The Solemnity of Christ the King

And the people stood beholding, and the rulers with them derided him, saying: He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the elect of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, And saying: If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. And there was also a superscription written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. And one of those robbers who were hanged, blasphemed him, saying: If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering, rebuked him, saying: Neither dost thou fear God, seeing thou art condemned under the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this man hath done no evil. And he said to Jesus: Lord, remember me when thou shalt come into thy kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise.
Luke 23:35-43 (Douay-Rheims Bible)

Prayer

Dear Father the day your Son hung upon the cross, two men also were with him for their crimes. Yet one showed us the evilness of his nature when he blasphemed Jesus, while the other was repentant. Even though he committed sins and crimes we know nothing of and condemned to death for them, he will find himself in paradise. Jesus heard his prayer and knew the thief was truly sorry. He found life rather than death. I see the example of good versus evil in this reading dear Father. Your Son showed us the difference between a heart that is repentant and one that is un-repentant. Even on the cross where he gives up his life he showed me the difference between the two that were there with him. I can be assured then that my ascending prayer will be heard when I pray it from my heart in repentance for my sins. Let us then seek to reconcile ourselves and pray for repentance and be known as the people who chose to ask Jesus to remember us when he comes into his kingdom. Amen

The List

"But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile."
Mark 7:20-23

Reflection:
There's a lot of truth to what Jesus said, what comes out of us is what defiles us. Basically what our heart's and minds desire. It can be the hardest thing to say a person is bad because they lust after another. We all are good, but what makes us holy and what does not is how we think.

When we think about committing theft, murder, malice, deceit we are not holy. We are planning what evil we will do to another. It's not hard to understand when we think these things we go against the kingdom of God. They do defile, they make a person unclean in spirit.

If any do and think of some of these things without realizing it, then try something for yourself. Take a moment and reflect on how you really feel when we have thoughts of envy, arrogance, folly, deceit and malice. Think about it! The feeling isn't pleasant. Next, take a moment and think about the moments when you were kind to another person, when your thoughts were based on good thoughts for another rather than thinking of how envious we are. There is a difference in how we are and how we feel when we remove what makes us vile.

It's like eating something that is not good, and causes us to get sick. What are we most likely to do when we get ill in such a way? We try to make ourselves feel better. Our bodies also let us know there is a sickness within after eating something not good. The same when we begin to think in the way that is vile rather than good. We all have free will and a choice on how we live and conduct ourselves. I've chosen to care about my heart, mind and soul and watch with care what comes from me. Do you? In this sense the saying, "We are what we eat, could also reflect on what we think and say." Have a blessed day!

Memorial of Saint Anthony, abbot

They watched Jesus closely to see if he would cure him on the sabbath so that they might accuse him.
Mark 3:2

Reflection:
We tend to do this with our neighbors, not the neighbors that live next door to us, but those we associate with on a daily basis or for some those passing by. We watch them to see what they are doing, and for some to report every move they make. We are like the Pharisees, ready to condemn when someone is not up to par.

The Pharisees were judging Jesus and Jesus went one better and did what God wanted of him. He healed a person of their infirmity. Because Jesus was doing something that was not in line with the law yet was, he was taken to task for it. He was doing good on the Sabbath.

When we are doing something good and right, how often others seek our destruction out of jealousy. Were the Pharisees then self-centered to the point that they were jealous of Jesus because he knew the law better than they did. That his doing good was what he and we are supposed to be doing.

Do we go about our day looking to condemn our neighbor because they are doing good and we are not. Is this why we act like the Pharisees? Only God knows our hearts, let us all strive to imitate Jesus and do good always.