My Inner World

“Why do so many men seek fulfillment and satisfaction where it cannot be found? Why do we settle for counterfeits rather than the real thing? Why do we believe the media’s distortions of masculinity?

We believe them because they are counterfeits, caricatures, and sterotypes. All such falsehoods depend upon a basis of truth, which they oversimplify, distort, or exaggerate.

When the media portray men as libidinous, aggressive, and greedy, they’re grossly distorting authentic male roles - fatherly roles - namely, life-giver, protector, and provider. In the normal course of family life, a father is progenitor; he gives life, through the sexual expression of his love for his wife. In the normal course of family life, a father is the one who defends the family from outside threats; in extreme cases that can involve a violent intervention. In the normal course of family life, a father provides for his wife and children, as wage-earner and breadwinner, but also as a wise counselor, patient teacher, and steady emotional support.

What happens when these roles are severed from one another, severed from fatherhood, and deprived of their religious meaning, which is deeply theological? What happens when, we encounter men in society as we find them in the media. When it happens to us personally, we feel continually frustrated, confused, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled.”

-Excerpts from “Many Are Called” by Scott Hahn

“Servant of God” The process leading towards canonization begins at the diocesan level. A bishop with jurisdiction—usually the bishop of the place where the candidate died or is buried, although another ordinary can be given this authority—gives permission to open an investigation into the virtues of the individual, responding to a petition by members of the faithful, either actually or pro forma.This investigation may open no sooner than five years after the death of the person being investigated.However, the pope has the authority to waive this five year waiting period, as was done for Mother Teresa by Pope John Paul II, and for Lúcia Santos and for John Paul II himself by Pope Benedict XVI.Normally, a guild or organization to promote the cause of the candidate’s sainthood is created, an exhaustive search of the candidate’s writings, speeches and sermons is undertaken, a detailed biography is written and eyewitness accounts are gathered. When sufficient information has been gathered, the investigation of the candidate, who is called “Servant of God”, is presented by the local bishop to the Roman Curia—in particular, the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints—where it is assigned a postulator, whose task is to gather further information about the life of the Servant of God. Religious orders who regularly deal with the congregation often have their own designated postulator generals.

“Declaration ‘Non Cultus’” At some point, permission is then granted for the body of the Servant of God to be exhumed and examined, a certification (“non cultus”) is made that no superstitious or heretical worship or improper cult has grown up around the servant or his or her tomb, and relics are taken.

“Venerable/Heroic in Virtue” When enough information has been gathered, the congregation will recommend to the pope that he make a proclamation of the Servant of God’s heroic virtue (that is, that the servant exhibited the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, and the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, to a heroic degree). From this point the one said to be “heroic in virtue” is referred to by the title “Venerable”. A Venerable has as of yet no feast day, no churches may be built in his or her honor, and the church has made no statement on the person’s probable or certain presence in heaven, but prayer cards and other materials may be printed to encourage the faithful to pray for a miracle wrought by his or her intercession as a sign of God’s will that the person be canonized.

“Blessed” Beatification is a statement by the church that it is “worthy of belief” that the person is in heaven, having come to salvation. This step depends on whether the Venerable is a martyr or a “confessor”.

• For a martyr, the Pope has only to make a declaration of martyrdom, a certification that the venerable gave his or her life voluntarily as a witness for the faith and/or in an act of heroic charity for others.
• If the Venerable was not a martyr – all non-martyrs are “confessors” as they “confessed” or bore witness to their faith by how they lived their lives – it must be proven that a miracle has taken place by his or her intercession: that is, that God has shown a sign that the person is enjoying the Beatific Vision by God performing a miracle in response to the Blessed’s prayers. Today, these miracles are almost always miraculous cures, as these are the easiest to establish based on the Catholic Church’s requirements for a “miracle.” (The patient was sick, there was no known cure for the ailment, prayers were directed to the Venerable, the patient was cured, the cure was spontaneous, instantaneous, complete and lasting, and doctors cannot find any natural explanation.)

This allows beatification, giving the venerable the new title “Blessed” (abbreviated “Bl.”) or, in Latin, Beatus or Beata. A feast day will be designated, but its observance is normally restricted to the Blessed’s home diocese, to certain locations associated with him or her, and/or to the churches or houses of the blessed’s religious order, if they belonged to one. Parishes may not normally be named in honor of a Blessed.

“Saint” (contracted “St” or “S.”) To be canonized a saint, at least two miracles must have been performed after death. Canonization is a statement by the church that the person certainly enjoys the Beatific Vision. The saint is assigned a feast day which may be celebrated anywhere within the Catholic Church, although it may or may not appear on the general calendar or local calendars as an obligatory feast, parish churches may be built in his or her honor, and the faithful may freely and without restriction celebrate and honor the saint.

Pornography has become the most accepted forbidden fruit in the entire world.  Looking at naked people for personal pleasure is strictly forbidden by God in His Word (Matthew 5:28).  So why has it crossed over into the mainstream as being healthy and good?  Because the Bible says in 1 John 5:19 that the whole world is under the influence of the evil one.  It’s all part of hiswicked deception (2 Thessalonians 2: 9-10) to make sin seem normal, right, and good.

In the Garden of Eden,satan did exactly the same thing to Adam and Eve.  Eve held the forbidden fruit in her hand, and saw that it was pleasing to the eye (Genesis 3:6), just like pornography.  She was deceived, and we are all still paying the price for that sin.  And anyone who looks at pornography will also pay a huge price, not only in the life to come following death, but also in this life. Your life will  one day become a living hell, with some serious malady, that may include becoming broke, becoming depressed, becoming fat, or something much worse. This is what is known as the devil’s compensation.  St. John Vianney once said, “I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving the world and its pleasures” and he was exactly right.  Studies have shown that porn consumers are more introverted and less able to love than those who do not consume porn.  And of course, this would then make the commands of Jesus to love God with your whole heart, and to love your neighbor as yourself, very hard to do, if not impossible.  And this is EXACTLY what the devil wants.  Women (and men) who pose nude for these pictures, as well as women who dress provocatively to tempt men, will have much to answer for when they die.  The men  who leer at these women lustfully will also.  Click here to see where unrepentant pornography  addicts wind up (what hell is like).

There is a big lie going around concerning pornography that it is somehow a healthy outlet for people to release their sexual urges.   Pornography is pretty poison for soul. Giving in to pornography in order to overcome sexual urges in other forms is as dumb as saying that one must eat poison in order to overcome poison.  No one would eat a delicious candy bar if it had nuclear waste inside of it.  Pornography is just like that - eye candy that is pleasurable to look at, but chock full of deadly soul radiation inside.  Every time you look at pornography is like holding a rattlesnake in your hand and having it bite you.  Remember, the devil wants you living in a fantasy world of nude women that doesn’t exist in real life.  That way, you will be unable to cope with reality.  And after a while, you no longer own the pornography you are looking at - It owns you!

Sirach 7:8: Do not commit a sin twice;  even for one you will not go unpunished.

