Reconstruction 101

 

By Anna Von Reitz

Our nation is faced with reconstructing our government a hundred and fifty years after that task was supposed to be done. Talk about procrastinators, or, talk about being left in the dark by those who profited. Either way, it still has to be done and that is what we are engaged in.

So what is Reconstruction about, and what does it require, and where do we start? What are the conditions we were left with, coming out of the Civil War?

This conversation is being re-posted from a private discussion as I try to unravel the situation for people in Oregon, but the same exact conditions apply to people living in any State of the Union that was a State prior to 1861 ---- so listen up, folks. This is Reconstruction 101.

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"The argument as you perceptively point out the crux --- is the effect of the Repatriation Act and where that left us, and the continuing operation of the Territorial State of State in Oregon instead of the American State of State Government we intended, which was rolled over and became inoperable because the Reconstruction was never finished.

You have a multitude of business entities operating on two separate levels.

You have the Federation of States and the Confederation of their States of State in operation from 1781 to 1861. [That's our intact original American Government.]

The Confederation operated the States of America, also called the "Federal Republic" or simply, the "Federal Government" during those same years.

When the Confederation broke apart into North and South factions, the States of America, our part of the Federal Government, was left without quorum and could no longer function, either.

Those portions of our Original and Federal Governments both disappeared--- the Confederation and the States of America (Federal Republic) the Confederation operated --- both had to be "Reconstructed" and neither one have been.

Since the Confederation was inoperable without reconstruction, the members of the Confederation were not operable, either. The members of the Confederation were the original American States of States, like The State of Oregon.

The property, assets, and interests of The State of Oregon were rolled over into the Oregon State [Land Trust] and the "new" substituted Territorial State of State came in to do business for Oregon as an "emergency measure".

It was at this time that all the States of the Union prior to 1860 were compelled to create new State of State Constitutions in order to create a contract between their State [e.g., Oregon] and the Territorial State of State organization [the State of Oregon] being substituted for the original American entity doing business as The State of Oregon.

The history of this is the same in every State that was a State prior to the Civil War.

Same exact process, same exact nomenclature.

So let's go back to the Repatriation Act. What were these men "repatriating" to?

As they were all mustered out of the State of State members of the Confederation and not the actual States of Union, they were "repatriated" back to where they came from.

But the Confederation was gone. There was no "place" for these men to return to.

Wrap your minds around this. All the Muster Lists from the Civil War were compiled by the original American States of State organizations.

They came from The State of New York and The State of Ohio and The State of North Carolina ---- which were all rolled into State Trusts after the war purportedly "ended" ---- "New York State" and "Ohio State" and so on, replaced the original State of State organizations. So all these men who were repatriated after the Civil War became State Trust Assets and Wards of the State.

They were rolled into the State Trusts. They were left in limbo until such time as the Reconstruction happened.

Why? Because you can't get from Wisconsin to South Dakota without passing through Minnesota.

You can't get from The State of Wisconsin to Wisconsin (until or unless the Reconstruction takes effect) without passing through the Wisconsin State (Trust).

Those of us who didn't fight in the war were not "repatriated" in this fashion, and remained free to operate our States of the Union, but approximately nine million Americans were "cashiered" by the Repatriation Act. And they and their descendants have been identified as Wards of the State of State ever since.

All "pending Reconstruction" which we, the only ones who could do it, didn't know about. We thought it had already been done.

So here we are at this late date. People are still milling around, confused. Hardly anyone realizes just how complex and nasty all this is, even among those who know that the Reconstruction is still hanging.

What has to happen? Those who can do so, have to rebuild the States (Oregon) and then "reconstruct" The State of Oregon and collapse the Oregon State Trust and replace "the" Territorial State of Oregon.

At the same time, as the States reconstruct their own State of State organization, e.g., The State of Oregon, these entities have to repopulate the Confederation and begin operating the States of America organization that was responsible for the Federal Republic under The Constitution for the united States of America.

The States of America, our American part of the Federal Government, was a Subcontractor of the Confederation.

So in order to reconstruct the Federal Government, we also have to reconstruct the Confederation, and in order to reconstruct the Confederation, we have to first assemble the States of the Union.

Which is what we are doing now.

States reconstruct The States of States, The States of States repopulate the Confederation, the Confederation reboots the States of America, and the States of America acts as Comptroller of the Federal Government.

