+++++++++++++++++++++God's timing is not our timing, but He is never late.+++++++++++++++
"If we're open to it, God can use even the smallest thing to change our lives." Donna Van Liere, The Christmas Shoes


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.

Visitation Catholic Church

Visitation Catholic Church

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Rules


Some people ask why there are so many rules in the Church.  Why can’t we just believe in God?  Rules are a natural development of living.  The more years, the more people, the more problems demanding a resolution, the more rules are made.  Rules are needed because we are too insensitive to God’s love.  If we all lived, ruled by God’s love then we would need no other rules.  We wouldn’t need to be told to do or not do something.  Some rules are necessary to help us and some to keep us from hurting ourselves and others.  One basic set of rules that God thought necessary to give us is the Ten Commandments.  People then began to dicker with God.  If I break someone’s arm but don’t kill him, have I broken a commandment?  Thus, is born another rule.  We are to keep holy the Lord’s Day.  How?  The Church answered with rules about going to Church on Sunday and of resting.  The denser we are about something, the more the Church needs to spell it out for us.  Those of us who don’t need something spelled out quite so much wonder why we needed a rule for that - because someone else did need it.  Sometimes we don’t like the rules because we know that we are doing something we shouldn’t and don’t want to change our behavior - so we grumble about the rules.  Rules are simply another way God provides the Church to help us change our lives toward Him.  Breaking a rule is part of a larger part of not wanting to do what God wills.  It points that out in a more specific way.  Our observance of rules cannot depend on our own understanding of their need; we must thrust the Church to know what is necessary for the health of our souls.

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