Leviticus 18:17: You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are your near kinswomen; it is wickedness.

Genesis 38: 9-10: But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so when he went in to his brother’s wife he spilled the semen on the ground, lest he should give offspring to his brother.  And what he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD, and he slew him also.  

Proverbs 14:12: There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

Isaiah 45:19: I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, `Seek me in chaos.’  I the LORD speak the truth, I declare what is right.

Matthew 5:28: But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 

Luke 12:34: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Ephesians 5-6: Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Galatians 5:19-21: Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,  idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit,  envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:18-20: Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 12:22-24: On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable,  and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,  which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part,

Of course, the first step in overcoming porn addiction is to recognize that it is sinful and straight from satan.  You must realize that you will not be going to heaven when you die if you don’t quit this sin and repent of it. If you don’t do that first, then you have little chance of overcoming this demonic activity.  Once you do that, the next step is to get rid of every piece of porn that you own, and to immediately remove yourself from any and all temptations from it. This may mean getting an internet service that automatically blocks sinful websites.  After that, it is a given that you must go to confession, and sincerely confess this mortal sin from your heart.  Along with this confession, you must also have a firm purpose of amendment that you will never look at porn again.  

After that, one of the most powerful ways to overcome porn is through the Holy Rosary. Telling Mary, who is the total opposite (humble, loving, obedient to her Son) of the devil , that you love her (just like Jesus did while he was on earth) while meditating on the life of Mary and Jesus in the Gospels, is a shortcut to holiness that will remove this addiction over time.  Addiction is as much a spiritual disease as it is a physical one, and the Holy Rosary is the spiritual medicine that will stop this hellbound addiction dead in its tracks.  And don’t forget that you can also say the Divine Mercy chaplet on your rosary.  Jesus loves it when you ask Him for Divine Mercy.  The bigger sinner you are, the more right you have to His infinite Divine Mercy. Just ask!

“No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary. Either he will give up the sin or he will give up the Rosary”     

 Bishop Patrick Boyle

“If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I assure you that in spite of the gravity of your sins, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory. Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in Hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and save your soul, if  and mark well what I say — if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon of your sins.”          

St. Louis de Montfort 

The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.

The Blessed Virgin Mary to Blessed Alan de la Roche

“The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary.”

St. Francis de Sales    
 

 

Going to daily Mass as much as possible is also recommended. Since it is forbidden to take Holy Communion while you are in the state of mortal sin, (1 Corinthians 11:27)  the daily struggle to not look at porn will be overcome by the necessity to stay in the state of grace to receive the Eucharist.  And remember, when you receive Holy Communion, you are just like the Blessed Virgin Mary, because you also have Christ inside of you, just like she did for 9 months after the Incarnation. Immediately after Communion, you and Jesus are one flesh, and that is the best and holiest time for you to tell Him you are sorry for your sins, and to ask him for help in overcoming this mortal sin.

Spending quiet time in front of the Blessed Sacrament in Adoration is also a great way to overcome porn.  Sitting still and staring at the Host in the monstrance is the devil’s worst nightmare.  Why?  Because Christ in the Eucharist will silently talk to your mind and let you know what He expects of you with your life. So not only will you overcome porn, but your entire life will  be changed for the better.  There is no way to explain any of this logically, it just happens.

“Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you  & for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart…don’t listen to the demon, laugh at him, and go without fear to receive the Jesus of peace and love.”

St. Therese of Lisieux

And don’t forget to read Scripture daily.  Meditating on the Word of God, not just reading it, is a sure way to overcome all sin.  The bible says that no one can serve 2 masters (Luke 16:13). By doing everything possible to serve God, the devil’s hold on you will surely slip away.  The great thing about reading scripture is that you will run across certain passages that will speak personally to you. This is what is known as a “rhema” (RAY-muh).  A rhema is a specific Word of God that speaks personally to you, at this particular time in your life.  For instance, a porn addict may run across Matthew 5:28 and realize that he or she is committing adultery, which is strictly forbidden by the Sixth Commandment.  A porn addict may read about the Jews worshipping the golden calf while Moses was receiving the 10 Commandments, and then suddenly realize that he is worshipping the false idol of an image of a naked female, which is against the First Commandment.

Prayer and fasting are also recommended.  Praying from the heart, like the tax collector did in the temple (Luke 18:13 - “Be merciful to me, a sinner”), with all humility, is the way to do it. Fasting is hard to start, but easy once you get going. Start maybe with skipping one meal a day. This will quiet that little voice in your head that says “You must eat now, or you will never eat again!” After a week or two of skipping one meal a day, try two meals a day.  Everyone will be telling you that it’s not healthy to skip meals, but Jesus fasted for 40 days in the desert as an example for us, so that is a big lie. It is more unhealthy by far to be a glutton at every meal. And you only need to do this once or twice a week, maybe on Wednesday’s and Friday’s. Occasionally starving the body of food has a direct impact on sexual urges. The stomach is right on top of the sexual organs.  Why this works is anyone’s guess, but it does work.  St. Thomas Aquinas, one of the greatest minds ever in the Catholic Church, says in his Summa Theologica, that fasting is the guardian of chastity. 

“Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, kindles the true light of chastity.”

St. Augustine, sinner turned saint

As stated above (Article 6), fasting was instituted by the Church in order to bridle the concupiscences of the flesh, which regard pleasures of touch in connection with food and sex. Wherefore the Church forbade those who fast to partake of those foods which both afford most pleasure to the palate, and besides are a very great incentive to lust. Such are the flesh of animals that take their rest on the earth, and of those that breathe the air and their products, such as milk from those that walk on the earth, and eggs from birds. For, since such like animals are more like man in body, they afford greater pleasure as food, and greater nourishment to the human body, so that from their consumption there results a greater surplus available for seminal matter, which when abundant becomes a great incentive to lust. Hence the Church has bidden those who fast to abstain especially from these foods.

St. Thomas Aquinas on Fasting

So stop being the devil’s play toy and get into the spiritual battle to defeat him. While you are trapped in pornography, you are like a prisoner of war.  ALL prisoners of war have as their first duty to escape and get back home. Remember the devil’s compensation - he will show you a pleasurable time now, but sooner or later, he will come after your mind, your body, and  your soul. Your life, as well as your death, will becoming a living hell.  And you will have no excuses when you die either, because God is sending you unlimited amounts of grace every day through Confession, the Eucharist, and the Rosary for you to overcome ALL sin - And all you have to do is take advantage of them - NOW.  The time for God’s mercy is today, while you are still alive.  When you die,  the mercy ceases and the time for God’s justice begins.  The scary part is that some people reading these words could be dead tomorrow.

