Don't Fear Death

Pope Francis seemed unfazed by the frosty wind battering St. Peter's Square, donning his papal coat and white scarf during his General Audience. This Wednesday, he continued his series on the Creed, and spoke with intensity about making a sense out of death and suffering.  

POPE FRANCIS 

“Among us, commonly, there is a wrong way to look at death. Death affects us all, and questions us deeply. Especially when it hits close to home, or happens to children, the most defenseless, in a way that seems to us 'scandalous.'” 

The Pope explained that when people think of death as the end of everything, it becomes a threat that makes people react with fear. 

POPE FRANCIS

“If we take up this wrong vision of death, we have no choice but to hide it, deny it, or to trivialize it, so that it doesn't scare us.” 

That's why the Pope said that those who live their lives thinking of others, are not afraid of death. Their good deeds and actions have not been useless. To emphasize his point, he asked the pilgrims to repeat it. 

POPE FRANCIS 

“Those who live out mercy are not afraid of death. Do you agree? Let's say it together, so we don't forget. Those who live out mercy are not afraid of death!” 

Despite the cold temperatures, the General Audience took place at St. Peter's Square, instead of Paul VI Hall, the usual location for the event during this time of the year. 

“I love you.” 

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True Worship

During times of suffering it is important to worship God.  Jesus (as a Jew) worshiped God in the Temple.  We Christians are now living temples.  We worship God by how we conduct our lives.

The Holy Father recently gave instruction on how we should worship in our bodies.

“Following God presupposes a continuous purification,” Francis highlighted, "because we are sinners": "we purify ourselves by prayer, penance, the sacrament of reconciliation and the Eucharist." 

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Discernment

Discerning the Lord's will in life then acting on it will bring peace.

If we are truly going to discern by focusing on the Lord, whether it be what our vocation is in life or whether or not we should go on that weekend trip, there are some practical measures we can take so that His will in our lives remains clear. Our friend the great Italian 18th century saint and moral theologian St. Alphonsus Liguori has a few pointers to help us. Comments by me, mostly from my own reflections, as my practical experience probably only accounts for a poor percentage of all this.

• Remain pure of heart. 

Go to confession regularly and exam your conscience daily. Essentially St. Alphonsus is reminding us that it is the “pure of heart that see God”. This quite fitting because, naturally, only the pure of heart seek God. Confession and examination of conscience are essential for allowing God’s grace to make us “pure of heart”. The more you know His ways, the more you understand what He wants from you.

• Grow in virtue.

Do spiritual reading, ask for spiritual direction, discuss God with others regularly, establish a regular prayer schedule and try to be as faithful to it as you can. If you can, find a community where you can strengthen each other and pray for each other. Ideally, this community should be like your second family, a place where you can feel belong. It’s easier to grow in virtue that way.

• Ask the Lord to call you to a particular state in life.

Just as Peter asked the Lord to command him to come out on the water, humbly ask God to call you to approach Him. As you fall in love with Love itself let Him fill your intellect, will and heart with the desire for a particular state in life. Do not expect your journey of vocation to be the same as your neighbour’s. In all likelihood, it’ll be unique and surprising. God knows you better than you do, and He will call you the way only you and He can comprehend (isn’t He just the romantic!). So stop concentrating on the heights of the mountains or on the depth of the ocean. Who knows, you might hear Him speaking through a random burning bush.

• Do not put any obstacles in the way of grace.

Be open and ready to do the Lord’s will in all things—we ask the Lord daily to help us with our selfishness and concupiscence. Sins, especially ones that have become habits, are obstacles to grace. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (Eph 4:31), “of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind” (1 Pet 2:1). Be humble. A full vessel cannot be filled without first be emptied. So be that empty vessel into which God can pour out His generous grace.

• Carefully avoid overindulgence.

In our present culture especially, be aware of overindulgence. It’s everywhere. Keep everything in moderation. Know your limits. Overindulgence can make things seem better than they really are, and it makes unnecessary things become deceptively necessary. It will deprive you of the freedom you need in order to follow the Lord. Remember, in medio stat virtus—virtue stands in the middle. With self-control, comes self-knowledge, and with good self-knowledge, comes proper discernment, and hopefully, the clarity of your vocation follows not far behind.

