TIME IS NOT OURS

As soon as we open our eyes in this life, time has already overtaken us.

It wakes us up without permission, drags us without pause, educates us with blows, and dismisses us without farewell.

No one chooses it. No one can stop it. No one ever sees the same time twice.

And yet, we treat it as if it were ours. As if it were a resource, a calendar, a number to be accumulated or managed, but not a mystery to be received.

And so, by dint of measuring it, dividing it, chasing it, we have forgotten that time does not belong to us.

⸻

There are those who believe that time is the neutral framework of life. Others imagine it as an invisible god who rules all things without a face.

But the truth is much simpler, and more solemn: time is a creature.

As real as the sun, as fragile as the soul, as obedient as a servant awaiting orders from the Eternal.

It did not arise out of necessity. It is not self-sufficient. It has no end in itself.

It was created by God, not for man to dwell on, but to transform it into eternity.

⸻

The human soul was made for eternity, but it can only choose within time.

And that is why time is not an empty succession, but the space of drama.

The drama of freedom, of sin, of grace, of forgiveness, of glory or perdition.

Every second is a battlefield.

Every moment can be an altar or an abyss.

Every day can incline the soul toward Heaven or toward judgment.

⸻

But here is the secret that cannot be taught in academies: time is not understood with concepts, but with worship.

It is not mastered with clocks, but with knees.

It is not won by doing more things, but by uniting everything to God.

Therefore, he who multiplies his agenda but does not love wastes his time.

And he who appears ineffective in the eyes of the world, but unites his day to the Cross, is saving hours for eternity.

⸻

The eternal Word, by becoming incarnate, entered into time.

God, who does not need minutes, agreed to live each one, so that not one of our minutes would be left out of his Redemption.

And thus, time was sanctified.

Not because its substance changed, but because it was assumed by the Word and transfigured among men.

From then on, every moment can be united to the Mystery,

every hour can be grace,

every day can be an oblation...

if it is lived in Christ.

⸻

Time does not wait.

But it does obey.

It obeys the One who created it.

And therefore, he who unites himself to the will of God does not fear the passing of days.  Because he knows that each day doesn't distance him from fulfillment, but brings him closer.

There is a higher freedom than that of one who controls his agenda: that of one who allows himself to be possessed by God's plan in time.

That freedom knows how to lose in order to win, to remain silent in order to conquer, to wait in order to burn.

⸻

The soul that loves God doesn't waste time.

Not because it fears it, but because it sees it as a gift.

A fleeting, fragile, precious gift, whose value is measured not by its duration, but by its destiny.

The saints, who understood time more than all the watchmakers in the world, lived each day as if it were the first... and the last.

They knew that every moment could be the hour of their death or their eternity.

And so, they didn't rush: they worshipped.

They didn't plan for ten years: they prepared for ten centuries of glory.

⸻

Time is not a tyrant.  The tyrant is the man who wants it without God.

Time does not kill: it is we who kill it when we use it without love.

Time does not age: it is the soul that withers if it does not await eternity.

Time, lived in grace, rejuvenates hope.

Time, united with sacrifice, transfigures history.

And time, offered with faith, conquers death.

⸻

Time is not ours.

It was given to us… to give back.

And in that act—free, humble, silent—everything is at stake.

We will not be asked how much we did, but how much we offered.

Not how many hours our work lasted, but how much of God each one contained.

Because time will not be judged by its progress, but by its worship.

And only those who love the eternal Word discover that time is not a prison… but a path.

And that every minute is a possibility of eternity.

OMO

THE DULL SADNESS OF THE MODERN AGE

I. THE STRANGE SERIOUSNESS OF A WORLD THAT THINKS ITSELF CLEVER

One of the most baffling mysteries of modern society is its inability to laugh with genuine joy. It’s not that people don’t make jokes—they do, constantly—but rarely with true delight. Instead, modern humor is bitter, calculated, and, above all, sad.

There was a time when men laughed because life was a gift and the world a stage full of surprises. Today, the modern man laughs with a bitter smirk, as if trying to prove that he is too intelligent to take anything seriously. He has turned humor into a tool of sarcasm and disdain, a shield against the terrifying possibility of happiness. Because, in the modern mind, to be happy is to be naive, and to not take oneself too seriously is a sign of low intelligence.

This obsessive seriousness is the clearest sign of a world that has lost its grasp on reality. Because only those who possess the truth can laugh at everything without fear.

II. THE SADNESS OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN NOTHING

The problem with the modern world is not just that it lacks humor, but that its own philosophy makes it incapable of finding any.

To laugh, one must at least momentarily accept that the world is something good. And that is precisely what the modern man cannot do. If life has no purpose and the universe is a meaningless accident, then any expression of joy is, at best, a foolish distraction and, at worst, an offense against reason. The modern world is incapable of spontaneous joy because it has convinced itself that nothing is worth celebrating.

When men of old drank wine, they sang and toasted with joy because the wine was a gift. The modern man drinks to forget. Before, festivities were a reflection of gratitude; today, entertainment is merely a way to anesthetize oneself. The difference is simple: the man who believes in God drinks with joy; the man who does not drinks in despair.

III. HUMOR: A MATTER OF MENTAL HEALTH

In a sane world, laughter is a sign of sanity. Not because everything is funny, but because everything is meaningful. True humor arises from the ability to see life from the right perspective, to understand that the world is at once serious and ridiculous, profound and lighthearted, divine and human.

The saint and the wise man can laugh because they know man is small and yet, miraculously, loved by God. The madman and the proud man, on the other hand, never truly laugh, because they believe the universe revolves around their own gravity.

This is why the modern man—who thinks history begins with him and that the fate of the cosmos depends on his social media debates—is incapable of lighthearted laughter. He has made seriousness into a religion and has banished joy to the margins of childhood and ignorance.

