This message is so simple, yet so powerful! Do you want to attract others to Christ, do you want your children to desire what you deem important in this life? Then, BE CHEERFUL!
From Kindness – The Bloom of Charity by Father Lasance
Montaigne says: “The most manifest sign of wisdom is contented cheerfulness, and it is undoubtedly true that a cheerful man has a creative power which a pessimist never possesses.”
Lew Wallace tells us: “A man’s task is always light if his heart is light,” and there is wisdom in the Spanish proverb: “Who sings in grief procures relief.”
The presence of a good and cheerful man acts like an invigorating tonic upon all around him. Nothing disturbs the equanimity of his spirit, which springs from the peace of God in his heart.
Peace with God implies the state of grace, a good conscience, submission to and fulfillment of the divine will. Peace with self implies the mastery over one’s passions, the consciousness of duty well done, the approval of one’s conscience. Peace with one’s neighbor implies the commandment of love, the observance of the golden rule: “As you would that men should do to you, do you also to them in like manner.” (Luke vi. 31.) This threefold peace is the basis of happiness.
A cheerful Christian is a rebuke to the world, whose votaries make it a matter of reproach against religion that it sends men to learn the solemn lessons of the grave and casts a blight upon life, that meditation on the eternal truths tends to stifle endeavor, to paralyze our energies, and to sadden our days.
Religion really tends to gladden our hearts and to make our days calm and tranquil. “Rejoice in the Lord always!” applies to all true Christians. They ought always to be cheerful, and their joy should find expression in deeds of kindness and helpfulness to all with whom they come in contact.
They ought to heed the Words of Our Lord to His followers: “Be of good cheer!” Life today is so strenuous that there is constant need of relief from its strain, and a sunny, cheerful, gracious soul is like a sea breeze in sultry August or like a “draught of cool refreshment drained by fevered lips.”
The author of “The Floral Apostles,” referring to the crocus and the primrose as the emblems of cheerfulness, says: “Cheerfulness furnishes the best soil for the growth of goodness and virtue. It is also the best of moral and mental tonics.
‘A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by grief of mind the spirit is cast down.’ (Prov. xv. 13.)
‘A joyful mind maketh age flourishing; a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones.’ (Prov. xvii. 22.)”
We can all acquire greater cheerfulness by assuming the right mental attitude toward our environment and circumstances, by looking habitually at the bright side of things, by training ourselves persistently to see the good and pleasant things in our common, daily life.
Some persons seem to have eyes only for the disagreeable things that happen to come into their life; they forget or overlook their blessings, and brood over their trials and misfortunes.
The soothing line in “The Rainy Day”: “Behind the clouds is the sun still shining,” does not comfort them.
Stevenson says: “Two men looked out through their prison bars; the one saw mud and the other stars.”
Let us learn to look at life not to find misery and discomfort in it, but to find goodness, gladness, and beauty.
A poet was gazing one day at a beautiful rose-tree. “What a pity,” said he, “that these roses have thorns!” A man who was passing by remarked: “Let us rather thank our good God for having allowed these thorns to have roses.”
Ah! how we also ought to thank God for the many joys and blessings that He grants us in spite of our sins, instead of complaining about the slight troubles that He sends us.
A good suggestion in regard to any past trouble or humiliation is this: “Let it go!” “Forget it!” An optimist writes: “If you had an unfortunate experience this last year forget it. If you have made a failure in your speech, your song, your book, or your article; if you have been placed in an embarrassing position, if you have been deceived and hurt by one whom you looked upon as a friend, if you have been slandered and abused, do not dwell upon it, do not brood over it; forget it!
There is not a single redeeming feature in these memories. Do not make yourself unhappy by keeping on the walls of your heart the pictures of vanished joys and faded hopes. Forget them. Count your blessings. Be of good cheer.”
Only in Heaven will we understand what a divine marvel the Holy Mass is. No matter how much effort we apply and no matter how holy and inspired we are, we can only stammer if we would explain this Divine Work, which surpasses men and angels. -Fr. Stefano Manelli, Jesus Our Eucharistic Love
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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.
“The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Published 80 years ago, this Catholic classic focuses on the Christian family and uses as its foundation the1929 encyclical “On Christian Education of Youth” coupled with the “sense of Faith.” Addressing family topics and issues that remain as timely now as they were when the guide was first published, “The Christian Home” succinctly offers sound priestly reminders and advice in six major areas…
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