Worthy Sons

Agnes of Prague
Angela of the Cross Guerrero ,Congregation of the Cross

Gospel Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 The Prodigal Son

There were three: Father, Prodigal Son and Brother, and God pleaded with the elder son to be forgiving and merciful.

We each see the attraction of distant things, and if given half a chance, we will do as the prodigal son, spending our wealth.

When we have exhausted ourselves in pleasure, and our wealth has all been spent, we awaken and are ashamed, and seek a way back to where we were before.

At least, if there still exists some decency in us, we will set about to seek a way to support ourselves while we find a way to live with our sin. God was always ready to receive us, whether from our birth, or only after we woke up and saw the state to which we have fallen.

Jesus does not mind forgiving us, for then it is possible to receive all our love, and for us to receive all of His, and of the two bargains, the last is by far the choicest part.

A wise person learns moderation in all things, and that at least mitigates the danger to our soul. Yet. we discover that in some things, there is no moderation possible, because His love in infinite, and  ours is but a trifle of His.

The point is, if we are forgiving of sinners and help them mend their ways, they might live to be of great benefit to society and to God, whereas, if we insist on penalties and punishment and mercy is never a part of the plan, needless suffering is the fruit of our labor.

Of one thing we should be very careful: not to get our way in all things. Some things are not a matter of sin, but of the value of our merit, for it is in tending to seek more and more to be of greater value to the Lord, we grow to love Him for whom we have expended ourselves.

He seeks those who will give themselves to His flock. He puts a man in charge of them who have mastered virtue and giving good example. They are the friends of God, not them whose sole  purpose in life is to look splendid in rich and fancy clothes who are always ready to party and waste the opportunity to attract souls.

Do not judge one another, for each of us is a mirror reflecting the Lord, and if we have nothing of ourselves obscuring our vision, we will see God clearly and distinctly in our brothers and joy will be in that place.

Worthy Sons

Agnes of Prague
Angela of the Cross Guerrero ,Congregation of the Cross

Gospel Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 The Prodigal Son

There were three: Father, Prodigal Son and Brother, and God pleaded with the elder son to be forgiving and merciful.

We each see the attraction of distant things, and if given half a chance, we will do as the prodigal son, spending our wealth.

When we have exhausted ourselves in pleasure, and our wealth has all been spent, we awaken and are ashamed, and seek a way back to where we were before.

At least, if there still exists some decency in us, we will set about to seek a way to support ourselves while we find a way to live with our sin. God was always ready to receive us, whether from our birth, or only after we woke up and saw the state to which we have fallen.

Jesus does not mind forgiving us, for then it is possible to receive all our love, and for us to receive all of His, and of the two bargains, the last is by far the choicest part.

A wise person learns moderation in all things, and that at least mitigates the danger to our soul. Yet. we discover that in some things, there is no moderation possible, because His love in infinite, and  ours is but a trifle of His.

The point is, if we are forgiving of sinners and help them mend their ways, they might live to be of great benefit to society and to God, whereas, if we insist on penalties and punishment and mercy is never a part of the plan, needless suffering is the fruit of our labor.

Of one thing we should be very careful: not to get our way in all things. Some things are not a matter of sin, but of the value of our merit, for it is in tending to seek more and more to be of greater value to the Lord, we grow to love Him for whom we have expended ourselves.

He seeks those who will give themselves to His flock. He puts a man in charge of them who have mastered virtue and giving good example. They are the friends of God, not them whose sole  purpose in life is to look splendid in rich and fancy clothes who are always ready to party and waste the opportunity to attract souls.

Do not judge one another, for each of us is a mirror reflecting the Lord, and if we have nothing of ourselves obscuring our vision, we will see God clearly and distinctly in our brothers and joy will be in that place.

Repentance

The sacrifice of Isaac.