But joy is not a sign of foolishness; it is a sign of sanity.

IV. ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE THE TRUTH CAN LAUGH

Laughter is not just a trait of human nature; it is proof that there is something in the universe worth celebrating. It is the spark that confirms that reality is neither a trap nor a nightmare, but a story with a purpose.

This is why saints have always been the most joyful. Because their joy does not depend on circumstances but on the certainty that truth exists and that God is good.

The modern world mocks faith, but it is incapable of laughing with the freedom of a believer. Because the one who possesses the truth can afford the luxury of laughing even at himself, but the one who has made relativism his only truth must cling desperately to his own importance.

When a Christian laughs, he does so with the confidence of a child playing in his father’s house. When the modern man tries to laugh, he does so like someone whistling in the dark to hide his fear.

V. THE SECRET OF JOY

The secret of joy is simple: not thinking oneself the center of the universe.

The man who sees the world as a gift is happy because he understands that his role in this story is that of a character, not a frustrated author trying to rewrite the plot. He does not need to pretend that everything is under his control, because he knows the script has already been written by someone infinitely wiser.

Christianity has always been the religion of joy because it is the only one that has a real reason for it. It not only offers an explanation for existence but a reason to celebrate it. It not only answers suffering but redeems it. It not only understands death but conquers it.

This is why the Christian can laugh freely, while the modern world, with all its science, progress, and technology, remains as dull as ever.

Because nothing is more boring than living in a world without meaning.

VI. THE WORLD HAS BECOME SERIOUS BECAUSE IT HAS LOST GOD

The problem with the modern world is not just that it has stopped believing in God but that it has taken itself too seriously. And a world that takes itself too seriously is a world doomed to sadness.

Before, men could laugh at their own flaws because they knew they were not the center of existence. Today, the slightest joke is taken as an offense because every man has turned his opinion into a personal dogma and his ego into a religion.

The world has banished laughter because it has lost humility. It has exiled joy because it no longer knows how to be grateful. And it has murdered humor because it has forgotten that reality is far greater than our intellectual pretensions.

But laughter will not disappear. Because truth, in the end, always triumphs.

And when the world, tired of its own dullness, rediscovers the greatness of simplicity, the wonder of the ordinary, and the immense joy of being a creature in the house of its Creator…

Then, it will laugh again.

OMO

THREE KINDS OF CATHOLICS, WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

“There are baptized Catholics (not properly Christian Catholics, but Christianized), who, although they are Catholics according to their baptismal certificate, live a life that is not at all Christian. They are the dry branches on the tree of the Church.*

There are Sunday Catholics, who are only Catholics on Sundays when they go to Mass, but the rest of the week they cease to be, and hardly anyone notices. They are the sickly shoots.

Thank God, there is a third group: the everyday Catholics, who not only go to church on Sundays, but are so every day of the week, and (know their faith) and try to always do God's will, pray for a while every morning and go to confession frequently. They are the ones who go to bed at night with this thought: Lord, have I lived today as I should? Are you pleased with me?"

Bishop Tihamér Tóth. Christ the King

____________

*Many of them do not know their faith, nor do they even know the doctrine and morals of the Church.

BEAUTY AND CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN A WORLD THAT GLORIFIES UGLINESS

INTRODUCTION: BEAUTY AS A REFLECTION OF GOD

In the Catholic tradition, beauty has always been a reflection of divine perfection, a tangible manifestation of God’s order, goodness, and love. Since creation, beauty presents itself to us as a mark of the divine, a doorway inviting man to contemplate the mystery and grandeur of the Creator. This vision, deeply rooted in the teachings of the Church Fathers and thinkers like St. Thomas Aquinas, has guided generations of educators, artists, and theologians, who have understood that beauty is not only found in art but also in the formation of the soul. The goal of Catholic education, therefore, is not just to transmit knowledge but to guide the soul toward virtue through beauty.

However, in the modern world, ugliness has gained dangerous prominence, distorting the perception of reality. Especially in children, whose souls are vulnerable and malleable, this distortion is even more perilous. Through popular cultural products—such as toys, movies, and music—the grotesque, the disordered, and the empty have replaced classical beauty, uprooting children’s ability to discern what is true, good, and beautiful.

This article aims to highlight the importance of beauty in childhood education, demonstrating how educating in beauty is an indispensable path to virtue and transcendence. We will draw from the teachings of great Catholic educators, from St. John Bosco to Catherine L’Ecuyer, and from the principles of St. Thomas Aquinas, who understood that beauty is not simply an adornment but a formative virtue.

BEAUTY ACCORDING TO THE CATHOLIC TRADITION: A THOMISTIC REFLECTION

For St. Thomas Aquinas, beauty is defined by three fundamental characteristics: integrity (integritas), proportion or harmony (consonantia), and clarity (claritas). These qualities not only describe what makes an object beautiful but also represent the divine order that governs the universe. Contemplating beauty leads man to deeper reflection on reality and the divine order that sustains it. This perception is crucial in education since when a child is exposed to beauty, they are introduced to the mystery of God, who is the source of all beauty.

1. Integrity

Integrity refers to fullness, to that which is complete in itself. In the context of education, this means that children should be presented with images, concepts, and objects that are not fragmented or distorted. Modern toys, often caricatured or disproportionate, violate this principle, teaching children to accept incompleteness as normal. As Patricio Horacio Randle observes in his work The Loss of the Classical Ideal in Education: “Modern man, in his pursuit of practicality and immediacy, has lost sight of human integrity, creating fragmented and incomplete individuals.” This deterioration is also evident in children’s culture, where models and characters are promoted without any sense of fullness or balance.