It is a given that if you do all of the things recommended above - saying your daily rosary, going to Confession FREQUENTLY, asking Jesus for Divine Mercy, going to daily Mass, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, prayer to overcome this scourge, and fasting occasionally - you will overcome this mortal sin in time.  The devil would have you believe that you cannot overcome his addiction, that you are somehow powerless, that maybe you were just born this way, and that it’s somehow all harmless fun.  Baloney.  You are a warrior in the war to end all wars, the war for your very soul. Stand up like a man and tell satan, in the name of Jesus Christ, to get out of your life and to go to the foot of the cross to await instructions from his Master, Jesus Christ.   Now is the time, this is the place, to escape from the clutches of hell and come back home to Jesus, his saints, and his angels.

JUST DO IT!

Your life consists in drawing nearer to God. To do this you must endeavor to detach yourself from visible things and remember that in a short time they will be taken from you.

Blessed John of Avila

Do not think that your present state is a punishment from Heaven, because you would be wrong, but be certain that your present state is willed by God for the salvation of your soul.”

St.Padre Pio

“The spiritual combat in which we kill our passions to put on the new man is the most difficult struggle of all. We must never weary of this combat, but fight the holy fight fervently and perseveringly.”     

St. Nilus

They deceive themselves who believe that union with God consists in ecstasies or raptures, and in the enjoyment of Him. For it consists in nothing except the surrender and subjection of our will - with our thoughts, words and actions - to the will of God….

St. Teresa of Avila

Overcoming Pornography On-Line Resource

Familylifecenter.net Online Overcoming Pornography Resource

-Excerpts of www.catholicbible101.com

Bible Verses

Wisdom 13: 1-9:   For all men who were ignorant of God were foolish by nature; and they were unable from the good things that are seen to know him who exists, nor did they recognize the craftsman while paying heed to his works;  but they supposed that either fire or wind or swift air, or the circle of the stars, or turbulent water, or the luminaries of heaven were the gods that rule the world.  If through delight in the beauty of these things men assumed them to be gods, let them know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty created them. And if men were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from them how much more powerful is he who formed them.  For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes a corresponding perception of their Creator.  Yet these men are little to be blamed, for perhaps they go astray while seeking God and desiring to find him. For as they live among his works they keep searching, and they trust in what they see, because the things that are seen are beautiful.  Yet again, not even they are to be excused;  for if they had the power to know so much that they could investigate the world, how did they fail to find sooner the Lord of these things?

Job 38:1-41:  Then  the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind:  “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?   Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.  “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.  Who determined its measurements — surely you know!  Or who stretched the line upon it?  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone,  when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?   “Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb;  when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,  and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,  and said, `Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’? “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,  that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it?   It is changed like clay under the seal, and it is dyed like a garment.   From the wicked their light is withheld, and their uplifted arm is broken.  “Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep?  Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?   Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?  Declare, if you know all this.  “Where is the way to the dwelling of light, and where is the place of darkness,  that you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?   You know, for you were born then, and the number of your days is great!  “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail,  which I have reserved for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war?   What is the way to the place where the light is distributed, or where the east wind is scattered upon the earth?  “Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain, and a way for the thunderbolt,  to bring rain on a land where no man is, on the desert in which there is no man;  to satisfy the waste and desolate land, and to make the ground put forth grass?  “Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew?   From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?  The waters become hard like stone, and the face of the deep is frozen.  “Can you bind the chains of the Plei’ades, or loose the cords of Orion?  Can you lead forth the Maz’zaroth in their season, or can you guide the Bear with its children?  Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth?   “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you?   Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, `Here we are’?   Who has put wisdom in the clouds, or given understanding to the mists? Who can number the clouds by wisdom?  Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens,  when the dust runs into a mass and the clods cleave fast together?   “Can you hunt the prey for the lion,  or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,  when they crouch in their dens, or lie in wait in their covert?   Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God, and wander about for lack of food?

Isaiah 45:18-19: For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it a chaos, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other.  I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, `Seek me in chaos.’ I the LORD speak the truth, I declare what is right.

Quotes from Scientists

Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Father of Microbiology, developed “pasteurization”

“The more I study nature, the more I stand amazed at the work of the Creator.”  ”Science brings men nearer to God.” 

Jean-Henri Fabre (1823-1915)
Entomology, Biology, Author of 8-volume series “Souvenirs Entomologiques”
detailing the behavior and life history of many species

“Without Him, I understand nothing; without Him, all is darkness…Every period has its manias.”

“I regard Atheism as a mania. It is the malady of the age.”

“You could take my skin from me more easily than my faith in God.”

Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
Physicist, Laws of Thermodynamics, Absolute temperature scale, inventor

“With regard to the origin of life, science…positively affirms creative power.”

“Overwhelmingly strong proofs of intelligent and benevolent design lie around us…

“….the atheistic idea is so non-sensical that I cannot put it into words.”

George Washington Carver ( 1864-1943)
agricultural chemist, inventor of over 300 products

“Without my Savior, I am nothing.”

“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”

“God is going to reveal to us things he never revealed before if we put our hands in his. No books ever go into my laboratory, a thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed me.”

Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977)                                                             first Director of NASA, pioneer of space exploration

“Scientific concepts exist only in the minds of men.  Behind these concepts lies the reality which is being revealed to us, but only by the grace of God.” 

Sir Isaac Newton (1643 – 1727) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, alchemist, inventor and natural philosopher. He is often regarded as the most influential scientist in history and is best known for discovering the Laws of Gravity.

“Religion is partly fundamental & immutable partly circumstantial & mutable. The first was the Religion of Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham Moses Christ & all the saints & consists of two parts our duty towards God & our duty towards man or piety & righteousness, piety which I will here call Godliness & Humanity. Godliness consists in the knowledge love & worship of God, Humanity in love, righteousness & good offices towards man. “

“Atheism is so senseless & odious to mankind that it never had many professors. Can it be by accident that all birds beasts & men have their right side & left side alike shaped (except in their bowells) & just two eyes & no more on either side the face & just two ears on either side the head & a nose with two holes & no more between the eyes & one mouth under the nose & either two fore legs or two wings or two arms on the shoulders & two legs on the hips one on either side & no more? Whence arises this uniformity in all their outward shapes but from the counsel & contrivance of an Author? Whence is it that the eyes of all sorts of living creatures are transparent to the very bottom & the only transparent members in the body, having on the outside an hard transparent skin, & within transparent juices with a crystalline Lens in the middle & a pupil before the Lens all of them so truly shaped & fitted for vision, that no Artist can mend them? Did blind chance know that there was light & what was its refraction & fit the eyes of all creatures after the most curious manner to make use of it? These & such like considerations always have & ever will prevail with man kind to believe that there is a being who made all things & has all things in his power & who is therefore to be feared.”

“Idolatry is a more dangerous crime because it is apt by the authority of Kings & under very specious pretenses to insinuate it self into mankind. Kings being apt to enjoy the honor of their dead ancestors: & it seeming very plausible to honor the souls of Heroes & Saints & to believe that they can hear us & help us & are mediators between God & man & reside & act principally in the temples & statues dedicated to their honor & memory? And yet this being against the principal part of religion is in scripture condemned & detested above all other crimes. The sin consists first in omitting the service of the true God.”

