The Book of Confidence - Chapter Four - Part 2

The Book of Confidence - Chapter four - part 2


Grace Can Sanctify Us in an Instant

Abyss of human weakness, tyranny of bad habits! How many Christians receive in the tribunal of Penance absolution for their sins. Their contrition is sincere, they make vigorous resolutions… and they fall again into the same sins, sometimes grave; the number of their falls grows without ceasing! Do they not have, then, abundant reason for discouragement?

Nothing is more just than that the evidence of our own misery keeps us humble. That it should make us lose confidence would be a catastrophe more dangerous than so many falls into error.

The soul that falls should rise immediately. It should not cease to implore the mercy of the Lord. Do you not know that God has His hours and can, in an instant, elevate us to a very high degree of sanctity?

Had not Mary Magdalen led a criminal life? Grace, nevertheless, transformed her instantaneously. Without transition, a sinner became a great saint. Now, then, the action of God has not been reduced in what it can do.

What it did for others it will be able to do for us. Do not doubt. Confident and persevering prayer will obtain a complete cure of our souls.

Do not tell me that time passes and that now, perhaps, your life is reaching its end.

Our Lord waited for the agony of the good thief in order to attract him victoriously to Himself. In one single minute, that man of such guilt converted! His faith and his love were so great that, in spite of his great crimes, he did not even pass through purgatory. He occupies an elevated place in heaven forever.

Let nothing, then, alter your confidence! Even though you be in the depths of the abyss, call out to heaven without ceasing. God will end by responding to your cry and will work His justice in you.

The Book of Confidence - Chapter Four part 1

Chapter Four
Confidence in God and Our Spiritual Necessities


Our Lord Is Merciful to Sinners

Divine Providence feeds the birds of the trees; It also takes care of our bodies. What is this body of misery? A fragile creature, one condemned to death and destined to be consumed by worms.

In the mad rush of life, we think that all things lead to business or to pleasures. However, every step moves us closer to the end. We ourselves drag our corpses to the edge of the grave.

If God so concerns Himself with perishable bodies, with what solicitude will He not look after our immortal souls? He prepares for them treasures of grace, whose riches exceed all that we can imagine. He sends them superabundant help for their sanctification and salvation.

These means of sanctification that the Faith puts at our disposal will not be studied here.

I merely wish to speak to the worried souls that one finds everywhere. With the Gospel in my hand, I will show them the emptiness of their fears.

Neither the gravity of their faults nor their multiple relapses into errors should overwhelm them.

On the contrary, the more they sense the weight of their own misery, the more they should lean upon God. Let them not lose confidence! However horrible their state may be, even though they may have led a disorderly life for a long time, with the help of grace, they can convert and be raised to high perfection.

The mercy of Our Lord is infinite; nothing exhausts it, not even faults that appear to us to be the most degrading and criminal ones. During His mortal life the Master received sinners with a truly divine goodness; He never refused them pardon.

Moved by the ardour of her repentance, Mary Magdalen enters the banquet hall. Without worrying about worldly conventions, she prostrates herself before the feet of Jesus, inundating them with tears. Simon, the Pharisee, contemplates the scene with a sarcastic air; he becomes indignant within himself. “If this man were a prophet,” he thinks, “he would know surely what this woman is worth. He would reject her with disdain.” But the Saviour does not reject her. He accepts her sighs, her tears, all the sensible signs of her humble contrition. He purifies her of her stains and showers her with supernatural gifts. And His Sacred Heart overflows with immense joy, while on high, in the Kingdom of His Father, the angels vibrate with jubilation and praise. A soul that was lost has been found; a soul was dead, and, behold, it is again restored to true life!

The Master is not content with receiving poor sinners with sweetness; He goes so far as to take up their defence. And is this not, furthermore, His mission? Did He not make Himself our advocate?1

One day they bring him a wretched woman, surprised in the flagrant act of her sin. The harsh law of Moses condemns her formally; the guilty person must die the slow torment of stoning.

Nevertheless, the Scribes and Pharisees wait impatiently for the sentence of the Saviour. If He pardons her, His enemies will accuse Him for despising the traditions of Israel. What will He do?

A single word will fall from His lips, and this word will be enough to confound the proud Pharisees and save the sinful woman.

“He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”2

An answer full of wisdom and of mercy. Hearing it, these arrogant men blush with shame. They withdraw, confounded, one after the other; the ancients are the first to flee.

And Jesus is left alone with the woman. “Where are they that accused thee?” He asks. “Hath no man condemned thee?”

She answers: “No man, Lord.” And Jesus continues: “Neither will I condemn thee! Go, and now sin no more!”3

When sinners come to Him, Jesus hurries to meet them. Like the father of the prodigal son, He is waiting for the return of the ungrateful ones. Like the good shepherd, He seeks after the lost sheep; and when He finds it, He puts it on His divine shoulders and restores it bloodstained
to the fold.

Oh! He will not irritate its wounds; like the good Samaritan, He will treat them with symbolic wine and oil. Over its sores, He will pour the balsam of penitence; and, in order to fortify it, He will make it drink of His Eucharistic chalice.

Guilty souls, do not fear the Saviour; it was especially for you that He came down to earth. Never renew the cry of despair of Cain: “My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon.”4 How this would amount to being ignorant of the Heart of Jesus!

Jesus purified Magdalen and pardoned the triple denial of Peter. He opened heaven to the good thief. In truth, I assure you, if Judas had gone to Him after the crime, Our Lord would have received him with mercy.

How, then, would He not pardon you as well?

Adoption

I found this website, it is very touching. If you have the time and money, please consider adopting one of these angels. If not could you spare some money towards their adoption. Or could you blog share this and pray for this cause.




http://reecesrainbow.org/category/waitingchildren/other-angel-boys


CLICK HERE to share Reece's Rainbow on Your Blog! Thank you!