2. Proportion

Proportion is the harmony between the parts of a whole. In classical music, for example, children can find a perfect proportion that reflects the order of the cosmos. This elevated musical experience is essential in cultivating a sense of order and beauty in the child. However, modern music for children, with its disordered rhythms and banal lyrics, introduces a distorted view of reality into their minds, disorienting their aesthetic and moral sensitivity. Here, we see how proportion, an essential characteristic of beauty, becomes distorted, affecting the child’s character formation.

3. Clarity

Clarity or luminosity is the quality by which something beautiful presents itself in a comprehensible and accessible way. In childhood education, clarity should be reflected not only in what is taught but also in how it is taught. St. John Bosco, one of the greatest Catholic educators, insisted that moral and spiritual clarity was fundamental in guiding children toward God. He said, “Education is a matter of the heart, and God is its master. We cannot achieve anything unless God gives us the key to this heart.” The educator, like an artist molding a work of art, must present truth and beauty clearly so that the child’s soul may be drawn toward them.

THE GLORIFICATION OF UGLINESS IN THE MODERN WORLD

Today, children are constantly exposed to an aesthetic that glorifies ugliness. From toys with grotesque shapes to animated films that feature deformed characters and chaotic settings, modern culture promotes a disordered and disharmonious view of the world. As Patricio Randle asserts: “Modern man has developed, to the fullest extent, the necessary faculties to produce what we call science and technology… But does he also possess the necessary dispositions to master everything in such a way that an authentic culture emerges?”

Constant exposure to these elements distorts the child’s innate ability to appreciate beauty and, consequently, their ability to recognize good and truth. Beauty, in its essence, is linked to virtue, and by depriving children of it, we are depriving them of one of the most important tools for their moral development. Today’s education, instead of forming complete individuals, is creating fragmented ones, incapable of achieving a true understanding of the common good.

EDUCATING IN BEAUTY AS A PATH TO VIRTUE

Educating in beauty is not simply an aesthetic matter; it is a matter of moral and spiritual formation. St. John Bosco deeply understood this when he founded his educational system based on reason, religion, and kindness, where the beauty of creation and virtue held a central place. In his words: “It is necessary for the child to learn to love what is good and beautiful from an early age so that when they grow up, they can clearly distinguish between evil and ugliness in the world.”

Catherine L’Ecuyer, in her book Educating in Wonder, explores how beauty is a gateway to wonder, and wonder, in turn, is the engine of learning. When a child encounters something beautiful—a landscape, a musical piece, a work of art—their soul opens to the greatness of mystery, to the transcendence of God. L’Ecuyer asserts that wonder is a natural quality of children, but that modern culture, with its overstimulation and focus on the ugly and the fast-paced, is killing this ability.

THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE OF THE FAMILY IN EDUCATING IN BEAUTY

The family is the first sanctuary of beauty. It is within the home that the child learns to contemplate beauty not only in the nature that surrounds them but also in the tenderness of their parents’ love, in the generosity of a gesture, in the harmony that pervades family life. Parents are the primary guides in this education of the soul, leading their children by the hand to discover beauty in the simple and everyday: in a blooming flower, in the song of a bird, in the majesty of a sunset, in the smile of a sibling.

Catherine L’Ecuyer reminds us that educating in beauty is not just an aesthetic pursuit but a formation of the child’s heart and mind to recognize the order and harmony that reflect God. Teaching a child to marvel is not just a lesson in aesthetics; it is a lesson in love. In contemplating beauty in nature and art, the child learns to recognize God in all creation, and in that act, their soul is elevated.

Parents, as the first educators, have the responsibility to offer their children an environment filled with beauty, both physical and spiritual. From organizing a clean and orderly home to selecting books, music, and art that elevate the soul, every detail matters. The family thus becomes a sanctuary where the ordinary transforms into a constant revelation of the divine. Educating in beauty is, in this sense, educating in virtue, as beauty orients the soul toward what is good and true.

THE VALUE OF BEAUTY AGAINST UTILITARIANISM

One of modernity’s great mistakes has been reducing the value of things to their practical utility. Catherine L’Ecuyer highlights that beauty has value in itself, not because it is useful, but because it touches the soul. In a world that values the material and the immediate, educating children in beauty teaches them to appreciate what enriches the soul, even when it has no utilitarian purpose. Beauty elevates the spirit because it is connected to what is true and good, offering the child a broader perspective of life, one that goes beyond mere functionality.

PROTECTION AGAINST THE TRIVIALIZATION OF BEAUTY

In a culture where beauty is constantly trivialized, it is essential to teach children to distinguish between superficial and authentic beauty. Catherine L’Ecuyer emphasizes that true beauty has a transformative depth, while beauty reduced to mere visual or superficial stimulus lacks the power to elevate the soul. Exposing children to beauty in their everyday surroundings—whether in nature, art, or music—fosters a sensitivity that protects them from the trivialization promoted by many forms of modern entertainment.

BEAUTY AND VIRTUE: FORGING CHARACTER THROUGH EDUCATION

St. Thomas Aquinas viewed beauty as a virtue, not only in the aesthetic sense but also as a quality that forms the soul. The virtue of temperance, for example, teaches moderation in desires but also to appreciate beauty appropriately, without falling into excess or superficiality. Formation in beauty, then, is also a formation in virtue. By teaching children to find joy in beauty and in the order of the soul, we are forming complete human beings, capable of discerning what is truly important.

CONCLUSION: THE PROMISE OF REDEMPTION THROUGH BEAUTY

In educating children in beauty, we are not only shaping their aesthetic sensitivity but also their ability to recognize what is good and true. It is an educational path that prepares them for a virtuous and contemplative life, distancing them from the superficiality of the modern world. True Catholic education must be an integral formation that encompasses not only the mind but also the heart and soul of the child. Only then can we form new generations capable of resisting the distortions of contemporary culture and seeking, in all things, the truth, goodness, and beauty that lead us to God.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae.