It is the lack of this Comptroller position that has led to the many problems we have, so we should all be Highly Motivated to get our ducks in order without further ado.

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Legalized Slave Ownership

 

By Anna Von Reitz

All these years I've sat and watched the show like everyone else.  I didn't believe it, and in that, I may be exceptional.  It appears that a great many Americans just watched the Boob Tube and accepted, pretty much at face value, whatever Walter Cronkite or some other Talking Head reported to them. 

Why?  Because Americans are basically honest people and we formed an honest government, and it simply wasn't known how profoundly changed and corrupted our original government had become during the administration of Ulysses S. Grant.    

Millions of Americans educated in the public school system will tell you that they never had an inkling.  They didn't know and weren't told that the Reconstruction was never finished.  They didn't know and weren't told that the three branches of the Federal Government were originally Federal, Territorial, and Municipal.  

Most importantly, they were never told that they were living in the middle of a continuing Mercenary "War" that was promulgated by their Federal Employees and the Subcontracting Agencies. 

When you step back from it, and look at the roots of it, it becomes apparent that the root of the evil is slavery ---- but not slavery in the sense we are taught to think about it now.  

We have been conditioned to think about slavery in terms of black and white, or brown and white, and not in terms of what slavery actually is.  Slavery is not based on race.  It's based on commandeering free will and labor by force or feigned legality --and then using the victim to profit oneself.  

Peonage, or "indentured servitude", is a lesser form of this same evil.  

And despite varying levels of awareness over the past 160 years, these issues were also assumed to be dead and gone and settled --- and really never were. 

It is apparent in retrospect that although private slave ownership was outlawed in this country as a result of the Civil War, public sector slave ownership was allowed, and it secretively expanded its reach decade after decade. 

In the "US Government System" it is crystal clear that Territorial Employees are serving in the military as indentured public servants for the period of years comprising their Tour of Duty, and that during that time, they have no constitutional or other rights, other than what is provided by the Code of Military Justice.  

And Municipal Employees in the Federal Civil Service are slaves.  It may be that they are treated pretty well by their masters most of the time, but they are still slaves, bought and sold and traded as commodities using FDR's infamous "Clearinghouse Certificates".  

Here is the definition of "Clearinghouse Certificates" as published by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank: 

"Clearing House Loan Certificates are instruments which represent temporary loans made by the banks banded together as a Clearing House Association, to the individual members of such association, upon collateral acceptable to a Committee of bankers appointed for the purpose of passing on and holding such collateral."

The "temporary" part is your lifetime. 

Given FDR's statements made in his First Inaugural Address about "clearinghouse certificates" and the definition above, it is grossly apparent that he sold the Federal Civil Service Employees into slavery as commodities subject to the banks -- used them and their assets and their labor as collateral to borrow against, without their knowledge or consent.  

And then, FDR just "conferred" this same Municipal citizenship on everyone else that he could entrap, either by bullying us to get a Social Security Number and lying to us and saying that we "had to have a social security account" in order to work in this country (only true if you are a foreigner or working for the Federal Government), or any other of a galaxy of adhesion contracts designed to do the same thing: provide them an excuse to claim that you, too, were a Federal Employee or Dependent. 

 And therefore, another slave.  More collateral to back their debts.  

This is what the great Democratic Party has done for black and whites alike. 

Slavery, sin taxes, regulation of controlled substances, and entertainment industries are where they get the largest portion of their money.  They were granted regulatory power over alcohol, tobacco and firearms, but they have since attempted to define a great many other things as "controlled substances" with more or less success.  Marijuana is one obvious example.  

As I write, they are trying to grab more and more "regulatory control" over other goods and commodities, and may soon impose rationing systems, even though they and their policies are what have caused there to be shortages of things like toilet paper in this country.   They have struggled for years to maintain control of over the counter drugs and vitamins and herbal remedies to better profit their own investments in pharmaceuticals. 

And now they are trying a new enslavement rationale. 

The U.S. Patent laws have allowed them to patent pieces of genetically engineered DNA and RNA for profit, so they have done so.  Now they seek to implant some of their genetically engineered RNA into your natural genome, and claim that you are a "genetically modified product" created by and belonging to them. 

They want to make you and your children into a sterile "GMO product" just like a brand of Monsanto's corn. 

