Imagine a sculptor making a statue from pure bronze.  It is beautiful and perfect, and when the unveiling happens, everyone stands there marveling at its splendor and glory! Then sun’s rays bounce off of it, making it radiant to all who come near it!

One day, barbarians come and knock the statue off of its pedal stool.  It is left abandoned, covered with dirt and filth, and buried for centuries.  Yet the sculptor discovers it and does not despair.  He takes it, throws it back into the fire, melted it, and from its own material, makes a statue that is 1000 times more beautiful than the first one!”

We are so used to blindly following our passions and bodily desires, almost like animals…with animal instincts. Our stomach gurgles and we immediately to go the pantry to get something to eat (see food, eat food). When we get angry at someone, our first instinct is to raise our voice (my dog does this when he sees someone out the window). When men and women are afflicted with lust, they might turn to self-abuse (again, animalistic instincts). What can we possibly do to begin to combat this in our lives?

He did not come to save us from sickness and death…but rather THROUGH sickness and death.  Why?  Because He Loves us more than we can know.  It is this knowledge will give us the strength to face the trials of our life with peace. 

Contrary to popular belief, Tithing isn’t for the Church! The Church is a non-profit, and it isn’t meant to make money! Tithing is for us!  It forces us to correctly prioritize our lives, so that we don’t put our own comfort and desires above Christ, the Church, and each other.  We are called to give a percentage of our FIRST FRUITS back to God…not the crumbs that fall at the end of our monthly budgets.  

“Above all, I instruct you to keep the Holy Faith unblemished and untouched by any slander, as we received it from the Holy Fathers, without mixing it with foreign and different teachings.  Stand firm, hold on to the traditions you have heard and seen in me. Branch out neither to the right nor to the left, but go along the royal way…”