Crucifixion, with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John - by LIEFERINXE, Josse - from Musée du Louvre, Paris
Crucifixion, with the Blessed Virgin Mary and
St John - by LIEFERINXE, Josse - from Musée du Louvre, Paris
Some people make perfection consist in an austere life;
others in prayer; others in frequenting the sacraments;
others in almsgiving. But they deceive themselves:
Perfect sanctity consists in loving God with our whole heart.
Jesus deserves our love because of
the love He has shown us in His Passion and Death.
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 Note
Bene: Bible verses quoted in this Book are from the
English Douay-Rheims translation commissioned by the Catholic Church. |
Faith is the foundation of Charity; but Faith, ultimately is perfected by Charity. Our Faith becomes perfect when our love of God is most perfect. Love brings with it not only Faith of Understanding, but also Faith of the Will. ( Soul = Intellect + Will) Those who believe only with their Intellect, but not with their Will - as sinners who are completely convinced of the validity of the Truths of Faith, but who choose (an Act of the Will) not to live by them - are very weak in Faith. If they firmly believed that God is a Treasure without price and that sin - because it robs them of His Grace - is the greatest of evils, they would certainly change their lives. If, then, they prefer some miserable trifle to God, it is either because they do not believe or because their Faith is very weak. On the other hand, those who believe with both Intellect and Will, have perfect Faith. They not only accept, but willingly believe in God, the Revealer of all truth, because of God's love for them. They rejoice in their Faith and therefore try to make their lives conform to the truth in which they believe. The lack of Faith on the part of sinners cannot be blamed on the obscurity of God's truth; for God has given them clear and convincing evidence of these truths. Often, their weakness of Faith can be traced to their sinful lives. Those who would rather reject divine friendship than surrender sinful pleasure, really wish there were no law to haunt them. And so they try to blind themselves to the truth, because its presence mingles bitterness with their pleasure. Because of this they try to prove there is no soul, no God, no Hell; and they choose (an Act of the Will) to live and die like brute animals, without Law and without Reason. Despite the beliefs of the materialists, the deists, and the humanists, we know that God, in His mercy, has created us to be eternally happy in Heaven. He has showered us with grace and light to lead us to eternal life. He has redeemed us at the cost of so much suffering. And yet, how many try to deny everything, so that they may sin more freely. But, try as they may, they cannot escape the fact that God will judge them by their works. If only they would apply themselves earnestly to the love of God, they would cast aside their doubts, and firmly believe all the truths that God has revealed. Those who really love Jesus Christ keep His eternal truths forever before their eyes and act in accord with them. How thoroughly do those who love Jesus Christ realize that apparent greatness is nothing but smoke and ashes, and that their only happiness lies in loving their Creator and doing His Holy Will. We are, in reality, no more than we are before God; and what good will it be that we gain the whole world, if we lose our souls in the process? All the goods of the world can never fill a human heart; only God Himself can fill it. Some of today's Christians believe, but their Faith is not complete. They accept the Gospel, the Trinity, Redemption, the Sacraments; yet they do not believe completely. Jesus Christ has said:
Now compare this Gospel teaching to the creed of those who say they believe in Christ and, in effect, say:
Either they do not believe the Gospel, or they believe only part of it. Those who believe all of it consider it a grace to be poor, to be sick, to be mortified, and to be despised by others. Such is the Faith of those who believe all that is written in the Gospel, and such, too, is the Faith of those who have a real love for Jesus Christ.
"O my God, make me a saint"
Prayer
Amen
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Soul/superior will - (Higher Nature)
Blest are those who have money
