Search Page
Showing 1501 - 1520 of 2286
We are right to warn children about the consequences of sin, just as we would warn them about the danger of cliff-tops, deep water, or other risky places. Yet we can point out the far-off 'country' which is our homeland, Heaven, where there is no more danger, and no more sadness or pain.
The journey to union with God is only a slow journey, if a person is half-hearted in serving Him and fearful of His demands. The one who surrenders completely to God by obedience to Him in everyday life makes swift progress in prayer, as if travelling in a fast vehicle, not on foot.
To meet Christ at death whilst in a state of grace is to be wearing the wedding garment necessary for Heaven, even if it is stained, and must be washed clean in Purgatory. Good people who have never known Christ meet Him at the edge of Heaven; some greet Him gladly, when told He is the Saviour of the world and so receive a white garment. Others refuse to accept Him, and condemn themselves, and cannot therefore enter Heaven.
A person who is brought back to God's friendship, reconciled through a sacramental Confession, and brought closer through the Mass and Holy Communion, is like a man suddenly brought back to a main road, from a far away desert country, and who now drives straight towards Heaven, as long as he does not deviate from the route.
Thoughtful people mourn those who died on the battlefields of war, but many fail to mourn the tiny infants cut to pieces by abortion.
It is true that groups of Christians outside the visible unity of the Catholic Church join in Christ's saving work by baptising their members. But it is tragic that those young Christians are often taught mistaken things about faith and morals, and so encouraged to sin - even if their instructors thought they were right, in approving of contraception, divorce and remarriage, even abortion and other evils.
The Catholic Church is the 'city, set on a hill' by Christ, so that everyone can come to her, learn from her about God's plans, and about sin and virtue, and be reconciled and prepared for Heaven. Catholics must not disfigure the Church, by their bad behaviour; yet other Christians, though baptised, need her. She alone teaches the complete truth about Christ and His Way, opposing the spirit of of the age.
A major city cannot be called holy until those in charge have ceased to pour public funds and taxpayer's money into events, dramas, exhibitions and publications which are demeaning, immoral, irreverent towards worthy causes, or even blasphemous.
By His Passion, Death, Resurrection and Ascension, Christ made a Way to Heaven. It's as if His head is in Heaven, as He speaks to the Father from our midst at every Mass, as a great mass of needy people encircles the altar on earth.
Long ago, people did evil. It was as though there was a thick cloud of sin covering the world - even before there was a huge river of dead babies, killed by abortion. But Christ pierced the cloud by His Incarnation. He made a way up to Heaven. He asks each of us to work beneath the cloud, in our societies, to change things for the better, until we rise up to Heaven.
Christ assured me that if I made a hat to wear to my grandson's Baptism I would honour Christ by obediently covering my hair in church, honour the occasion by special dress, and honour my husband by looking so smart!
Some mothers are ashamed of their abortions, but many try to justify the act. Yet it is as though mothers throw away their babies, in God's presence, saying to Him: "I don't want your gift". It is a dreadful thing, in the sight of our Creator, to see these little lives snuffed out in that barbaric manner.
The whole purpose of life on earth is to love and serve God our Creator, before sharing His life in Eternity. Which of two women does the Will of God? One who cherished the child she conceived, given life by God, or the one who disposes of her own infant, refusing to let it live? To kill a baby, whether after its birth, or in a clinic before its birth, is to act against God and His Will.
It is a strange era, when some doctors provide a service to certain people, showing willingness to abort their female babies. The message they send out is a terrible message. "It is all right to kill your daughters, who are worthless, and will be a drain on your family".
It is outrageous that the laws of our country have been framed so that parental responsibility has been badly dented. Though schools need the permission of parents before a school nurse can hand out minor medication, medical officials can arrange for a girl to have an abortion - a serious operation - without her parent's knowledge.
If we examine the amount of rubbish which our society throws away daily, we are not surprised any longer by the rubbish by the roadside, the boxes of plastic, or the mountains of newspaper; but we should be surprised that in England about 550 little babies are thrown away every day, killed in abortion clinics.
It is a tragedy, that the legislation of abortion has led to an ever-dimishing sense of responsibility, amongst young people, for their behaviour. A woman can assure a man: "If I forget to take my pill, I can always have an abortion" - and so sex is seen merely as a leisure activity, and not as the intimacy at the heart of marriage.
In permitting an evil such as the killing of unborn babies, society contributes to the depressed state of many women. If encouraged to love their babies, they could have flourished, even in difficult circumstances, but having done wrong, and knowing it, many women carry a burden of guilt, made worse at every reminder, or anniversary.
What the Lord sees, amidst the muddle of a sewing kit, or the tools of a well-loved trade, are an enthusiasm for life, a delight in the skills He gives us, and a desire to enhance our lives on earth as sociable, being willing to work, to make efforts to improve matters or to create beautiful garments or objects.
A person who acts in hatred towards his fellow-creatures is as if shouting out to Christ on the Cross: "No, I won't serve You. I refuse to love my neighbour". In his hatred he is more disfigured than the bleeding figure of Christ, because the man becomes less than a man, and very undignified, through his hatred. Christ was perfect man, and God, in His charity, even when He was almost unrecognisable through His many wounds.
Showing 1501 - 1520 of 2286