The Book of Confidence - Part 3 continues and ends

Chapter Three
Confidence in God and Our Temporal Necessities


Seeking First the Kingdom of God and His Justice

“Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”

It was thus that the Saviour concluded the discourse on Providence. Aconsoling conclusion, it includes a conditional promise; it depends on us to be benefited by it. The Lord will occupy Himself all the more with our interests when we concern ourselves with His interests.

It behoves us to stop and meditate on the words of the Master.

A question immediately arises: Where is the kingdom of God, which we must seek before all else?

“Within you,” the Gospel answers. “Regnum Dei intra vos est.”5

To seek the kingdom of God is, then, to erect a throne for Him in our souls, to submit ourselves entirely to His sovereign dominion. Let us keep all of our faculties under the merciful sceptre of the Most High. Let our intelligence be mindful of His constant presence; let our will conform itself in everything with His adorable will; let our hearts fly to Him frequently in acts of ardent and sincere charity. Then we shall have practised that “justice” which, in the words of the Scriptures, signifies the perfection of the interior life.

We shall have followed to the letter the counsel of the Master; we shall have sought the kingdom of God.

“And all these things shall be added unto you.”

There is, here, a kind of bilateral contract: On our part we work for the glory of the heavenly Father; on His part, the Father commits Himself to provide for our necessities.

“Cast thy care upon the Lord.” Fulfil the contract that He proposes to you; He will fulfil the given word. He will watch over you, and “He will  sustain you.”6

“Think of Me,” said the Saviour to Saint Catherine of Siena, “and I will think of thee.” And, centuries later, in the convent of Paray, He promised Saint Margaret Mary that those particularly devoted to the Sacred Heart would have success in their undertakings.

Happy the Christian who conforms well to this maxim of the Gospel! He seeks God, and God looks after his interests with His omnipotence; what can be lacking to him? “The Lord ruleth me; and I shall want nothing.”7

Practice the solid interior virtues, and thus avoid all disorder: the faults and vices that are the most common causes of failure and ruin.

Praying for Our Temporal Necessities

Confidence, as we have just been describing it, does not take away from us the obligation of prayer. In our temporal necessities, it is not enough for us to await the assistance of God; we must also ask Him for it.

Jesus Christ left us the perfect model of prayer. Therein He makes us ask for our “daily bread”: “Give us this day our daily bread.”

In regard to this obligation of prayer, is there not possibly frequent negligence on our part? What imprudence and what foolishness! We deprive ourselves, out of levity, of the protection of God, the only supremely efficacious one.

The Capuchins, the legend says, never die of hunger because they always piously recite the Our Father. Let us imitate them, and the Most High will not leave us wanting in our necessities. Let us ask, then, for our daily bread. It is an obligation imposed on us by faith and by charity to ourselves.

Can we raise our pretensions, however, and also ask for riches? Nothing is opposed to this, as long as this plea is inspired by supernatural  motives and we stay fully submissive to the will of God. The Lord does not prohibit the expression of our desires; on the contrary, He wishes us to be quite open with Him. Let us not expect, however, that He bend to our fantasies; the very Divine Goodness itself is opposed to this. God knows what is good for us. And He will concede to us the goods of the earth only if they can serve for our sanctification.

Let us hand ourselves over completely to the direction of Providence, saying the prayer of the wise man: “Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither beggary, nor riches; give me only the necessaries of life. Lest perhaps being filled, I should be tempted to deny, and say: ‘Who is the Lord?’ or being compelled by poverty, I should steal, and forswear the name of my God.”8


Footnotes to Chapter 3

1. “Ideo dico vobis, ne solliciti sitis animae vestrae quid manducetis, neque corpori vestro quid induamini. Nonne anima plus est quam esca, et corpus plus quam vestimentum? “Respicite volatilia caeli, quoniam non serunt, neque metunt, neque congregant in horrea, et Pater vester caelestis pascit illa. Nonne vos magis pluris estis illis? “Et de vestimento quid solliciti estis? Considerate lilia agri quomodo crescunt: non laborant neque nent. Dico autem vobis quoniam nec Salomon in omni gloria sua coopertus est sicut unum ex istis. Si autem foenum agri, quod hodie est et cras in clibanum mittitur,Deus sic vestit: quanto magis vos modicae fidei! “Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid manducabimus, aut quid bibemus, aut quo operiemur? Haec enim omnia gentes inquirunt. Scit enim Pater vester, quia his omnibus indigetis.
   “Quaerite ergo primum regnum Dei et justitiam ejus, et haec omnia adjicientur vobis.” Matt. 6:25-26 and 28-33.
2. Prov. 31:10-28.
3. Petits Bollandistes, vol. 8, July 18.
4. “Numquid poterit Deus parare mensam in deserto?… Numquid et panem poterit dare aut parare mensam populo suo? Et ignis accensus est in Jacob, et ira ascendit in Israel, quia non crediderunt in Deo, nec speraverunt in salutari ejus.” Ps. 77:19-22.
5. Luke 17:21.
6. “Jacta super Dominum curam tuam, et ipse to enutriet.” Ps. 54:23.
7. “Dominus regit me, et nihil deerit.” Ps. 22:1.
8. “Mendicitatem et divitias ne dederis mihi: tribue tantum victui meo necessaria; ne forte satiatus illiciar ad negandum, et dicam: Quis est Dominus? aut egestate compulsus furer, et perjurem nomen Dei mei.” Prov. 30:8-9.

The Book of Confidence - Part 3 continues

Chapter Three
Confidence in God and Our Temporal Necessities


We Must Not Trouble Ourselves about the Future

God provides for our necessities.

“Be not solicitous,” says Our Lord. What is the exact sense of this counsel? In order to obey the directions of the Master, must we completely neglect our temporal affairs?

We do not doubt that, at times, grace asks from certain souls the sacrifice required by strict poverty and total abandonment to Providence.

Nevertheless, the rarity of these vocations is notable. The others, be they religious communities or individuals, have goods; they must manage them prudently.

