Today's Topics:

1) Gospel - Mk 7:1-13 - When the Pharisees with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of His disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. (For the Pharisees and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders. And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without purifying themselves. And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds.) So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Him, "Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" He responded, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.

You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." He went on to say, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition! For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and Whoever curses father or mother shall die. Yet you say, 'If someone says to father or mother, "Any support you might have had from me is qorban"' (meaning, dedicated to God), you allow him to do nothing more for his father or mother. You nullify the word of God in favor of your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many such things."

Memorial of Saint Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs

Saint Paul and Companions, pray for us!

Bishop Sheen quote of the day

2, 3, 4) Father Robert Spitzer on his book: The 4 levels of Happiness.

Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., is President of the Magis Center of Reason and Faith (magiscenter.com) and also the Napa Institute (napa-institute.org). He was President of Gonzaga University from 1998 to 2009, where he increased the student body by 75%, oversaw the construction of 20 new facilities, and raised $200+ million for scholarships and buildings. He is the author of eighteen books, including the award-winning New Proofs for the Existence of God, and most recently, Science at the Doorstep to God and Science, Reason, and Faith: Discovering the Bible. He has also authored many scholarly articles on faith and science, metaphysics, and happiness and ethics