Two birds with one stone and one vaccination: claim ownership of you and all the assets that are naturally yours, plus sterilize a large percentage of the population and thereby reduce the number of people per their Agenda.  

And as you can see, they don't spend a lot on their slaves.  They keep them hungry and feed them lies, to keep themselves in political power.  

Despicable, diabolical Democrats.  And a lot of equally Reprehensible Republicans. 

Unless we all wake up and get organized and push back like steers in a stampede, this is the future planned for you by all these politicians claiming to care so much for the poor---- while enslaving and depriving the poor. 

No doubt you missed it, but Brazil gave its people so much money during the pandemic nonsense, that they accidentally empowered their whole country.  Their economy is booming.  They can afford to preserve the Rain Forest -- whether or not they can be persuaded to do so.  Nobody is going hungry in Brazil anymore. 

And how has this miracle been achieved?  

Someone woke up and realized that "money" is like corn being fed to rats in a maze.  Do what the Masters want, and you get a kernel as a reward.  Make two correct turns in the maze and you get more kernels.  But what happens when the rats figure this out, and seize hold of their own monetary system?

So long as you distribute the "corn" in a careful but liberal fashion, much as you use fertilizer to feed plants, and avoid applying too much, everything blooms. 

And there is no need for slavery or slave masters any more.  

The ultimate end to slavery lies in two things: (1) appropriate punishment for those who are seeking to enslave others by any means, using any excuse; (2) proper control of the monetary system so that slavery is no longer profitable, and such abuses as "clearinghouse certificates" --- that is, birth certificates --- are a thing of the past. 

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Covid - 19 Facts

 

Keep the Electoral College

 

By Anna Von Reitz

Keep the Electoral College. Here's why-- I am reposting this anonymous run down:

There are 3,141 counties in the United States.

- Trump won 3,084 of them.

- Clinton won 57.

There are 62 counties in New York State

- Trump won 46 of them.

- Clinton won 16

Clinton won the popular vote by approximately 1.5 million votes.

- In the 5 counties that encompass NYC, (Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Richmond & Queens) Clinton received well over 2 million more votes than Trump (Trump won Richmond, Clinton won the other 4 of these counties)

- Therefore these 5 counties alone, more than accounted for Clinton winning the popular vote of the entire country.

These 5 counties comprise only 319 square miles.

The United States comprises 3,797,000 square miles. When you have a country that encompasses almost 4 million square miles of territory, it would be ludicrous to suggest that the vote of those who inhabit a mere 319 square miles should dictate the outcome of a national election.

Large, densely populated Democrat cities (NYC, Chicago,

LA, etc .) DO NOT and SHOULD NOT speak for all of the rest of our country! And it has been verified and documented that those 319 square miles foment the majority of our nation's problems.

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Support for Trump?

 

By Anna Von Reitz

When hateful personalized gossip comes out of the mouths of grown men and women, I find it appalling.  Grown people should know better, have deeper insights and concerns, and be less judgmental about superficial things. 

Who cares what color Donald Trump's hair is?  George Washington wore a wig.  And it was powdered white.  Am I supposed to get up and dance?  

I keep my eye on the ball, on the things that matter, the things that make life better or worse for us all, the meat and potatoes, the bacon delivered for all Americans --- not just "some" Americans, who like the Pigs in the story Animal Farm, want to be "more equal" than others. 

I keep track of events, so I know who caused the problems. 

Trump provided more living wage jobs for Blacks, Hispanics, and Orientals than any other President ever has, picked millions of folks up out of hopeless welfare dependency and offered them a future. 

How many are smart enough to "get it" and vote accordingly? 

 

Let's start with Day One --- the non-existent Russian Collusion.  Turns out the only collusion was the collusion of Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid to sell 20% of our Uranium to the Russians. 

To me, that's treason.  To me, that's a hanging offense. 

And yet another example of diabolic reasoning ---- blame your opponent for what you are doing yourself.  I think it is pretty clear who has been colluding with the Russians in real life and projecting their own guilt on Donald Trump. 

Oh, and let's just forget the gross influence peddling and profiteering of Joe and Hunter Biden in Ukraine, along with the similar trough-sucking of Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and yes, Mitt Romney, a corrupt high-level Republican caught with his hands in the cookie jar.  We know why he's a Never Trumper.