“The other part of the true religion is our duty to man. We must love our neighbor as our selves, we must be charitable to all men for charity is the greatest of graces, greater then even faith or hope & covers a multitude of sins. We must be righteous & do to all men as we would they should do to us.”  

Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck ( 1858 – 1947)was one of the most important German physicists of the late 19th and early 20th century, winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918; he is considered to be the inventor of quantum theory.

“As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter.”

“Both Religion and science require a belief in God. For believers, God is in the beginning, and for physicists He is at the end of all considerations… To the former He is the foundation, to the latter, the crown of the edifice of every generalized world view.”

Johannes Kepler (1571-1630)                                                                      a German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer. A key figure in the 17th century scientific revolution, he is best known for his eponymous laws of planetary motion.

“Great is our Lord and great is His strength and there is no number to His wisdom. Praise Him heavens, praise Him sun, moon, planets, whatever sense you may use to perceive, whatever tongue to express our Creator. Praise Him heavenly harmonies, praise Him you witnesses of the (now) detected harmonies. Praise also you, my soul, your Lord the Creator as long as I shall be. For from Him and through Him, and in Him is all. Both what is perceived by the senses and by the mind, as much what we don’t know at all as what we do know, a minimal part of it. To Him be praise, honor and glory into all eternity. Amen.

“The Creator, the fountain of all wisdom, the approver of perpetual order, the eternal and superessential spring of geometry and harmonics.”

Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)                                                                   Scientist noted for work in physics, hydrostatics, vacuums; inventor of mechanical calculator

“Jesus Christ, I have separated myself from Him:
I have fled from Him, denied Him, crucified Him.
Let me never be separated from Him.
We keep hold of Him only by the ways taught in the Gospel.
Renunciation, total and sweet.
Total submission to Jesus Christ …”

“Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness engenders pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God engenders despair.”

*Also famous for “Pascal’s Wager”—a powerful defense of the Christian faith

Samuel Morse (1791-1872)                                                                Inventor of the telegraph

“Education without religion is in danger of substituting wild theories for the simple commonsense rules of Christianity.”

First message sent by the electric telegraph: “What hath God wrought”

There is a myth that science and religion are opposed to each other, but the truth is that they are not. However, religion is opposed to the ideology of certain scientists who are promoting their own atheist world view as fact.  The ideology is called scientific materialism, which is the belief that matter and blind chance are all there is in the universe.  This ideology treats everything spiritual as superstition, and they see their role in life to eradicate superstition, so that we can all be as logical and rational as they are.  Science is now being taught in a lot of classrooms through this very dark prism.

Historically, just the opposite is true – there has been a blending of science and religion that has led to many important discoveries, many by Catholic priests, such as Father Gregor Mendel (the father of genetics), Father Roger Bacon (the scientific method), Monsignor George Lemaitre (inventor of the big bang theory), Father Marin Mersenne (acoustics), Father William of Ockham (logic), and Father Henri Breuil (Geology). And the Vatican Observatory has been involved with astronomy longer than anyone else. There are numerous craters on the moon named after their discoverers, Jesuit priests, like Mario Bettinus and Guiseppe Biancani. 

Everyone knows about Galileo, but what most people don’t know is that Galileo was put under house arrest (a very nice house, BTW) for preaching the theory of heliocentricity (the theory that the earth revolved around the sun) as fact, when he did not have proof for it yet. The Catholic Church was the National Science Foundation of its day, and it carefully guarded what was taught in its universities as fact, and what was taught as theory. Copernicus, a Catholic Priest, taught the exact same theory of heliocentricity in the century before Galileo, but presented it as a theory only, rather than as an absolute fact. Galileo promised to do the same, but lied. When he published his book on it, which presented it as fact, and ALSO told the Church that it had to reinterpret scripture to accommodate his findings, he had crossed the line with the Pope, who, BTW, was lampooned in Galileo’s book.  For the record, Galileo also believed that the ocean’s tides were caused by the rotation of the earth (they are caused by lunar gravity, not the rotation of the earth), AND that the earth’s orbit around the sun is a perfect circle (in fact, it is elliptical).  So Galileo was certainly not infallible in his teachings, and he bucked the scientific authority of his day by presenting his theory as fact. This battle is analogous to the theory of evolution being taught as fact (which a lot of protestants today object to, because it isn’t proven science), as well as the theory of man-made global warming being taught as fact (it has not been proven to be a fact that the activity of man is a significant contributor to the earth’s temperature, in spite of what certain politicians may think and preach).

The reason Western Europe was the region that so many scientific discoveries came from was because of the influence of the Judeo-Christian culture there, which believed that the laws of nature were given to us by a rational and orderly God.  This was how many Catholics and other religious people approached their subjects.  Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Faraday, Maxwell, and Pasteur were all very religious men. 

However, the so-called “Age of Enlightenment” in the 18^th Century started the ball rolling toward an atheistic look at science, rather than a religious one.   Rationalism and logic in created things replaced a belief in the Creator that designed and spoke these created things into existence.  Scientists became so enthralled with the details of the beauty of nature that they failed to see the idolatry in believing that they somehow created themselves out of nothing.  Somehow, living matter was created from inanimate matter! Your computer is a wonder of design, but it certainly didn’t create itself, and neither did the complex software code that runs your computer.  The laws of nature that designed the universe didn’t just happen on their own like some enlightened scientists thought. They are God’s laws, not accidents.  Even Einstein once said that “God doesn’t play dice” when it comes to nature.

For the record, the Catholic Church has said that the as yet unproven theory of Evolution, or how bodies developed in nature, is not incompatible with scripture, since God is both the designer and the changer of matter. On the other hand, Darwinism, which teaches that there is no God and the animals’ characteristics happened on their own without a master creator, is incompatible with the bible.  The Church does teach that the human soul was created by God as is, and did not evolve from some lesser life form, which takes the debate to a whole different level. Of course, atheistic scientists deny that there is a soul, so it’s a moot point for them.  Both Cardinal John Henry Newman and GK Chesterton both said that the belief in evolution is OK if it is accomplished through God’s providence.  Bottom line is that all of us have a meaning and a purpose in life, and we are supposed to be here at this time because it’s by God’s design. The Darwinists and their eugenic spin would have us all believe that we are just accidental animals.  Again, the conflict isn’t between religion and science; rather it’s a conflict between religion and certain atheists who put their own personal ideological spin on science.

The world is indeed intelligently designed, and this is so obvious if one studies the reproductive systems of men and women, the water cycle, the genetic code, the human eye, the human brain, the human immune system, the five human senses, the timing and order of the sun, the earth, the moon, and the stars, etc. And it’s important to remember that most big bangs normally create chaos and ugliness – just look at what happens after an earthquake or a volcano occurring near a large city. But in the case of THE Big Bang, the world and the universe with all of its timing and beauty occurred, which would lead a logical person to come to the conclusion that there was a master big banger behind it all, with a plan and a purpose, namely, GOD !

For a more complete list of Catholic scientists, click here.

