Tolerance is The Virtue of a Man Without Convictions

‎Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions. - G.K. Chesterton

Others Increase And I Decrease in The World's Eyes

That others be loved more than I, Others esteemed more than I, Others increase and I decrease in the world's eyes, That others be chosen and I set aside, Others praised and I unnoticed, Others be preferred in everything, That others become holier than I, Provided that I may become as holy as I should - Jesus grant me the grace to desire it.

In All Your Affairs Lean Solely on God's Providence

In all your affairs lean solely on God's Providence, by means of which alone your plans can succeed. Meanwhile, on your part work on in quiet co-operation with Him, and then rest satisfied that if you have trusted entirely to Him you will always obtain such a measure of success as is most profitable for you, whether it seems so or not to your own individual judgment.

Posted from Blogium for iPhone

Holy Purity is a Jewel So Precious That Those Who Possess it Become Like Angels of God

‎Every virtue in your soul is a precious ornament which makes you dear to God and to man. But holy purity, the queen of virtues, the angelic virtue, is a jewel so precious that those who possess it become like the angels of God in Heaven, even though clothed in mortal flesh. - Saint John Bosco

Simplicity, Gentleness And Modesty Are to be Desired in All

Simplicity, gentleness and modesty are to be desired in all society;--there are some people who are so full of affectation in whatever they do that every one is annoyed by them. A man who could not move without counting his steps, or speak without singing, would be very tiresome to everybody, and just so any one who is artificial in all he does spoils the pleasure of society; and moreover such people are generally more or less self-conceited. A quiet cheerfulness should be your aim in society. S. Romuald and S. Anthony are greatly lauded because, notwithstanding their asceticism, their countenance and words were always courteous and cheerful. I would say to you with S. Paul, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice;" and again, "Rejoice in the Lord alway: let your moderation be known unto all men." And if you would rejoice in the Lord, the cause of your joy must not only be lawful, but worthy; and remember this, because there are lawful things which nevertheless are not good; and in order that your moderation may be known, you must avoid all that is impertinent and uncivil, which is sure to be wrong. Depreciating this person, slandering another, wounding a third, stimulating the folly of a fourth--all such things, however amusing, are foolish and impertinent. - Saint Francis de Sales

Posted from Blogium for iPhone

The World Promises You Comfort, But You Were Not Made For Comfort

‎The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness. - Pope Benedict XVI

Our Very Perfection Lies in Diligently Contending Against Our Imperfections

The work of the soul’s purification neither may nor can end save with life itself;—do not then let us be disheartened by our imperfections,—our very perfection lies in diligently contending against them, and it is impossible so to contend without seeing them, or to overcome without meeting them face toe face. Our victory does not consist in being insensible to them, but in not consenting to them. Now to be afflicted by our imperfections is certainly not to consent thereto, and for the furtherance of humility it is needful that we sometimes find ourselves worsted in this spiritual battle, wherein, however, we shall never be conquered until we lose either life or courage. Moreover, imperfections and venial sins cannot destroy our spiritual life, which is only to be lost through mortal sin; consequently we have only need to watch well that they do not imperil our courage. David continually asks the Lord to strengthen his heart against cowardice and discouragement; and it is our privilege in this war that we are certain to vanquish so long as we are willing to fight. - Introduction to the Devout Life by St. Francis of Sales

Fighting For Him Against Riches, Against The World, Hell, And Himself

What, then does God look upon with pleasure and delight? What is He asking the Angels about, and even the devils? It is about the man who is fighting for Him against riches, against the world, hell, and himself, the man who is cheerfully carrying his cross. - Saint Louis-Marie De Montfort

Without The Catholic Church, You Would Have No Knowledge of Christ

Where was your church in the first century? Jesus promised His Church would be always visible and perpetual. Where was your church in the 2nd century? Where are your martyrs in the early centuries, who died defending Christianity? Where are your doctrinal teachings from the moment of Pentecost all the way to today? Where was your church in the 4th century when the decision was made which writings constituted the inspired Word of God to form the New Testament? Show us evidence of your perpetual, authoritative church since Pentecost, or keep your kindergarten criticisms to yourself. Without the Catholic Church, you would have no knowledge of Christ. Respect your elders. - Bernie Jacoby

Human Affairs Are Faint as a Shadow, Virtue Has Eternal Value

Human affairs are faint as a shadow. Youth fades quickly as the flowers of spring; beauty wastes with age or sickness. Riches are uncertain; glory fickle. The pursuit of arts and sciences is bounded by the present life, but virtue is a precious possession for its owner and all who witness it and it alone has eternal value. Make it your study, and you will be worthy of the good things promised by God. - Saint Basil

Temptation is a Sure Sign The Soul is Very Pleasing to The Lord

Temptation is a sure sign the soul is very pleasing to the Lord. - Saint Padre Pio

Be Encouraged! Take up Prayer More Readily!

