Everlasting encouragement and hope

Sisters and brothers in Christ, I find this beautiful prayer, from Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, to be so hopeful and encouraging. . .

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word."

Our Father in heaven loves us and gives us everlasting encouragement and hope, which strengthen us to live our lives a followers and disciples of Christ in all that we do and say.

When our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ reigns in our hearts, His Spirit guides our thoughts and emotions, which in turns guide our speeches and actions, helping us to be imitators of Christ. We reflect the love of Christ that is in our hearts and shine it forth into the world, just as Christ said in today's Gospel: "cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean."

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Gospel of the Day

Jesus said:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin,
and have neglected the weightier things of the law:
judgment and mercy and fidelity.
But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.
Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.
You cleanse the outside of cup and dish,
but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence.
Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup,
so that the outside also may be clean.”