A great debate once took place between Clarence Darrow (the ACLU agnostic from the Scopes Monkey Trial) and the great Catholic writer GK Chesterton.  Click here to watch a re-creation of it!

-Excerpts from www.catholicbible101.com

Who do you  trust  the most in this life?  Yourself?  Or God Our Father?

It’s a great question to ask yourself each and every day while you are saying your prayers.  If the answer is yourself, then you are setting yourself up for a great fall.  Satan can easily trip up the greatest person on earth who trusts in himself, because they share the same personality traits – love of self and extreme pride.  That road leads straight to hell.

If, on the other hand, the answer is God, then satan doesn’t have a …prayer.  If you plug in your thoughts, words, and deeds into the mind of God (if you read and study scripture, then you will know the mind of God) at all times & humble yourself, then you are on the road to salvation. Total trust in God as your loving Father will help you to endure suffering that He deems necessary for your salvation. Sufferings that come along in this life will then be seen for what they really are – Ways to bring you closer to God and to His will.  If you truly understand the sufferings of Christ, and how we are supposed to unite our sufferings with His (1 Peter 4:13), then you will learn to abhor the fleeting pleasures of this life and to seek out the things of the next life.  And one thing to also remember – Your sufferings can be used for the benefit of others, as well as for the Church (2 Corinthians 1:6 and Colossians 1:24). You may even be chosen to be a victim soul , like St. Gemma or St. Serafina !

Let’s face it – No one wants someone else to tell us what to do. We all like to be independent thinkers and doers.  A wild horse certainly doesn’t like it when someone puts a saddle on him and a bit in his mouth. But that is exactly what God needs to do to us if we are interested in getting to Heaven. Jesus himself says that his yoke is easy, and his burden light (Matthew 11:30).  His yoke of suffering teaches us all that we need Him, and that we are not in as much control of our lives as we think we are.  While we are going through the suffering He sends us, it sure doesn’t seem that it’s easy, but if one compares their suffering to those of Christ, then our sufferings seem easy.

And besides all that, if left to ourselves, most of us will choose the things of this world - fornication, drunkenness, gluttony, riches, pleasures, extravagant homes, etc.  And none of this stuff leads to heaven; on the contrary, it all leads straight to hell.  God wants to be our loving Father at all times.  A lot of people treat God like He isn’t there until something goes horribly wrong in our lives. Then, we treat Him like an emergency rescue team, to come and save us from our disaster.  If we totally trust in God as our loving Father AT ALL TIMES, then we will have strength to overcome whatever evil we face, and many traps that satan has planned for our future will not come to pass.  God doesn’t want us trusting in Him 50% of the time, or 20% of the time. God wants us trusting in Him 100% of the time, so the next time you have a decision to make - any decision - give it to God, and He will let you know the way you need to go. Otherwise, the enemy will take over and more often than not, you will not choose wisely.

St. Therese of Lisieux, a doctor of the Church, said that if we say that we deserve purgatory time because of our imperfections, then we will surely get purgatory time. On the other hand, if we totally trust in God as our loving father and in His Divine Mercy to take us straight to heaven, then we will go straight to heaven.  In other words, you get from God exactly what you desire from Him. Looking at God as a stern judge who will surely send you to purgatory instead of looking at God as your loving Father who desires to pull you straight up into heaven is a BIG mistake.  Read a great article on St. Therese and this philosophy here.

“St. Therese had a confrontation regarding this topic with Sr. Marie Febronia, who not only was sixty-seven years old but also was sub-prioress. She had heard that St. Therese encouraged the novices to believe that they could go straight to heaven. She did not like this as she considered this kind of confidence presumptuous, and thus she reproached St Therese. St Therese tried lovingly and calmly to explainto Sr. Febronia her point of view but with no success as Sr. Febronia clung to belief. For St. Therese God was more Father than Judge, and she took the liberty of finally responding, “My sister, if you look for the justice of God you will get it. The soul will receive from God exactly what she desires.”

The year had not passed when, in January 1892, Sr. M. Febronia together with other sisters fell prey to the flu and died. Three months later Sr. Therese had a dream which she related to her Mother Prioress and which was then documented: “O my Mother, my Sr. M. Febronia came to me last night and asked that we should pray for her.   She is in Purgatory, surely because she had trusted too little in the mercy of the good Lord. Through her imploring behavior and her profound looks, it seemed she wanted to say, You were right. I am now delivered up to the full justice of God but it is my fault. If I had listened to you I would not be here now.” 

Here are some great quotes from Sacred Scripture on the benefits of having total trust in God, rather than ourselves.  

Chronicles 5:20: and when they received help against them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried to God in the battle, and he granted their entreaty because they trusted in him.

Psalm 4:5: Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD.

Psalm 9:10: And those who know thy name put their trust in thee, for thou, O LORD, hast not forsaken those who seek thee

Psalm 22:4 – 5: In thee our fathers trusted; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. To thee they cried, and were saved; in thee they trusted, and were not disappointed.

Proverbs 16:20:  He who gives heed to the word will prosper, and happy is he who trusts in the LORD.

Proverbs 28:25-26: A greedy man stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the LORD will be enriched.  He who trusts in his own mind is a fool; but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

Proverbs 29:25: The fear of man lays a snare, but he who trusts in the LORD is safe.

Isaiah12:2: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,  and he has become my salvation.”

Isaiah 26:3-4: Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee. Trust in the LORD for ever, for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

Jeremiah 5,7: Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his arm, whose heart turns away from the LORD.  ”Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.

Jeremiah 39:18:  For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword; but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, says the LORD.’”

Daniel 6:23: Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted in his God.

Wisdom 3:9: Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.

Wisdom 12:2: Therefore thou dost correct little by little those who trespass, and dost remind and warn them of the things wherein they sin, that they may be freed from wickedness and put their trust in thee, O Lord.

Wisdom 16:24,26:  For creation, serving thee who hast made it, exerts itself to punish the unrighteous, and in kindness relaxes on behalf of those who trust in thee.  So that thy sons, whom thou didst love, O Lord, might learn that it is not the production of crops that feeds man, but that thy word preserves those who trust in thee.

Sirach 2:6,8,10,13: Trust in him, and he will help you; make your ways straight, and hope in him.  You who fear the Lord, trust in him, and your reward will not fail; Consider the ancient generations and see: who ever trusted in the Lord and was put to shame?  Or who ever persevered in the fear of the Lord and was forsaken? Or who ever called upon him and was overlooked?   Woe to the faint heart, for it has no trust!  Therefore it will not be sheltered.

Sirach 11:21: Do not wonder at the works of a sinner, but trust in the Lord and keep at your toil; for it is easy in the sight of the Lord to enrich a poor man quickly and suddenly.

Sirach 32:24: He who believes the law gives heed to the commandments, and he who trusts the Lord will not suffer loss.

Maccabees 2:61: “And so observe, from generation to generation, that none who put their trust in him will lack strength.

Maccabees 8:18:”For they trust to arms and acts of daring,” he said, “but we trust in the Almighty God, who is able with a single nod to strike down those who are coming against us and even the whole world.”

