Sunday, October 25
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Roman Ordinary calendar
Book of Exodus 22,20-26.
Thus says the LORD: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt.
You shall not wrong any widow or orphan.
If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry.
My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans.
If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him.
If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset;
for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.”
Psalms 18(17),2-3a.3bc-4.47.51a-51b.
I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer.
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies.
The LORD lives! And blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed;
to David and his posterity forever
First Letter to the Thessalonians 1,5c-10.
For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and with much conviction. You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake.
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the holy Spirit,
so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.
For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth not only in Macedonia and (in) Achaia, but in every place your faith in God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything.
For they themselves openly declare about us what sort of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
and to await his Son from heaven, whom he raised from (the) dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 22,34-40.
When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together,
and one of them, a scholar of the law, tested him by asking,
“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the greatest and the first commandment.
The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Saint Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621)
Jesuit, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
The Ascent of the Mind to God, 1 (trans. Breviary 17/09)
“Which commandment in the law is the greatest?”
O Lord, what is it that you require of your servants? “Take my yoke upon you”, you say. And what sort of yoke is this? “My yoke is easy and my burden light.” Now who would not willingly bear a yoke that does not press down but gives strength; a burden that does not weigh heavily but refreshes? As you rightly added: “And you will find rest” (Mt 11:29). And what is this yoke of yours that does not tire but gives rest? It is the first and greatest of the commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart.” What could be easier, better or more agreeable than to love the goodness, beauty and love that is most perfectly yours, O Lord my God?
Do you not offer a reward to those who keep the commandments, which are “more desirable than a heap of gold and sweeter than honey from the comb”? (Ps 19[18]:11) So in every way you offer a very ample reward, as James the apostle says: “The Lord has prepared the crown of life for those who love him” (Jas 1:12) (…) And Paul quotes these words from Isaiah: “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (1Cor 2:9).
That first and great commandment is not only profitable for the man who keeps it or for God who commands it: the other commandments of God also make perfect him who obeys them, improve him, instruct him and make him illustrious; in a word, they make him good and holy. If you understand this, realize that you have been created for the glory of God and for your own eternal salvation; this is your end, this is the object of your soul and the treasure of your heart. You will be blessed if you reach this goal, but miserable if you are cut off from it.
Traditional Latin Mass readings for the Feast of Jesus Christ the King
EPISTLE Colossians 1: 12-20
Brethren, we give thanks to God the Father, Who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. In Whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins; Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for in Him were all things created in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: aIl things were created by Him and in Him. And He is before all, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the Church. Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things He may hold the primacy: because in Him it hath well pleased the Father that all fullness should dwell; and through Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in Heaven, in Christ Jesus Our Lord.
GRADUAL Psalms 71: 8, 11
He shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. And all kings of the earth shall adore Him: all nations shall serve Him. Alleluia, alleluia. (Dan. 7: 14) His power is an everlasting power that shall not be taken away: and His kingdom that shall not be destroyed. Alleluia.
GOSPEL John 4: 46-53
At that time: Pilate said to Jesus: Art thou the King of the Jews? Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of Me? Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee up to me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now My kingdom is not from hence. Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a King. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth, everyone that is of the truth, heareth My voice.
Daily, I live-stream a Traditional Latin Mass at NOON Central Daylight Time (= GMT/UTC -5 and ROME 1900h). (Check out LatinMass.live)
Today: Christ The King Sunday
After Mass: Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart
Catholicism Pure & Simple 
The reading from Bellarmine is brilliant.
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