Solomon

Let's call to mind all those we've promised to pray for, and let's take our next step in our journey through the Old Testament.

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.”

He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again. He ascended into heaven, and He seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting, amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and for you, our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed, our Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning as now, never shall be, world without end, amen. Our first mystery. In first John chapter 2 verse 16,

we are warned about the threefold disordered desire of lust and greed and pride. These are the big three temptations of sex, money, and power. St. John of the Cross, the great spiritual master, counsels that if you don't get a handle on these, they will give rise to all the other self-destructive vices like vanity, envy, sloth, anger, gluttony, and so on, and they will destroy your life. And nothing shows that more clearly than the tragic story of Solomon.

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hollow would be your name. By kingdom come, by will be done, and earth as it is in heaven.”

Give us a stay, our dear thee, bread, and forgive us our trespasses.

As we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us, and earth is known at the hour of our death, amen.

As it was in the meekening as now, never shall be, world without end, amen.

“All my Jesus, for give us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to have, and especially those most in need of thy mercy.”

Or second mystery, we read the story of Solomon in the first book of kings and its tragic, especially since it starts out so good. God promises David that he, God, would be a Father to Solomon. And when Solomon first became king, God gave him extravagant gifts, great wisdom, political security, health and prosperity. But God also tells Solomon that he must keep three rules. First, do not multiply wives. This would help the king resist lust. Second, do not multiply silver and gold.

This would help the king resist greed. Third, the king must not multiply horses.

And the ancient world horses were one of the most powerful offensive military weapons, and this rule would help him resist pride, and the lust for power and control.

Pretty simple. Don't multiply wives, wealth, or horses. Don't indulge in lust, greed, or pride.

“Unfortunately, Solomon did just the opposite.”

Our father, who art in heaven, would be your name. By kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us a stare, dear thee, bread, and forgive us our trespasses. Was re- forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil I meant. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

“Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.”

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning as noun to for shall be, world without end, amen. Oh, my Jesus. Forgive us, our sins, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our third mystery.

In the first book of kings, we read that Solomon grossly multiplied wives, money, and military power to an astonishing degree. He acquired 700 wives and 300 concubines. He built such a large offensive military force that he had to build new cities just to house his horses, men, and weapons.

And this enabled him to personally receive an annual income of 3.5 billion dollars a year in today's money.

So instead of being careful to follow God's rules for happiness and the success of his kingdom,

And what do you think was a result?

Our father who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, that kingdom come by will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

“Give us a stare, do they bat and forgive us our trespasses?”

As we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil amen. They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

“Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.”

They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

They'll marry full of grace to Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

“Has it was in the beginning as now, never shall be, world without end, amen?”

Call my Jesus. Or give us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to have an especially those most in need of thy mercy.

Our fourth mystery, the first effect of Solomon's indulgence is a strangement from God.

You can't be close to God if you're just completely lost in vise. Solomon's seven hundred foreign wives lead him to worship their pagan gods, and he builds places of worship for idols like Mouloc, who required child sacrifice. That's just how far Solomon has fallen away from God. Lost, greed, and the hunger for power alienated and embittered the leaders of Israel's tribes,

estranging them from Solomon and setting emotion the division and civil war that would tear the kingdom apart. Solomon's vise makes himself and everyone around him miserable. One of the books of the Bible that's attributed to Solomon is the book of ecclesiasties.

And in the first two chapters, Solomon talks about how he indulged himself in every kind of pleasure, saying,

"Nothing that my eyes desired did I deny them, nor did I deprive myself of any pleasure." But soon enough, he finds his mind, and his senses are dulled, and he became incapable of enjoying any of it. And he said, "Therefore, I hated my life." And we all know this is true. Giving into vise and overindulgence, it ruins happiness.

Immorality makes it impossible to enjoy even the good things God offers. This is why the Lord gives us his moral law so that we don't end up hating our own life. Our father, who art in heaven, hollowed beer name, that kingdom come by will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

As we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation.

But deliver us from evil, amen.

“Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.”

Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed are Thou among women, blessed is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and earn us now in the hour of our death, amen. For give us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to have an especially those most in need of thy mercy. Our fifth mystery, Solomon didn't fall because he lacked education or information.

He was the wisest man on earth. He fell because he indulged his vices and did not uproot them and conquer them with virtue. The Holy Spirit gives us the tragic story of Solomon so we can learn and not repeat his self-destruction. The great spiritual masters say every person is enslaved by two or three deadly sins, pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony or lust. So we should ask the Holy Spirit to show us which ones have us in their grip. But let me suggest two ways to identify yours.