Romans 4:5: And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.

Jeremiah 29:11:“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

Proverbs 16:9: “A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”

Proverbs 1:33: “But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”

Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” 

Isaiah 48:17: Thus says the Lord, Your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go.” 

Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way should go; I will guide you with My eye.” 

Psalm 48:18: “For this is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide even to death.” 

Isaiah 58:11: “The Lord will guide you continually …”  

Jeremiah 10:23: “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.”

Psalm 37:4,7: “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass … Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”

Isaiah 45:19: I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, `Seek me in chaos.’ I the LORD speak the truth, I declare what is right. 

This is Good

Once, there was a man of good cheer. This man was the favorite friend of the King, and they did many things together. There was just one thing very particular about this friend – no matter what happened in life, might it have been good or bad, the friend would always respond, “This is good.” This was very annoying to most people, including the King, but he liked spending time with him.

One day, the King and his friend rigged up a gun and decided to try it out by going hunting. Something went terribly wrong when the King pulled the trigger. The gun somehow backfired and blew off his thumb. His friend commented in the usual way, “This is good.” Now this was too much to take even for the King. He grew very angry at his friend and had him thrown in jail. About a year went by, and this time the King was out hunting by himself. He was in an area where he really shouldn’t be, but did not realize it. All of a sudden strange-looking bush people came out from everywhere, captured him, and took him back to their tribe. There they tied him up at the stake and put lots of wood around to roast him. The King grew even more fearful as he realized that these people were cannibals. While they started to get the fire going, one of them noticed that the King’s thumb was missing. Now these cannibals never ate anyone who wasn’t whole or healthy looking. They quickly untied the King and motioned him to get away from there. On his way back, the King thought about his friend in prison. He felt remorse and went to see him. “My friend, I see now how indeed, it was good that my thumb was blown off, or I would have been eaten by cannibals. Please forgive me for throwing you in prison.”“This was good!” the friend exclaimed.“Now how could it have been good for you to be in jail?”  “Well, my dear King, if I hadn’t been in jail, I would have been with you.” Of course, the moral of the story is that we can’t see beyond our fish bowl, and we need to trust that God has a good purpose for whatever hardships might befall us…

-Excerpts from www.catholicbible101.com

simplyorthodox:

If you do not like somebody, think that you see Christ in that person. Then, you would not even dare utter a word of criticism.

-Mother Gabriel

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

1131 The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.

 (**NOTE - This is why one cannot receive Jesus in Holy Communion if in the state of mortal sin.  The power of the sacraments, while infinite, are proportional in their efficacy to the holiness of the person receiving them.

 II. GRACE

1996 Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.

1997 Grace is a participation in the life of God. It introduces us into the intimacy of Trinitarian life: by Baptism the Christian participates in the grace of Christ, the Head of his Body. As an “adopted son” he can henceforth call God “Father,” in union with the only Son. He receives the life of the Spirit who breathes charity into him and who forms the Church.

1998 This vocation to eternal life is supernatural. It depends entirely on God’s gratuitous initiative, for he alone can reveal and give himself. It surpasses the power of human intellect and will, as that of every other creature.

1999 The grace of Christ is the gratuitous gift that God makes to us of his own life, infused by the Holy Spirit into our soul to heal it of sin and to sanctify it. It is the sanctifying or deifying grace received in Baptism. It is in us the source of the work of sanctification:

Therefore if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself.
 

2000 Sanctifying grace is an habitual gift, a stable and supernatural disposition that perfects the soul itself to enable it to live with God, to act by his love. Habitual grace, the permanent disposition to live and act in keeping with God’s call, is distinguished from actual graces which refer to God’s interventions, whether at the beginning of conversion or in the course of the work of sanctification.

2001 The preparation of man for the reception of grace is already a work of grace. This latter is needed to arouse and sustain our collaboration in justification through faith, and in sanctification through charity. God brings to completion in us what he has begun, “since he who completes his work by cooperating with our will began by working so that we might will it:”

Indeed we also work, but we are only collaborating with God who works, for his mercy has gone before us. It has gone before us so that we may be healed, and follows us so that once healed, we may be given life; it goes before us so that we may be called, and follows us so that we may be glorified; it goes before us so that we may live devoutly, and follows us so that we may always live with God: for without him we can do nothing.

2002 God’s free initiative demands man’s free response, for God has created man in his image by conferring on him, along with freedom, the power to know him and love him. The soul only enters freely into the communion of love. God immediately touches and directly moves the heart of man. He has placed in man a longing for truth and goodness that only he can satisfy. The promises of “eternal life” respond, beyond all hope, to this desire:

If at the end of your very good works . . ., you rested on the seventh day, it was to foretell by the voice of your book that at the end of our works, which are indeed “very good” since you have given them to us, we shall also rest in you on the sabbath of eternal life.

2003 Grace is first and foremost the gift of the Spirit who justifies and sanctifies us. But grace also includes the gifts that the Spirit grants us to associate us with his work, to enable us to collaborate in the salvation of others and in the growth of the Body of Christ, the Church. There are sacramental graces, gifts proper to the different sacraments. There are furthermore special graces, also called charisms after the Greek term used by St. Paul and meaning “favor,” “gratuitous gift,” “benefit.” Whatever their character - sometimes it is extraordinary, such as the gift of miracles or of tongues - charisms are oriented toward sanctifying grace and are intended for the common good of the Church. They are at the service of charity which builds up the Church.

2004 Among the special graces ought to be mentioned the graces of state that accompany the exercise of the responsibilities of the Christian life and of the ministries within the Church:

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

2005 Since it belongs to the supernatural order, grace escapes our experience and cannot be known except by faith. We cannot therefore rely on our feelings or our works to conclude that we are justified and saved. However, according to the Lord’s words “Thus you will know them by their fruits” - reflection on God’s blessings in our life and in the lives of the saints offers us a guarantee that grace is at work in us and spurs us on to an ever greater faith and an attitude of trustful poverty.

A pleasing illustration of this attitude is found in the reply of St. Joan of Arc to a question posed as a trap by her ecclesiastical judges: “Asked if she knew that she was in God’s grace, she replied: ‘If I am not, may it please God to put me in it; if I am, may it please God to keep me there.’”
 

IV. THE SACRAMENTS OF SALVATION

1127 Celebrated worthily in faith, the sacraments confer the grace that they signify. They are efficacious because in them Christ himself is at work: it is he who baptizes, he who acts in his sacraments in order to communicate the grace that each sacrament signifies. The Father always hears the prayer of his Son’s Church which, in the epiclesis of each sacrament, expresses her faith in the power of the Spirit. As fire transforms into itself everything it touches, so the Holy Spirit transforms into the divine life whatever is subjected to his power.