The Holy Ghost praises the strong woman who knows how to govern her house well. In the Book of Proverbs, He shows her to us rising very early to distribute to her servants their daily tasks and working with her own hands as well. Nothing escapes her watchfulness. The members of her household have nothing to fear. Thanks to her foresight, they shall have what is necessary, agreeable, and even, to a certain extent, moderately luxurious. Her children proclaim her blessed, and her husband exalts her virtues.2

The Truth would not have praised that woman so warmly if she had not fulfilled her obligations.

It behoves us, then, not to afflict ourselves. We must occupy ourselves reasonably with our obligations, not allowing ourselves to be dominated by anguish over the sombre prospects of the future, and counting without hesitation on the aid of Divine Providence.

Have no illusions! Such confidence demands great strength of soul. We have to avoid a double shoal: an excess and a deficiency. On the one hand, he who, from negligence, takes no interest in his obligations and affairs cannot hope for extraordinary help from God without tempting Him. On the other hand, he who gives his material concerns the first place in his thoughts, who counts more upon himself than upon God, deceives himself even more crassly; he robs the Most High of the place in his life that belongs to Him.

“In medio stat virtus”: Between these two extremes duty is found.

If we have taken prudent care of our interests, to be afflicted about the future would amount to ignoring and despising the power and the goodness of God.

During the long years Saint Paul the Hermit lived in the desert, a crow brought him a half loaf of bread every day. One day Saint Anthony came to visit the illustrious solitary. The two saints conversed for a long time, forgetting during their pious meditations the necessity for food. But Providence thought of them: The crow came, this time carrying a whole loaf.

The heavenly Father created the whole universe with one single word; can it be difficult for Him to assist His sons in their hour of need? Saint Camillus of Lellis went into debt in order to help the sick poor. Seeing this, his fellow religious became alarmed. “Why doubt Providence?” the Saint quieted them. “Can it be difficult for Our Lord to give us a little of those goods that He heaps upon the Jews and the Turks, enemies one and the other of our Faith?”3 The confidence of Camillus was not disappointed; one month later, one of his protectors, upon dying, left him a considerable sum.

To be afflicted about the future constitutes a lack of confidence that offends God and provokes His anger.

When the Hebrews became lost in the sands of the desert after their flight from Egypt, they forgot the miracles that the Lord had worked in their favour. They were afraid and murmured: “Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?… Can He also give bread, or provide a table for His people?” These words angered the Lord. He hurled down fire from heaven upon them; His wrath fell over Israel, “because they believed not in God: and trusted not in His salvation.”4

There is no need to be afflicted; the Father watches over us.

The Book of Confidence - Part 3 continues

Chapter Three
Confidence in God and Our Temporal Necessities


God Provides According to the Situation of Each One

Should we take these words literally and understand them in their most restricted sense?Will God give us only that which is strictly necessary: a piece of dry bread, a glass of water, a bit of cloth that our misery urgently requires? No, the heavenly Father does not treat His sons with avaricious frugality. To think thus would be to blaspheme against the Divine Goodness, and, if I may say so, to be ignorant of His ways. In the exercise of His providence, as well as in His created works, God indeed employs great prodigality.

When He spread the world out through space, He drew thousands of stars out of nothing. In the Milky Way, that immense region of luminous nights, is not every grain of sand a world?

When He feeds the birds, He invites them to the most opulent table of nature. He offers them the ear-filled corn, the grains of all kinds that mature on the plants, the fruits from the autumn woods, the seeds that the farmers scatter in the furrows. What a varied list going on to infinity for the nourishment of these humble little creatures!

When He created vegetation, with what grace did He decorate its flowers! He made a crown for them inlaid with precious jewels; He put fragrant perfumes in their chalices; He spun their petals of silk, so brilliant and delicate that the artifices of industry will never equal their beauty.

And, then, when it is a question of man, His masterpiece, the adoptive brother of the Word Incarnate, would not God show Himself to be even more generous?

Let us consider, then, as an indisputable truth, that Providence does provide abundantly for the temporal necessities of man.

Unquestionably, there will always be rich and poor on the earth. While some live in abundance, others must work and practice a wholesome economy. The heavenly Father, however, furnishes all with the means to live with a certain well-being according to the conditions in which He has placed them.

Let us return to the comparison that Jesus employs. God vested the lily splendidly with that white and perfumed garment required by its nature.

The violet was dressed more modestly; God gave it, however, that which fits its particular nature. And these two flowers blossom sweetly in the  sun, lacking nothing that is necessary to them.

And so God acts with men. He puts some of them in the higher classes of society; and others He puts in less brilliant conditions; but to the one and to the other He nevertheless gives what is necessary for maintaining their positions in a dignified way.

An objection arises here in respect to the instability of social conditions. In the present crisis, is it not easier to fall than to rise or even to maintain oneself at the same social level?

Without a doubt. But Divine Providence distributes exactly the aid necessary for each one. For great evils He sends great remedies. That which economic catastrophes take from us, we can reacquire through our industry and our work. In those very rare cases in which our activity is rendered impossible, we have the right to hope for exceptional intervention from God.

Generally (at least this is the way I think), God does not bring about falls. He desires, on the contrary, that we develop ourselves, that we rise, that we grow with prudence. If, at times, He permits a decline in our social level, He does not wish this except as a manifestation of a posterior will, a will posterior to the action of our free will. More often than not, such a decline results from our own fault, either personal or hereditary. It is commonly a natural consequence of laziness, prodigality, or of various passions.

And even though a man has fallen, he can raise himself back up and, with the help of Providence, regain by his efforts the situation that he has lost.

The Book of Confidence - Fr. Thomas De Saint Laurent - Chapter 3

Chapter Three
Confidence in God and Our Temporal Necessities

God Provides for Our Temporal Necessities

Confidence, we have already said, is a heroic hope; it does not differ from the common hope of all the faithful except in its degree of perfection. It is, then, exercised upon the same objects as that virtue but by means of acts that are more intense and vibrant.

