Forgotten Truths To Set Faith Afire!

Sin is a personal act. Moreover, we have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate with them: by participating directly and voluntarily in them; by ordering, advising, praising, or approving them; by not disclosing or not hindering them when we have an obligation to do so; and by protecting evil-doers.  ( CCC 1868)

"The only ultimate reason for Bethlehem is Jerusalem; the only reason in God's mind for becoming a Child was so that He might, as man, die on the Cross. In a word, the mystery of Christmas is the mystery of God's unfathomable love that wants to suffer. God took on human flesh so that He might be able to endure pain. That is the mystery of Christmas, the mystery of God's love, in order that loving, He might endure the Cross. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) What is the mystery of the Eucharist? It is the same. You would think that God's love would have been satisfied with His becoming man and as man living, suffering and dying for our sins. And having once died, rising from the dead and returning as man to the Father from whom He came. But no, the mystery of God's love is that He invented a way of showing His love for us not only by being with us and near us but God even invented a way of being inside of us. All of t...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) When the Mass is presented as something casual, entertaining, or improvisational, the whole point of it disappears.  If the priest conducts himself as if Christ were not truly present in the Eucharist, why should the lay people in his parish think the Eucharist means anything? Why should they bother to go to Mass at all?...[C]lose to two-thirds of American Catholics say they don’t believe in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist – and many of those are among the twenty-five percent who still attend Mass…it’s up to the laity to know the laws about texts, gestures, the sacred objects used, and the proper conduct of the Mass; to obey those laws; and to see that the clergy obeys them, too.  It’s up to us to call our priests back to due reverence when it comes to matters of taste that aren’t covered by law.  Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D.

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The Mass is mystery; it is the summation and resolution of all the mysteries.  It is the focal point of Mary’s life; the focal point of Christ’s life; the focal point of the life of every true Christian.  Have you ever assisted at Mass? It is the crucifixion of God. How often we forget!  Rev. M. Raymond, O.C.S.O.

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)  Behold the Heart which has loved men so much, which has heaped upon them so many benefits.   In exchange for this infinite love, It finds ingratitude; instead It meets with forgetfulness, indifference, and outrages and all this at times even from souls bound closely to it in the bonds of a very special love… Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque