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It is commonplace to see Catholics on television who deny the truths of the Faith; yet people call them 'practicing Catholics'. It would never be said, or people of another religion, who despised its teachings, that they were faithful to it. This is one sort of danger that Christ warned his followers to expect.
In a hotel lobby, when an important person is surrounded by admirers, an onlooker must either push through them, to see him closely, or climb nearby stairs for a better view. Likewise, someone who wants to be closer to God must push forward to meet Him, in humility and trust, or take a careful look at His attributes, and see how he can please Him.
In contemplative prayer, in a state of grace, a soul can be lifted by God into new states of union as swiftly and directly as if that person were a child being borne aloft, flying towards Heaven on the back of an eagle.
In contemplative prayer, in a state of grace, a soul can be lifted by God into new states of union as swiftly and directly as if that person were a child being borne aloft, flying towards Heaven on the back of an eagle.
A person who is brought back to God's friendship, reconciled through a sacramental Confession, and brought closer through the Mass and Holy Communion, is like a man suddenly brought back to a main road, from a far away desert country, and who now drives straight towards Heaven, as long as he does not deviate from the route.
Thoughtful people mourn those who died on the battlefields of war, but many fail to mourn the tiny infants cut to pieces by abortion.
Millions were slaughtered in the last world war, and there is a slaughter just as great taking place through abortion.
A major city cannot be called holy until those in charge have ceased to pour public funds and taxpayer's money into events, dramas, exhibitions and publications which are demeaning, immoral, irreverent towards worthy causes, or even blasphemous.
When people desert Christ and the Church it's as if they leave a wide open space around their city that must be filled. Therefore, dark forces move in, like a big shadow creeping forward.
How much children suffer, when the matter of abortion arises in conversation or on television today! It is no small matter, when children learn from their mother that she has destroyed an earlier sibling - however grave her excuse. What a dreadful thing for them to learn, that their mother has chosen to end one human life, at an early stage. She sat in judgement on a member of the family, and awarded the death penalty.
The truth about society is presented in all sorts of strange ways, according to the policies of celebrities, or people in Government or in medicine. It can happen that good people who want to stop the killings which inevitably occur in a war, are labelled 'peace-lovers', and applauded. Others, who want to stop abortion killings, are labelled 'single issue fanatics'.
It is only too easy for the Clergy to use the excuse of 'pastoral sensibility' to avoid speaking about moral issues that can bring death-of-soul to some parishioners, such as abortion, and to speak out only against issues that will not cause controversy or local antagonism: for example, nuclear war, the arms race, and pollution.
A person who acts in hatred towards his fellow-creatures is as if shouting out to Christ on the Cross: "No, I won't serve You. I refuse to love my neighbour". In his hatred he is more disfigured than the bleeding figure of Christ, because the man becomes less than a man, and very undignified, through his hatred. Christ was perfect man, and God, in His charity, even when He was almost unrecognisable through His many wounds.
God rewards all who have done His Will. Just as the Father has compassion upon every innocent child who dies through abortion, so He has compassion on everyone who dies not by such deliberate acts, but by natural disasters, by floods, famine, hurricanes, tidal waves and earthquakes, for example. Each individual is precious to Him, and receives a just judgement at death.
God rewards all who have done His Will. Just as the Father has compassion upon every innocent child who dies through abortion, so He has compassion on everyone who dies not by such deliberate acts, but by natural disasters, by floods, famine, hurricanes, tidal waves and earthquakes, for example. Each individual is precious to Him, and receives a just judgement at death.
It is a tragedy when people die suddenly, especially if they are unprepared or trapped in mortal sin. Each is catapulted into the presence of the Creator, and is carried towards Heaven, if in a state of grace, possessed by the Holy Spirit, or else falls into Hell. We should all give up our sins, and love God, and show love for Him and our neighbour.
A person who goes his own way, ignoring God's laws, and not caring about committing mortal sin, is like a person in a lift which is hurtling towards destruction because the cable has snapped. Unless he accepts that he is in danger, and calls for help in time, he will perish.
In a story, a kind king told His children that He would give them every advantage, and make them very happy, but they must learn to take responsibility for their behaviour. He said: When you are grown-up, and if you deliberately do grave wrong, you will go to prison. They all agreed that the king's words are wise and just. And so it is, with the warnings given to us by Jesus Christ our God and King, about persistant grave sin, and Hell.
A person who has successfully struggled against sin or temptation might expect to feel joyful, not tearful and half-dead. Yet he is like a man who is just leaving a battlefield, who only then sees his ragged uniform, and his wounds. It takes time to recover, and to regain equilibrium.
To receive Christ in Holy Communion, with His Divine life and light and love, is to receive Fire from Heaven: a transforming fire from the heart of the God-man. How foolish we are if we rush away straight afterwards. How foolish is the priest who does not pause in prayer and recollection, but rushes towards the end of the Mass.
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