Layers - in the knowledge of God and the path to holiness
Learning about God is like unwrapping a head of lettuce, pealing back one leaf at a time. Always there is another leaf below. We will eventually reach the center of the head of lettuce; but we will never unwrap everthing there is to know about God.
The path to holiness is like pealing an onion. God shows us what is sinful and convicts us that we have sinned. No matter how sweet the onion, there are always tears in the peeling. No matter how sweet the grace of repentence, there are always the pain of letting go of the sin. As the peeling of the onion reveals another layer, so God shows us what we lack in holiness, drawing us ever closer to "be(ing) perfect even just as your heavenly Father is perfect." Matthew 5:48
What I Believe
Why I am and always will be a Catholic. "So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Tthe living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." John 6:53-58 The words and actions of man cannot sanctify. Only the priest, empowered by his ordination, can invoke the Holy Spirit to transform the bread and wine into Jesus so we can receive Him - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity into our bodies and souls. This is the core of the Catholic Church; without this there is no purpose or meaning to the Catholic Church. There are other ways to holiness, to grow in grace; there is no better way than union with Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
Respect Life Crosses
Over the past several years it has been the tradition at Visitation Parish to display white memorial crosses on the front lawn of the church during the month of October, which is observed as Respect Life Month. These 4,000 crosses represent the number of children
who are killed by abortions each day in our country. Some are upset that we have this display. Seeing these crosses should be unsettling for us, as we are reminded of the millions of our brothers and sisters lost in this holocaust of the unborn since the legalization
of abortion in the United States in 1973.
As you pass these crosses during the next couple of weeks, be sure to offer prayer for these “holy innocents,” for their mothers and all those touched by the tragedy of abortion, and for our country, that we may turn away from the culture of death and embrace the Gospel of Life. Let us work for the day when all human life is protected under law and this display in no longer necessary. Thank you to our parishioners whose dedication to the cause of life makes this memorial display possible each year.
On the back of the funeral prayer card for former Rep. Henry Hyde (a great pro–life advocate in Congress), was a quote from one of the Congressman’s speeches:
When the time comes as it surely will, when we face that awesome
moment, the final judgment, I’ve often thought, as Fulton
Sheen wrote, that it is a terrible moment of loneliness. You have no
advocates, you are there alone standing before God—and a terror
will rip through your soul like nothing you can imagine. But I really
think that those in the pro–life movement will not be alone. I
think there will be a chorus of voices that have never been heard in
this world but are heard beautifully and clearly in the next world
and they will plead for everyone who has been in this movement.
They will say to God, ‘Spare him because he loved us,’ and God
will look at you and say not, ‘Did you succeed?’but ‘Did you try?’
from The Visitation Parish bulletin 2012-10-7
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