Be encouraged! Take up prayer more readily and continue without interruptions - and you will soon achieve your desired goal. Soon a reverent attention to the One God will be established, and with it, inner peace. - Saint Theophan the Recluse

Liberals Shifting Terminology

The liberal cannot win a debate, nor the majority of the nation, without shifting terminology. Illegal = Undocumented Worker. Terrorist = Freedom Fighter. War on Terror = Oversees Contingency Operations. Banana Republic = Quantitative Easing. Keynesianism = Stimulus. Democrat Treatment of Bush = Toxic Political Atmosphere. Street Corner Girl = Liberated Woman. Infanticide = Choice. - Drake Dunaway

How Shall We Acquire Saving Humility?

How shall we acquire saving humility, abandoning the deadly elevation of pride? By practicing some act of humility in everything we do. - Saint Basil the Great (329-379AD) on Humility

He Who Accepts Evil Without Protesting is Cooperating With it

He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Mercy of God is Infinitely Greater Than Your Malice

The mercy of God, my son, is infinitely greater than your malice. - Saint Padre Pio

Fallacies Do Not Cease to Be Fallacies Because They Become Fashions

Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions. - G. K. Chesterton

There is No Such Thing as Being a Good Catholic And Being Disobedient to The Holy Father

There is no such thing as being a good Catholic and being disobedient to the Holy Father. There is no such thing as being a good Catholic and being a dissident when it comes to faith and morals. There is no such thing as dissent from authentic and authoritative Church teaching. No such thing. Those who do that separate themselves from Christ and His body. They become dead members of the body of Christ.

You should avoid such people like the plague and you should keep your children from such people as though keeping them from the worst contagion, because contact with such people can poison their minds, poison their souls and kill them morally and spiritually, and you don't want to be responsible for that. That is not lack of charity, that is not lack of pastoral concern. That IS charity, that IS being pastoral and that IS being merciful. It is not merciful to turn our children over to those that can poison their hearts and minds. That is not charitable, merciful, nor pastoral. - Fr. John Corapi

Sola Scriptura: Not God's Intended Plan

If Sola Scriptura was actually the intended plan for God to establish his Divine plan of Salvation, you would expect to see all the Early Churches, teaching nothing but Sola Scriptura! In fact, what you find is the exact opposite. You actually find a Church with Authority, calling the shots! And that Church is the Catholic Church! - Ross Earl Hoffman

Federal Government: Drunk With Other People's Money, High on Power

An omnipotent federal government, drunk with other people's money, high on power and infinitely corruptable is the problem. Everything else is a symptom - not a cause. - Marc Baluch

Worship of the Trinity Was Revealed

At your baptism in the Jordan, O Lord, worship of the Trinity was revealed; for the Father's voice bore witness to you, calling you his beloved Son, and the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the truth of these words. O Christ God, you appeared and enlightened the world. Glory to you!

Belief is Possible Only in One Who is Willing

‎A person can do other things against his will, but belief is possible only in one who is willing. - Saint Augustine

One Single Act Done With Aridity of Spirit is Worth More Than Many Done With Feelings of Devotion

One single act done with aridity of spirit is worth more than many done with feelings of devotion. - Saint Francis de Sales

There is no Middle Class in a Socialist Society

The GOP represents the middle class more than the Democrats. In a socialist society, there is NO MIDDLE CLASS! There are those who have and those who have not. The more we depend on the government, the less innovation...with no potential of reward, what's the point?

Look at every socialist/communist nation from history and current...Cuba? China? Russia? Any of them have a thriving middle class? NO. Just people who work for the government and the government...do you see the same quality of life that we have here? NO....not even in Canada...here, we have a strip mall on every corner, restaurants, malls, services, etc....my husband is from Canada and when we go to visit his mom in Winnipeg...a HUGE city, there is hardly a place to go get a bite to eat around...it's a nice city and there are restaurants and shopping, but it's all in the affluent neighborhood...the rest of the city is hit or miss. Nothing like here.