• Go on retreat.

This not only benefits religious and priests (they are required by canon law to do so) but for any lay person as well. And, if your schedule does not permit it at least find some time to think reflectively. Meditate and contemplate. Go about your life a little more slowly, a little more considerately. Learn to see God in all things and to see all things in God. Establish your own cloister in your heart, a place of solitude into where you can retire every now and then.

But why do these sound like general instructions on how to become holy? Well yes, holiness is the ultimate calling for everyone, that’s for sure. But the practical, day-to-day “how”, this is the one that needs discernment, in order to effectively reach that final goal of holiness. Each facet of a diamond is different, and will reflect light differently. Holiness unites us to God without losing ourselves. Unlike the Buddhist idea of union in nirvana, we don’t “disappear” in God, but rather, we learn to be one of the thousand facets of a sparkling diamond.

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Evil and Suffering

Evil and the occult can cause undo suffering.  Christians should avoid it.  True worship facilitates a more peaceful existence.

 By the "occult," we are speaking of some supra-human or supernatural influence that is not from God. We commonly associate the occult with that which has demonic influence. In the United States today the occult has become much more popular than it was twenty years ago. Today, there is popular Satanic music, Satanic street gangs, an increase in Satanic worship, a more widespread use of the horoscope and study of the signs of the zodiac, and Satanic games that can be purchased. In spite of this, many people do not take the occult seriously. They laugh off the notion of the Power of Evil as actually being a part of the "real" world in which we live.

I do believe that demonic influence is very real and that it constitutes a dangerous threat to our spiritual well-being. What is written here is, at best, a brief summary of a reality that I have no desire to spend much time exploring. My purpose is simply to give you enough knowledge to be able to at least suspect the presence of the occult so that you can avoid it completely. In the letter to the Ephesians (1:3-10), St. Paul tells us that God chose us in Jesus Christ before the world began. We are called to be holy and without sin in his sight. God called us to be his children through Jesus Christ. In Jesus and through his Blood we have been saved and our sins forgiven. This is how generous God our Father has been with us. And He has given us the wisdom to understand this mystery, this plan He revealed to us in Christ. We are Baptized and Confirmed Christians. In both of these sacraments we have renounced Satan, all his works, and the empty promises of the kingdom of darkness. In these Baptismal promises we profess our faith in Jesus Christ and in the Church. Now the kingdom of God is absolutely opposed to Satan's kingdom. Salvation in Jesus Christ presupposes our rejection of the kingdom of darkness. Our life, though, is a spiritual warfare. In the first letter of St. John (1 Jn. 5:18-20) he tells us two things. First of all, we who are born of God (by Baptism and the Holy Spirit) are protected by God so that the Evil One cannot touch us. But he also tells us that the whole world is under the Evil One.The Evil One can tempt us, but he cannot touch us directly unless we open the door for him. We should not fear Satan nor should we be constantly looking for him in the ordinary happenings of our life.

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Hound of Heaven

THE HOUND OF HEAVEN

The name is strange. It startles one at first. It is so bold, so new, so fearless. It does not attract at once, rather the reverse. But when one reads the poem this strangeness disappears. The meaning is understood. As the hound follows the hare, never ceasing in its running, ever drawing nearer in the chase, with unhurrying and imperturbed pace, so does God follow the fleeing soul by His Divine grace. And though in sin or in human love, away from God it seeks to hide itself, Divine grace follows after, unwearyingly follows ever after, till the soul feels its pressure forcing it to turn to Him alone in that never ending pursuit.

It would be difficult to find another poem in the language that gives such food for thought, so satisfying, so new, that can be read and reread, and always with a relish and a discovery of a new application, or the glimmer of an unseen light. In many poems, one reading suffices, and the mind is sated, for the whole depth is plummeted and all is revealed in a single view. It is not so in this poem. There is a depth that can be sounded, and deeper depths are still there. The vision takes in the view, but other details arise that charm, or surprise, or startle, or evoke admiration at the spiritual insight into the workings of the soul. It gives great and wide range of thought within a small compass, and a deep knowledge of the human soul, of the meanings of life, of the soul's relation to God and of other beings not God, and of the hold of God's love upon the soul in spite of its fleeing from Him to the creatures of His hand.

