality, abortion and gender contrary to their social, cultural and religious values.

"The agreement looks innocuous and attractive on the surface, but underneath it is carefully blended with post-modern secularistic ideologies that significantly undermine the moral, cultural, and religious beliefs of Nigerian citizens," the country's bishops said in a July 12 statement.

The "Samoa Agreement" is a framework for cooperation among EU members and 79 Africa, Caribbean and Pacific nations, all together totaling a population of roughly two billion people. It establishes six priority areas, including human rights, democracy and governance, peace and security, human and social development, inclusive, sustainable economic growth and development, environmental sustainability and climate change, as well as migration and mobility.

There's no set of Biblical rules about sexual technique within marriage. There is the Song of Solomon, crammed with imaginative Iron-age metaphor, which at least doesn't sound kink-unfriendly.

!catholics !christians good evening, I hope you're doing well.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

First Reading

Woe to the shepherds

who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture,

says the LORD.

Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel,

against the shepherds who shepherd my people:

You have scattered my sheep and driven them away.

You have not cared for them,

but I will take care to punish your evil deeds.

I myself will gather the remnant of my flock

from all the lands to which I have driven them

and bring them back to their meadow;

there they shall increase and multiply.

I will appoint shepherds for them who will shepherd them

so that they need no longer fear and tremble;

and none shall be missing, says the LORD.

Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,

when I will raise up a righteous shoot to David;

as king he shall reign and govern wisely,

he shall do what is just and right in the land.

In his days Judah shall be saved,

Israel shall dwell in security.

This is the name they give him:

"The LORD our justice."

-Jeremiah 23:1-6

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Responsorial Psalm

R. (1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

In verdant pastures he gives me repose;

beside restful waters he leads me;

he refreshes my soul.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

He guides me in right paths

for his name's sake.

Even though I walk in the dark valley

I fear no evil; for you are at my side

with your rod and your staff

that give me courage.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You spread the table before me

in the sight of my foes;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Only goodness and kindness follow me

all the days of my life;

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

for years to come.

R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

-Psalms 23:1-3. 3-4, 5, 6

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Second Reading

Brothers and sisters:

In Christ Jesus you who once were far off

have become near by the blood of Christ.

For he is our peace, he who made both one

and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh,

abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims,

that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two,

thus establishing peace,

and might reconcile both with God,

in one body, through the cross,

putting that enmity to death by it.

He came and preached peace to you who were far off

and peace to those who were near,

for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

-Ephesians 2:13-18

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Alleluia

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;

I know them, and they follow me.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

-John 10:27

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gospel

The apostles gathered together with Jesus

and reported all they had done and taught.

He said to them,

"Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."

People were coming and going in great numbers,

and they had no opportunity even to eat.

So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

People saw them leaving and many came to know about it.

They hastened there on foot from all the towns

and arrived at the place before them.

When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd,

his heart was moved with pity for them,

for they were like sheep without a shepherd;

and he began to teach them many things.

-Mark 6:30-34

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Instead of focusing on "fixing" our sexuality, we need to be focused on following Jesus.

We should be focusing on drawing near to Him, taking His yoke upon us and learning how to rest in Him.

Our sexuality should not be the focus of our relationship with Jesus. The focus needs to be on getting to know Him and trusting in His accomplished work on the cross as our only means of reconciliation and right standing with God.

the bible says nothing about s*x