Author Topic: Forgive So We Can Live and Let Live (Read 1770400 times)

AMDGJMJ · « **Reply #125 on:** September 18, 2025, 05:17:46 AM »

Quote from: cassini on September 17, 2025, 08:40:18 AM

Fr Sean again
How Are You Securing Your Future?

In the story of “The Wily Manager” (Lk 16:1-13), is Jesus praising dishonesty as a means of securing one’s future? No. So what is His point? He is saying that worldly people use their intelligence far more than religious people when it comes to managing their future. The word ‘manage’ originally meant the handling or training of horses. An intelligent manager handles his resources and responsibilities wisely. To be wise is to make good judgments. A good judgment is one where we gain more than we lose, especially in the long term. We’re faced with managing all sorts of things – ourselves, relationships, time, use of gifts, business, work, family, money, home, property, etc. The way we manage is determined by our personality because each of us is endowed with a personal management style. Our ultimate goal in management is to handle what’s available to us in a manner that benefits us or those for whom we care. The question for each of us is, "Who or what will benefit us most? If we’re not motivated in our management by what God wants us to do we will be guided by what we want to do. Selfishness means that we focus primarily on personal gain by using others to achieve our own ends, which makes our relationships purely utilitarian and loveless. It’s a fact that even when we primarily focus on helping others we know that there’s something in it for us also even though that isn’t our driving motivation. To make sure that we’re not acting for purely selfish reasons we need to daily examine why we say and do what we do and say. Am I saying this to be admired or because it is the truth? Am I doing this to be rewarded or as a gift to another without expecting anything in return?

Competent Management

We’re born with a built-in tendency toward self-preservation and that makes us prone to sin, which is the refusal to give God and others their due. Jesus came to save us from our sinfulness. He gave His Church the Sacrament of Baptism to free us from the grip of sin and restore us to God’s likeness, which means developing a charitable attitude. This is why we constantly need the Holy Spirit to join our spirit to purify it so that we’re motivated by freedom, justice, love, and truth in our dealings with others at home, at work, in Church, or at play. We need to reflect on, “Whom am I serving?” “Am I managing my time, talent, and money to take care of myself or to give glory to God? Jesus is the model and the standard for competent management. Jesus managed everything in a manner that benefited those who received Him into their lives. For Jesus, good management is all about using our gifts to serve others. “Anyone among you who aspires to greatness must serve the rest, and whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. Such is the case with the Son of Man who has come, not to be served by others, but to serve, to give his own life as a ransom for the many” (Mt 20:25-28).

Managers of the Earth

God created man and woman to be managers of the earth on His behalf. God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish, birds, and all living things that move on the earth” (Gen 1:28). You and I are designated by God to be the stewards of the earth on His behalf, and that means using it to glorify Him and not to feed our greed. It also means that we’re accountable to God for our management of the resources with which He has provided us. Are we managing the earth for our own selfish ends, like those who want to reduce the population through promoting a culture of death, or are we managing it according to God’s will, “to take care of it and work it” (Gen 2:15) for the benefit of all? Will our management bring us happiness or sadness in the end when God asks us to account for how we used what He gave us? Time and again God accused His people of mismanaging what He gave them by using it to satisfy their pride, lust, greed, envy, sloth, and jealousy. He warned them through the prophets, “Hear this, you who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land! …Never will I forget a thing they have done!” (Amos 8:4, 7). God called Amos to preach justice by giving everyone their due, including God, and expose the abuse of the poor by those motivated by greed and the illusion of self-salvation. Nothing escapes Divine Justice. We’ll all have to account for our use of what God has given to each of us.

Managers Are Accountable

Just as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so a community is only as just as its treatment of its weakest members. Are we treating the weakest members of our communities with compassion and justice? Abortion and euthanasia would indicate that we don’t. Only by recognizing that God has made us the managers of His creation, will we appreciate the importance of knowing and following His rules by which He will judge managers, namely adhering to Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes, and the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy. An executive with a religious organization noted that viewing your life in terms of management is like driving a leased car. “You can do what you like with it, but you must return it to its owner at a certain time. You will be held accountable for the condition in which it’s returned.” Many people think that their life and possessions are their own, that their body is their own, their gifts are their own, the resources available to them are their own, and are unaccountable to anyone for how they use them. But that isn’t the case. The Holy Spirit informs us: “You are not your own. You have been purchased, and at a great price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:19-20) through managing what you have, knowing that you will be held accountable by God who is your Creator and the Giver of all gifts.

