Fresh Starts
Though time is too precious to waste, it must never be thought that what was lost is irretrievable. Once the Divine is introduced, then comes the opportunity to make up for losses. God is the God of the second chance…. Being born again means that all that went before is not held against us.
He that hideth his sins, shall not prosper: but he that shall confess, and forsake them, shall obtain mercy. Proverbs 28:13
The Two Loneliest Places in the World
The search for peace within the self is always doomed to fail; the two loneliest places in the world are a strange city and one’s own ego. When a man is alone with his thoughts, in false independence of the Love Who made him, he keeps bad company. No amount of psychoanalysis can heal the uneasiness that results, for its basis is metaphysical, its source the tension between the finite and infinite.
He that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, his prayer shall be as abomination. Proverbs 28: 9
Fear of People
Goliath was a great giant clothed in an armor of steel and carrying in his hand a mighty sword. David was the shepherd boy without defensive steel, carrying no other weapon than a staff and five little stones from a nearby brook. Goliath scorned him, saying: “Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with the staff?”
David answered humbly, not trusting in his own power: “I come to thee in the name of the Lord…”
The outcome we know. The boy with a stone killed the giant with the armor and sword. “The foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that He may confound the wise; And the weak things of the world hath God chosen that He may confound the strong” 1 Corinthians 1: 27.
He that feareth man, shall quickly fall: he that trusteth in the Lord, shall be set on high. Proverbs 29: 25
Bad? Who Says So?
What makes a thing bad? Well, here is a pencil. This is a good pencil because it does what it was made to do. It writes. Is it a good can opener? It certainly is not! Suppose I use the pencil as a can opener. What happens? First of all, I do not open the can. Second, I destroy the pencil. Now if I decide to do certain things with my body which I ought not to do, I do not attain the purpose for which I was created. For example, becoming an alcoholic does not make me happy. I destroy myself just as I destroyed the pencil in using it to open a can. When I disobey God, I do not make myself very happy on the inside, and I certainly destroy any peace of soul that I ought to have.
The learned in word shall find good things: and he that trusteth in the Lord is blessed. Proverbs 16: 20
God, the Night Watchman
After a succession of hot, sultry days in the summer, we sense there must be a storm before the cool days come back again. Similarly, in these days of confusion, there is an intuition of impending catastrophe, a feeling that some immense preternatural disturbance must bring the evil of the world to ruins before we can be set free again. As DeGoncourt told Berthelot, who had boasted of the future destructiveness of war through physics: “When that day comes, God as a night-watchman will come down from Heaven, rattling His keys, saying, ‘Gentlemen! It is closing time!'”
It is joy to the just to do judgment: and dread to them that work iniquity. Proverbs 21: 15
Gold Rings
How changed the world would be if we worked as hard at being good as we work at making ourselves comfortable or beautiful!
Like a golden ring in the snout of a pig, is a beautiful woman without refinement. Proverbs 11: 22
A Cure for Depression
Depression comes not from having faults but from the refusal to face them. There are tens of thousands of persons today suffering from fears which in reality are nothing but the effects of hidden sin. The examination of conscience will cure us of self-deception. It will also cure us of depression.
The wicked run scared when no one is chasing them! But the good are as bold as young lions. PROVERBS 28:1
A Little Corner of My Heart
Every person has a little corner in his heart he never wants anyone to venture into, even with a candle. That is why we deceive ourselves and why our neighbors know us better than we know ourselves.
Every way of a man seemeth right to himself: but the Lord weigheth the hearts. Proverbs 21: 2
No Time For Meditation?
It is never true that we have no time to meditate; the less one thinks of God, the less time there will always be for Him. The time one has for anything depends on how much we value it.
Thinking determines the uses of time; time does not rule over thinking. The problem of spirituality is never, then, a question of time; it is a problem of thought.
For it does not require much time to make us saints; It requires only much love.
If we want to be wise, the choice is our own. It’s a matter of the will. Proverbs 9:12
The Way of the Cross
“Thereupon Pilate gave Jesus up.”
God is no respecter of persons, but man is. When the Magi spoke of the Savior’s birth, “all Jerusalem was troubled” – but only because Herod was troubled. And another Herod had not wanted to kill John the Baptist; he consented only “out of respect for his guests.”
