“This I command you: love one another.”
—
John 15:17
February 2011
53 posts
January 2011
74 posts
“Faith has to do with things that are not seen, and hope with things that are not at hand.”
—St. Thomas Aquinas
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Over a hundred years ago... →
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Over a hundred years ago, a university student found himself seated in a train by the side of a person who seemed to be a well-to-do peasant. He was praying the rosary and moving the beads in his fingers.
“Sir, do you still believe in such outdated things?” asked the student of the old man.
“Yes I do. Do you not?” asked the old man.
The student burst out into laughter and said, “I do not believe in such silly things. Take my advice. Throw the rosary out through this window and learn what science has to say about it.”
“Science? I do not understand this science? Perhaps you can explain it to me,” the man said humbly with some tears in his eyes.
The student saw that the man was deeply moved. So to avoid further hurting the feelings of the man, he said, “Please give me your address and I will send you some literature to help you on the matter.”
The man fumbled inside pocket of his coat and gave the boy his visiting card. On glancing at the card, the student bowed his head in shame and became silent.
On the card he read: “Louis Pasteur, Director of the Institute of Scientific Research, Paris, France.”
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“If God is the Creator of all things and evil is a thing, then God is the Creator of evil and He is to be blamed for its existence. No, evil is not a thing but a wrong choice, or the damage done by a wrong choice. Evil is no more a positive thing than blindness is, but it is just as real.”
—Peter Kreeft
“We don’t ask, “How could they do that?” Rather, we ask, “How can we strengthen one another to do what is right?”
—Fr. Frank Pavone
“You haven’t been praying? Why, because you haven’t had time? But you do have time. Furthermore, what sort of works will you be able to do if you have not meditated on them in the presence of the Lord, so as to put them in order? Without that conversation with God, how can you finish your daily work with perfection? Look, it is as if you claimed you had no time to study because you were too busy giving lessons. Without study you cannot teach well.”
—St. Josemaria Escriva (via becket)
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
—Joshua 1:9
“If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already full. It is as simple as that.”
—Mother Teresa
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“Love tends to become like the one loved; in fact, it even wishes to become one with the one loved. God loved unworthy man. He willed to become one with him, and that was the Incarnation.”
— -Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Now This is Communion →
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There is an estimated (at least) 350,000 Catholic Masses celebrated every day on planet Earth. It is celebrated in every nook and cranny on the planet, by every race and nationality, and using every language. And each of these Masses is celebrated (generally) using the same scripture readings and the same prayers.
Every single one of these 350,000 Masses is actually doing exactly what Jesus said to do in scripture (Luke 22:19, 1 Cor 11:23-29) when he said “Do this in memory of me.” Catholics live that out as a Church over 350,000 times a day. That means there are 4 priests saying those precise words, “Do this in memory of me,” every single second of every single day.
Every one of these Masses is literally and continually making present Christ’s (once and for all) sacrifice on Calvary for all mankind. At any second you can join your own prayers to one. And we don’t only worship in union with those still living here on Earth, we are also joined by heaven’s saints and angels at every Mass.
When you participate in a Catholic Mass, you are participating in the same celebration as these other 350,000 daily Masses all over the world (you wanna talk about a “mega-church”?). We are all joined in the same readings and prayers and we partake of the same, specific Eucharist. And the rest of the time, when we are living out our faith outside of Mass, there are (literally) a billion other Catholics around the world continually offering it up on our behalf.
Now that’s unity (John 17:11). That’s communion.
By Matthew Warner at FallibleBlogma.com
“Aren’t you, like me, hoping that some person, thing, or event will come along to give you that final feeling of inner well-being you desire? Don’t you often hope: ‘May this book, idea, course, trip, job, country or relationship fulfill my deepest desire.’ But as long as you are waiting for that mysterious moment you will go on running helter-skelter, always anxious and restless, always lustful and angry, never fully satisfied. You know that this is the compulsiveness that keeps us going and busy, but at the same time makes us wonder whether we are getting anywhere in the long run. This is the way to spiritual exhaustion and burn-out. This is the way to spiritual death.”
— Fr.Henri J.M Nouwen (Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular World)