I arranged for a ride to Christ the King Church yesterday afternoon with a friend of mine. We arrived early and I got out of the car to try to go inside, but all the doors were
locked. My friend did not want to stick around and I didn't feel like sitting in the cold rain until someone came to open the church. In the past, I have walked up to the church with the same result. On my way back home, the last time it happened, I felt a strong presence of the Lord and His admonition not to worry.

This time, there was peace, and a mild rumbling anger in me. It seems to be a sign of the times, that there are not enough priests, and the ones there are, have a different theology than I do, having been taught differently in the seminary.

The trouble is, that with the difference, one has to question the old teachings and the new teachings, which may leave people disconcerted; what DOES Jesus want of me?

Certain sins are mortal sins, and one must confess those sins and make atonement for them. 

There was  no room for a lackadaisical approach to the Sacrament of Penance for the likes of St. Padre Pio; he rather rigorously expected a penitent spirit from sinners, and anyone who was careless and sloppy oftentimes was rather abruptly dismissed until they  had changed their mind. Padre Pio had an understanding of sin from the perspective of Jesus on the cross. It cost Jesus great pain to be crucified, and Padre Pio participated in the passion to a great depth. Hence, it cost him something. If a person is not cost anything. it is likely they may not be absolved until they change their attitude.

These modern times which take Christ so for granted are stupid in the extreme. It should matter to every human being, that wars can annihilate everyone on earth, and those who died must stand before Jesus and account for their life.

What, thus, can be said about people who don't care if someone has made the effort to be reconciled with God? They can hardly elicit pity from the Lord.

In world war two, naval fleets opposed each other, and the stupidity of the opponents led to their ship being bombed out of existance, blown up in burning aviation fuel. Now we can launch missiles at each other, and the annihilation is total and instantaneous; there is no time to avoid what happens in a nuclear fireball. The world is fragile, its climate uncertain, and the dread and fear of sin sickens the heart of humanity and chills the love of anything and all things.

How can we face God in that state? If a person has not made any examination of their life yet, they should soon; do not wait for the instant before a blinding flash produced disintegration of everything into oblivion.

A person should want to care, and indeed, TO care, what happens to every life and every soul, and people should dispose themselves as we would hope others would do. This perspective is the proper one towards God and our neighbor. 

Be afraid if you cannot recall making any effort to encounter God and be awakened to the truth of our relationship. Perhaps you don't care about others, and if not, then you may not care what happens to you, and may not care what God is going to do while people are finding it easier to live a sinful life.

Repentance

The sacrifice of Isaac.

I arranged for a ride to Christ the King Church yesterday afternoon with a friend of mine. We arrived early and I got out of the car to try to go inside, but all the doors were
locked. My friend did not want to stick around and I didn't feel like sitting in the cold rain until someone came to open the church. In the past, I have walked up to the church with the same result. On my way back home, the last time it happened, I felt a strong presence of the Lord and His admonition not to worry.

This time, there was peace, and a mild rumbling anger in me. It seems to be a sign of the times, that there are not enough priests, and the ones there are, have a different theology than I do, having been taught differently in the seminary.

The trouble is, that with the difference, one has to question the old teachings and the new teachings, which may leave people disconcerted; what DOES Jesus want of me?

Certain sins are mortal sins, and one must confess those sins and make atonement for them. 

There was  no room for a lackadaisical approach to the Sacrament of Penance for the likes of St. Padre Pio; he rather rigorously expected a penitent spirit from sinners, and anyone who was careless and sloppy oftentimes was rather abruptly dismissed until they  had changed their mind. Padre Pio had an understanding of sin from the perspective of Jesus on the cross. It cost Jesus great pain to be crucified, and Padre Pio participated in the passion to a great depth. Hence, it cost him something. If a person is not cost anything. it is likely they may not be absolved until they change their attitude.

These modern times which take Christ so for granted are stupid in the extreme. It should matter to every human being, that wars can annihilate everyone on earth, and those who died must stand before Jesus and account for their life.

What, thus, can be said about people who don't care if someone has made the effort to be reconciled with God? They can hardly elicit pity from the Lord.