Speaking of hair-dos and phonies, how about Wear Your Mask Pelosi?  

Or Pocohontas Warren, pretending to be a Native American?  

I'm sorry.  I have zero respect for hypocrites and for people who can't admit who they are.  I don't trust either species of Swamp Creature.  

Just think about the sanctimonious rants of Nancy Pelosi about wearing masks and shutting down businesses.  Ever see a mask on her face?  How many of her businesses shut down? 

And now, Black Lives Matter, but billions of dollars of damage to public buildings and private businesses do not?  How many people have been murdered now by these thugs roaming our streets in Democrat "controlled" cities?  

Those Democrat Governors and Mayors are 100% commercially and personally liable for not calling in assistance to quell the violence and looting. They failed Job One for any government ---- protecting the people and their property.  

I can easily understand now, how the majority of Democratic Party presidential candidates in the first debate, led with stories about how they failed at everything.  Some of them, by their own count, failed multiple careers before becoming Democratic Candidates for the Office of President of the United States. 

No wonder the Municipal Government is flat as a pancake bankrupt. 

They had me thinking, gee, all I have to do is go out and fail as a car wash attendant, as a restaurant manager, and tank a small business or two, and I, too, can qualify to run this country.  

By my count, they fielded one credible candidate, a mature woman of color, who answered every question succinctly and wisely, with poise and honesty --- but they panned over her name at an oblique camera angle so you couldn't read it.  

Par for the course.  The cream isn't what rises to the top. 

Compared to the Zombie Duo Dream Team, Donald Trump is a towering intellect, and that rarest thing in American politics---- a man who keeps his word. 

Go figure, Jethro. Naught into naught is naught, naught plus naught is naught, naught multiplied by naught is naught....

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Fraudulent Votes Have Already Been Cast

 

Do any of your friends or nieghbors think voting by mail is safe and secure?

Have they bought the media line that fraud is impossible because of all the so-called safeguards?

Have them read this article in the New York Post, in which a Democrat operative describes how he exploited the weakness of voting by mail to destroy Republican ballots while casting fraudulent Democrat votes.

Click here to read the article on NYPost.com.

https://nypost.com/2020/08/29/political-insider-explains-voter-fraud-with-mail-in-ballots/

The Roman Catholic Church Rebounds

 

By Anna Von Reitz

Other than basketballs, the word "rebound" most often is used in terms of love and the aftermath of recovery from a devastating loss of love relationships.  We speak of the suffering soul as "rebounding" from the loss, striving to find new meaning----and, someday, after enough time has elapsed and healing has come, to find new love and purpose.  

For many Catholics, their relationship with their Church is now like a broken love affair.  There has been so much dirt dug up about mismanagement and corruption of the Church, so many scandals, so much money squandered, so many breaches of trust at all levels, that the heart is crushed.  

If your Church is not trustworthy, what is?  Nothing.  Nothing and nobody, ever at all--- or so it seems.  A weariness comes with this conclusion, a vast sense of emptiness and of being burdened and alone, all at the same time. 

Could Satan ask for more?  A greater victory?  

I have spent a considerable portion of the past dozen years arguing with Catholics, listening to Catholics, and, yes, letting them cry on my shoulder when the arguing and the anger is gone, and all that is left ---at least momentarily--- is despair.  

It is a spiritual misery that parallels the misery many Americans feel when they realize the actual nature and status of "their" government, a sense of confusion, followed by fear, followed by anger, followed by despair, followed by peace.  

It's a long process of healing that brings us finally to a new foundation, and a new determination to rise up and rise above, either by correction and restoration or by embracing a new love.  

"The Church is not our Church," they all say.  

And they are right.  

It isn't.  

Their Church has been "redefined" in ways that render it unrecognizable, just as our government was "unlawfully converted".  It's the same process.  

Call it by a new name.  Speak a new language.  Embrace different values.  "Ecumenicalize" everything. Give everyone everything they want, let them do whatever they want.  Let the tail wag the dog.  Who cares?  Who is responsible? 

The liberalization of the Roman Catholic Church, like the liberalization of society and government, leads to what I call "the melted Lalapalooza".  

Baskin-Robbins used to have a gigantic sundae called the "Lalapalooza" featuring all 31 flavors, 31 scoops of ice cream, with all the toppings imaginable.  I once ate one on a bet. 