Shrewd Management

God “wants all men and women to be saved and come to know the truth” (1 Tim 2:3). The truth is this: “God is one. One also is the mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ who gave Himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim 2:5-6). Jesus teaches us that, to follow Him, our motivation in all things must be charity. Charity is all about sacrificing oneself for the benefit of those in need. He uses the story of the unjust steward who is fired for mismanagement to show how the dishonest use their shrewdness to look out for their future security. On the other hand religious people take for granted that God will take care of their future without them having to use their intelligence to do their part in God’s plan of salvation. Finding himself jobless the steward uses his wits to endear himself to his master’s debtors by reducing what they owed their master. The master credited him for the use of his intelligence in looking out for himself. Jesus uses the story to teach us that, “‘The worldly take more initiative than the other-worldly when it comes to dealing with their own kind. Make friends for yourselves through your use of this world’s goods, so that when they fail you, a lasting reception will be yours” (Lk 16:8-9). Jesus wasn’t praising dishonesty but He was highlighting the importance of using our intelligence to do our part in God’s plan to save us, namely by not taking our future security for granted. Jesus’ lesson is that just as the unjust steward used his intelligence, though dishonestly, to make friends for himself to secure his future, so we must use our intelligence to make friends with those who will help us to secure our future in Heaven when our body fails us. Intelligent management treats people and the world in a manner that nurtures friendship with Jesus to whom we’re accountable as the stewards of God’s earth. Jesus doesn’t want us to be dimwits! (fr sean)

Differences Between Man and Woman

A woman’s brain shrinks 2.55 per decade. A man’s brain shrinks 5% per decade. 60% of women say their relationships affect their moods. 45% of men say their relationships affect their moods. In male-female relationships women look for a sense of connectedness which is often perceived by men as wanting to control them. Men seek independence which is often interpreted by women as not caring for them. These misinterpretations lead to unintelligent management of their relationships.

Great sermon! Thank you so much for sharing! That last paragraph was especially right on point! May God help us to manage our lived and blessings well.

cassini · « **Reply #126 on:** September 24, 2025, 12:23:15 PM »

Fr Sean again
Complacency Is a Sin

Can you be complacent and Christian at the same time? Complacency is defined as being self-satisfied or pleasing oneself. You might reasonably ask what is so bad about being self-satisfied. Let’s look at the term “self-satisfied.” What does it imply? First of all the emphasis is on gratifying one’s own desires to the exclusion of reaching out to others. The word “satisfy” literally means to make enough. It means that a person can be so satisfied with himself that he has no need to try any harder. Complacency is conducive to mediocrity. A person can be complacent about his or family, religion, work, health, etc. In other words, he or she is full of himself or herself. The person is oblivious to the fact that his growth is stunted, he lacks motivation, and is insensitive to the needs of others and his obligation to help. Such a person doesn’t love God or neighbor. The implication here is that a person is oblivious to the needs of everybody else and unaware of his own deficiencies. Christianity of its nature has no room for complacency since it is completely other-centered and makes us aware of our deficiencies and the fact that we need to love God and our neighbor to satisfy our need to be fully human and fully alive. Jesus is our Model who gives us the example we must follow to be perfected. He tells us that to be like Him we must serve the needs of the weak and vulnerable: “The Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve – to give His life in ransom for the many” (Mk 10:45).

Woe to the Complacent

Why is complacency a sin? Sin is a refusal to love, to make a gift of oneself to others. God warned His people against self-satisfaction, self-salvation: “Woe to the complacent in Zion! Lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches” (Am 6:1ff) dining luxuriously. He was addressing the priests, religious leaders and the people who were more concerned with their own comfort rather than taking care of the widows, the orphans, and the other poor. Their luxurious living demonstrated that they were taking more than they needed and so detached themselves from helping others who were in need. The man who eats too much deprives those who have too little. A man grows rich for himself and doesn’t share his good fortune with the less fortunate is headed for a miserable eternity. God created the universe for all men and women. Every person has a right to live a decent life in accord with his or her dignity as a human being. The wealth of a nation should be distributed in such a manner that every citizen should have the opportunity to benefit from its resources. The poor are God’s challenge to the rich to share and care about them in gratitude for the blessings they received from God since all good things come from Him (Jas 1:17).

