Saturday, October 17, 2015

The Seven Deadly Sins in the Moral Decline of America


Accidia: Jheronimus Bosch


Apathy: lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference.


Do you ever ask yourself why folks are so apathetic about God these days? And why is it so hard to make a dent in this apathy? What spawned the apathy and indifference we face in America today?

The word apathy comes from the greek apatheia, "freedom from suffering" or "impassibility".

Interesting. Freedom from suffering and impassibility. (Keep this in mind.)

Some of its synonyms are spiritlessness and  (this is a big one) acedia.

Okay, now we are getting somewhere.

 Acedia is the "real" name of one of The Capital Sins. These days we call it sloth.

 People today tend to think of sloth as a kind of "not-so-deadly sin". As if it were on the level of mere laziness or a bit of sluggishness.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

To read more...click here.

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

The Good Samaritan - Modern Version

WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU FOUND A MAN INJURED ON THE ROAD?
WOULD YOU BEHAVE LIKE THESE MEN DID?

Friday, August 28, 2015

Friday, July 17, 2015

Reflections for the Soul

REFLECTIONS FOR THE SOUL
Victor S E Moubarak 
ISBN-13: 978-1514851210
Paperback and Kindle formats
A selection of readings to help you reflect and meditate when praying or when in need of inspiration.

This book asks pertinent questions such as:
Does God exist? Who is Jesus? What is the Holy Spirit?
Can we really trust God? What happens when we lose all hope and our Faith falters?
Why do some people pray to Saints and the Virgin Mary? Is it idolatry? How does God view such prayers?
Why does God appear to be angry and vengeful in the Old Testament yet we are told He is a loving caring Father in the New Testament? Was it a change of strategy and tactics?
 
These and many other questions are explored and explained in easy to read short chapters. You can read the reflections in chronological order or just open the book at any page and read what is there. Hopefully, it will help you in your prayers.
The author uses humour where appropriate to help deliver a memorable message. You may find a hidden gem in what he writes.

AMAZON LINK HERE

Friday, June 19, 2015

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Friday, May 22, 2015

Desperate Prayers

What happens when you have prayed ...
For days, weeks and months even ...
And nothing seems to happen ...
What then?

I hope these thoughts are of some comfort to you.

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Remain in Me

"I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit,
because without me you can do nothing." - John 15:5

Remain in me.
Without me you can do nothing.
We know this. We know this to be true.
We sometimes try to go out on our own and do our own thing. We sometimes try to take control of things and convert people and change the whole world.
We forget. We are not in charge.  We are not in control.
We are the branches. And we can do nothing without Jesus.
We need to remain in Him. We need to stay rooted in Him. We need to be nourished by Him.
Is that not why we go to Mass? Is that not why we receive the Eucharist? Is that not why we pray every day?
How else can we remain in Him?
Sometimes it is a struggle. But it is a struggle that reminds us that without Jesus ... we can do nothing.
Remain in me.

Lord, help me to remember I am not in charge. Help me to let go and surrender everything to you. Help me to trust you totally. Thank you, Lord. - Amen


Thursday, April 30, 2015

Marketing Christian Books

How to market Christian books
An interview with a marketing manager

Friday, April 24, 2015

Sunday, April 12, 2015

my little rant

I love Mary Magdalene. I guess I have a strong devotion to her. I can so relate to her need to be with Jesus to the end. Her need to go see his tomb and her absolute fear and grief at finding it empty.
And then her joy at hearing her name called. Mary.
And she answers, Rabboni.
It is one of my favorite Gospel stories and I cannot get enough of it. Something about Mary Magdalene and her spirit and devotion that just calls out to me. And warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes.
Fr. James Martin, SJ, posted a reflection on Mary Magdalene on Facebook, using this gospel reading (John 20:11-18) and ended it saying that between the time she saw Jesus and told the disciples the good news, Mary Magdalene was the church.
How beautiful. And very moving to me.
Unfortunately, there were people who decided to take this opportunity to make the statement that women should be priests. And going on and on about it. I get so tired of that happening all the time. This was a case of a priest writing a beautiful reflection for us to meditate on and pray about. It was not the time to push our favorite cause or whatever.
I refused to let it ruin my reflection, but still, maybe it did. I was annoyed. Can we just pray and reflect on the Lord, without church politics getting in the way? Without people pushing their favorite “cause”?
Can’t we just praise and honor and thank our Lord?

I love you, Jesus. Please forgive my whining.

posted from my blog. Thoughts on Grace

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Imagine

Imagine a place you’ve never seen before, a place you might not have believed was real.  A place covered in a mist so thick that you cannot see your hands or your feet, yet, it’s solid and real.  Imagine a place of great suffering, filled with the cries of longing, moaning, and groaning, but a place of incredible joy!  Imagine a place where, before you entered,  you had seen the Face of God, and now, your longing for God causes such great pain, you fear your heart will break.  Imagine a place where the pain is so great, you know that if the skin was burned off your body, leaving only raw nerves exposed to the air, you would feel less pain.  Imagine a place where a fire burns so coldly that the pain caused to your body by a hot flame would be a welcome respite.

The time for merit is over when we die.  We know that God is a God of great Mercy.  What we often forget is that God is a God of Justice, too.  Justice must be met by each of us in our judgment.  One of the gifts of God’s Mercy, in the expiation of our sins, is Purgatory.  Purgatory is a place of final cleansing for our souls, so that one day, when we have paid our debt to our merciful and loving God, we will meet Him face to face, never again fearing Hell, but knowing that we are safe and in Paradise.  satan is no longer a threat to our immortal souls.  We rejoice!

Read More at:  His Unending Love

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Thursday, March 26, 2015