Like ordinary hope, confidence expects from our heavenly Father all the aids necessary for living a holy life here on earth and for meriting the happiness of Paradise. It expects, first of all, temporal goods, to the degree that these can lead us to our final end.

There is nothing more logical. We cannot proceed to conquer heaven as pure spirits; we are composed of body and soul. The body that the Creator formed with His adorable hands is our inseparable companion in our terrestrial existence, and it will also be the partaker of our eternal fortune after the general resurrection.We cannot act without its assistance in the battle for the conquest of our blessed life.

Now, then, in order to maintain itself and to fulfil its task completely, the body has multiple demands. It is necessary that Providence satisfy these demands, and it does so magnificently.

God takes upon Himself the responsibility of providing for our necessities, and this He does generously. He follows us with a vigilant eye and does not leave us in need. Amidst material difficulties, even anguishing ones, we must not become disturbed. With complete certainty we must hope to receive from the Divine Hands that which is necessary to maintain our lives.

“Therefore I say to you,” declares the Saviour, “be not solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than the meat, and the body more than the raiment?

“Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns; and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of such more value than they? …And for raiment why are you solicitous?

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven God doth so clothe; how much more
you, O ye of little faith?

“Be not solicitous therefore, saying ‘What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed?’ For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.

“Seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.”1

It is not enough for us to skip lightly over this discourse of Our Lord. We must fix our attention on it for a long time in order to seek its profound significance and to imbue our souls deeply with its doctrine.

The Importance of Chastity - Dr. Plinio Correa

In the midst of today’s moral decay, Holy Mother Church presents Saint Maria Goretti as a model of the battle against immorality. A role model of heroic purity, Maria Goretti invites us to be faithful to the traditional doctrine of the Catholic Church by fighting for purity, and opposing the liberal, permissive tendencies of our contemporary world.
The Church has always instilled this form of bravery in defense of virtue. That is why a faithful Catholic should prefer death to losing his or her purity. Unfortunately, today the very mention of the virtue of purity fills men and women with human respect, “what will people think?” But the Church teaches that purity is a virtue that must be practiced bravely and to perfection, a virtue which must be honored as a value in and of itself.
Much has been said about a truly Christian social order, but there can be no true social order without the family and there can be no true family without purity. Few dare to talk about another aspect of the practice of the virtue of purity: chastity according to one’s state in life, be it perfect chastity or married chastity. Purity must be practiced and defended in these two holy forms. The political and social order will inevitably crumble in ambiances where the virtue of purity is disregarded. Thus, there can be no preservation of the social and political order, nor the seriousbuilding of Christian civilization without a foun-dation based on purity–among other virtues.

Thomas Cardinal Collins

A picture of Thomas Cardinal Collins of Toronto with two priests of the Heralds of the Gospel in Rome.

Pictures about St Don Bosco on his feast day 31st January 2012

On the bed that can bee seen here below, Don Bosco spent his final days.

This was Don Bosco's room between 1861 and 1887

This is the small chapel in which Don Bosco celebrated Mass during the last years of his life.

All pictures courtesy http://www.donbosco-torino.it/eng/page17.html

St. Marcella - 31st January 2012

(325–410) She was a Christian ascetic in ancient Rome. Growing up in Rome, she was influenced by her pious mother, Albina, an educated woman of wealth and benevolence. Childhood memories centered around piety, and one in particular related to Athanasius, who lodged in her home during one of his many exiles. He may have taken special interest in her, thinking back to his own youthful practice of playing church. Athanasius interacted with his hosts on theological matters and recounted anecdotes of his own monastic life. His most spellbinding stories, however, were the miraculous tales of the desert monks. As a parting gift he left behind the first copy of his biography, The Life of St. Anthony. Marcella’s wealth and beauty placed her at the center of fashionable Roman society. She married young, to a wealthy aristocrat, but less than a year later he died. Her time of mourning over, young men soon came calling again. After her husband’s early death, she decided to devote the rest of her life to charity, prayer, and mortification of the flesh and was convinced that God was directing her to a life of poverty and service, she shocked her social circle when she left behind her fashionable dresses for a coarse brown garment and abandoned her usual extravagant hair styling and makeup. Appearing as a low-class woman, she started a trend as other young women join her. They formed a community known as the brown dress society, spending their time praying, singing, reading the Bible, and serving the needy. Her palatial home was now a refuge for weary pilgrims and for the poor. After her husband’s early death, she decided to devote the rest of her life to charity, prayer, and mortification of the flesh.

 Summoned by Bishop Damasus (who arranges lodging at Marcella’s hospitality house), Jerome arrived in 382. It was an exhilarating time for this woman of letters, who had immersed herself in both Greek and Hebrew, to be entertaining one of the great minds of the age. He spent the next three years in what he called her “domestic church,” translating the Bible into Latin. She learned under his teaching even as she critiqued his translation. He spoke and wrote of her Christian devotion and scholarship and commended her influence on Anastasius, bishop of Rome — particularly in his condemning Origen’s doctrines, which Jerome declared a “glorious victory.” Indeed, his admiration of Marcella was unbounded, not only for her intellectual acumen but also for her deference to men who might be threatened by her vast store of knowledge.

 Marcella, however, was also known for her efforts to restrain Jerome from quarreling with his opponents — or at least helping him control his legendary temper. Eleven of his extant letters are addressed to her, and she is mentioned in many of his other writings. In one of his letters he responded to her query about the truth of Montanism. Someone was apparently attempting to convert her, and she was deeply interested in what she is hearing, though suspecting that the claim that they possess a more authentic spirituality might have been false. Jerome writes a lengthy point-by-point refutation of the movement and then concludes: “It was at the home of Marcella that Jerome first met Paula, a devoted and scholarly woman who would become his long-time intellectual counterpart. When Jerome returned to the Holy Land, Paula relocated there as well. They invited Marcella to join them, but she remained in Rome to oversee her growing house of virgins, where she was addressed as Mother. But hard times were ahead of her. She was in her late seventies in 410, when the Goths, led by Alaric, pillaged the city. Soldiers stormed the residence, demanding she relinquish her hidden jewels and wealth, which long before had been sold to fund her charitable work. When she had nothing to give them, they struck her down. She was taken to a church set up as a sanctuary, but she died the next day.” Her Aventine Hill palace became a center of Christian activity. She was an associate of Saint Paula. Saint Jerome corresponded with her, and he called her “the glory of the ladies of Cadereyta.”