2. St. John Bosco, Memoirs of the Oratory of St. Francis de Sales.

3. Catherine L’Ecuyer, Educating in Wonder.

4. Patricio Horacio Randle, The Loss of the Classical Ideal in Education.

THE CROWING ROOSTER: THE VOICE OF THE SAINTS AND A TESTIMONY TO TRUTH

In the stillness of the night, when darkness seems to reign endlessly, the crowing of the rooster rises with strength, breaking the silence like an unexpected light piercing through the shadows. Just as the rooster’s crowing awakened the conscience of Saint Peter in his denial, the true Christian is called to raise his voice, to proclaim truth and faithfulness to Christ in a world that denies Him. The saints of the Church have been like that rooster, watchful, tireless, warning and awakening the souls that, like Peter, sometimes stray.

Saint Augustine reminds us that the rooster’s crow announces the awakening, not only of the day, but of slumbering consciences: “The rooster crows, and the soul awakens from its slumber of error.” The soul, in its frailty, often resembles Peter, who promises to follow Jesus to the end, but in the moment of trial, collapses. “You will deny me,” Jesus says to him tenderly, knowing that the denial is not the end but the beginning of repentance. Saint John Chrysostom teaches us that Peter’s fragility is the fragility of all, but his tears, his bitter tears, are the path to redemption. “Peter wept, and in his tears he washed away his fault. The Lord looked at him, not to condemn him, but to remind him that His love is stronger than betrayal.”

That same rooster still crows today, not to shame us, but to awaken us. How many today, within the Church itself, deny Jesus? They deny Him whenever they reduce Him to just another leader among many, whenever they ignore the Most Holy Eucharist, forgetting that it is not a symbol, but the Body and Blood of Christ. As Saint Pius X says in his encyclical Pascendi, “the Church is not here to conform to the world, but to transform it through the truth of the Gospel.” Today, many men in the Church have succumbed to the desires of the world, lowering the faith to mere sociology, speaking of sins not as offenses against God, but as mere “frailties.” But the truth does not change: “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” says Christ, and Saint Athanasius teaches us that the Christian must proclaim this truth, even when the whole world denies it.

How brave Saint Athanasius was, who in the midst of the Arian crisis, when it seemed that the whole Church was leaning toward error, stood firm! “Athanasius contra mundum” —Athanasius against the world— he is known as such because he did not fear proclaiming the truth even when he seemed alone. And us? Are we willing to be that rooster crowing in the middle of the night, reminding the world that Christ is King? Saint Vincent of Lérins exhorts us: “Hold fast to the faith that has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.” We cannot change it to please the world, because it is not ours, it belongs to Christ, and to Him we must be faithful.

The rooster crowed, and Peter remembered. We also need that constant reminder. We need saints who awaken us with their example and their word. Saint Pius X, the defender of the purity of doctrine, warns us in his encyclical Pascendi about the dangers of modernism, which seeks a “new church,” a church without the cross, without sacrifice, without Christ. But such a thing does not exist. The Church of Christ is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, and nothing and no one can change it.

As Saint Gregory the Great tells us: “It is better to be persecuted for proclaiming the truth than to be applauded for hiding it.” Today, those who openly speak of Christ, who defend the faith of old, are ridiculed, slandered, set aside. But what does it matter? As Saint Ignatius of Antioch says, “I prefer to die for Christ than to reign over the ends of the earth.” This is the faith we must proclaim, this is the truth the rooster crows every time its voice is heard.

The Gospel, the Catechism of Saint Pius X, the Sacraments of the Church, these are our lessons. How great it is to be that rooster crowing in the dark night of the modern world, reminding everyone that Christ is the only Savior! Crow not to receive applause, but to be faithful. Saint Peter, redeemed by his repentance, teaches us that even the weakest can come to love Christ above all.

Today, the rooster crows again, as on that first morning of repentance. May it not find us sleeping. Let us crow with it, with our eyes closed, because we know the lesson by heart: Christ is our Lord, and outside of Him, there is no salvation. We may not be many, but we will be faithful. As Saint Paul reminds us: “If God is with us, who can be against us?” Let the darkness come, let the trials come. We will be the rooster that crows in the heart of the night, proclaiming the light of Christ, the Son of God made man, the only Savior of the world.

Be encouraged to be that rooster that crows loudly when all others are silent, to be faithful when all others bow, to proclaim the truth when everything seems lost! Christ lives, His Truth remains, and His Church, our Church, the one from time immemorial, will continue to proclaim His name until the end of time.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. SAINT AUGUSTINE. Confessions. Editorial Gredos, Madrid, 1996.

2. SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM. Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew. Biblioteca de Autores Cristianos, Madrid, 1955.

3. SAINT PIUS X. Pascendi Dominici Gregis. 1907. Available online at: Vatican.va.

4. SAINT LEO THE GREAT. Sermons and Letters. Editorial Ciudad Nueva, Madrid, 2004.

5. SAINT VINCENT OF LÉRINS. Commonitorium. Biblioteca de Patrística, Madrid, 2000.

6. SAINT ATHANASIUS. Letters Against the Arians. Editorial BAC, Madrid, 1994.

7. SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT. Homilies on the Gospel. Editorial BAC, Madrid, 1996.

8. SAINT IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH. Letters. Editorial Ciudad Nueva, Madrid, 1999.

9. SAINT PAUL. Epistle to the Romans, in Holy Bible. Editorial Rialp, Madrid, 1996.

10. SÍ SÍ NO NO. Where the Rooster Crows. 16/09/2019. Available at: https://adelantelafe.com/donde-el-gallo-canta/.

A VAIN SUBSTITUTION

 

STOP CANONIZING MY MOTHER!