1128 This is the meaning of the Church’s affirmation that the sacraments act ex opere operato (literally: “by the very fact of the action’s being performed”), i.e., by virtue of the saving work of Christ, accomplished once for all. It follows that “the sacrament is not wrought by the righteousness of either the celebrant or the recipient, but by the power of God.” From the moment that a sacrament is celebrated in accordance with the intention of the Church, the power of Christ and his Spirit acts in and through it, independently of the personal holiness of the minister. Nevertheless, the fruits of the sacraments also depend on the disposition of the one who receives them.

1129 The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation. “Sacramental grace” is the grace of the Holy Spirit, given by Christ and proper to each sacrament. The Spirit heals and transforms those who receive him by conforming them to the Son of God. The fruit of the sacramental life is that the Spirit of adoption makes the faithful partakers in the divine nature by uniting them in a living union with the only Son, the Savior.

-Excerpts from www.catholicbible101.com

morethanfleshandbone:

About twelve years ago a teen named Billy asked me this question, “Why do you Catholics believe that Mary ascended into heaven, when it’s not even in the Bible?”

He said “you Catholics” because he went to a local Bible Church but had been coming to a Life Teen Summer Bible Study with some of his Catholic friends.

“Well, first…” I replied, “Mary did not ascend into heaven; the Blessed Virgin Mary wasassumed into heaven. Jesus ascended by His own power. Mary was taken up into heaven by God.” That little difference is a big difference, so I wanted to be sure he understood it.

Billy then replied, “Okay, fine…but it’s still not in the Bible. The Church made it up.”

This is where the conversation got really interesting.

Read More

So what is grace, and how do we get more of it?  We are very lucky in the Catholic Church because our priests dispense sanctifying grace each and every day to the faithful in the sacraments, especially Holy Communion and Confession. In this very busy and lustful world that we live in today, there is a need for more and more grace in our lives if we want to overcome the evil one and get to heaven. Grace is an absolute necessity in our day-to-day activities. But how many people realize that?  How many people live out their existence and never even once ask God to send more grace?

Grace is a free gift from God to man.  There is nothing man can do to merit grace, because it is a gift, after all.  Faith is also a free gift AND a response to grace - From the Catechism:

#162:  Faith is an entirely free gift that God makes to man.  

#166:  “Faith is a personal act - the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself.”

In the Bible, St. Paul is struggling with personal sin, in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

“And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me;  but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

From the above statement of Paul, we see that God gives each one us sufficient grace to overcome sin, even when it seems like we are struggling with overcoming sin.  And when we are the weakest, that is when we are the strongest, because that’s when God’s power is made perfect in us.  How many people, when things get so bad in their lives, fall down on their knees in tears and ask God to fix things?  A lot, and that is exactly what God means when he says “my power is made perfect in weakness.” The acknowledgment of God as our loving Father over our own strength and power is the beginning of our relationship with God, and the beginning of the end of our pride. The prideful and strong who are always in charge of their affairs never do this, so God can’t work in them as powerfully as someone who is humble and acknowledges God in their distress.  Grace in the Holy Bible

Wisdom 3:9: Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect, and he watches over his holy ones.
 
Sirach 37:21:  for grace was not given him by the Lord, since he is lacking in all wisdom.

(**NOTE - 1 Corinthians 3:19 says the following:  “ For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” .  If you are wise in the ways of the world, but not in the ways of God, then you need to start changing your priorities.  Otherwise, the grace you would otherwise receive may not be given to you)

John 1:17: For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Acts 15:11: But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

(**NOTE - We are saved by grace, not “faith alone”)

Romans 3:24: they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,

Romans 5:20-21: Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

(**NOTE - If you are leading a very sinful life, from the above verse, know without a doubt that God your loving Father is sending you even more grace to overcome your sinful lifestyle. All you have to do is to accept it through humility and prayer).

Romans 6:14: For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

(**NOTE - Very true for all of us, but especially true for the Blessed Virgin Mary, who IS full of grace).

1 Corinthians 15:10: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me.

Ephesians 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God 

(**NOTE - Grace increases our faith, which in turn spurs us on to bear good fruit, our good works done out of love for Jesus Christ - Faith without works is dead - James 2:26).

Ephesians 4:7: But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

 

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

1131 The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions.

 (**NOTE - This is why one cannot receive Jesus in Holy Communion if in the state of mortal sin.  The power of the sacraments, while infinite, are proportional in their efficacy to the holiness of the person receiving them.

-Excerpts from www.catholicbible101.com

Those 3 words is probably one of the most difficult words, together in one sentence, used to express one’s reconciliation. Or we can also say “Please Forgive Me” is also a “3 word phrase” troublesome to vocalize. Forgiveness is often a time hard to utilize, especially when the enemy, the trespasser, the sinner hurts you so bad your world made a 180 degree change. What is the benefit of forgiveness? Why would we want to forgive someone who wrong you beyond belief?

“Now - and this is daunting - this outpouring of mercy cannot penetrate our hearts as long as we have not forgiven those who have trespassed against us. Love, like the Body of Christ, is indivisible; we cannot love the God we cannot see if we do not love the brother or sister we do see. In refusing to forgive our brothers and sisters, our hearts are closed and their hardness makes them impervious to the Father’s merciful love; but in confessing our sins, our hearts are opened to his grace.” -CCC #2840

When we choose not to forgive, we are not allowing the outpouring of “Love”, which we ALL crave for in the deepest of our souls regardless of culture, ethnicity, or religious beliefs, flow into our lives. We create a barrier that blocks out all positive emotions such as compassion, humility, patience, kindness, gentleness. Just like a Castle that does open its gate for it’s populace to get rid of the waste from the inside, eventually the Castle itself will be taken out from the inside from disease. Take the Dead Sea for example, with no outflow of its water, all the salt gets deposited into that body of water to the point where almost no life can live in it. From the Movie Grace Card, the Counselor said to Blake “How much do you have to hate someone to let them die in hurt?”

That question struck hard. Why would you allow someone that you love so much to die in hurt? Or even OUR SELF! Do we hate our self so much to let our life go down the drain? I ponder that question for a bit. Would God allow His Children die in guilt and shame? Would our Heavenly Father do such a thing to keep record of all of our “trespasses” and not forgive us because we wrong Him? Through the power of Love, He forgives us fully, wipe clean when we desire so. And because of that forgiveness, that love, we are then incline to forgive others to help heal not only ourselves but others, especially our enemies.

“For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” -Matthew 6:14-15

“But if a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right,he will surely live; he will not die.” -Ezekiel 18:21

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven - for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” -Luke 7:47

“I promise to pray for you every day, ask your forgiveness, grant you the same and be your friend always.”  -Wendle P. Wright

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” -1 Corinthians 13:13

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility,  gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect way.” -Colossians 3:12-14

I love you. A phrase that is commonly used yet a phrase that can change someone’s life. A phrase that would bring people to tears, a phrase that pushes people to no limit, a phrase means beyond this physical world.

A lot of us tend to use this 3 words often in our lives, especially to our love ones whether it be parents, siblings, friends, spouse, or significant others. This phrase is what drives man to go through the driest of deserts, monumental mountains, and deepest of seas. This phrase is what unites the old and young, the loud and the shy, the sick and the healthy, the poor and the rich, the love and the unloved.

