The King's Corner

At the risk of beating the same drum again, I’m compelled to grind the same axe about Jews who believed in Jesus as the Christ and those who didn’t. Quite the clever dovetailing of today’s reading with the Gospel.  Our liturgists from long ago assembled these readings perhaps without realizing their devastating effect on those of the Jewish faith.  Most Christians have no clue about the nuances of these texts.  We begin with Jeremiah: I hear the whisperings of many: "Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him!" All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. "Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him." But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion. O LORD of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart, let me witness the vengeance you take on them,

  Boy’s Echo: Please pray for the team and candidates of the Echo retreat taking place this weekend. The team is led by David Ryan as Rector and includes Deacon Brendan Brides, Kevin Duarte, and who are from Christ the King Parish. Let us pray that the team and candidates will come away from this special experience with a renewed appreciation of the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection as essential to our salvation and as operating daily in the lives of all the faithful. A Truly Holy Week: As we try to keep this week holy the opportunity to participate in daily Mass on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday will be available at 5:30PM in addition to 8:30 AM . This should enable those who find it challenging to get up and out early, or who are working, to be able to attend Mass on the days of Holy Week that its celebration is permitted. Adult Enrichment Classes: WHY WE WORSHIP will not be held on Palm Sunday or Easter Sunday, but will resume on Sunday, April 16th at

 

Jesus said to the Jews: "Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death." So the Jews said to him, "Now we are sure that you are possessed. Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.' Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?" Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word. Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad." So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM." So they picked up stones to throw at him

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence; then do what you have heard from the Father." They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told y

Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am going away, and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come." So, the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"  He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins." So, they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world." They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all the people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD. (Ezekiel 37:12-14) Brothers and sisters: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you. (Romans 8:8-11) Now

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, "I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!"  Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us!" (Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10) Isaiah was written approximately 740–701 B.C.  That’s about 700 years before the birth of Jesus.  That’s like my birth being prophesized in 1250 A.D., the beginning of the late Middle Ages when Innocent IV was Pope.  He saw himself as the Vicar of Christ whose power was above earthly kings. Innocent had no objection to intervening in purely secular matters.  Time does fly.

What follows is today's above-the-fold, front-page article in the Boston Globe written by Amanda Kaufman.  She highlights the alarming trend of antisemitism.  This should be an anathema to all Catholics.  What she provides complements what I preached on Sunday. Massachusetts saw an alarming rise in antisemitic incidents in 2022, a surge that outpaced increases in both New England and the United States, placing the state among the top six for antisemitic activity in the country, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League. A total of 152 incidents of assault, harassment, and vandalism were recorded in Massachusetts last year, a 41 percent increase from 2021, when there were 108, the ADL found. There were 204 incidents in New England, the highest number in the region since the ADL began tracking more than 40 years ago. Among the incidents the ADL referenced were a neo-Nazi group hanging antisemitic and racist banners over highways in Saugus and Danvers in September and pa

We hope you'll save the date and join us for the Echo Community Contemporary Stations of the Cross Tuesday, April 4th at 7:00 PM 

 

 March 26, 2023, Fifth Sunday of Lent Making Time Holy: In accord with the ancient understanding of the word, to make something holy is “to set it apart for God” . So then, we are always asked to set some of the good gifts that God provides apart to be dedicated to Him, and prime among these many gifts is time itself. Indeed, one day per week, the Lord’ s Day, and one week each year, Holy Week, we are asked to set apart for God who is sovereign of all time and eternity. In accord with the manner in which time was reckoned among the Jews in the days of Jesus, sunset on next Saturday evening begins the first day of the week and the seven days that will follow until sunset on April 9th comprise the one week of the year that is to be set apart as holy to God. Why? As a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving in remembrance of all that Jesus as God’s only son would endure to accomplish our eternal salvation. So to make that one week truly holy, we must use it

  Reading from Wisdom The wicked said among themselves, thinking not aright: "Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us; he sets himself against our doings, reproaches us for transgressions of the law and charges us with violations of our training. He professes to have knowledge of God and styles himself a child of the LORD.  To us he is the censure of our thoughts; merely to see him is a hardship for us, because his life is not like that of others, and different are his ways. He judges us debased; he holds aloof from our paths as from things impure. He calls blest the destiny of the just and boasts that God is his Father.  Let us see whether his words be true; let us find out what will happen to him. For if the just one be the son of God, he will defend him and deliver him from the hand of his foes. With revilement and torture let us put him to the test that we may have proof of his gentleness and try his patience. Let us condemn him to a shameful death; for accord

Jesus said to the Jews: "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not true. But there is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth. I do not accept human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light. But I have testimony greater than John's. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.