Don't get me started....I've been poor, I've been on welfare...I've worked and struggled...now we have a little bit, the government doesn't want us to keep it...it's pitiful! Think I'll go back on welfare and fire the people in office. - Christina Molander Pasterz

The Ecclesial Crisis in Which we Find Ourselves Today Depends in Great Part on The Collapse of The Liturgy

"...The drastic manner in which Pope Paul VI reformed the Mass in 1966 provoked extremely serious damage to the Church...Some changes were needed, but the suppression of the old Mass marked a break in the history of the liturgy, the consequences of which could only be tragic...I am convinced that the ecclesial crisis in which we find ourselves today depends in great part on the collapse of the liturgy." - Pope Benedict XVI From La Vita Mia, ("My Life")

People Are Seeing Through The Banality and The Pathetic Homemade Liturgies

"...we can...explain the fundamental change that has come about in the understanding of ritual and liturgy...: the primary subject of liturgy is neither God nor Christ, but the 'we' of the ones celebrating. And liturgy cannot of course have adoration as its primary content since, according to the deistic understanding of God, there is no reason for it. To an increasing degree people are seeing through the banality and the childish rationalism of the pathetic homemade liturgies with their artificial theatrics; it is becoming obvious how trivial they are. The authority of mystery has disappeared..." - Pope Benedict XVI

Lust Would Like us to Believe That it Can Make us Happy

Sexual activity is fuelled by an unfulfilled desire for true love. In the words of Josh Harris, “Lust would like us to believe that it can make us happy. If we just give it what it wants, it will stop pestering us and be satisfied. Lust is never satisfied, you can’t bargain with it and come out a winner. Lust hijacks sex. It wants to train your desires to delight in the thrill of the forbidden so that you lose your Godly appetite for what is good.” Close physical involvement is not equivalent to true affection. - Love Undefiled

Christ Said, "I Am The Truth;" He Did Not Say "I Am The Custom"

Christ said, “I am the Truth”; he did not say “I am the custom.” - Saint Toribio

All of Heaven is Counting on us

All of Heaven is counting on us to take a stand for God. - Michael Fanelli

The Problem Lies Not With Truth, But With One's Acceptance of it

Typically, Catholics are accused of being anti-intellectual and not being able to see the 'plain' truth, yet nothing can be further from the Truth! If not for the Catholic Church, the very notion of authentic education would not exist...(i.e. scholasticism, studying a series of effects back to its 'cause' namely God!) We must understand Truth is Truth! It is immutable...it just is! Once face to face with it, the active intellect must succumb, if not, the problem lies not with Truth but with one's acceptance of it (ego or false understanding, therefore 'error'). - Marco Mastro

The Devil is Active in Our Society

The devil is particularly active wherever well-meaning people make choices and settle into lifestyles that contradict the holy and righteous and good Law of God. When men believe that abortion is a good thing, sexual license is a personal matter, lying and cheating are just a way of getting what you want in life, others exist to make me happy, money and things are the measure of happiness and success, and that one person’s view of truth is just as valid as another’s, there the devil is in full-blown assault, all his guns blazing and all his forces in the field. The fact that, in our day, presidents, judges, academics, scientists, financiers, leaders in business and the professions, and most people you and I know believe such things as these indicates that the devil, rather than fleeing for the high ground, has found an open field of battle to work his will. - T. M. Moore

Wrong is Always Wrong, Right is Always Right

Wrong is wrong even if everyone else is doing it, and right is right even if no one is doing it. - Saint Augustine

Blessed Are Those Who Make Good Use of Time

Oh how precious time is! Blessed are those who know how to make good use of it, because, on the day of judgment, all will have to render a strict account of it to the supreme Judge. Oh, if only all could understand how precious time is, undoubtedly everyone would do his best to spend it in a praiseworthy manner! Saint Padre Pio

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton & God's Will

Elizabeth Seton told her sisters, “The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.”

