Jer. 29, 11,12,14
The Lord said, I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction: you shall call upon Me, and I will hear you; and I will bring back your captivity from all places. Lord, Thou hast blessed Thy land: Thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen
Arouse, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful, that, by more earnestly following after the fruit of the divine work, they may the more abundantly partake of Thy mercies.
Epistle from the 24th Sunday after Pentecost.
Col. 1, 9-14
"Brethren, We cease not to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of the will of God, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk workthy of God, in all things pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might according to the power of His glory, in all patience and long-suffering with joy; giving 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 blod, the remission of sins."
Ps. 43, 8 ,9
Thou hast delivered us, O Lord, from them that afflict us; and hast put them to shame that hate us. In God we will glory all the day; and in Thy name will give praise for ever. Alleluia, alleluia. From the depths I have cried to Thee O Lord; Lord hear my prayer. Alleluia.
Gospel. Matt. 24, 15-35
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, When you shall see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place; he that readeth, let him understand: then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the mountains; and he that is on the house-top, let him not come down to take anything out of his house; and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his coat. And woe to them that are with child, and that give suck, in those days. But pray that your flight be not in the winter, or on the sabbath: for there shall be then great tribulation, such as has not been found from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall be: and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be shortened;
Then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; do not believe him: for there shall arise false Crhists and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect. Behold, I have told it to you beforehand: if they therefore shall say to you, Behold, He is in the desert, go you not out; behold, He is in the closets, believe it not. For as lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even into the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together.
And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with much power and majesty: and He shall send His angels with a trumpet and a great voice and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them.
And from the fig-tree learn a parable: when the branch therof is now tender, and the leaves come forth, you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh even at the doors. Amen I say to you, that this generattion shall not pass till all these things be done. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
Be propitious, O Lord, to our supplications, and accept the offerings and prayers of Thy people: turn all our hearts unto Thee, that, being delivered from earthly desires, we may pass on to the enjoyments of heaven, Through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God world without end. Amen.
INSTRUCTION CONCERNING PERJURY.
Amen, I say to you. (Matt, xxiv. 34.)
The Son of God here, and elsewhere in the gospel, confirms His word by an oath, as it were, for swearing is nothing else than to call upon God, His divine veracity, His justice, or upon His creatures in the name of God, as witness of the truth of our words, -- Is swearing, then, lawful, and when? -- It is lawful when justice or necessity or an important advantage requires it, and the cause is true and equitable. (Jer. iv.2.)
Those sin grievously, therefore, who swear to that which is false and unjust, because they call upon God as witness of falsehood and injustice, by which His eternal truthfulness and justice is desecrated; those sin who swear in a truthful cause whithout necessity and sufficient reason, because it is disrespectful to call upon God as witness for every trivial thing.
In like manner, those sin grieviously and constantly who are so accustomed to swearing as to break out into oaths, without knowing or considering whether the thing is true or false, whether they will keep their promise or not, or even if they will be able to keep it; such expose themselves to the danger of swearing falsely. "There is no one," says St. Chrysostom, "who swears often, who does not sometimes swear falsely, just as he who speaks much, sometimes says unbecoming and false things."
Therefore Christ tells those who seek perfection not to swear at all, (Matt. V. 34.) that they might not fall into the habit of swearing and from that into perjury. He who has the habit of swearing should therefore, take the greatest pains to eradicate it; to accomplish which it will be very useful to reflect that if we have to render and account for every idle word we speak, (Matt. xii. 36.) how much more strictly will we be judged for unnecessary false oaths! God's curse accompanies him who comits perjury, in all his ways, as proved by daily experience. He who commits perjury in court, robs himself of the merits of Christ's death and will be consumed in the fire of hell, which is represented by the crucifix and burning tapers, in presence of which the oath (in some places) is taken.
If you have had the misfortune to be guilty of perjury, at once be truly sorry, weep for this terrible sin which you have committed, frankly confess it, repair the injury you may have caused by it, and chastise yourself for it by rigorous penance.
Authored by Father Leonard Goffine. AD 1875
