United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Reflections

[daverod]

Reflections of 9/8/17


Feast of the Nativity of Our Lady.

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary | USCCB

‘the feast of Our Lady, who was immaculately conceived and immaculately born into this world’…

Pranksters even in the Church… Yuck!

James 1:13-14
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

Jeremiah 17:9
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

What IS most deceitful above ALL things?
What IS DESPERATELY WICKED?

My heart. My very own heart.
My mom’s heart. My mom’s very own heart.
My dad’s heart. My dad’s very own heart.
My neighbor’s heart. My neighbor’s very own heart.
The Governor’s heart. The Governor’s very own heart.

 

[daverod]

Why do many individuals say, ‘I was born this way, baby’?

Because the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…

It even deceives its own body…

My heart says to me, ‘You don’t need God’.
My heart says to me, ‘You don’t need to work.’
My heart says to me, ‘You can make it as you are.’
My heart says to me, ‘You don’t have to honor your parents.’
My heart says to me, ‘No misfortune will come upon you’.
My heart says to me, ‘Noone will know.’

 

[daverod]

con·cep·tion

the action of conceiving a child or of a child being conceived:
“an unfertilized egg before conception”
synonyms:
inception of pregnancy, conceiving, fertilization, impregnation, insemination

the forming or devising of a plan or idea:
“the time between a product’s conception and its launch”
synonyms:
inception, genesis, origination, creation, invention, … more
2.
the way in which something is perceived or regarded:
“our conception of how language relates to reality”

a general notion; an abstract idea:
“the conception of a balance of power”
synonyms:
idea, concept, notion, understanding, abstraction, … more

a plan or intention:
“reconstructing Bach’s original conceptions”
synonyms:
plan, scheme, project, proposal, intention, … more

understanding; ability to imagine:
“he had no conception of politics”
synonyms:
understanding, comprehension, appreciation, grasp, knowledge, … more

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im·mac·u·late

1. (especially of a person or their clothes) perfectly clean, neat, or tidy:
   “an immaculate white suit”
   synonyms:
   clean, spotless, ultraclean, pristine, unsoiled, … moreantonyms:
   dirty, worn, damaged
   
   free from flaws or mistakes; perfect:
   “an immaculate safety record”
   synonyms:
   unblemished, spotless, impeccable, unsullied, undefiled, … moreantonyms:
   defiled, reproachable
   
   (in the Roman Catholic Church) free from sin.
   
   uniformly colored without spots or other marks.

 

[po18guy]

Not understanding your point, unfortunately.

 

[daverod]

Psalm 115:4-9
"Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

5They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:

6They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:

7They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.

8They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

9O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield."

Matthew 13:13-17
"Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

15For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 17For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them."