It is happiness the human soul is ever yearning for. It never ceases its quest for happiness. Night and day, year after year, it is grasping after happiness. The weary days of labor are borne to gain the wealth with which it thinks it may buy happiness. The days of suffering and pain are spent in watching and waiting for the agony to pass, that happiness may come. It looks for it in every
creature, in the earth, in the sea, in the air. The soul asks all these things — wherein is your happiness — and the answer of earth, air, sea is "He made us." 'We are for Him, for His glory." So the soul is looking for happiness, and in all these things it will not find happiness. It will find happiness only in God. And yet instead of seeking it in God, it turns away from Him and seeks it in the creature, something that is not God. And God is ever seeking that soul which is running away from Him. Wherever it runs, the sound of those feet, following ever after, is heard, and a voice, stronger than the beat —

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Holiness

Living a life of holiness is essential for salvation. 

How do we grow in holiness? How? That, of course, is our spiritual program, isn't it, the stewardship of the spirit, "the regimen of the soul bringing about the reign of God," to quote servant of the poor Charles de Foucauld. I propose to you a spiritual regimen, a stewardship of the spirit coming not from me, but from centuries of practice and learning.

10 Steps to Holiness

Sign of Cross

Catholics cross themselves for many reasons.  One is to remember the suffering of Christ for us. 

The Sign of the Cross is also a simple gesture yet a profound expression of faith for both Catholic and Orthodox Christians. As Catholics, it’s something we do when we enter a church, after we receive Communion, before meals, and every time we pray. But what exactly are we doing when we make the Sign of the Cross?

Here are 21 things:
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Death

Contemplating death in the proper way can help us live our lives better.  It focuses us on what is truly important, eternal life, where there is no more pain and suffering.

Recently Pope Francis had this to say:

 

POPE FRANCIS 

“As the sun starts to set today, each one of us can think of the sunset of our own lives... how will my sunset be? Mine, yours, yours, and yours, and even yours; All of us will pass away one day! Do I look at this with hope, with the joy of being received by the Lord? This is a Christian thought, that brings peace to us.” 

Before the end of the ceremony, the Pope said a prayer for the dead and in a special gesture, he also included all of the immigrants who pass away tragically in their search for a better life. 

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The Devil is Powerless

The devil can play a role in our miseries and sufferings, but ultimately he is powerless.  The pope recently stated, "Nothing will ever separate us from the love that Christ himself gained for us, giving of himself completely. Even evil powers that are hostile to man are powerless in the face to the intimate union of love between Jesus and those who welcome him with faith".

"Only the sin of man can break this bond, but even in this case God will always go in search for him to restore that union that lasts even after death, it is indeed a union that in the final encounter with the Father reaches its climax. This certainty gives a new and full meaning to earthly life and opens us to hope for life beyond death".

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Communion of Saints

The saints in heaven can help us with their prayers.  We should turn to them in our struggles.

Pope Francis:

"In these difficult times it is necessary to trust in God , through prayer, and at the same time, it is important to find the courage and the humility to be open to others and ask for help, to ask for a hand : 'Give me a hand , I have this problem.' How many times have we done this? And then, we overcame the problem and found God again. In this communion - communion which means ' common union ', all united , common union - in this communion we are a big family, all of us, where all the components help and support each other . "

The communion of the saints, then, "goes beyond the earthly life, goes beyond death and lasts forever. This union between us goes beyond and continues in the afterlife. It is a spiritual union that comes from Baptism, that is not broken by death, but, thanks to that Christ who is risen, is destined to find its fulfillment in eternal life. There is a deep and indissoluble bond between those who are still pilgrims in this world, among us, and those who have crossed the threshold of death into eternity. All the baptized here on earth, the souls in Purgatory and all the saints who are already in heaven form one big family . This communion between earth and heaven is realized especially in the prayer of intercession".

"This beauty, the memory of the faith: it is our reality, that makes us brothers, that accompanies us on the journey of life , and we will meet again up there in Heaven . Let's make this journey with confidence, joy. A Christian must be joyful, with the joy of having so many baptized brothers and sisters who walk with us, and even with the help of our brothers and sisters on this journey towards Heaven, and also with the help of brothers and sisters who are in Heaven and Jesus who pray for us. Move forward on this road , and with joy ."

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