Prophets of Social Justice

Amos and Hosea are known as God’s prophet of social justice. We hear a lot about social justice today but very often its promoters are neither social nor just but rather are virtue signalers. They emphasize diversity, equity and inclusivity but do not practice them themselves. They forget that social justice without God translates into pitting the poor against the rich, white against non-white, women against men, etc., as in Marxism. Diversity in itself accomplished nothing without unity. Equality of output is impossible because people’s capacity is different. Equality in itself refers only to our human dignity and respect since people are unequal and different in abilities. Inclusivity only applies to those who accept the rules or standards of a particular group. Not everyone takes advantage of the opportunities offered to him or her. Nevertheless, the Christian recognizes that those who have more than enough have an obligation in charity, if not in justice, to make sure that the poor have enough to maintain their dignity as fellow human beings. The rich person’s humanity is impacted either positively or negatively by how he treats others. Only through caring and sharing with others, especially the most vulnerable, can we as human beings become more fully human and fully alive. The more fully human we become the more we become like Jesus and thus discover our uniqueness, our true destiny and purpose. When I know my true purpose, I know what’s genuinely good for me. If I don’t know my true purpose, or give myself a purpose other than that for which God created me, I am doomed to disappointment, frustration, and emptiness. That is the fate of the rich who do not share. People who live in luxury without God can’t be happy simply because they’ll be deprived of it when they die. God gives us what we have not so much to us for ourselves but through us to bless others. The more we give the more we receive from God. Without sharing, luxury insulates us by deafening or blinding us to our own deficiencies and sins .

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Jesus addresses the sin of complacency and its consequences in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man (Lk 16:19-31). Lazarus lays at the door of the rich man’s mansion. He is sick and suffers the indignity of dogs licking the sores on his body. He lays there begging for any leftovers from the rich man’s table. The richly dressed man ignores Lazarus whom he passes by every day. These two men are socially unequal. But in the story death brings justice where each man gets his due from God. Death is the level playing field that doesn’t distinguish between rich and poor. It brings every human being to his or her knees. In death everyone is judged by God according to his or her deeds. In death we complete and eternalize what we have lived for. If we’ve lived for ourselves death eternalizes our separation from the true God and the love that can only be received from Him. Hell is a state of total loneliness and emptiness forever with no one to blame but oneself. Imagine a creature who was created for love finding himself or herself in a state of complete lovelessness for eternity. Where love is absent, hate resides. We cannot love ourselves by ourselves. We can love ourselves only because we’re the beneficiaries of God’s love.

A Good Person

The rich man’s sin was complacency. He didn’t even notice Lazarus lying by the door of his mansion. He was so self-satisfied that he was oblivious to Lazarus’ lack of satisfaction. The rich man would probably be considered a “good person” because he didn’t do anything bad to Lazarus. His sin was not what he did to Lazarus but what He didn’t do for him. His sin was not one of commission but of omission. Sins of omission are just as bad as sins of commission.

A Grievous Sin

Complacency is a grievous sin because it’s so subtle. Most people wouldn’t view a complacent person as “bad.” After all, such a person isn’t “doing” anything bad to others. In our culture of self-absorption, complacency is widespread, especially in the Church. Many Catholics think that there is no hell or that no one goes there. They think they are “good persons" because they haven’t murdered anyone. A lay chaplain was heard to say that the only mortal sin is murder! Catholics tell themselves that they’re not committing mortal sin when they don’t have to attend Sunday Mass. People think that if they work hard they are entitled to enjoy the rewards without any sense of obligation to share. It’s tempting to write off poor people as lazy or unambitious. It’s easy to excuse oneself for not giving to the poor. Catholic Christianity teaches that we have a right to benefit from what we earn BUT we also have an obligation to share our wealth with God’s family and those outside it. This is why Jesus said, “It is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than for a camel to pass through the needle’s eye” (Mt 19:23ff). God doesn’t condemn the rich. He does condemn complacency which reflects a lack of empathy, fraternity, with those in need. There’s nothing wrong with becoming rich and famous so long as material wealth is turned into spiritual wealth by performing the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Jesus’ parable teaches us that the consequences of complacency are dire – eternally suffering the loss of God’s love.

The Antidote to Complacency

How do we protect ourselves from becoming complacent? We resist the temptation to become self-satisfied by practicing the following: righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness, and empathy (1 Tim 6:11-16). To be righteous is to live according to Jesus’ standards as members of His Church. The practice of these qualities helps us militate against self-righteousness, smugness, self-absorption, insensitivity to the needs of the weak, and remaining in our comfort zone. Lord, lead us not into complacency! (fr sean)

Standard for Judgment
Jesus said:
Be merciful so that you may have mercy shown to you.
Forgive, so that you may be forgiven.
As you treat others, so you will be treated.
As you give, so you will receive.
As you judge, so you will be judged.
As you are kind to others, so you will be treated kindly.
The measure of your giving will be the measure of your receiving.

cassini · « **Reply #127 on:** September 30, 2025, 09:17:39 AM »