Even before my mother died, the usual silly practice of canonizing those we love was starting. Friends from our parish visited her, and attempted to comfort her by telling her what a good person she was, and of course my mother protested. It is an odd trap when you receive compliments you don’t deserve as a Catholic. If you tell them you are not so virtuous as they think, then they just have one more reason to praise you: you are so humble you don’t see your own virtues! My mother told me later that she really didn’t understand why they said such things to her. I told her to ignore their remarks, because she knew the truth about herself, and they did not. My mother knew she was not a saint. She could have honestly listed her sins if anyone had asked her to do so.

After she died I was on the receiving end of condolences from many at her parish, and far too often I heard some remark that assumed she was already in Heaven because of her personal goodness. One good woman even told me that I had a new intercessor in Heaven. It astounds me how far this false teaching has spread, because although this was coming from traditional Catholics, I even heard a traditional priest make the same sort of remark at a funeral sermon within the last few years. This misplaced praise and this misunderstanding of God’s mercy have to stop. I am most of all troubled by the fact that such remarks sweep away all motivation to pray for the deceased. When my grandmother died, the priest addressed all of her grieving relatives and friends with words that I now paraphrase: I am sure that God sees all the prayers that have been said and will be said for her, and because of them she is now in Heaven.

The problem with that sermon, and the sermon I heard a traditional priest preach, and the problem with all those who are so sure my mother is in Heaven, is that they are completely ignorant of basic Catholic teaching. The problematic result is that they assure themselves and others that someone is in Heaven, and therefore, logically, there is no reason to pray for the deceased or to have Masses said for them. It is this sort of silly thinking that causes us to have funeral Masses wearing white vestments. White, in Western culture, is the color of joy and celebration. It is not appropriate for funerals. This is why, in his encyclical Mediator Dei, Pope Pius XII warned against the then beginning trend to have funeral Masses in white vestments. His warnings were ignored. The “everyone goes to Heaven” thinking took over the Church. Black vestments, by contrast, show mourning at the loss of a friend or relative, and rightly show forth a Church which begs God to have mercy on His departed servant.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we find this teaching on Purgatory: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” What people are saying when they claim that my mother was so good that she went to Heaven immediately or very soon after she died is that my mother died in or very near the state of perfection. They have no idea what they are talking about. First, let’s recall the life of a very holy woman who lived a life of heroic virtue for years, St. John Bosco’s mother. She had a difficult life, losing her husband early and living in poverty as she raised her sons. Then, when her son John became a priest and began to care for boys by the dozens and then by the hundreds, she was at his side cooking, cleaning, mending, and that right to the end. Her life was one of work and sacrifice, and she did it all with a deep spirit of faith. When she died, St. John Bosco was praying for hours that she would go straight to Heaven, and was there to give her the sacraments of the Church.

Some time after she died, she appeared in a dream to him and spoke with him. He asked her if she had gone straight to Heaven. She replied very directly, “No.” After telling him that she sang a hymn in praise of God. You may need to read that over again to grasp the full import of it. She lived a heroic and difficult life, she poured herself out for years for poor needy boys, she was accompanied by the sacraments of the Church and the prayers of her saintly son, a priest, and she went to Purgatory. Now take all your pious ideas about good people going straight to Heaven and throw them right in the trash. The Church has never taught this.

What has the Church taught? That only those who are completely perfect go straight to Heaven. That is why the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that all who are “still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation, but after death they undergo purification.” (...)

My mother was sensible Catholic woman, and she knew full well that her deceased relatives and friends, no matter how much she loved them and how dear they were to her, were to be prayed for. I have never met anyone who had Masses offered for the dead like my mother. I remember that a common item in the parish bulletin for many years was “Mass for the poor souls in Purgatory, requested by the Portzer family.” Portzer family = my mother. One day I was looking through an old book and found a parish bulletin from the 1960’s, and I wondered if I would find it, and there it was, “Mass for the poor souls, requested by the Portzer family.” In her last weeks my mother left a message for all of us in the family, but also for everyone else, through my brother. He wrote her words down faithfully, and they are as follows: Please live your life well so we may meet again in Heaven. Strong Catholic words, those. But do not assume that she thought that she was going straight to Heaven. My mother was quite resistant to such foolishness, for she knew that, like all of us, she was a sinner. And that is why she said to me and to a few others who were in the room with her, just days before she died, “I don’t want a bunch of flowers. I want Masses.”

So if you are one of those people who tried to canonize my mother (or other victims of modern un-Christian thinking) even though you do not have the power to do so, it’s time to take off your papal tiara, consider the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and that of St. John of the Cross, and pray. Now you are doing what my mother would approve of wholeheartedly. If you keep thinking like a Catholic, you might find yourself doing what she did, requesting Masses for the poor souls in Purgatory.

By Reverend Joseph Portzer

YOUR IMMORTAL SOUL IS WORTH MORE THAN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE

All the money, possessions, houses, mountains, oceans, animals, all of creation itself has much less value than’ your immortal soul, just your own immortal soul! Your immortal soul has infinite value. Nobody in the world can fully plumb the depths of the value of just ONE immortal soul.

How do we know this?   Jesus articulates this with luminous clarity: “What would it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his life in the process? What can a man give in exchange for his immortal soul? (Mk. 8:36)

St. Ignatius of Loyola launched that Biblical passage like a fiery arrow at the young, proud, and self-reliant Francis Xavier, challenging the future patron of the missions to make the Spiritual Exercises.  Xavier made the Spiritual Exercises which transformed his life.

However, it was that fiery and piercing arrow from the mouth and Sacred Heart of Jesus the Lord that broke down the resistance of Xavier— “What would it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul in the process?”

The angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, reiterates the same message. Aquinas affirms that everything in the created world is not equal to just one immortal soul!

