Search Page
Showing 601 - 620 of 1173
If we are tempted to be proud or self-satisfied, seeing the good work we achieve for God, we need only remember Christ's Passion, by which He won for us all the graces we enjoy, and the blessings of the spiritual life, and we shall be able to serve Him as He deserves, in humility and gratitude.
We must remove from ourselves and our lives whatever prevents us from entering the small 'doorway' to a life of humility, joy, spiritual beauty; that is, remove our sins and foolish attachments.
A person whose heart and soul is numb with lack of faith or despondency is like a person sitting covered with ice in a snow-bound landscape. The only solution is to let Divine Love into his heart, and to take a new look at his life.
Christ came from Heaven as a man: a fire of Divine Love, embodied. His presence 'melted' and changed some people, who enjoyed a new and glorious life; but other people had no desire to allow Him to 'thaw' their frozen hearts and cold souls, and reacted to Him with anger.
Jesus Christ was aware of His own Origin and Divine nature throughout His whole life on earth. Though He took a human nature to Himself and lived as a little boy in our world, He did not have to be told His purpose in life. About all these things, He had Divine knowledge and implicit human knowledge, as a boy, though He had to learn how to put it into words.
Christ sees everything that human beings do. Human life is like a long, dimly-lit corridor; yet though people act in dark corners or behind closed doors, He sees and understands everything people do, whether in hidden areas, behind locked doors, in bright chambers or dark rooms - or in cellars deep underground. He loves sinners, but loathes sin; and so He encourages us all to repent, and He longs for everyone to change.
In the history of the world and of religions, there has been one Person Who killed no-one, who healed everyone who suffered, and Who has proved, by His Resurrection from death, that He can take His followers, too, up to Heaven, just as He has promised. That person is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary.
Whoever searches for an answer to life's questions can do no better than to listen to Jesus. He is the only one of Whom it can be said: He healed everyone, He killed no-one, and He rose from the dead, proving that He has the power to take His followers up to Heaven. Everyone looking clearly at the truth will appreciate that good news, which is worth having.
A person who ends his life in Hell is trapped, and hopeless. He had one life on earth, and countless opportunities in which to do good, to love God and his neighbour and to make wise choices. But in freely choosing to do evil, right to the end, he chose to live in Satan's Kingdom, from which there is no escape.
It is possible in the world to follow the inspiration of God; yet those who are transformed by Baptism are full of Divine Life of the Blessed Trinity. Only God can see who loves and serves Him and is on the Way to Heaven; but, outside the Church, it is difficult to live as a Saint among sinners if a person is ignorant of what God's Will really is, and does not have the ordinary channels of grace given unfailingly through the Church. All the more reason why we should spread the good news about Christ: the Way, the truth and the life, Who promises Heaven to forgiven sinners.
Just as pond creatures which make their way to the surface of a pond are dazzled by the sunlight above, so human beings who rise up from earthly life and enter Heaven are dazzled by Divine glory; so as I paint them in my Last Judgement I should not paint them in much detail, but as if half hidden in dazzling light.
All who are sent as missionaries, to share the Faith with other people, should listen to the Church, that is, to the Holy Father and the other Bishops who hand on the truth - that Christ is the only Saviour, and that Baptism is the gateway to Divine Life. No other Gospel should be preached.
A person who refuses Divine Help, and pursues his selfish desires until death, inevitably experiences the painful separation from God which they chose in earthly life and which continues into Eternity. Without God, all is pain and grief, unending, in the company of the demons and all the damned.
Any politician who wants to help his country should oppose with all His might unjust and immoral new laws. Once such a bad law is passed, it is easier for sinister, related matters to gain approval, and the government becomes like a runaway train which endangers onlookers as well as passengers.
Even more important than action in the world, to abolish the evil of abortion, is prayer. People in monasteries, inspired to pray about this tragedy, should pray, as should people in the whole world, as well; the God Who loathes injustice, will overcome this evil in our society today.
All good people, whether in the world or cloistered, clerical or lay-persons or in Religious Life, should pray about the evil of abortion; then the Father, Who cannot abide injustice, will change things, so that unborn babies are no longer in such danger of being unjustly slaughtered in the womb.
St. Francis de Sales is in Heaven, full of the bright cloud of Divine Love which now surrounds him. He breathed out that love, to surround me with it, long ago, as I was reading his 'Introduction to the Devout Life'. By his prayer for me, Divine love enfolded and enlightened me as I was reading.
Christ said that in looking at my Last Judgement people will see in an instant what is important about life. Through seeing the three main areas - Heaven, earthly life, and Hell, they will straight away receive His message, which is that only the virtuous go to Heaven - through the grace of Christ - when they die, whereas unrepentant sinners go to Hell.
Every inspiration or movement which goes against God and the Father's Will by corrupting or destroying innocent life is Satanic in origin, even if people in embryo experimentation and related matters believe they are doing good and do not recognise that anti-life actions are evil.
There are souls in Hell who are being tormented by demons. In earthly life, they refused to listen to God who loves them. They chose to walk on the path to Hell as they cried out, until death. 'I can do whatever I like'.
Showing 601 - 620 of 1173