Considerations on the Conversion of Saint Paul - Dr. Plinio Correa

As Saint Paul was struck off his horse, he was shaken by the turn of events when Our Lord asked him the question “Why persecutest thou Me?” In other words, open your eyes! Examine your conscience! Realize the fact that you are doing something which, if you make an upright examination of conscience, you will find that it is wrong.

Our Lord’s question was reminiscent of one Our Lord Himself asked the man who hit Him during His Passion: “If I have spoken evil, give testimony of the evil; but if well, why strikest thou Me?”

In fact, Saint Paul gave no answer to Him because he had none to give. He simply responded: “Who art Thou, Lord?” And he said “Lord” right away because he sensed Who it really was. Our Lord answered: “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.”

By saying “Whom thou persecutest,” Our Lord made clear Who He is. He was telling Saint Paul: See Who I am. See Who you are persecuting, and therefore measure how hideous your crime is.

After this, Our Lord adds a somewhat mysterious statement: “It is hard for thee to kick against the goad.” The goad is the wind. He was saying that it is hard to oppose the wind. In this case, the wind is the blowing wind of grace that for a while had been calling Paul to conversion, but he resisted it. The context at least leads to this hypothesis.

Saint Paul answered in his own radical way. He wasted no time. He saw that he was wrong and placed himself at the service of God. He asked: “Lord, what wilt Thou have me do?” The Acts of the Apostles say that he was trembling and astonished as he asked the question. In other words, the blow had hit home. He was disoriented and afraid. He was shaken as he went through a short ordeal of a few minutes which completely changed him and shook his soul. Our Lord then said to him: “Arise, and go into the city, and there it shall be told thee what thou must do.”

Why did Our Lord not tell him what to do right away? The whole dialogue took place while Saint Paul was blinded and prostrated on the ground. He was told to arise and go to the city and find out what he must do. In other words, he must receive Our Lord’s orders slowly, subjecting himself with humility like a child who takes orders from his superior.

Our Lord was telling him: Go, therefore, groping and advancing step by step, to find out what I want, because I am your Lord and command you as a servant, who is under his Lord’s orders and can do nothing else.

Thus, Saint Paul did not know what God wanted of him. He did not even know if God might want him to remain blind for his whole life. He, the great Paul, the excellent and illustrious Pharisee, was now going to enter the city of Damascus like a child, led by the hand. In other words, it was the complete breakdown of his pride. The text of the Acts ends thus: “But they leading him by the hands, brought him to Damascus.”

In other words, he entered Damascus as a blind man. There he would be blind for a few days, until the scales would fall from his eyes.

Joy in Times of Difficulty Because God Is with Us - Pope Benedict XVI

At 9 a.m. today, Benedict XVI travelled to the parish of "Santa Maria delle Grazie" at Casal Boccone, in the northern sector of the diocese of Rome. There, in the courtyard of the parish complex which were inaugurated last year, he was greeted with dances and songs by children from the local primary school. The Holy Father expressed his thanks for the welcome and pronounced some off-the-cuff remarks. "I wish everyone a happy Sunday. We know that Christmas is approaching so let us prepare ourselves, not just with gifts but with our hearts. Let us think that Christ the Lord is close to us, that He enters our lives and brings us light and joy. 'Pray incessantly' says St. Paul today in his Letter to the Thessalonians. ... What this means is that we must not lose contact with God in our hearts. If such contact exists then we have a reason to be joyful. To all of you I wish the joy of Christmas, the presence of the Baby Jesus Who is the God of our hearts". Mass began at 9.30 a.m. with a greeting delivered by the parish priest, Fr. Domenico Monteforte. Excerpts from Benedict XVI's homily are given below: "Advent is a time of waiting, hope and preparation for the visit of the Lord. As we heard in the Gospel reading, the person and preaching of John the Baptist invite us to take up this commitment". John the Baptist "is the precursor, a mere witness, entirely subject to the One Whom he announces. He is voice in the desert, just as today, in the desert of the great cities of this world, in the great absence of God, we need voices which tell us simply that God exists, that He is always close even when He seems distant". John the Baptist "is a witness of the light. This fact touches our hearts, because in a world so full of shadows and darkness, we are all called to be witnesses of the light. This is the mission of Advent: being witness of the light, and we can do this only if we carry the light within us. ... In the Church, in the Word of God, in the celebration of the Sacraments, in the Sacrament of Confession and the forgiveness we receive, in the Eucharist where the Lord gives Himself into our hands and hearts, in of all this we touch the light and receive our mission: the mission of bearing witness to the fact that the light exists, of bringing that light into our world". "This 'Gaudete' Sunday is the Sunday of joy. It tells us that, even amidst our doubts and difficulties, joy exists because God exists and He is with us". "Looking at this church and the parish buildings, I see the fruits of patience, dedication and love. At the same time, by my presence here, I wish to encourage you also to raise that Church of living stones, which you yourselves represent. Each of you should feel yourselves to be an element of this living structure. A community is constructed with the contribution each person makes, with the commitment of everyone. I am thinking in particular of the field of catechesis, the liturgy and charity, the columns which support Christian life". "I also wish to draw your attention to the importance and the central role of the Eucharist. May the Mass be the focus of your Sunday, which must be rediscovered and lived as the day of the Lord and of the community, a day on which to praise and celebrate the One Who was born for us, Who died and rose again for our salvation, and Who asks us to live together joyfully, to be a community open and ready to welcome anyone who is alone and in difficulty. Do not lose your understanding of the significance of Sundays, and remain faithful to your appointment with the Eucharist. Early Christians were ready to give their lives for this". "Another point I would like to raise is that of the witness of charity, which must characterise your life as a community. Over recent years you have seen a rapid growth in numbers, but you have also witnessed the arrival of many people in situations of difficulty and want. These people need you, they need your material aid but also and above all of your witness as believers. Ensure that your community always remains a concrete expression of the love of God Who is rich in mercy, and that it invites people to approach Him with trust". Following the Mass, the Pope held a brief meeting with the members of the parish council. Before returning to the Vatican for the Angelus prayer, he addressed some remarks to faithful waiting outside the church to bid him farewell. "Thank you for your presence and the warmth of your welcome", he said. "Your beautiful, open and heartfelt cordiality reminded me of my visit to Africa. It is a great joy to me to see how, ... in this new parish, people actively participate in the Eucharist and prepare for Christmas. "Today, preparing for Christmas is very difficult", the Holy Father added. "I know that people have many commitments, but getting ready for Christmas does not only mean shopping and making preparations, it means being in contact with the Lord, going out to meet Him. I feel it is important not to forget this dimension. ... This is not an additional burden, but the power that enables us to do all we need to do. I hope you maintain permanent contact with Jesus, that His joy and strength might help you to live in this world".