From the great Bao Loi (not exact word for word but close to the idea)

“The Word “I” is like you inside your own house. Sometimes your house is dirty, smelly, and messy. It is so filthy that you would never want to invite anyone in. How can you love someone else when you can’t even love and respect yourself? How can you give something that you do not have? And thus we live in a house or “inner world” full of guilt, shame, and loneliness. Yet, with the next word “Love” can change the impossible to possible. That word alone motivates you to do things that you are uncomfortable or even illogical at times. That word drives you to “clean” your house. It forces you to wash away all the pollution, to scrub away the shame, to sweep the guilt out of the house. Why though? Because of the next word “You”. Out of “Love”, you would do it for someone else. Because you are expecting someone “important” and “exceptional” coming over to your house, or literally “into your world”, that you are willing to do what is necessary to clean. Thus, you can then invite that person into your life. So when you say “I Love You”, you are giving your LIFE, your BEING, your WORLD to them.”

Imagine when you invite God , the creator of the universe, into your life. Imagine when you love Jesus wholeheartedly. Imagine what your life can look like when that happens.

rainyautumntwilight:

jamesfromta:

1) Seraphim

1) Cherubim

1) Thrones

2) Dominions.

2) Virtues

2) Powers

3) Principalities

3) Archangels

3) Angels.

We learned about this in RCIA class.

The 5 Pillars of Manhood…

1. Lead - A man must be a leader in a relationship, in a marriage, in a family. There are no excuses. A woman doesn’t want to make the decisions for her man, she wants her man to lead in the relationship. A man must take initiative. A man of God is leader, not a follower, a servant, not a slave, a hero not a coward. A man of God knows God and therefore knows himself. He should be the leader spiritually first, emotionally, mentally and physically he should set the standard for others to follow.

2. Protect - A real man of God will protect his partner. That means he is willing to lay down his very own life, needs and wants for the protection of the one he loves. Every decision he makes when it comes to a relationship has her protection in mind. A woman needs to feel secure, that she is protected and safe with her man. She doesn’t need to second guess, wonder if she will be okay, or have her heart and mind played with. A real man of God will not only protect his woman physically, but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually. He always has the highest good in his mind for her safety, well being and wholeness. This is for the Christian guys out there, don’t emotionally rape a sister, play with her heart and tell her you are just her brother or friend. That is BS. Man up. You either pursue a woman of God because she is God’s precious creation, or you don’t try touching it at all, or play with their hearts emotionally, unless you are willing to be up front and clear with your intentions and the direction of the relationship from the start. Emotional rape is as painful to a woman as physical rape. Women are emotional beings and their hearts are not to be played with. Protect your sisters heart.

3. Provide – A real man of God will do whatever it takes to provide for his significant other. That means monetarily in finances, in basic needs and as well as what she desires. When a man asks a father for his daughter in marriage, the father will not ask, “How are you doing spiritually first?” No, the first thing the father will ask is, “How will you provide for my daughter?” Because part of being and becoming a man is providing for others, especially your wife and children. If a man can’t provide, he isn’t a man. God gave us hands and we must put our hands to work, no excuses to be lazy, God made us to rule the earth. Women are not be treated as toys, trophies or a luxury item, women are God’s highest creation, the very image of God.

I tell men all the time, “Treat your woman like a queen and you will live like a king.” Don’t be cheap brothers, you need to go all out when it comes to pursuing a woman. This is not a one time thing, but a continual practice. Women were created for beauty. They were created beautiful, to feel beautiful to be treated beautiful. You don’t handle a rose without care, it is the same with a woman of God, you treat her with the utmost care, honor and respect. Practically, that means you don’t take a woman to Denny’s on a first date, you take her to a place that hurts your wallet, but it’s worth it because she is worthy.

Also, men must also provide for women emotionally. When a women asks you, “How are you doing?” She is really asking, “How are you being?” Meaning, what are you feeling, thinking, seeing, being about at the moment. To love a women we must provide at every level – basic needs all the way to providing for them mentally, emotionally and spiritually, if not their hearts will die. Be a man, provide for your women.

4. Integrity – A true man of God is a man of his word. Too many men in our culture break promises, play with women’s hearts, date girls as if it was a game, and have no respect for women at all. This is disgusting. In old times, when a man said “You have my word!” that word was bond, it was as if an actual contract had been written, because your word was your reputation. How many men do we know today who say one thing, but do another? Men who do not keep their word, their promise or follow through with their verbal commitments. In our culture we don’t take words seriously, but in God’s world words are everything. Blessings and curses come out of the same mouth. What comes out of our mouths determines what is truly in our hearts.

What a woman wants is a man of integrity. Someone who says what he does and does what he says. Someone they can trust at their word. So as a man you must come through. Words means nothing if they are not backed up with action. Don’t say sorry unless you mean it. Don’t say sorry unless you are able to back up your apologies with doing the right thing. Integrity is doing what is right, whether people are watching or not. Integrity is what you do when no one is looking. Does your woman trust you completely? If not, it is a question of integrity. Don’t tell a women you love her unless your love shows, words carry weight. They either carry false weight or real weight, a woman knows when a man means what he says.

So live by your words, live by action, be a living proof of your values, convictions and commitments. Don’t get involved in a relationship unless you are sure this what you want and what God is leading you both to do. I’ve had my share of mistakes in the past, where I got into a relationship without thinking about the consequences, protecting my sisters heart and the fear of the Lord from the get go, I’ve had to make amends and face the results of my sin and foolishness. Trust me brothers, don’t do what I’ve done in the past, don’t play games, don’t feed your fleshly desires, rather seek God, seek the best interest of the one you are pursuing, be honest, forthright from the start about your commitment and your vision for the relationship and stick to your word. Be a man of integrity.

If you pursue a women, it should be with the intentions of marriage. If not, stop playing yourself and her. It’s not about finding the right woman, it’s about being the right man. That starts with first knowing God in order to know yourself, then you will know how to love and respect a woman.

5) Courage - You are not a man until you climb the great wall of China! This is what it says at the actual great wall. Well, I have climbed the Great Wall of China so I guess I must be more of a man than others, just kidding. What is the greater underlying message here? It is a message of courage. It is a message of adventure. A man of God is a man of courage, a man of adventure, a man who is willing to take risks and do the impossible. Men were born to live a life of great adventure. Men were created to fight battles. Men were created to rescue beauties. Men were created to live.

Sadly, most men are not living. Most men are cowards, fearful and afraid of failure. Imprisoned by their own thinking and what others think about them. Many men are just boys waiting for their mother’s approval, or the approval of others in society. Most men I know are people pleasers, not God pleasers. They are more afraid of how others may reject them or not accept them if they choose to take the road less traveled.

All men die, few men truly live.

-Excerpts from Jaeson Ma

A song that really hits home is by Sanctus Real - Lead Me