Forgotten Truths To Set Faith Afire!

 

  There is nothing – however simple –- that our lukewarmness won’t present to us as difficult and costly.   Conversely, there is nothing – however difficult and costly – that our fervor and determination won’t present to us as pleasant and agreeable.  St. John Chrysostom

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) External mortification [of our sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch] is necessary in order   to mortify the disorderly appetites and senses of the body, and interior mortification of our passions [love, hatred, desire, aversion, joy, sadness, courage, fear, hope, despair and anger] is necessary in order to mortify the irregular affections of the soul.   Interior mortification is more excellent than exterior, both because it has a nobler object, the soul and its powers, and because the exterior ought to proceed from the interior.    Father Charles Hugo Doyle 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Dear Brothers and Sisters! In our own day, fasting seems to have lost something of its spiritual meaning, and has taken on, in a culture characterized by the search for material well-being, a therapeutic value for the care of one’s body. Fasting certainly brings benefits to physical well-being, but for believers, it is, in the first place, a “therapy” to heal all that prevents them from conformity to the will of God. The faithful practice of fasting contributes, moreover, to conferring unity to the whole person, body and soul, helping to avoid sin and grow in intimacy with the Lord.  Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Image Source: WikimediaCommons ) The chief penance and mortification God asks from most of us is a complete fulfillment of the duties of our state of life. Father Charles Hugo Doyle

Photo©Michael Seagriff The reason why we find life so hard, mortification so difficult, and why we are inclined to avoid all that we dislike, is because we have no real love for Jesus.  Father Charles Hugo Doyle