Pope Pius VI repeatedly condemned the false concept of liberty and equality of the French Revolution

Pius VI repeatedly condemned the false concept of liberty and equality. In the Secret Consistory of June 17, 1793, quoting the words of the encyclical Inscrutabilie Divinae Sapientiae of December 25, 1775, he declared:

“‘The most perfidious philosophers go farther. They dissolve all those bonds by which human beings are joined to one another and to their rulers and by which they are maintained in their sense of duty; they keep screaming and proclaiming to the point of nausea that human beings are born free and not subject to the rule of anyone, and that society is therefore a multitude of foolish human beings whose stupidity prostates them before priests, by whom they are deceived, and before kings, by whom they are oppressed; to such a point that concord between the priesthood and the empire is nothing other than a giant conspiracy against man’s innate liberty.’

“To this false and mendacious name of liberty, those vaunted patrons of the human race have added the equally deceptive name of equality, as if among human beings who have come together in civil society, although they are subject to various emotions and follow diverse and uncertain impulses according to their individual whims, there ought not be one who by means of authority and force might prevail upon, oblige, moderate, and recall them from their perverse ways of acting to a sense of duty, lest society itself, from the reckless and contrary impetus of many desires, should fall into anarchy and be utterly dissolved. It is like harmony, which derives from the agreement of many sounds and which, if it does not consist of a suitable combination of strings and voices, disintegrates into a disturbed and clearly dissonant clatter.” (Pii VI Pont. Max. Acta [Rome: Typis S. Congreg. De Propaganda Fide, 1871], Vol. 2, pp. 26-27.)

Human History Is a History of Salvation - Pope Benedict XVI

During his general audience this morning the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to Psalm 126 which, he said, "celebrates the great things which the Lord has done for His people, and which He continues to do for all believers".


The Psalm "speaks of 'restored fortunes'", the Pope explained, "in other words, fortunes restored to their original state". This was the experience of the People of Israel when they returned to their homeland after the Babylonian exile, which had been such a devastating experience not only in political and social terms but also from a religious and spiritual point of view.


"Divine intervention often takes unexpected forms which go beyond what man might expect. ... God works marvels in the history of mankind. ... He reveals Himself as the powerful and merciful Lord, the refuge of the oppressed Who does not ignore the cry of the poor. ... Thus, with the liberation of the People of Israel, everyone recognises the great and wondrous things God has done for His People and celebrates the Lord as Saviour".


However, the Holy Father went on, "the Psalm goes beyond the purely historical and opens to a broader, theological dimension". It uses images which "allude to the mysterious truth of redemption, in which the gift we have received and the gift we await, life and death, intertwine".


The watercourses of the Neg'eb symbolise divine intervention which, like water, "is capable of transforming the desert into a vast expanse of green grass and flowers", the Pope explained. Later the Psalm also uses the image of peasants cultivating their fields "to speak of salvation. The reference here is to the annual cycle of agriculture: the difficult and arduous time of sowing then the overriding joy of the harvest. ... The seed sprouts and grows".


"This is the hidden mystery of life, these are the 'great and wondrous things of salvation which the Lord achieves in the history of mankind, but the secret of which is unknown to man. Divine intervention, when fully expressed, has an overpowering dimension, like the watercourses of the Neg'eb and the grain in the fields. This latter image also evokes the disproportion typical of the things of God: disproportion between the fatigue of sowing and the immense joy of the harvest".


"The Psalmist refers to all these things to speak of salvation. ... The deportation to Babylon, like other situations of suffering and crisis, ... with its doubts and the apparent distance from God is, in reality, ... like a seedbed. In the mystery of Christ and in the light of the New Testament, the message becomes even clearer and more explicit: the believer who passes through the darkness is like the seed of grain that falls to earth and dies, but brings forth much fruit".


"This Psalm teaches us that ... we must remain hopeful and firm in our faith in God. Our history, though often marked by suffering, uncertainty and moments of crisis, is a history of salvation and 'restoration of fortunes'. In Jesus our exile ends: ... in the mystery of His cross, in death transformed into life, like the seed which splits in the earth and becomes an ear of wheat".