Christians Praising Every Creed Except Their Own

These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own. - G.K. Chesterton

I Have Touched a Moment in Human History That Overwhelms My Comprehension

‎Christ Jesus, Your love for me compels me to give myself and hold nothing back! I have touched a moment in human history that overwhelms my comprehension, and conquers my heart for You! May I give myself - as You give Yourself to me at Mass; in prayer, and in souls You call me to serve. - Lisa Quejada, prayer before the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Humbling Herself Before the Lord Where He is Present in the Blessed Sacrament

A veil is not a sign that a woman is 'holier than thou'. It is a sign that she is humbling herself before the Lord where He is present in the Blessed Sacrament. - "The chapel veil, revisited", by Chris & Co.

In My Time of Trial I Called Out to The Lord: He Listened, And Led me to Freedom

In my time of trial I called out to the Lord:
he listened, and led me to freedom.

The Lord is with me,
I will fear nothing that man can do.

The Lord, my help, is with me,
and I shall look down upon my enemies.

It is good to seek shelter in the Lord,
better than to trust in men.

It is good to seek shelter in the Lord,
better than to trust in the leaders of men.

- Psalm 117

All Honour, Laud and Glory be, O Jesu, Virgin-Born, to Thee

From lands that see the sun arise,
To earth’s remotest boundaries,
The Virgin-born today we sing,
The Son of Mary, Christ the King.

Blest Author of this earthly frame,
To take a servant’s form he came,
That, liberating flesh by flesh,
Whom he had made might live afresh.

In that chaste parent’s holy womb,
Celestial grace hath found its home:
And she, as earthly bride unknown,
Yet calls that Offspring blest her own.

That Son, that royal Son she bore,
Whom Gabriel’s voice had told afore;
Whom, in his Mother yet concealed,
The Infant Baptist had revealed.

All honour, laud and glory be,
O Jesu, Virgin-born, to thee;
All glory, as is ever meet,
To Father and to Paraclete.

How do You Know God Exists?

Q: How do you know God exists? For all you know, God could be made up by humans. Humans WANT to believe that there is something greater than themselves, they WANT to believe there is some big plan for them. The God that you know could be made up just like the other gods that have been made up. Greeks, Romans, Aztecs. They all made up gods. How do you know the God you know was not made up like the rest of them?

A: The full answer to your question requires a discussion of the basic principles of logic, epistemology (the study of how we know what we know), metaphysics (the branch of philosophy that deals with questions about non-physical realities). The short answer to your question is that the God affirmed by natural theology is very much unlike the Titans, Olympians, or other mythological characters from polytheistic religions. My favorite argument for the existence of God is from Bernard J. F. Lonergan: "If the universe is intelligible, God exists." If you read and reply to this comment--whether you agree with it or not--you are demonstrating a commitment to the principles of natural theology by which we recognize that there is a pure Spirit who is the uncaused cause, the first mover, the summit of all perfection, the end toward which all purposeful behavior tends, the intelligence behind all other forms of intelligence; beyond that, we can see that this being is one, simple, infinite, all-powerful, eternal, good, beautiful, and true. Plato and Aristotle recognized the validity of this kind of argument to the existence of God, but the God whom they recognized by the force of reason was utterly unlike the invented God's of the polytheists.

If the universe was unintelligible, you could not say "Humans want to believe that there is something greater than themselves." If there were no God, you could never make claims like this. God is the condition of the possibility of all judgment; every judgment you make implictly affirms that there is a God. (For those keeping score at home, this is an argument drawn from the Jesuit philolsophical tradition of Transcendental Thomism.)

Answer given by Martin X. Moleski

Some are so Misled by the Spirit of Discord

What rascal, what traitor, what madman would be so misled by the spirit of discord as to dare rend the Divine unity, the garment of the Lord, the Church of Jesus Christ? - Saint Cyprian

You Have Time to Exercise but no Time to Pray?

‎It is not particularly difficult to find thousands who will spend two or three hours a day exercising, but if you ask them to bend their knees to God for five minutes of prayer, they protest that it is too long. – Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

Time Before the Blessed Sacrament

You may be sure that of all the moments of your life, the time you spend before the divine Sacrament will be that which will give you more strength during life and more consolation at the hour of your death and during eternity. - St. Alphonsus Liguori

Let Your Religion be Less of a Theory and More of a Love Affair

Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair. - G.K. Chesterton

Catholicism is True

The difficulty of explaining "why I am Catholic" is that there are ten thousand reasons all amounting to one reason: that Catholicism is true. - G.K. Chesterton