I ate it really, really fast, so that all 31 scoops were still 31 separate scoops. 

My challenger ate much more slowly, and was left with a puddle of indistinguishable sweet goo the color of mud, and was unable to stomach it. 

Our whole world, including the Church, is now part of the melted Lalapalooza, a dreary sameness of pattern, a lack of diversity in the midst of mindless calls for accepting diversity.  

We've all accepted diversity to the point wherein we have lost ourselves, lost sight of who we are, what we stand for, what we believe, and even what is right or wrong.   

All the mainstream churches are now liberalized to a point of being the same, all the mainstream media is the same, and, if the enemies of Mankind have their way, all the governments will be the same, too.  

One big puddle of nondescript goo, unable to stand for anything true. 

Yes, the Church is "on the rebound", but the Church is alive.  The Church, hurt, dishonored, dragged through the dirt, betrayed from within, assaulted from without, is waking up just like the gobsmacked Americans facing up to the apostasy of their government.  

At least I can tell the Catholics that they are not alone.  What has happened to their Church has happened to our country, too.  And just as a broken bone heals stronger, so will we heal and be stronger, too. 

For my Catholic friends who no longer go to Church:

https://www.returntotradition.org  

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The "War" Is Over

 

By Anna Von Reitz

While both "sides" of the Pope's organization here on our shores are lax in publishing the news, the Civil War is over. It has only taken 160 years, but the legitimate and actual government of this country has proclaimed, deemed, and decreed that our Employees are not allowed to rampage around on our shores conducting any kind of war, declared, mercenary, product, or otherwise.

It's over, and anyone who doesn't know that it's over needs to be "fully informed".

Ever wondered why the military is supposed to be subservient to the civilian authority? Ever noticed the difference between the word "civilian" and "civil"?

The reason that both the military and the civil service are placed under the direction and dominion of the civilian population, is that both are "services" and they serve as subcontractors acting under delegated authority.

Why would subcontractors be allowed to dictate the policies, laws, and practices of this country?

Simple answer--- nobody in their right mind would conceive of a situation like this, even though this is how we have been living for 160 years --- letting our Employees run the roost, tell us what to do, and racketeer to their heart's delight against us.

Lacking a civilian authority, the military turned to the "civil" government for direction, and the "civil" government represented by the Municipal Government of their own District Government was all too-glad to agree; both sets of our "federal" Employees conspired against their employers and set out to evade their obligations under their respective Constitutions: The Constitution of the United States of America and The Constitution of the United States.

If you are a typical American, it's news to you that there are two constitutions. Actually, there are three, but one has been "in abeyance pending Reconstruction" for a century and a half.

In addition to the three actual constitutions, there is a fourth document that calls itself "The Constitution of the United States of America" ---- Incorporated, that is --- which functions as the Articles of Incorporation of a foreign commercial enterprise, first published in 1868.

But I digress. Let this suggest that things are a good deal more complex and in a way, more dire, than most people imagine.

This entire portion of the continent has been mis-administered under color of law and conditions of fraud for over a century and a half. Our Federal Employees and the other Principals who received our "Delegated Powers" are responsible for this.

And that's just the way it is. We have to pull ourselves out of our Zombie-like trance and deal with it.

So, remember--- "civil" is not civilian. Our military owes no allegiance to the Municipal "civil" government, but instead, both owe us Good Faith Service. And we have the right and the responsibility to direct both.

Go to: www.TheAmericanStatesAssembly.net and get started.

Silence Really Is Golden

 

By Anna Von Reitz

We are, most of us, social beings. We have been taught since childhood to communicate when we want or need to resolve problems. That's why our natural impulse is to open up our big mouths and blab away when a police officer confronts us.

And that is exactly what we should never, ever do.

It has been estimated that at least 90% of the encounters we have with police are "fishing expeditions". They don't really have any probable cause to think you have committed any crime, but they will accost you just the same, and try to engage you in a conversation.

They have been trained to get you to contract with them.

Here is an example: You are out in your driveway washing your car on a Saturday afternoon. By accident, some of the over-spray drenches a police officer who is walking by on the sidewalk. He's mad and now enters your private property and shouts at you.

"Are you assaulting a police officer? Seeking to incapacitate me?"

