MATTHEW 7:21, 24-25 (2025)

MATTHEW 7:21, 24-25

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my heavenly Father.

“Therefore, anyone who hears these words of mine, and acts according to them, is like a wise man, who built his house on rock. The rain poured down, the rivers flooded, and the wind blew and struck that house. But it did not collapse, because it was built on rock.

---- mine,

It is not in the number of prayers, novenas, and the length of them that saves you. Do not be secure in the presumption that you are saved because of these and other things you do in the mistaken belief that, because of them, you will not perish. Rather, this is what is needed always at all times to be aware that you are beloved of God, and because of this, you live only to please the One who has poured out His life for you. The whole goal of your life here on earth is to live it in a manner that will fulfill the entire purpose of your being, which is to live in our Presence, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit eternally. Seek in all things to discern My will and then do it. Do not allow the distractions of the world or your own concupiscence to take your eyes away from the prize: eternal life in the Kingdom of God. Remain grafted in Me and in Holy Mother Church and in Me. Be guided by her in all things. Always remember your mission: to be light and salt in the world. Do not be the reason that someone is scandalized and so loses their faith in Me. Pray constantly, and by prayer, I mean have a living relationship with Me. Remain in Me, abide in Me, receive your life from Me, be firmly rooted and grounded in Me, and nothing that the world, flesh, or the devil does will harm or destroy you. Nothing.

JOB 42:7-9 (2025)

JOB 42:7-9

7 After the Lord had spoken to Job, he turned to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends because you have not spoken of me rightly, as has my servant Job. 8 Now, take seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, offer a holocaust for yourselves and let him pray for you. I will accept his prayer and excuse your folly in not speaking of me properly as my servant Job has done.” 9 Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord had ordered. The Lord accepted Job’s intercession.

---- mine,

Job's friends were harsh, judgmental, know-it-all, prideful, and uncharitable. Their presence at a time when Job needed them to have compassion and quiet and steadfast companionship, they each tried to subtly condemn him. They were aware that he was a good, holy, upright, and just man who loved God, yet they implied unkindly that Job was being punished for sins that he was unwilling to acknowledge. They each argued with Job, talking at length as to why they believed that Job was being punished. This is not true. Not all your trials and suffering come as a direct punishment for your sins. Suffering is a necessary part of life, and no one can escape it. It is in this fiery furnace that all impurities are removed, and you are formed more and more in My image and likeness. Do not presume to know how God is acting in the lives of people you know or hear about. Or of calamities that are visited on people. What is needed is for you to pray and to intercede for those who are suffering, facing trials, difficulties, and are sick. They need your compassion and your prayers, and tangible help rather than your self-righteous reasons as to why they are suffering. Do not stop interceding for your own needs and, more importantly, for the needs of others and for the world. Let your prayers be accompanied by sacrifice, self-denial, and almsgiving. Have confidence that I will hear, and I will answer. Nothing pleases Me more than when you bring the needs of family members, friends, the Church, and the world to Me, and you pray with a heart filled with compassion for them. I tell you, ---- my own, even though the answer will be delayed in coming, I will hear, and I will do for them all you ask of Me in prayer. Nothing delights My Father and Me more than to give generously every good and perfect gift to those whom you ask and pray for sincerely and faithfully because you are Mine.