The whole purpose of life, thought the Pharisees, was to impress people with a show of piety. Human respect led Peter to deny Christ. And human respect led Pilate to condemn Him to death.
When the crowd shouted, “If you free Him, you’re no friend of Caesar,” Pilate’s resistance gave way, and he left Jesus to their mercy.
Human respect – fearing what others will think about our actions – often generates sin, and robs even virtue of its merit.
Do I act to please God – or men?
“There is an old legend circulating in the old country, still fervently believed by the children, that all the bells fly to Rome on Holy Thursday, where the Holy Father blesses them; they return in time for the Gloria on Holy Saturday…..”
Beautiful Queen of Heaven Apron! Feminine and Beautiful!
Available here.
Anna’s Blossoms of Joy~Catholic Hearth Story! Catholic Children’s Easter/Spring Book Set in Poetic Rhyme~Beautiful Hand-Drawn Illustrations ~ Available here.
The rosary, scapulars, formal prayers and blessings, holy water, incense, altar candles. . . . The sacramentals of the Holy Catholic Church express the supreme beauty and goodness of Almighty God. The words and language of the blessings are beautiful; the form and art of statues and pictures inspire the best in us. The sacramentals of themselves do not save souls, but they are the means for securing heavenly help for those who use them properly. A sacramental is anything set apart or blessed by the Church to excite good thoughts and to help devotion, and thus secure grace and take away venial sin or the temporal punishment due to sin. This beautiful compendium of Catholic sacramentals contains more than 60,000 words and over 50 full color illustrations that make the time-tested sacramental traditions of the Church – many of which have been forgotten since Vatican II – readily available to every believer.
Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo’s Surrender Prayer brought understanding and peace to countless souls amid the turbulence of the last century. Now, in our age of incomparable uncertainty, this miracle-worker and visionary writer offers the assurance you need to resolutely face the final things: death, judgment, Heaven, and Hell.
Read these pages, and you’ll embark on the ultimate journey of discovery into what happens to the soul after death. You’ll read true stories of the dead who have communicated to loved ones from the great beyond; you’ll learn how the saints described their mystical experiences, and you’ll investigate stunning supernatural phenomena that remain unexplained by science.
Notably, Don Dolindo provides proof for the existence of Purgatory and explains what it’s like for the souls suffering there. Moreover, he describes the consequences of sin and how the souls in Purgatory are awaiting our sacrificial suffering to be released into Paradise.
Best of all, Don Dolindo offers spiritual wisdom that you can apply to your daily life and shows you how to prepare for a holy death and the glory of the world to come. He describes the remarkable mystical experience of the soul’s awe-inspiring entrance into Heaven and explains the unique power of Our Blessed Mother to help us get there.
You’ll also learn:
- The most important prayers that help free the Holy Souls in Purgatory
- Why even venial sin impairs our relationship with God
- Why good works, almsgiving, and penances are powerful atonements for sin
- Why we need Our Lady’s maternity, humility, and love for souls
- Why the saints delight in interceding for us
- The sublime ecstasy and complete fulfillment that await us when we behold the Holy Trinity in Heaven
These are excellent, the gold rings is humorous, and others very sobering, thank you!
I so much loved listening to Ven. Fulton Sheen on tv when I was a little girl. I didn’t understand it much then, but, I know it made my momma happy, and I was clued into the fact that Archbishop Fulton Sheen was a very important name with very important and Godly things to tell us. And as I got older, and EWTN became available to Topeka, I watched him on this station created by Mother Angelica, and I soon learned why what he said was so very important. I began to read his books, and as I had children, they grew up listening to him too, and learned why he made me happy-and hopeful. Now my adult children watch him, as well, on youtube and EWTN, and their children now listen to him while as children. We often talk about his famous quotes about suffering, communism, marriage, and all things pertaining to our spiritual life and our heavenly home which we hope to be worthy of someday, and will be together there, prayerfully. Ven. Fulton Sheen may be gone from this earth, but he continues to give to us by imparting his wisdom and his love as a shepherd to God’s children by his writings, his videos, and surely his prayers from heaven.
Beautiful! 🤩