In world war two, naval fleets opposed each other, and the stupidity of the opponents led to their ship being bombed out of existance, blown up in burning aviation fuel. Now we can launch missiles at each other, and the annihilation is total and instantaneous; there is no time to avoid what happens in a nuclear fireball. The world is fragile, its climate uncertain, and the dread and fear of sin sickens the heart of humanity and chills the love of anything and all things.

How can we face God in that state? If a person has not made any examination of their life yet, they should soon; do not wait for the instant before a blinding flash produced disintegration of everything into oblivion.

A person should want to care, and indeed, TO care, what happens to every life and every soul, and people should dispose themselves as we would hope others would do. This perspective is the proper one towards God and our neighbor. 

Be afraid if you cannot recall making any effort to encounter God and be awakened to the truth of our relationship. Perhaps you don't care about others, and if not, then you may not care what happens to you, and may not care what God is going to do while people are finding it easier to live a sinful life.

Perspective

Morning prayer will do one thing for you; put you into proper context with God and the universe. One can hardly complain that He seems so distant if you never stand before Him in your will and intent. For many, that context matters very little; as long as one wakes up in the morning, and gets to sleep at night with a reasonable expectation that that will be the way it is.

For the most part, that IS the way it is. Yet, terrible things happen right around the corner from us, and there is little or no disturbance in our awareness unless we read the news about what happened.

It is sad when we hear nothing from our loved ones and close acquaintances. One wonders why  we slipped out of the focus of those who mean so much to us. Again ,if we are not conscious of others, and not present in any notecable way, we will slip away. It is like being the sole occupant of a sailboat, and gone for a swim, while fully rigged and steering itself at 10 or 15 knots; it is very difficult to catch up to the boat and get back on, and if there is no one else around on whom we might call, our fate might be suddenly all too disconcerting to us in our ordinary reality.

Jesus does not want us to slip away from Him, He does not want to be forgotten any more than we do. The time to care about the lives of others is now, not ten days from now while we dabble in a polynesian paradise. To put it another way, "The sounds of love don't just happen, you have to make them."

Perspective

Morning prayer will do one thing for you; put you into proper context with God and the universe. One can hardly complain that He seems so distant if you never stand before Him in your will and intent. For many, that context matters very little; as long as one wakes up in the morning, and gets to sleep at night with a reasonable expectation that that will be the way it is.

For the most part, that IS the way it is. Yet, terrible things happen right around the corner from us, and there is little or no disturbance in our awareness unless we read the news about what happened.

It is sad when we hear nothing from our loved ones and close acquaintances. One wonders why  we slipped out of the focus of those who mean so much to us. Again ,if we are not conscious of others, and not present in any notecable way, we will slip away. It is like being the sole occupant of a sailboat, and gone for a swim, while fully rigged and steering itself at 10 or 15 knots; it is very difficult to catch up to the boat and get back on, and if there is no one else around on whom we might call, our fate might be suddenly all too disconcerting to us in our ordinary reality.

Jesus does not want us to slip away from Him, He does not want to be forgotten any more than we do. The time to care about the lives of others is now, not ten days from now while we dabble in a polynesian paradise. To put it another way, "The sounds of love don't just happen, you have to make them."

Son Rising

Can one lone man defy and stand against the prayers and aspiration lifted up to God?
The answer to that question is a resounding "NO!". 

The prayers of the just are full of the power of GOd because it is His Will that all people live in peace, and get along with each other.

Because He continues, so do we, and if we turn away from His Will, we suddenly find ourselves trapped in quicksand from which there is no escape.

All men come to an end, and are answerable to God, and this Will, shall not be overcome by the mere human whinings of sick men. 

God cleans up the festering wounds of the world, soothes our pain, and dispels our fears and unfounded misgivings. In spite of evil and selfish men, I am still here to praise the Lord, because it is the life of eternity to praise our God.