Don't Ever Stop Gazing at the Crucified Christ

If you want to be filled with hope, do as St. Bernard suggests:

Good Friday Reflection

This is not just another Friday. This is Good Friday. Will that fact make any difference in the way we live this day? 

For far too many of us, today will likely pass much like any other Friday - a mad rush to get to the weekend with little thought of He Who made us and whose sacrificial and brutal death redeemed us. Where is our gratitude?

Unforgettable

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

This the day so long foretold

This the day of justice lacking

This the day of man’s ingratitude

This the day of cowardice and fear

The Eucharist - An Eternal But Forgotten Truth

This is Holy Thursday. How could I not share this powerful video from CatholicsComeHome.org?


Pass it along ! Help this Holy Thursday be special for the person or persons most in need of hearing this life-changing Truth!

Of Holy Thursday, Priests, the Eucharist and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

In case you missed this on Catholic Online, here is something to ponder this Holy Thursday

Stop Running Away From Suffering - Embrace It As God's Will for You

As Catholics we are supposed to be counter cultural. But are we?

What spiritual concept is more foreign in today's culture than the idea that we should embrace suffering? Probably none, since the majority of us run away from, reject, and complain about any and all forms of suffering.  We are always looking for some pill to pop or syrup to ingest to get rid of even the slightest physical pain. How many of us seek escape from emotional pain through the abuse of alcohol, drugs, food, and sex?

We forget that Christ not only suffered and died for us but He told us we too  must pick up the crosses He sends us and suffer as did He if we wish to be with Him eternally. If you express that vital teaching today, most of those with whom you share it will mock you for believing so. The fact that they reject this essential Truth doesn't change it from being true!

While we do not have to seek suffering, when it comes our way may we embrace it as God's will for us and draw strength, comfort and encouragement from the words of this great spiritual director:

Admittedly, this is a  lot easier to say than to do. Embracing suffering is impossible without God's grace - grace readily available and sufficient for those who seek and grasp it.

Monday Musings - You Will Not Find Happiness There!

 [If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, I guess he can use me to get yours. May these periodic postings (God willing) generate fruitful discussion and faithful change.]

Although the following quotation was in the context of using contraception, its wisdom applies to all sin and demonstrates the power of just a few well-chosen words:

A Lenten Reflection from St. Thomas Aquinas

(St. Agatha's, Canastota, NY)

I have been journeying through Lent this year with the aid of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. I thought you might find the following worthy of reflection and contemplation this Passion week:

“The Passion of Christ suffices to reform completely our entire life. For whosoever desires to live perfectly, need do nothing more than despise those things which Christ on the cross despised, and love the things which Christ loved. For no example of virtue is absent from the cross.