Forgotten Truths To Set Faith Afire!

(Image Source - Motoki Tonn on Unsplash) In hope man relies on God's goodness and power to bring man to the possession of God Himself…Hope makes us cling to God as the source of our happiness, the goodness and power from which we hope to receive happiness…The object of hope is eternal life – the vision of God…The virtue of hope moves man to the pursuit of God Himself.   It can be found, then only in the will…[S]ince hope moves man to seek God, neither the saints in heaven, nor the damned in hell can have hope.   The Saints have no hope, because they already possess God…The damned in Hell have no hope, because they have already lost God and know that they can never possess Him. Walter Farrell, O.P., S.T.M. and Martin J. Healy, S.T.D.

(My Way of Life) By meditation man perceives that he can find his true place in the universe and his real happiness only through the surrender of himself to God.  In meditation man perceives the goodness and kindness of God to himself, and this begets love, which is the cause of devotion. Through meditation man also perceives his shortcomings and unworthiness, which leads him to lean on the strength of God for his salvation, and so to submit himself to God.  The knowledge of his own defects may make a man sad, but the knowledge of God's goodness gives him joy.   Walter Farrell, O.P., S.T.M. and Martin J. Healy, S.T.D.

The spiritual works of mercy are in themselves better than the corporal works of mercy.   This is so because the soul of man is more noble than his body.   But in particular cases, the corporal works of mercy may be better and more necessary than the spiritual works of mercy.   A starving man needs food more than he needs instruction.   Walter Farrell, O.P., S.T.M. and Martin J. Healy, S.T.D. 

   (Image source: Wikimedia Commons ) It is God, then, Who will pronounce judgment on the souls of men at the moment of death.   But, in another sense, it is men who will pass judgment on themselves.   At the moment of judgment, the soul which has left its body in death will see clearly its own merits and demerits, its own love or lack of love for God.   In a moment of blinding clarity, God will infuse this perfect self-knowledge into the soul which has left the world of time and space.   The soul will see the absolute justice of the judgment of God. In that very instant, the soul will ascend to the heights of heaven, fall to the fires of purgatory for a time, or descend forever into hell.   In that “Hour of truth” each soul will know itself perfectly and see the truth of its own judgment. Walter Farrell, O.P., S.TM. and Martin J. Healy, S.T.D.