Wednesday, August 27,” Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

Fatima, Portugal  Picture by Jim Boisvert

Our Blog is Inspired by The Holy Spirit

Memorial of Saint Monica

Jesus said,

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside,

but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.

Even so, on the outside you appear righteous,

but inside you are filled with hypocrisy and evildoing.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.

You build the tombs of the prophets

and adorn the memorials of the righteous,

and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,

we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’

Thus you bear witness against yourselves

that you are the children of those who murdered the prophets;

now fill up what your ancestors measured out!”

Emphasis mine  Matthew 23:27-32

Last Friday I was reading Fr. Richard Rohr’s blog and I was so overtaken by it I had to print it out and today I know why The Holy Spirit had me print it out.  We will summarize what Fr. Rohr wrote about.

Jesus came to overturn the apple cart as to who was a sinner and to who wasn’t.  The Pharisees and Scribes, considered by Jews as on the top of the Pyramid, were replaced by prostitutes and tax collectors.

Jesus also said the greatest faith to be found in all of Israel was in a foreigner, the Roman Centurian, who belonged to a different religion.

St. Paul in Romans tries to sort this out, and Paul answers the question , “How can Jews and Gentiles come together, and not establish a first and second class system?

Paul states that unlike man, God DOESN’T play favorites.  No one has an inside track, and no one is WITHOUT sin.  By doing this Paul renders every mouth silent AND everyone is accountable to God.

There are no elite insiders or excluded outsiders.

There is just ALL of us and we are all united by our need for grace and we are all Justified by the Life Death and Resurrection of Jesus on the Cross.

Are you saying all are going to Heaven?

Sadly no.

As we have reported in a prior blog, an Atheist who actively tried to dispel the notion of a loving God went to Heaven , because while he was dying at the request of God prayed, The Our Father, and because of the  PRIOR prayers of his mother, gave him this chance to say a prayer, and to be justified.  But, he saw Hell, and realized the error of his ways.

Jesus came to level the field, and to give anyone who desires The Holy Spirit who will lead us by the whisper of the Holy Spirit into Heaven here and now, so in essence tilting the field toward God.

God won!  satan lost!

Prayer:

If you want to grow in Love, Joy, and Peace this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.

Sidebar:

Friday I was going to Mass, and as I crossed the street, a man in a car yelled, “Fred,”  I didn’t recognize the person at first, and  walked over to his car and it was Harry, who we had earlier reported learned the ”Nine,” and busted into a meeting we were having with Jim Russell, to say the “Nine”with a great big smile on his face, yes, that Harry, any way I got to his car and he said, “Let me give you my card.” and passed through the window, the God is Love card, and laughed.

I also laughed, and Harry took the card back, the light turned green, Harry and I both left filled with Joy.

That morning I realized satan had gotten into me and I grabbed some cards which I hadn’t done for a while, and left for church which was when I met Harry.

After Mass I arrived home and the Property Management crew was here, and we offered a card to a young man with four young children. He thanked me, and said he would learn the “Nine.”  I gave a second card to his Father-in-law, and he thanked me and said he loved this type of thing, and we gave a third card to one of their employees.

Maine is an interesting state.  We are recognized as one of the most irreligious states in the country.  satan is always telling me not to pass out cards, and The Holy Spirit is always encouraging me to do more.

Sadly I, yes,I have been listening to satan, and that’s going to change.

Why?

Joy!

We are also happy to announce a change in the card.  We have the Nine Fruit of the Holy Spirit in Red, so it is easy for everyone to pick these words out and learn them, that new format is in this and all future blogs.

One last note.  I thought, satan, that we could do something on a grander scale.  

Wrong!

I, yes, I spent some time trying to set this up, and shortly everything fell apart.  I didn’t have to ask why, I knew the answer, my will NOT God’s will, said I was sorry, and will continue as we are doing it right now.  YOU send a self addressed stamped envelope, and WE will send you ten cards.

Picture:

Fatima, Portugal  Picture by Jim Boisvert

Please keep Snapping!

And if you want the ten calling cards shown above, email me and I will send you my address, send me a STAMPED self-addressed envelope and I will send you ten cards.

Email me if you want a copy of the prayers we discussed. 

fprince101@gmail.com

Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.

About the Author

My name is Frederick Prince, nicknames, Fred, Ted, and Tedfred. My wife Gail and I have been married for fifty-nine short years. We have three married sons and five grandchildren. Gail and I attend St. John Paul II Parish located in Scarborough Maine. I graduated from Stonehill College with a BSBA in Management in 1963. I joined the Navy and served aboard the USS Pine Island, a seaplane tender, for two years. I am a Vietnam Veteran and am filled with Joy for my service. Gail and I moved to Maine in 1966, and we now reside in Scarborough Maine. Gail and I have been active in our Church and our community. We have written five books: A Journey with The Holy Spirit - Revised Edition, I Believe... Revised edition, A Lion Dead to The Lord - Revised Edition, God Thoughts 2022, God Thoughts 2023, and God Thoughts 2024 in E-books Hardcovers, and Paperback copies are available at Amazon. Being selected to write the Wednesday blog has filled me with Joy. Being 85 I believe gives me a different perspective. Where you're going I have been, and I pray my twenty-nine years working with the men in the Cumberland County Jail brings a very different outlook to our blog.

Author Archive Page

8 Comments

  1. Thanks, Fred, for the sidebar! I have really missed it for more than a year. For some reason, the email deliveries of the blog stopped coming, and I told myself that perhaps the Holy Spirit was nudging me to start feeding others—sharing the Word—instead of always receiving from you and others.

    When the mails stopped, I began reading the daily Mass readings and reflecting on my own, using your method (Which line snaps at me? :-))—and then creating a scriptural quote card for social media (WhatsApp and X, formerly Twitter) based on the line that “jumped” out at me. I have been doing this since April 2024—thanks to you and your colleagues for the inspiration!

    Then, out of the blue, the blog emails resumed arriving in my inbox two days ago. Why this happened, I do sincerely not know. But let’s keep at it—doing our little part—and trust the Holy Spirit to do the amplification.

    Blessings,
    Sunday-Patrick Kayongo, Jinja-Uganda.

  2. Fred,
    Thank you for the reflection and especially the story of Harry. The way everything aligned to get you (and maybe him) back to a joy-filled state of being was just what you needed. Think about it. Two seconds difference in your and/or Harry’s route that morning might’ve prevented you two from running into each other. Sometimes we feel the hand of Divine Providence directly addressing our needs. Some of us might recognize your encounter with Harry as a “close moment to Christ”.
    Peace ✌️

  3. Readers of ACM,
    There is a wonderful podcast called “Daily Exegesis” produced by the Logical Bible Ministry, on the Hallow app, Spotify, You Tube. This ministry is Catholic and everyday, a literal verse by verse explanation of the Gospel reading is given. What was the original meaning in the original context?

    Please do listen to it. The Gospel text will become all the more meaningful to you.

    God bless

  4. Jerry – RIGHT ON! Once you start to see God active in your life life takes on a whole new meaning. Peace Fred

  5. Thank you Fred! Even though my phone doesn’t correctly work/makes responding too time consuming of a task when I’m getting ready for work, I still read your reflections and always gain from them. Thank you for taking the time to enrich our lives.

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