For a moment enter into a natural contemplation on the beauty of nature.  The beautiful blue skies, the pure white clouds, the multi-colored leaves blooming in autumn, the white snowcapped mountains, the brilliant and bright rainbow– a beautiful arc crossing the horizon, the powerful and eternal waves crashing against the shore, the majestic eagle soaring into the heights, and the sky painted with a multitude of lights sparkling to the eyes delight—- all of these natural phenomena are a mere glimmer of the majestic beauty and greatness of one immortal soul!  One immortal soul far transcends in greatness every natural beauty that the naked eye can contemplate! For that reason, once Saint Catherine of Siena was granted a vision of one soul in the state of grace and she fell to her knees in ecstasy stunned by its glaring beauty!

Another powerful proof to capture the infinite value of one immortal soul is the apostolic zeal that motivated the saints in their work, sacrifices, sufferings, and their deaths!  Following are few examples of the saints and their insatiable hunger for salvation of immoral souls….

Why did the CURE OF ARS (St. John Marie Vianney) spend from 13-18 hours in the confessional day and night, in the cold of winter and the blistering humidity and heat of the summer confessing sinners? Why? Why? Why? For one simple reason: love for God and love for what God loves most the salvation of immortal souls! Why would he eat two or three potatoes a day, sleep three hours at night battle constantly with the devil, scourge himself to the shedding of blood and weep copious tears? One simple reason—the love of God and love for immortal souls!  The patron of Parish priests knew keenly the value of a soul reconciled to God through the Blood of Christ applied in every absolution!

Again, you tell me why PADRE PIO OF PIETRELCINA, willingly accepted the stigmata in 1918, while absorbed in prayer. His hands and feet were pierced through like his Beloved crucified Lord and Savior.  Padre Pio’s side was pierced, like that of Jesus’ pierced on Good Friday by the lance and blood and water came gushing forth.  Jesus promised this modern saint that he would bear this stigmata for fifty long years and then at the end of his life it would disappear.  Why did Padre Pio accept this excruciating pain of the stigmata? Once asked if it hurt, the saint responded dryly that it was no decoration!   Padre Pio suffered the stigmata to imitate his beloved Savior, the Crucified Lord, but also to repair for sins and for the

conversion of sinners.  In other words, St. Pio willingly bore this suffering for the salvation of immortal souls! He paid a dear price!

Still more why did the THREE LITTLE SHEPHERD OF FATIMA—Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta willingly accepted constant sacrifices that entailed great suffering, even though they were mere children?  Why? Why? Why? The response is the same: their love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus and for the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary and for love of what Jesus and Mary love most in this world— immortal souls!!!!   The list of the sacrifices that these children underwent at such a tender young age staggers the imagination and shows the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of generous souls.

JACINTA. Let us just take the sacrifices of Jacinta Marto, the youngest of the three seers at Fatima. What radically transformed the three of the children, but especially Jacinta, was the graphic vision of hell, on July 13, 1917! Seeing souls being tossed about without any equilibrium like waves at sea, hearing their desperate cries never to be relieved, seeing hideous animals transpiercing the souls(the devils) causing the souls eternal torment provoked in the little Jacinta a profound conversion of heart and life! Little Jacinta, small in stature but a giant in love for souls, was ready to offer all she had for the salvation of immortal souls!

In concrete Jacinta did the following!  She sacrificed dancing that she loved. Eating? Her favorite delight were the sweet grapes of the Portuguese hillsides, these she sacrificed and replaced with eating bitter berries and nuts. With her two cousins she wore a rough rope around her waist that caused her discomfort during the day. She would pray with her forehead to the ground, a penitential posture, repeating the prayers that the Angel taught her earlier in 1916. Rosaries? Before they would skip over the Rosary, by saying simply “Ave Maria” 50 times, so as to obey their parent’s wish. However, after the vision of Hell, the three children, but especially Jacinta, prayed the whole Rosary and many times. In fact, the little “Victim soul” never wearied of praying Rosaries.  Why? To save souls from the reality of Hell and bring them safely home to heaven!

One on occasion, on a blistering summer day, the three of the children were dying of thirst, and Lucia fetched water with a pitcher from a neighbor. But both Jacinta a Francisco implored Lucia to pour the water into the ground so that they could suffer thirst! Why? Once again for the salvation of immortal souls.

THE BLOOD OF JESUS. Finally, the Word of God teaches us most poignantly the value of souls related to the Precious Blood that Jesus shed for all of us and each one of us individually on Calvary that first Good Friday.

“Now if you invoke as Father him who judges impartially according to each one’s works, conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your sojourning, realizing that you were ransomed from your futile conduct, handed on by your ancestors, not with perishable things like gold or silver, but with the  PRECIOUS BLOOD OF CHRIST as of a spotless unblemished lamb. (I Peter 1:17-19).

In sum, your individual soul was saved by the Precious Blood that Our Lord and savior Jesus Christ shed for you on Calvary that first Good Friday. Indeed, if you were the only person created in the whole universe, Jesus would have shed every drop of His most Precious Blood for your immortal soul. How precious and valuable indeed you are and your soul is in the eyes of Almighty God!!!!

FATHER EDWARD BROOM, OMV

VICTIMS OF THEIR OWN POISON

Bees have a stinger, like the tip of an arrow. When a human or animal is bitten, the stinger enters the skin and does not come out, because the stinger stays inside the "victim". When they try to fly away, part of the bees' gut ends up being ripped out. They will die shortly after as a result of this mutilation. The attack may harm the victim a bit, but it costs the bee its life. (Obviously in the case of bees, this is because of their instinct).

 But with human beings something similar happens: those who live trying to attack people through gossip, slander and intrigue; distilling hatred, resentment... they may momentarily annoy their "victim", but they always end up being victims of their own evil. 

 There is no happiness in those who live like this... They are unhappy beings. 