“First, what disturbs your peace? What irritates you? What makes you anxious? What offends you? What leaves you restless?”

John the Cross would say, where peace is lost, attachment to vice is exposed. So if correction disturbs you, it's pride. If someone else's success disturbs you, it's envy. If a lack of recognition disturbs you, then it's vanity. If giving up entertainment, news, sports, or YouTube disturbs you, it's sloth. If loss of comfort or power or controlled disturbs you, then it's gluttony or greed. If being denied sexual gratification disturbs your peace, then it's lust.

See, peace is the canary in the coal mine.

And the second way to identify your deadly sins is this.

Do a brief examination of conscience every day for a week or so.

“Ask yourself, what did I think say or do that was wrong?”

And when did I fail to do what was right? But then ask, why did I do that? What was the disordered desire that drove it? Pride, vanity, envy, sloth, anger, greed, gluttony or lust?

And once you've identified them, take them to confession as fast as you can, because only Jesus has the power to heal you.

“But then you must participate in your rescue. That means practicing the opposite virtues that will conquer those deadly vices.”

Our father who art in heaven, hollowed be your name, by kingdom come by will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Your vices today are daily bread and for your vices are trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil Amen. Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

“Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.”

Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus.

“Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.”

Your Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee blessed, our Thalmong women blessed, it is a fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen. Your Mary mother of God, pray for us in our ensnown at the hour of our death, amen.

So we must appreciate who they are as trouble summons they might be right now, because that's only right now, and being like taking temperance to it's absolute extreme that it's a real, really great practice

“of being in the present, because otherwise you're just stuffing your face on something to the point of losing enjoyment.”

Yeah, that's this is such a good point that over indulgence ruins enjoyment of the thing you're indulging in. Yeah, and everything else. And everything else, and it ruins you. You keep trying to add, you add one thing to a scale and it's perfectly balanced, but then you keep adding things and things and things and then trying to balance it out with something else.

Yeah, and you'll never find any balance.

Yeah, I love this, this, this model, leave the party before it's done. Not before it's done, because that's, you know, maybe the party ends when you leave, but leave the party while you're still having fun.

“Oh, leave the party while you're still having fun.”

I have such foam that I'm always like, I have to wait until things get dull and boring and then the moment stretch on. I'm, I live my life with a lot of awkward goodbye, because you know that you didn't say goodbye at the right time.

You waited way too long and you stretched it on, but there's something really lovely about living your life.

Oh, everything is still going really great. I'm not even, I know I'll be missing out maybe on a moment or two if I leave, but there will be more moments. Continue to live in the present, don't wait for everything to sour before you leave. Don't stop eating the chips when they start tasting disgusting to you. Yeah, yeah.

What a great image of temperance of curbing our overindulgence. Even spending so much time with people that I personally end up staying up way too late and then I'm exhausted and tired. Just to scrape the bottom of conversation as much as I can instead of saying, I want to see you again, but I have to go to bed now. I'll see you soon and saving it.

Ultimately, this curbing our overindulgence, stopping early in the pursuit of any good thing.

Whether it's any good thing, if we curb that, stop pursuing it and then say Jesus, I'm going to stop pursuing this now because what I really want is you. Then we begin to order everything and all the desires in our life toward God.

“Yeah, and do you know when to stop something, if you can no longer see Christ in it?”

Yeah, you know, I'll share with everyone an experience that I've had that there's nothing that I like better than having than when I'm with friends to have a nice drink with them. Let's say you go out for a meal and a nice wine pairs really well with a meal or Indian food beer goes really well with Indian food. Or just a drink with friends in some celebration, but I've been blessed or cursed that if I have one drink of alcohol, it totally destroys my sleep. And then it makes it so hard the next morning to pray.

So being able to say, you know what, I'm not going to have this drink because I want God even more. Then everything starts this way we start to order. It's the same when at the end of the night with friends, we want to get every moment of conversation and we want to catch up more, discuss more of this or that. It's a beautiful sacrifice and prioritization to say, let's stop and let's pray the rows three together. Exactly.

It's been a long time since I've done that with my friends while we're in the middle of catching up because we see each other less and less. But it's something we did all the time in college, that was a great way to end the night. It was a great way to say it's closing time, but it's also. It's a really great sacrifice to say, I really want to be with all of these people, but it is even more important that we're all spending time in prayer with God.

And then, every time we stop short, we say, Lord, I'm doing this because what I really want is you.

Thanks for the conversation. Thank you.

“Let's be apostles of friendship, good conversation, and the rosary.”

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