Your natural impulse is to stammer, "No, sir! I didn't see you. I was just washing my car...."

"Do you understand that what you have done is a criminal assault on a police officer? Do you understand that you have interrupted and obstructed me in the accomplishment of my duties?"

"I didn't mean to get you all wet, officer. I didn't even see you coming...."

In that short, innocent conversation, you have already "admitted" the following:

1. That he is a recognized authority --- by calling him "sir" and "officer".

2. That you did the "obstructive act" and "committed the assault" --- spraying him with water.

Now, all he has to do is hand-cuff you and haul you off to face felony level charges, and you are already on the record having admitted to all of it.

Do you see why silence really is golden, when dealing with the police?

This isn't the first time I have addressed this issue and probably won't be the last, but before I didn't have help driving it home with "more than words". Here is a wonderful and very short (three minute) video that demonstrates how you should answer all police inquiries with four little words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mwSGvStf5M

"I don't answer questions."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-7o9xYp7eE  or go to YouTube and look up: 

"I Don't Answer Questions EXPLAINED".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysdyhNlAVck

This gem shows actual real-life encounters and the happy results of using these four little words. Learn them and use them and go on with your lives in peace. They force the officer to evaluate --- on the spot --- whether they have probable cause to arrest you or not.

And 90% of the time, the answer is "not".

Combined with the Jester's Defense (if you are arrested and forced to plea) which consists of four more little words: "I am an idiot." you can easily turn the tables on them and beat them at their own game.

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Instruction on the Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost

 Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's

The Church's Year

At the Introit of the Mass excite in your heart an ardent desire for heaven, with these words:

INTROIT Behold, O God, our protector, and look on the face of thy Christ:, for better is one day, in thy courts above thousands. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. (Ps. LXXXIII.) 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.

COLLECT Keep, We beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy Church with Thy perpetual favor; and because without Thee the weakness of man is ready to fall, may it be withheld by Thy aid from all. things hurtful, and devoted to all things profitable to salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end, Amen.

EPISTLE (Gal. V. 16-24.) Brethren, Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh: for the flesh lusteth against ,the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: for these are contrary one to another: so that you do not the things that you would. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are, fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury, idolatry, witchcrafts, enmities, contentions, emulations, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I foretell to you, as I have foretold to you, that they who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences.

What is it to walk in the spirit?

It is to obey the inspirations of the Holy Ghost always, and in all things. He who does this, says St. Paul, will not do the evil works of the flesh, which are here enumerated, but he will rather suppress and mortify all sensual desires, in this manner crucify his flesh together with its vices and lusts, and make himself worthy of the fruits of the Holy Ghost, which are also mentioned; he will belong to Christ, and secure for himself eternal happiness. On the contrary, he who lives according to the flesh, that is, gives way to the desires of the flesh, has no hope of salvation.

Is it not strange, that all Christians wish to belong to Christ and become heirs of His kingdom, but are unwilling to crucify the flesh and its lusts, though Christ says to all; If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matt XVI. 24.)

ASPIRATION Intercede for me, O St. Paul, that God may give me grace to crucify my flesh with its lusts, that I may have part with thee in Christ:

GOSPEL (Matt. VI. 24-33.) At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will sustain the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon. Therefore I say to you, be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat, and the body more than the raiment? Behold the birds of the air; for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they? And which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? And for raiment, why are you solicitous? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they labor not, neither do they spin; but I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. Now, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which is to-day, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more you, O ye of little faith? Be not solicitous, therefore, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God and his justice; and all these things shall be added unto you.

What is meant by serving God?

Doing the will of God, or performing faithfully and zealously all that God asks of us according to our age and condition, and for love of Him.

Who are the two masters whom we cannot serve alike?

God and Mammon or riches, whereby also, the other goods and pleasures of the world are understood. These we cannot serve at the same time, because they command things diametrically opposed to each other; for instance, God prohibits usury, theft, deceit, &c.; to which the desire for wealth impels us. God commands that we keep holy Sundays and holy days, and devote them to His service; the desire for riches tempts man to omit religious worship and to seek temporal gain; it disturbs him even in church, so that he is only present with his body, but absent in mind with his temporal goods and business.

To whom can riches be useful?

To those who, like the saints, perform works of mercy with them, and thus lay up treasures for themselves in heaven.