 Therefore, live your life doing good, as God asks you, no matter to whom, and never give up. Do not give up your goals and duties because of people who enjoy meddling in the lives of others, trying to harm others; they always end up badly, victims of their own poison. 

 G.V.

EMBRACE OUR CROSS

To embrace my cross, embracing Yours. What a mystery of love the cross contains! Let us embrace our crosses as Christ loved His. Only for Love and in Love, can we take up our crosses…

Lord Jesus, give us a wise heart, that knows how to love the Cross in your Cross.

_________________________

If the Shoe Fits...

The Friendship of the World

"All its compliments are false pretenses with which it deceives and entices the reckless. Although now it will show itself to you as a friend, in the time of need you will find it an enemy. In the greatest anguish it will leave you alone, and in the fire of tribulation you will know how vain is the glory of the world, for you will have nothing then. The friendship that the world shows you is deceitful, and although now it shows you a cheerful face and you may be prosperous and rich, the hour is near when you will be left without all these things that you love. "

Friar Diego de San Cristóbal, 'Tratado de la vanidad del mundo', Vol. 1, 1908, pp. 374.

______________________________________

Don’t Think You Know Betther than God What is Better for You and When Should it Happen

Pray, ask, insist, over and over, don't give up. If God considers it convenient, he will grant it to you in a timely manner, but don't believe that you know perfectly what is best and when it should happen. Don’t try to compete with He who who knows everything. Surrender with confidence to His Will. And Bless Him always. He loves you sweetly and watches over you.

If through prayer we could get what we ask for right away, piety would become a business. Sometimes God allows everything to get dark, without solution, because then He will shine with an unexpected solution.

_______________________________________

The Weakness of the Catholic is Prayer Badly Made: it Causes Spiritual Anaemia

What is at risk in this life is Heaven or Hell for all eternity after death.

Prayer, explains St. John Damascene [De Fide Orthod. 1, 3, c.24], is: "Ascensus mentis in Deum" (the elevation of the soul towards God).

The holiness of life comes from God [Holy of Holies], during prayer the good Catholic rises to God, that is why the prayer in grace and a friendship with God is extremely desirable, for the soul rises towards Him [implores, pleads, thanks, talks]. How to understand an elevation towards God with the soul in mortal sin [that has seriously offended God]? It is obvious that it is not the best, a dialogue with whom you have offended and you have not asked for forgiveness.

* Annotations:

1st THE STRENGTH OF THE CATHOLIC IS GOD

A soul united to God by true faith, by the grace and friendship, is very strong, so much so that God himself dwells in the soul of a Catholic in grace. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my Father will love him and we will come to him and will make our abode with him.” Saint John 14:23

The strength of the Catholic is proven in tribulations and troubles of life; an evident testimony is the martyrdom of the saints at the time of their death: strength, humility, peace, charity.

2nd THE CATHOLIC MUST LIVE UNITED TO GOD

What is at risk in this life is Heaven or Hell for all eternity after death.

The soul has three enemies that will try to take it to hell: the world, the devil and the flesh.

A Catholic, with his good intention, living in mortal sin, is extremely vulnerable: weak, fearful, in danger of being condemned.

3rd THE CATHOLIC BECOMES STRONG IN PRAYER

The source [origin] of grace, of holiness is found in God, that is why He must have the holy doctrine of God, fulfill His holy commandments, constantly rise towards God: That is the way, form and substance of a strong soul of a holy catholic.

"I am the vine: you the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without me you can do nothing." Saint John 15:5

4th THE HOLY ROSARY

Brother sinner, if your soul is in danger of condemnation, I ask you to start a change of life through the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, by slowly praying with attention and devotion the Holy Rosary, remembering that it is a safe means of eternal salvation.

"Even if you were on the edge of the abyss or had one foot in hell, even if you had sold your soul to the devil, even if you were a heretic hardened and stubborn as a demon, sooner or later you will convert, as long as you pray devoutly every day the Holy Rosary until your death.” Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, The Secret of the Rosary.

5th HOLY ADVICE.

I recommend that you have a special place in your home [it does not matter if it is humble] for praying with a small altar to the Blessed Virgin Mary, a kneeler for you to pray with two candles lit during it.

I advise you that this little place be clean, ventilated, in silence where every day you raise your soul towards God.

God bless you.

“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.

Take Your Battles to Heaven

The True Treasures

It is most useful for our salvation to say often to ourselves: I must one day die! The Church every year on Ash Wednesday brings this remembrance to the faithful. This certainty of death is brought to our recollection many times in the year; sometimes by the burial grounds which we pass upon the road, sometimes by the graves which we behold in churches, sometimes by the dead who are carried to burial.

The most precious furniture that was carried by the anchorites to their caves was a cross and a skull; the cross to remind them of the great love of Jesus Christ for us, and the skull to remind them of the day of their own death. And so they persevered in penitential works till the end of their days; and thus dying in poverty in the desert, they died more contented than if they had died as kings in their palaces.

"The end is at hand! The end is at hand! In this life one man lives a longer, another a shorter time; but for everyone sooner or later, the end comes; and when that end comes, nothing will comfort us at death but the thought that we have loved Jesus Christ, and have endured with patience the labors of this life for love of Him.

Then, not the riches we have gained, nor the honors we have obtained, nor the pleasures we have enjoyed, will console us. All the greatness of the world cannot comfort a dying man; it rather adds to his pains; and the more he has gained of it, the more does he suffer.

It was said by Sister Margaret of St. Anne, a very holy Discalced Carmelite, and daughter of the Emperor Rudolph II: "What profit is a kingdom at the hour of death?". Oh, how many worldly persons are there to whom, at the very moment when they are busy in seeking for gain, power, and office, the message of death comes: "Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live." (Isaias 37:1). Why, O man, hast thou neglected to make thy will till the hour when thou art in sickness? O my God, what pain is suffered by him who is on the point of gaining some lawsuit, or of taking possession of some palace or property, who hears it said by the priest who has come to pray for his soul: Depart, Christian soul, from this world. Depart from this world, and render thy account to Jesus Christ. "But," he cries, "I am not now well prepared." What matters that? Thou must now depart.

