If you want to know what is going on, why there is SO much visible evil today, the answer to your question to what is going on is very simple.
Grace. God’s grace to see things as they are, to repent and to run back to Him. That is what is happening – “Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more”
Use this time wisely. Get things in order. Get back on His path. Make a change for the better. For the good.
Repent
Is what I am saying online, or offline, being said because I LOVE?
Is what I am doing online, or offline, being done because I LOVE?
Wonderful assessment by Bishop Robert Barron on the current situation today (Covington Catholic) with jumping to conclusions, that were never there.
Love one another, as I have loved you.
If you are tempted to be sucked into it all, cry out:
Lord? I forgive them. And I pray for them. I do love them, because You loved us first. Have mercy on us all. <– BEST way to begin the healing. Let Him in. Humility prevails.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Please read:
As I ponder today’s gospel reading, and all the ways the evil one tried to tempt our Lord, so brazen as to offer our Lord everything He already has. Everything, in all creation, belongs to our Lord. This is how empty the so called promises are.
Imagine the evil one as a door to door salesman, coming to your home, knocking on your door, forcing himself in and trying to sell you everything within your home that you already own. Imagine him pointing to the photos of your family & children, or placing his arms around them, and telling you, if you follow him, you can have them too. This is the insolence of evil. That same evil so full of himself, to approach our Lord and offer Him all that He had already created. What the evil one didn’t take into account, was our Lord’s mission to regain from the evil ones hands, what he thought he had stripped away from Him, was already done.
Like a hamster on a treadmill, we chase after all these empty promises as if we just go around one more time, we will be filled with them all, when that big break comes! The big break comes, when we are no longer alive and we see the life we lead was full of emptiness and it can no longer be filled with hope, love and faith in our Lord, complete with eternal joy.
I also remember, that our Lord, had us first, through the sacrament of Baptism when we rejected Satan and all his empty promises. Lent is the opportune time to turn back to Him, inviting Him back into our “homes”, to rid them of that door to door snake oil salesman.
Kudos to My Catholic Faith Ministrys for the above photo
This weekend there was a very horrific accident that occurred in Texas. A man and his girlfriend were out late one night and decided to go for a swim in the boat harbor. Posted everywhere were signs saying WARNING! NO SWIMMING Alligators. DANGER!
Along with the signs, there were souls who warned the young man about the gators and begged him NOT to go into the water. The young man began taunting a gator, removed his outer clothing and plunged into the harbor, knowing the risks. As quick as he entered the alligator infested waters, he was being dragged down under by the huge gator he was taunting second before. He managed to scream for help, but it was already too late for horrified onlookers to help him. He was gone and nothing could bring him back.
As I sat horrified reading this immensely sad story this morning, I began to ponder how so closely related this story is, to souls doing this exact same thing all day with their souls. Ignoring the well placed warning signs from our Lord in His words and actions. Ignoring the faithful trying, with their entire hearts in love for them, to persuade them not do continue on into that way of life and to please turn back! Ignoring the Church and assuming the soul about to dive into the alligator infested water knows better than she does.
Ignoring it all and plunging into the depths of the murky water of waiting sharp teeth, as the souls who warned them, unable to do a thing to help them, because they just wouldn’t listen because they thought they knew better, sit in horror for the souls jumping in.. Following along the Culture of Death and assuming nothing else matters but what they want. The entire time, the evil one is luring them into the depths, telling them, come on in! We can be friends, only to tear them to pieces.
I will not sit here and call this man names, nor laugh at his lack of discernment. I will pray for his soul, and for the souls of those who had to witness such a tragic event because, someone refused to heed a warning, just as this takes place daily to souls, and unseen by many in this world, who senselessly dive head long, into the cesspool of the Culture of Death.
I seen a photo of a woman. Her hands were bound along with her legs. Her head was held over a basin. Her throat was slashed and the blood drained out of her naked body into the basin. How much more brutalization of Christians will convince you that this is evil. That this IS the evil one committing these atrocities through “Secularism” in Iraq? And through silence of this, in the rest of the world? How much more silence do you think we can we endure from the world? I WILL NOT POST THE PHOTO out of respect.
“Those who remain silent are responsible.” -St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
Must read! Yes! This is taking place today!
The Demon Wolves of ISIS: Ancient Assyria Reborn
Lord Byron’s poem The Destruction of Sennacherib begins with the line, “The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold.”
My friend Paul Thigpen makes the link between the warlords of the Islamic State (IS) and their historic predecessors, the warlike Assyrians.Two ancient civilizations jockeyed for power in what is now the nation of Iraq: Babylon to the south and Assyria to the North.
The Assyrian Empire was centered on the exact geographical territory that Islamic State now claims–Eastern Syria and Northern Iraq.
Assyria emerged as a territorial state in the 14th century B.C. Its territory covered approximately the northern part of modern Iraq. The first capital of Assyria was Assur, located about 150 miles north of modern Baghdad on the west bank of the Tigris River. The city was named for its national god, Assur, from which the name Assyria is also derived.
While the Babylonian Empire was known for its accomplishments in learning, architecture, and the arts, the Assyrians were known as experts in warfare. Cruel, bloodthirsty and proud, they bragged about their military victories and heartless oppression of their victims.
Continue reading above at the link…
Pondering Obama: While he spouted “Hope & Change” he couldn’t “see”, that, “Hope & Change” only truly comes through Christ. Evil, be it intentions or actions, never win.