Thus says the LORD: In a time of favor I answer you, on the day of salvation I help you; and I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people to restore the land and allot the desolate heritages, saying to the prisoners: “Come out! To those in darkness: Show yourselves!” Along the ways they shall find pasture, on every bare height shall their pastures be. They shall not hunger or thirst, nor shall the scorching wind or the sun strike them. For he who pities them leads them and guides them beside springs of water. I will cut a road through all my mountains and make my highways level. See, some shall come from afar, others from the north and the west, and some from the land of Syene. Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the LORD comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.  But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me." Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of h

There was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep Gate a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes. In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be well?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me." Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk." Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked. Now that day was a sabbath. So, the Jews said to the man who was cured, "It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." He answered them, "The man who made me well told me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" They asked him, "Who is the

 

What follows is a February 20 article written by Cindy Wooden for Catholic News Service entitled: “Catholics must overcome ‘temptation’ of divisions, pope says.” This Lent we are faced with all sorts of temptations.  Pope Francis helps us identify one temptation threatening the bond we have as baptized Christians belonging to Jesus. VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Laypeople are not "guests" in the Catholic Church and priests are not the "bosses," Pope Francis said; rather all the baptized belong and share responsibility for its life and mission. To fulfill its mission, the church must "overcome autonomous ways of acting or parallel tracks that never meet: clergy separated from laity," or the "Roman Curia separated from particular churches" or movements separated from parishes, he said. "The path God is indicating for the church is precisely that of living more intensely and concretely the path of communion and walking together," Pope Francis sai

Homily 5:30 Mass On this 4th Sunday of Lent our first reading is from 1 Samuel, and the part that grabs our attention is: “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance, but the LORD looks into the heart.”  How do we look into hearts, and what do we see?  These questions are posed to us and to Joan our RCIA Catechumen who experienced her third scrutiny today. Consider this story by Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho. (begin) A young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered, and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. But an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, “Your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.” The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart.  It was beating strongly but full of scars.  It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in … but they didn’t fit quite right and the

Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14) Just the beginning of this parable should warn us of what is to come.  He addressed it to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. That’s certainly not us!  Ho

 

  March 19,2023, Fourth Sunday of Lent The Fourth Sunday of Lent is the 22nd day of the 40, 18 remain until the Sacred Triduum! Laetare Sunday: -Rejoice Jerusalem! This imperative found in the Latin Introit for today’s Mass gives the Fourth Sunday of Lent its traditional name. It is a day to rejoice because Lent is now slightly more than half over and thus soon the penitential season will yield to the 50 day season of rejoicing which is Easter. Yet we may find ourselves saying,” wait not so fast !” Indeed, today is a good day to take stock of how seriously we have been embracing the disciplines of prayer and the fasting which enables us to accumulate alms to share with the poor when Lent ends on the evening of Holy Thursday. So perhaps today is a good day to renew our resolve and redouble our efforts to live a Lent that is both meaningful for us and fruitful for those in need! Matthew 25 Fund: Along with the poor in the Village of

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?" Jesus replied, "The first is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, He is One and there is no other than he. And to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions . (Mark 12:28-34) Can there be any misunderstandings about these commandments?  One would t

Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute, and when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. Some of them said, "By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons." Others, to test him, asked him for a sign from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house. And if Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  For you say that it is by Beelzebul that I drive out demons. If I, then, drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own people drive them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man fully armed guards his palace, his possessions are safe. But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him, he takes away the armor on which he relied and distributes the spoils. Whoever is not w

On March 1 a powerful article was written by Jim McDermott published by America Media.  I provide it here in its entirety.  It was entitled: "For Catholics, Lent 2023 is a time to act against antisemitism." (begin) Last Tuesday in New York City, members of the National Socialist Party, otherwise known as neo-Nazis, protested outside the first preview of the revival of the musical “Parade.” That show tells the story of Leo Frank, an early 20th-century Jewish American factory superintendent in Atlanta who was falsely accused and convicted of raping and murdering a 13-year-old female employee. After the governor of Georgia commuted his sentence in 1915, a group of armed men lynched Mr. Frank. His case would inspire both the creation of the Anti-Defamation League and the return of the Ku Klux Klan. A dozen members of the National Socialist Party stood outside the first preview of “Parade” holding signs that said the A.D.L. protected pedophiles and passing out pamphlets with the N

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?" Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full. ‘Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount. He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth: “Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was closed for three and a half years and a severe famine spread over the entire land. It was to none of these that Elijah was sent, but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.  Again, there were many lepers in Israel during the time of Elisha the prophet; yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. But he passed through the midst of them and went away. (Luke 4:24-30) Anger and violence can be the result when we hear what is contrary to our beliefs and positions be they religious or political.  January 6 provides an excellent example.

