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Tuesday, June 22, 2004

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St. Paulinus of Nola
Sts. John Fisher & Thomas More


2 Kings 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-35, 36
Psalm 48
Matthew 7:6, 12-14

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"i believe in one god, the father <u>almighty</u>"

"O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned upon the cherubim! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth." —2 Kings 19:15

God is all-powerful, and He shows it. He "made the heavens and the earth" (2 Kgs 19:15). He sent an angel to strike "down one hundred and eighty-five thousand men" who were about to destroy the Israelites (2 Kgs 19:35). God also died on the cross in perfect love and took away the sins of all people who have lived or ever will live. In this way, God made it possible for everyone to have a new nature, to become His child and share in His divine nature (2 Pt 1:4). God ultimately displayed His omnipotence by rising from the dead and promising to raise all those who live for Him. God continues to show His infinite power by turning bread and wine into His body and blood, healing the sick, driving out demons, and doing far "more than we ask or imagine" (Eph 3:20). He will finally return in awesome glory, end the world, judge everyone who has ever lived, let those who rejected His love go to hell, and take His disciples to heaven to be happy forever. These are unimaginable displays of power.

The Church teaches: "Nothing is more apt to confirm our faith and hope than holding it fixed in our minds that nothing is impossible with God. Once our reason has grasped the idea of God's almighty power, it will easily and without any hesitation admit everything that [the Creed] will afterwards propose for us to believe — even if they be great and marvellous things, far above the ordinary laws of nature" (Catechism, 274). Believe in God's infinite power. Rejoice and be free forever.

Prayer:  Father, make me bold and peaceful because of my faith in Your power and love.

Promise:  "Treat others the way you would have them treat you: this sums up the law and the prophets." —Mt 7:12

Praise:  St. Thomas was not only faithful to God in matters of state, he also was faithful in leading his own family to the Father.

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Robert A. Stricker, December 13, 2003


Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, December 18, 2003