The Sacraments and Christian prayer - Bl. Pope John Paul II

Instituted by the Saviour, Baptism is the first of the Sacraments; it abolishes 'original sin' and restores 'sanctifying grace' to the soul, introducing those who receive it into the trinitarian life of God and making them 'adoptive children' of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus, full members of the Christian Church - the Mystical body of Christ - and heirs to the eternal joys of Paradise.  To be born means entering into a specific divine plan: no one comes into the world by accident; on the contrary, everyone has a particular mission to perform, which, of course, we cannot know all about from the start but which will be made completely clear to us one day. So let us be guided by our awareness of being instruments of a God who has created us out of love and wishes to be repaid with love by us.
The sacrament of Confirmation is, as it were, a completing of Baptism, the stage of maturity on the journey to full admittance into the mystery of Christ and to responsible acceptance of one's vocation in the Church. To understand the meaning of this sacrament, we need first of all to reflect on the function of all the Sacraments.

Excerpts from 'The Joy of Loving' by Bl. Teresa of Calcutta

'Let us not be afraid to be humble, small, helpless to prove our love for God. The cup of water you give the sick, the way you lift a dying man, the way you feed a baby, the way you teach a dull child, the way you give medicine to a sufferer of leprosy, the joy with which you smile at your own at home - all this is GOd's love in the world today.'

' In Minneapolis, a woman in wheelchair, suffering continuos convulsions from cerebral palsy asked me what people like her could do for others. I told her: You can do the most. You can do more than any of us because your suffering is united with the suffering of Christ on the Cross and it brings strength to all of us. There is a tremendous strength that is growing in the world through this continual sharing, praying together, suffering together and working together.'

'There are sick and crippled people who cannot do anything to share in the work. So they adopt a Sister or a Brother, who then involves the sick co-worker fully in whatever he or she does. The two become like one person, and they call each other their second self. I have a second self in Belgium, and when I was last there, she said to me, 'I am sure you are going to have a heavy time, with all the walking and working and talking. I know this from the pain I have in my spine.' That was just before her seventeenth operation. Each time I have something special to do, it is she behind me that gives me all the strength and courage to do it.'

'God dwells in us. It doesn't matter where you are as long as you are clean of heart. Clean of heart means openness, that complete freedom, that detachment that allows you to love GOd without hindrance, without obstacles. When sin comes into our lives that is a personal obstacle between us and GOd. Sin is nothing but slavery.'

' To doctors: Have you experienced the joy of loving? You can do that as doctors. YOU have a beautiful opportunity when the sick come to you with great trust and confidence not only to receive a few tablets from you but to receive your tender love and care and especially when you have to make a sacrifice to look after the poor. Jesus said: 'Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me.'

'There is much suffering in the world - physical, material, mental. The suffering of some can be blamed on the greed of others. The material and physical suffering is suffering from hunger, from homelessness, from all kinds of diseases. But the greatest suffering is being lonely, feeling unloved, having no one. I have come more and more to realize that it is being unwanted that is the worse disease that any human being can ever experience.'

'To teachers: Do not neglect the weaker children. Consider the problems of the slow-witted, the dropouts - what will they become in society, if you do not look after them? Among the poor we have the rich poor - children who are better gifted. The rich poor child can still have a place but it is the child who is so dull, stupid, hungry that I must work for.'

'Let us beg form Our Lady to make our hearts 'meek and humble' like her Son's was. We learn humility through accepting humiliations cheerfully. Do not let a chance pass you by. It is so easy to be proud, harsh, moody and selfish, but we have been created for greater things. Why stoop down to things that will spoil the beauty of our hearts?'

Never Surrender to the Lure of Pessimism - Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI today made a pastoral visit to Lamezia Terme and Serra San Bruno, located in the region of Calabria in southern Italy. He began the day by travelling by plane from Ciampino airport in Rome to Lamezia Terme where he celebrated Mass at an industrial area on the outskirts of the town.


"In this Sunday's liturgy we heard the parable narrating the wedding feast to which many guests were invited", said the Holy Father in his homily. "The image of a banquet is often used in Scripture to indicate joy in communion and in the abundance of the Lord's gifts. ... Many people were invited, but something unexpected happened: they refused to participate in the feast, they had other things to do". However this did not deter the king who was organising the feast. "He was not discouraged but sent his servants out to invite others. The refusal of the first invitees had the effect of extending the invitation to everyone, including the poor, the abandoned and the disinherited. ... However there was a condition to attending this wedding feast: guests had to wear the wedding robe. Entering the hall, the king realised that someone had chosen not to wear it and, for this reason, that guest was excluded from the feast".


To explain the significance of the "wedding robe", the Holy Father quoted from a commentary written by St. Gregory the Great. "In a certain sense, the guest who responded to God's invitation to participate in His banquet had faith, which opened the door of the hall to him, but he lacked something essential: the wedding robe, which is charity, love. ... In symbolic terms the robe is woven with two threads: ... love of God and love of neighbour. We are all invited to be guests of the Lord, to enter with faith into His banquet, but we must wear and preserve the wedding robe, which is charity, we must live with profound love for God and for neighbour".


"I have come to share with you the joys and hopes, the toils and commitments, the ideals and aspirations of this diocesan community", Benedict XVI told the faithful. "This beautiful region is seismic not only in a geological sense, but also in structural, behavioural and social terms. It is a land where problems are acute and destabilising, a land where unemployment is a great concern, where an often pitiless criminality damages the fabric of society, a land which seems to be in a perpetual state of emergency. To that emergency you people of Calabria have responded with surprising readiness, with an extraordinary capacity to adapt to difficulties. ... Never surrender to the lure of pessimism, never close in on yourselves. Draw on the resources of your faith and your human capacities; strive to increase collaboration, to look after one another and the public good; preserve the wedding robe of love".


The Pope then went on to recall that his visit coincided with the end of the five-year pastoral plan of the local Church. He praised the initiatives that had been completed during that time, including a school for the Social Doctrine of the Church, expressing the hope that "such initiatives will produce a new generation of men and women capable of promoting the common good more than private interests". He also had words of encouragement for clergy and lay people who work to prepare Christian couples for marriage and the family "providing a response that is both evangelical and effective to the many challenges facing the family and life today".



