Catholic Bible 101

Answering the Question "Where is it in the Bible?"

2010 AD Resolutions

During the year of our Lord 2010, I was wondering if the readers of my website would join me in trying to glorify God more and more by going above and beyond the normal "going to Mass on Sunday" obligation.  As the world seems poised to slip further and further into the darkness of  terrorism, war, taxpayer funded abortion on demand, embryonic stem cell research, contraception, dirty movies, homosexual marriage acceptance, doctor assisted suicide (who would have thought that states with intelligent politicians would ever agree with Jack Kevorkian?), euthanasia,  pornography acceptance, and human cloning, it is imperative that the soldiers in the army of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary fight back- Not with swords, guns, or bombs, but rather with peaceful acts that the Holy Catholic Church has given us. As more and more demonic principles become accepted as being normal and good,  societies will self-destruct as a result.  It is imperative that we who know The Truth of Scripture fight back against this seemingly unstoppable tsunami of filth now being enshrined into public law.

And why should we do this?  The Bible talks about how REAL Christians must be lights in the darkness:

Matthew 5:16: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

John 1:5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

2 Corinthians 4:6: For it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Philippians 2: 15:  that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,

So I pray that most of you will join me this year (for some of us, it could be our last year on earth) in glorifying God by doing as much of the following as your state in life and your time permits. The good news is that the following activities are like spiritual weightlifting - They will make us spiritually stronger to resist satan and his temptations, and bad habits and addictions to worldly things will start to disappear in our lives as a result.  Your spouse, your family, and your friends will see a new you in practically no time.  The resolutions are as follows:

♥ Saying your rosary EVERY day (The benefits of this 20 minute per day exercise are truly out of this world!)
♥ Pray and meditate on the Passion of Christ before the Blessed Sacrament for at least an hour a week, more if possible. If the Blessed Sacrament isn't exposed, then just go before the tabernacle for an hour.
♥ Pray to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit (especially for humility, the opposite of the devil's sin of pride).
♥ Saying the Divine Mercy Chaplet EVERY day (especially at 3PM the hour of mercy)
♥ Going to Confession every two or three weeks (this will ensure that we are in the state of grace when we receive communion, and are eligible for indulgences.
♥ Going to daily Mass as often as possible (this fulfills the prayer petition in the Our Father to "give us this day our DAILY bread").
♥ Reading (and studying) Scripture EVERY day (30 minutes is the minimum requirement to receive a plenary indulgence).
♥ Fasting as often as possible (maybe just one meal a day to start out - more frequently later as the hunger pangs go away.  A few pieces of whole wheat bread with a lot of water really helps).  Jesus said about you and me in Mark 2:20:  "The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. "
♥ Praying DAILY for poor sinners (those caught up in lust, greed, gluttony, envy, anger, pride, and sloth), including those you don't even know.
♥ Praying DAILY for the poor souls in Purgatory, especially those who have no one to pray for them.
♥ Increasing the amount of alms you give to reputable charities, and help the poor as much as possible (Tobit 12:9: "For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fullness of life").
♥ Not gossiping or speaking evil of anyone (keep silent and pray for them instead). (Psalm 15:1-3: "O LORD, who shall sojourn in thy tent?  Who shall dwell on thy holy hill?  He who walks blamelessly, and does what is right, and speaks truth from his heart;   who does not slander with his tongue, and does no evil to his friend").
♥ Without being overbearing, make sure that everyone knows that you are Catholic, and speak up when the subject of Christianity or faith is being discussed. (1 Peter 3:15: "but in your hearts reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defense to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence").
♥ Pray for your enemies, and do good to them (Matthew 5:43-45:"You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust").
♥ Perform as many of the Corporal Works of Mercy and Spiritual Works of Mercy as you can.
Obviously, this is a very long list, and no one can probably do all of them. But Jesus Christ did command of us to do the following in Matthew 5:48:
"You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

So by trying to glorify God by doing the aforementioned acts, you not only give glory to God, which is great in itself, you also are striving to fulfill the command of Jesus to "be perfect" in Matthew 5:48.  Of course, none of us sinners will ever achieve total perfection (Thank God for Divine Mercy !), but the question is not that. The question is are you even striving for saintly perfection, or do you just "go with the flow" of "the world" (money, sex, entertainment, pleasure, drugs, alcohol, etc.), whose ruler is satan (Ephesians 6:12).  It isn't enough to just ignore satan (I can assure you, he isn't ignoring YOU!); TRUE warriors fight back against their enemy with ALL THEY'VE GOT.  Remember - Life on earth is a test to see if we love God, or if we love ourselves and the world more. He is watching us every minute to see if we really love Him, or if we are only paying Him lip service (Isaiah 29:13: And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote).

Good luck to all of you, and may the year 2010  AD be the most blessed year of all for you and your family.