One need look only on Obama, and the “works” of his political party to see we NEED to turn back to God. “Return To Our First Love”.
Little did Obama know that his promise of “Hope & Change” was actually God calling the faithful to “see” him and what is going on in this nations for what it is. Spotlight on evil. We know. Glory to God for shedding light on evil for what it is. Glory to God for pulling souls closer to Him.
“Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam” – We know all things work for the greater glory of God. See God in all things. See God in all creation. See God in all souls.
Repent. Turn back to God. Love God above all things.
Over the gates of hell reads a sign, “Abandon ye hope all who enter here.” but over the gates of heaven reads but one word, “Forgiven!” – Dante Alighieri (Divine Comedy)
“But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.” Matthew 12:14
I can’t help but wonder if those who are writing the articles lately about how “Dangerous” the Catholic Church is, understand that Jesus Christ was considered to be just as dangerous, if not more, by the “Media” in His time. So much so, even an assassination attempt was made on Him in which He “slipped away”. (John 8:59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.) How dare she (Catholic Church) speak the truth! How dare she teach morals! Yes. The Catholic Church is VERY dangerous to this world. As dangerous as the Queen of this Church, “terrible as an army set in battle array”.
This is how the evil one sees faith. Horrable! Miserable! Dangerous! Because, she is the ice breaker, barrling through frozen hearts. Breaking up any doubt of God that society tries to bury. Bringing peace where only chaos was. Teaching truth where self deception runs a muck.
Faith without knowledge is the true danger. This game is played to often in today’s society, and though history, that results in a false god being created because it makes us feel good, rather then admitting our errors in the life we are leading, that are in fact separating us from the love of the true God. The Catholic Church is here, not only as a moral voice for society, but the very TEACHER of the truth of Christ.
When I hear people say the Catholic Church is so outdated and needs to change, I can’t help to ask the question, who exactly do you worship because God never changes. Its silly to think I worship the Catholic Church or any catholic does. We worship God. If we worshiped the Catholic Church we would be worshiping ourselves as WE ARE the Catholic Church.
Exhibit of shoes from the victims of Auschwitz
I spent most of this morning pondering the Holocaust of WWII. The genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II. I looked at many photos of the men, women and children who were exterminated because no one at the time believe they held any worth to the human race. Those who carried out the crimes and those who did nothing to stop it. I pondered the closeness of each concentration camp in proximity to villages and wondered how towns and nearby villages could allow such things to continue as if it was nothing.
Children, all murdered by Nazis
These are the faces we have seen. What about all the unseen faces, souls who were not photographed, that entered these camps never to be seen again?
My mind immediately wandered to today. I beg my readers to understand I am in no way trying to diminish the severity of what happened to all these souls. Not at all, I want to point out that this atrocity is continuing now, everywhere in the world where abortion is legal. The United States, China, and every nation on earth is commiting the same genocide today under a sanitized name called abortion. There is no difference. We are souls, created in the image of God, not insignificant body’s of flesh.
What caused the Genocide of all these souls in Europe, all six million, is the same cause of the murder of approximately 42 million infants every year throughout the world. No compassion. No love. Pure selfish ambition. Rather pinning this on the insanity of one man, we can pin the genocide of every infant today on the madness of entire society’s that push for abortion to continue. Along with those who do nothing to stop it. We have ourselves to blame for allowing this to continue.
That first picture of the shoes, touched the very heart of my being. I wish someone would collect baby booties of every human taken by abortion in the world and place them on display, for the world to see. The shoes that will never be filled, the smiles that will never be seen, the giggles that will never be heard, because society decided to do nothing to stop this. The world and the sickness of this pro culture of death society decided rather to make excuses to justify the killing of all these children, the most innocent souls among us.
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
May God have mercy on us all.
Father in Heaven, we thank You for the gift of life. Grant that all mothers who give birth will welcome their babies with love, but if the mothers feel they are unable to raise their babies, grant that they may be compassionate toward the life You have given and not destroy it before birth. To those children who have been wantonly deprived of earthly life grant whatever happiness to which they are entitled. And to the mothers who have denied them life in this world grant Your merciful grace of repentance and reconciliation with Our Savior, so that they may obtain eternal life. Grant also the grace of conversion to those who perform abortions and anyone associated with abortion.
Mary, Mother of God, intercede for us. Holy Innocents, pray for us. Amen.
Pro-Life Office of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts
A few days ago, as I was napping, I heard the flutter of very strong wings. I thought as I was coming out of the napping haze, it sounds like a bird in my room. I opened my eyes and sure enough, it was a little Turtle Dove trying to escape the clutches of the cat. I sprang from bed and caught this poor little thing before the cat could do anymore damage. I looked him over and he seamed quite healthy. I couldn’t imagine how he was captured by the cat and dragged into my room. I walked him outside and opened my hands to free him. He wouldn’t budge. The poor dove was to weak to fly. I built a makeshift nest in an old glass tank with a mesh cover, realizing my little friend needed a room for the night to recuperate.
I woke early the next morning and after my prayers, headed to the little nest to check on my friend. He was very alert and I could tell, eager to check out and be on his merry way. I reached into the tank and he, became quite alert. So I walked his entire nest outside and opened the nest door and he flew away.
I couldn’t help but ponder the entire incident as the Holy Spirit VS evil and how we must stay awake to hear our Beloveds call, least His words be muted to our ears by the evil one never to be heard again.
My little friend…
Peg Pondering Again 