O my God, give me light, give me strength to spend the rest of my life in serving and loving Thee. If now I should die, I should not die content; I should die disturbed. What, then, do I wait for? That death should seize me at a moment of the greatest peril to my soul? O Lord, if I have been foolish in the past, I will not be so for the time to come. Now I give myself wholly to Thee; receive me and help me with Thy grace.

In a word, to every one the end comes, and with the end comes that decisive moment on which depends a happy or wretched eternity. Oh, what a moment, on which Eternity depends! Oh, that all would think upon that moment, and the account they must give to their Judge of their whole life! Truly, they would not then devote themselves to amassing riches, nor labor to become great in this perishable world; they would think how to become Saints, and to be great in that life which never ends. If, then, we have Faith, let us believe that there is a Death, a Judgment, an Eternity, and labour for the rest of our life to live only for God. And, therefore, let us take care to live as pilgrims on this earth, remembering that we must speedily leave it. Let us live ever with death before our eyes; and, in all the affairs of life, let us take care to act precisely as we should act at the point of death.

All things upon earth either leave us or we leave them. Let us hear Jesus Christ, Who says: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither the rust nor moth doth consume." (Matthew 6:20). Let us despise the treasures of earth, which cannot content us, and speedily end; and let us gain those heavenly treasures which will make us happy and will never end.

Miserable I am, O Lord, in that I have so often, for the sake of the goods of this life, turned my back upon Thee Who art the Infinite Good! I see my folly in having sought for a great name, and for making my fortune in the world. I see what my true happiness is: it is henceforth to love Thee, and in everything to fulfill Thy Will. O my Jesus, take from me the desire of gain; make me love neglect and a humble life. Give me strength to deny myself in everything that displeases Thee. Make me embrace, with a calm mind, infirmities, persecutions, desolations, and all the crosses that Thou mayst send me. Oh, that I could die for the love of Thee, abandoned by all, as Thou didst die for me!

Holy Virgin, Thy prayers can enable me to find my true happiness, which is earnestly to love Thy Son. Oh, pray for me; in Thee I put my trust.

SAINT ALPHONSUS MARIA DE LIGUORI

Where Will You Go?

Which Waw Will We Follow After Lent?

Meditation on the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Taken from THE HOLY HOUR

Written by Fr. Matthew Crawley-Boevey

(1875 – 1960)

"Behold the Heart that has loved men so much... Contemplate It, my children, satiated with opprobrium, in this Host in which It beats, among fires of charity, for you... only for you! And being unable to bear any longer the ardor that consumes It, It has wished to surrender to the very world which has It pierced with the dart of ingratitude... This is the supreme and last resort of my redemption...

Here you have my Heart: I give it to you, I entrust it to you unreservedly, in exchange for yours, sinner and ungrateful... Oh, I am thirsty, I have an immense thirst to be loved, in this Sacrament of the Altar, in which I have been King of Silence, the Monarch of oblivion... But the time has come for my triumphs... I have come to regain Earth... Yes, I will subjugate it, despite Hell, and I will save it by the omnipotence of my Heart. Accept It, I beg you... give me your hands and your soul to receive this supreme gift of my redemptive mercy... I am come to cast fire on the earth, fire of life, of boundless love, fire of holiness, fire of sacrifice, and what will I, but that it be kindled?

Put your eyes on my wounded chest... there you have the Heart that has loved you to the lows of Bethlehem... and more; To the humiliations and darkness of Nazareth... much more so; even to the agonies of Calvary... This is the same Heart that stopped beating on Golgotha, yes, the same, that continues to love in the unquenchable bonfire of the altar... of the Holy Eucharist."

And you refuse to love Me!”

What Is Inside Your Heart? Answer Honestly

It Will Only Come Out Of It What’s Inside

ORANGE JUICE

I was preparing to give a talk and I decided to bring an orange to illustrate what I was going to say. 

I started a conversation with a young man who was sitting in the front row, and I said,

- If I squeezed this orange as hard as I can, what would come out?

He looked at me as if I was silly and said,

- Juice, of course!

- Do you think apple juice would come out of it?

- No! (He said laughing).

- And grapefruit juice?

- No, not grapefruit juice.

- What would come out of it?

- Orange juice, of course.

- Why? Why is it that when I squeeze an orange, orange juice comes out?

- Well, it's an orange and that's what's inside.

I nodded and said,

- True. Let's assume that this orange is not an orange, but it is you and someone squeezes you or puts pressure on you, and tells you something that you don’t like; this offends you and anger, hatred, bitterness and fear come out of you. Why does these come out?

The young man said,

- Because that's what's inside.

This is one of the great lessons in life: What comes out of you when life squeezes you, when someone causes you pain or offends you? If anger, pain and vengeance are the things that come out, it’s because that’s what’s inside. No matter who offends you, whether it is your mother, your brother, your children, your boss, etc.

If someone does or says something to you that you don’t like, what comes out of you is what's inside. When someone squeezes you and love comes out, it’s because that’s what you have allowed to be in you.

Today there is an orange for you and me. Now, we have to reflect what’s inside us, because " the things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart" [Matt 15:18].

They "squeezed" Jesus and the only things that came out for Him for us were forgiveness, blood of love and mercy. He gave us a living example that, although he was insulted, he was lacerated, humiliated and treated even worse than a criminal, He only gave us love and forgiveness!

What do we do when we are squeezed? What are our actions, words and feelings? Those of Jesus?

"Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thine."