Finally, the Holy Father praised priests for the work they do, encouraging them "increasingly to root your own spiritual lives in the Gospel, ... detaching yourselves from the worldly consumer mentality which is such a recurring temptation in the times in which we live. ... Use discernment and ecclesiastical criteria to evaluate groups and movements", he said.


"Do not be afraid to live and bear witness to the faith in the various fields of society, in the multifarious situations of human life", he concluded, addressing the faithful. "Thanks to the light of faith and the force of charity, you have every reason to be strong, trusting and courageous".

St. Hubert - Patron of the Hunt

Confessor, thirty-first Bishop of Maastricht, first Bishop of Liège, and Apostle of the Ardennes, born about 656; died at Fura (the modern Tervueren), Brabant, 30 May, 727 or 728. He was honored in the Middle Ages as the patron of huntsmen, and the healer of hydrophobia (rabies). He was the eldest son of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine, and grandson of Charibert, King of Toulouse, a descendant of the great Pharamond. Bertrand’s wife is variously given as Hugbern, and as Afre, sister of Saint Oda. As a youth, Hubert went to the court of Neustria, where his charming manners and agreeable address won universal esteem, gave him a prominent position among the gay courtiers, and led to his investment with the dignity of “count of the palace”. He was a worldling and a lover of pleasure, his chief passion being for the chase, to which pursuit he devoted nearly all his time.


The tyrannical conduct of Ebroin caused a general emigration of the nobles and others to the court of Austrasia. Hubert soon followed them and was warmly welcomed by Pepin Heristal, mayor of the palace, who created him almost immediately grand-master of the household. About this time (682) he married Floribanne, daughter of Dagobert, Count of Louvain, and seemed to have given himself entirely up to the ponp and vanities of this world. But a great spiritual revolution was imminent. On Good Friday morn, when the faithful were crowding the churches, Hubert sallied forth to the chase. As he was pursuing a magnificent stag, the animal turned and, as the pious legend narrates, he was astounded at perceiving a crucifix between its antlers, while he heard a voice saying: “Hubert, unless thou turnest to the Lord, and leadest an holy life, thou shalt quickly go down into hell”. Hubert dismounted, prostrated himself and said, “Lord, what wouldst Thou have me do?” He received the answer, “Go and seek Lambert, and he will instruct you.”


Accordingly, he set out immediately for Maastricht, of which place St. Lambert was then bishop. The latter received Hubert kindly, and became his spiritual director. Hubert, losing his wife shortly after this, renounced all his honors and his military rank, and gave up his birthright to the Duchy of Aquitaine to his younger brother Eudon, whom he made guardian of his infant son, Floribert. Having distributed all his personal wealth among the poor, he entered upon his studies for the priesthood, was soon ordained, and shortly afterwards became one of St. Lambert’s chief associates in the administration of his diocese.


By the advice of St. Lambert, Hubert made a pilgrimage to Rome and during his absence, the saint was assassinated by the followers of Pepin. At the same hour, this was revealed to the pope in a vision, together with an injunction to appoint Hubert bishop, as being a worthy successor to the see. Hubert was so much possessed with the idea of himself winning the martyr’s crown that he sought it on many occasions, but unsuccessfully.


He distributed his episcopal revenues among the poor, was diligent in fasting and prayer, and became famous for his eloquence in the pulpit. In 720, in obedience to a vision, Hubert translated St. Lambert’s remains from Maastrict to Liège with great pomp and ceremonial, several neighboring bishops assisting. A church for the relics was built upon the site of the martyrdom, and was made a cathedral the following year, the see being removed from Maastricht to Liege, then only a small village. This laid the foundation of the future greatness of Liege, of which Lambert is honored as patron, and St. Hubert as founder and first bishop.


Idolatry still lingered in the fastnesses of the forest of Ardennes—in Toxandria, a district stretching from near Tongres to the confluence of the Waal and the Rhine, and in Brabant. At the risk of his life Hubert penetrated the remote lurking places of paganism in his pursuit of souls, and finally brought about the abolishment of the worship of idols in his neighborhood. Between Brussels and Louvain, about twelve leagues from Liège, lies a town called Tervueren, formerly known as Fura. Hither Hubert went for the dedication of a new church. Being apprised of his impending death by a vision, he there preached his valedictory sermon, fell sick almost immediately, and in six days died with the words “Our Father, who art in Heaven . . . ” on his lips. His body was deposited in the collegiate church of St. Peter, Liège. It was solemnly translated in 825 to the Abbey of Amdain (since called St. Hubert’s) near what is now the Luxemburg frontier; but the coffin disappeared in the sixteenth century. Very many miracles are recorded of him in the Acta SS., etc. His feast is kept on 3 November, which was probably the date of the translation. St. Hubert was widely venerated in the Middle Ages, and many military orders were named after him.

The Minimalist Does Not Love - St Peter Julian Eymard

Our Lord wants us to have a passionate love for Him. No virtue or thought that does not become a passion will ever produce anything great. Love triumphs only when it becomes a vital passion. Otherwise, isolated acts of love can be produced, but one’s whole existence is neither conquered nor offered. For our love to become
a passion it must abide by the laws of human passions. I speak of decent, naturally good passions, since passions are indifferent in themselves. We make them evil when we direct them towards evil; it is up to us to use them for the good.
A dominant passion concentrates a man’s efforts and  makes him work exclusively to attain his goal no matter
what happens. Also, in the order of salvation, we need to have a passion that dominates our life and makes it produce for the glory of God all the fruits the Lord expects. Love a virtue, truth or mystery with a passion! Dedicate your life, thoughts and  labors to it or you will never achieve anything. Look at the saints. Their burning love carries them away, makes them suffer, spends their strength, and causes their death. Exaggerated? What is love if not an exaggeration? To exaggerate is to surpass the law. He who only fulfills his obligation does not love. Let us love our good Savior for His own sake! Let us forget ourselves and immolate ourselves a little! Look at how candles are consumed, leaving nothing for themselves!