Why does Christ call our attention to the birds of the air and the lakes of the field?

To, excite in us confidence in the providence of God, which preserves even the birds and the flowers. Surely, if God feeds the young ravens which cry to Him; (Ps. CXLVI. 9.) if He nourishes the birds which neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns; if He vests the flowers of the field so beautifully, how much more will He care for man whom He has made to His own image and likeness, and adopted as His child, if he only acts as such, keeps His commandments, and always entertains a filial confidence in Him.

Should we, therefore, lay aside all care and never work?

This does not follow from what has been said. Christ condemns only the superfluous cares, which cause man to forget God and to neglect the salvation of his soul. Besides, God has Himself ordered (Gen. III. 17-19.) that man should obtain the fruits of the earth with much labor, that he should earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. St. Paul says: If any man will not work, neither let him eat. (II Thess. III. 10.)

What should preserve us from superfluous cares?

A firm and lively faith, that God can and will help us. That He can is evident, because He is almighty; that His will is certain, because He promises it in so many pas­sages of Holy Writ, and because He is infinitely faithful to all His promises. Christ encourages us to this lively confidence with these, words: All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive and they shall come unto you. Mark XI. 24.) Therefore the apostle also commands us to throw all cares upon the Lord, who provides for us. (I Pet. V. 7.) And why should God not care for us, since He sent us His Son and with Him all; for which reason St. Augustine says: "How can you doubt that God will give you good things, since He vouchsafed to assume evil for you!"

PRAYER O Lord Jesus! give me a firm confidence in Thy Divine Providence, and daily increase it in me, that when in necessity I may confidently believe if I seek first the kingdom of God and His justice, the rest shall be added unto me.

CONSOLATION IN POVERTY
Be not solicitous for your life. (Matt. VI. 25.)

If you were born in poverty, or accidentally, or through your own fault have become poor, be consoled, because God has sent you this poverty for your own good; for good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches are, from God. (Ecclus. XI-14.). Therefore receive it from the hand of God without impatience or murmuring, as a means by which He wishes to keep you from forgetting Him, which would, perhaps, happen if He were to bless you with temporal prosperity. Riches are a source of destruction for many. If you have brought poverty upon yourself by a licentious and sinful life, receive it in a spirit of penance as a just and salutary chastisement, and thank God that He gives you an opportunity to do penance for your sins. But if you have become poor through no fault of your own, be consoled by the example of the saints, of whom St. Paul says: they bear the unjust taking away of their goods with joy, because they know that a better and an unchangeable treasure is in store for them in heaven. (Hebr, X. 34.) But you should particularly take courage from the example of Christ who, being rich, became poor for us, (II Cor. VIII. 9.) and had not a place whereon to lay His head. (Matt. VIII. 20.)

In your distress say with job: The Lord gave and the Lord bath taken away: as it pleased the Lord, so it is done: blessed be the name of the Lord. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. (Job. I. 21.) Fear not my son, says Tobias, we lead indeed a poor life, but we shall have many good things if we fear God, and depart from all sins, and do that which is good. (Tob. IV. 23.) To serve God and to be content with few things always brings rich reward, if not in this, at least in the next life. Therefore Christ promised the kingdom of heaven to the poor in spirit, that is, not only to the humble, but also to the poor who imitate Christ in all patience and resignation. Follow, therefore, the poor Jesus, follow His poor mother, by imitating their example, and you will possess the kingdom of heaven.

INSTRUCTION CONCERNING USURY
You cannot serve God and Mammon. (Matt. VI. 24.)

Usury is to demand more than legal interest from our neighbor, to whom we have lent something, or who is otherwise indebted to us. Those are also commonly called usurers, who, in times of want, hoard up necessary food, such as grain, flour, &c., and only sell it at an exorbitant price; or who buy up all such articles to sell them to the needy for enormous prices. This is a grievous sin, and usurers are threatened with eternal death, for Christ ex­pressly prohibits lending with usury. (Luke VI. 34, 35.)

Usurers are the real leeches of the poor, whom they rob of their sweat and blood, and since they transgress the natural law, but still more the divine, which commands us to love our neighbor, and be merciful to the needy, they will surely not possess the kingdom of heaven. Would to God, the hard-hearted sinner might consider this, and take to heart the words of Christ: What doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul (Matt. XVI. 26.)