Sunday Feb 12, 2017: 6th Sunday Ordinary Time “ whoever divorces his wife – unless the marriage is unlawful – causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” 

Gospel – Matthew 5:17-37

Jesus said to his disciples:
 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

 “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.
But I say to you,
whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raqa,’ will be answerable to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be liable to fiery Gehenna. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle with your opponent quickly while on the way to court. Otherwise your opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.
 Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.

 “You have heard that it was said,
You shall not commit adultery.
 But I say to you,
 everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into Gehenna.

 “It was also said,
Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.
 But I say to you,
 whoever divorces his wife – unless the marriage is unlawful – causes her to commit adultery,
 and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

 “Again you have heard that it was said to your ancestors,
Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.
 But I say to you, do not swear at all;
 not by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No’
 Anything more is from the evil one.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

2054  Jesus acknowledged the Ten Commandments, but he also showed the power of the Spirit at work in their letter. He preached a “righteousness [which] exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees” as well as that of the Gentiles. He unfolded all the demands of the Commandments. “You have heard that it was said to the men of old, ‘You shall not kill.’… But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.”

From “The Great Crusade of Love” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (CL-32:13-14)

13) The path that humanity follows goes directly to its extermination… If you were to contemplate for one instant, you would be surprised at the foul smell of certain sins that are committed with the deliberate purpose of offending Me.

14) The horror of the crimes committed by men, creating children in order to kill them, utilizing their lives as one would utilize a piece of leather to fix another piece… the magnitude of the offenses that are committed against the Divinity, the blasphemies and sacrileges that are said and done against Him…

From “My Broken Christ Walks Over the Waters” Testimony of Catalina Rivas (Part I-Sect. 4 Paragraphs 8-10)

   ….. you who promote abortion or abortions that seek to snatch from the Author and Lord of life His legitimate and sole rights… you who under the slogan that “a woman has the right to decide about her own body”, are concealing the “right” to kill, which will never be a right…

   To you I say; please think seriously about what you are doing and get on your knees, pleading for God’s forgiveness and turning your lives around radically, because what awaits you on the other side is so horrible that you cannot even imagine.

   I say this because the pain you will suffer during your entire lives does not even amount to a thousand part of the pain that you will inflict on your own children while pulling then out of your wombs; and because the pain of a child during the most terrible of abortions will not amount to even a millionth of the eternal suffering to which you are being condemned by your own blindness.

Each week we will be presenting a portion of the following Sunday’s readings, and linking it to relevant parts of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and messages from the Testimony of Catalina.  Pay special attention to the italicized underlined sections. We hope this is inspiring and educational. Any comments you have are certainly welcomed.