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”—For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘you would have asked him  and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but wh

Tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus, but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." So to them Jesus addressed this parable. "A man had two sons, and the younger son said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of your estate that should come to me.' So the father divided the property between them.  After a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off to a distant country where he squandered his inheritance on a life of dissipation. When he had freely spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he found himself in dire need. So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed, but nobody gave him any. Coming to his senses he thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I,

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: ""Hear another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey. When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way.  Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, 'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.' They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"" They answered him, ""He will put those wretched men to a wretched deat

I’m tired of the misuse of the descriptive term “woke.” Woke is now used as an insult by many including some in the media and political parties.  Perhaps even in church its misuse is common through misunderstanding. How did it come to this?  We have a sorely divided nation with so many of us turning against each other through social media and news programs we watch, especially the news we consume with much of it being misleading or downright untruthful.  There are skilled provocateurs scheming to have us buy their goods – and line – as well as follow their crooked paths.   Many Catholics – and Christians in general – also are guilty of disparaging our neighbors by calling them woke and doing it with meanness and a sneer.  Consider this description of "woke" in Wikipedia [whatever happened to the Encyclopedia Britannica of my youth and middle years?]. While the term woke initially pertained to issues of racial prejudice and discrimination impacting African Americans, it was ap

Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers.  But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:17-28) Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” This statement reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in wh

Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow. Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow. Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool. If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land; But if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken! (Isaiah 1:10, 16-20) According to Wikipedia, (begin) Sodom and Gomorrah were two legendary biblical cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Their story parallels the Genesis flood narrative in its theme of God's anger provoked by man's sin (see Genesis 19:1–28). "Sodom and Gomorrah" becomes a byword for destruction and desolation. 

Jesus said to his disciples: "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." (Luke 6:36-38) This is quite a string of commands.  Essentially, they mean for us to look in our mirrors.  What do we see?  A merciful, non-judgmental person, or one who condemns others and refuses to forgive? What gifts do we give?  Love and compassion, or stockings of coal symbolizing the coldness we may hold in our hardened hearts? Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?  Best we not see this image. Deacon David Pierce

Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, "Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." When the disciples heard this, they fell prostrate and were very much afraid. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, "Rise, and do not be afraid." And when the disciples raised their eyes, they saw no one else but Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, "Do not tell the vision to anyone until the Son of M

Jesus said to his disciples: "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brothers and sisters only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:43-48) I’ll never be perfect.  Far from it.  I will never love my enemies, and I won’t pray for those who persecute me.  Then again, how can I find inner peace if I’m holding grudges and being hateful even if seemingly justified.   Sure, our heavenly Father’s sun rises on the bad and the good, and he causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. Is that supposed

Thus says the Lord GOD: If the wicked man turns away from all the sins he committed, if he keeps all my statutes and does what is right and just, he shall surely live, he shall not die. None of the crimes he committed shall be remembered against him; he shall live because of the virtue he has practiced. Do I indeed derive any pleasure from the death of the wicked? says the Lord GOD. Do I not rather rejoice when he turns from his evil way that he may live? And if the virtuous man turns from the path of virtue to do evil, the same kind of abominable things that the wicked man does, can he do this and still live? None of his virtuous deeds shall be remembered, because he has broken faith and committed sin; because of this, he shall die.  You say, “The LORD’s way is not fair!” Hear now, house of Israel: Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair? When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that

Jesus said to his disciples: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asked for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asked for a fish? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him.  "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:7-12) "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”   This sounds like some guarantee that our prayers always will be answered.  Of course, they are not.  How could they be?  

While still more people gathered in the crowd, Jesus said to them, "This generation is an evil generation; it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. At the judgment the queen of the south will rise with the men of this generation and she will condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and there is something greater than Solomon here. At the judgment the men of Nineveh will arise with this generation and condemn it, because at the preaching of Jonah they repented, and there is something greater than Jonah here." (Luke 11:29-32) Are we an evil generation?  Perhaps it’s unfair to ask such a question because it forces us to say we are either good or bad.  Most of us are neither.  We are a mixture of both; our behavior is nuanced meaning we are capable of both with the good usually winning our interior battles for