Fr Sean again
What We Believe in Shapes Us

Whatever we believe in, consciously or unconsciously, shapes our thinking. Our thinking generates our feelings, and our feelings seek expression in action. Our actions speak louder than words about what we believe. What shapes our thinking shapes our words and actions. We’re always living out our beliefs, whether or not we’re conscious of them. Faith is the trust we place in what we believe will give us meaning, a sense of self-worth, power, purpose, happiness, hope, inner peace, and a joyful future. No one wants to be meaningless, worthless, powerless, hopeless, etc. We want to have a sense of self-worth, feel valued and loved for who we are rather than only for what we do. Who wants to feel or be treated as worthless? Everyone wants power since without it we can’t change or improve anything. Who wants to feel impotent? We all want to have a purpose in life, knowing why we’re here and what we’re headed for. Who wants to live an aimless life and feel lost? We want a hope based on faith that we’ll be able to rise above our suffering and trials as more complete persons. We want peace of mind, heart, and soul. We want a joyful future to which we can look forward with enthusiasm. We need to ask ourselves, “Will what I have faith in fulfil all my hopes and dreams and bring me happiness?” Only God can give us that hope because He, unlike the world, is always faithful to His promises to those who rely on Him for every good thing. God alone is reliable.

Two Options

What do we have faith in? There are two possible realities to set our heart on to meet our deepest needs: God and the physical world. We can have faith in our doctor, bank manager, employer, employee, spouse, teacher, children, newspaper editor, government, neighbour, etc. Can any of these assure us of a meaningful life, or give us self-worth, power, purpose, happiness, hope, peace, love and a bright future? No. They might provide us with some of these temporarily, but not permanently. And what happens to our faith in them if they prove untrustworthy? The world can’t give us what we need because it doesn’t have what it needs itself. Putting our faith in worldly things like money, pleasure, popularity, power will leave us with nothing because we will lose them in death. The world lies when it says to us that it can make us happy through becoming powerful, popular, self-pleasure, or possessions. Marxism lies when it tells us it can create a utopia on earth. God speaks the truth when He says that He can make us happy through submitting our will to His and embracing Jesus by carrying our cross and following Him in and through His Church. Nothing is impossible with God (Lk 1:37). The Old Testament Psalmist urges us, “If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Ps 95:7-8). Who can deliver on these promises?

Source of Meaning and Purpose

The creature is completely dependent on the Creator for its meaning and purpose. Therefore it is our Creator who tells us the truth about our purpose, what gives us meaning, self-worth, power, and what brings us genuine and ultimate happiness. It is faith in our Creator that gives us a hope that’s not deceptive, a peace that lasts, and a future that’s perfect and filled with joy. We have to choose either God, as revealed in Jesus, or the world. Jesus reminds us that “No servant can serve two masters … you cannot give yourself to God and money” (Lk 16:1-13). Whatever we put our faith in becomes our master. If we put our faith in Jesus He becomes our Master Teacher who shapes our thinking. We’ll look to Him to tell us how to live a meaningful life, how to esteem ourselves, how to become powerful, how to achieve our true purpose, how to pursue happiness, how to have hope and peace, and how to prepare for a joyful future. If we put our trust in worldly things we’ll let it become our master and director of our life leading to corruption and death. The results, of course, will differ drastically. Faith in worldly wisdom promotes self-centredness. Faith in God promotes charity and brings a peace the world can’t provide (Jn 14:27). Faith in God revealed in Jesus, now present in His Church, frees us from the grip of sin, relaxes us, and assures us of our personal fulfilment. It empowers us to accomplish great things in life and to look forward to even better things in the future.

A Supernatural Gift

Faith in God is based on knowing Him personally and believing that He is totally trustworthy. God made this possible through, with and in Jesus now sacramentally present in His Church. It’s a supernatural gift which God gives us to trust in Him who does what He promises. Religious faith is “constant assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see” (Heb 11:1). The Spanish author, Juan Valera (1824-1905) wrote, “Faith in an all-seeing and personal God, elevates the soul, purifies the emotions, sustains human dignity, and lends poetry, nobility and holiness to the commonest state, condition and manner of life.”

Power of Religious Faith

Jesus emphasized the power of religious faith, “If you had faith as little as a mustard seed, you could say to this sycamore, ‘Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea,’ and it would obey you” (Lk 17:6). It is not a matter of having a strong faith but rather in using the faith that you have. Faith in Jesus means knowing and believing, “…that God makes all things work together for the good of those who have been called according to His decree” (Rom 8:28). God calls everyone to trust in Him because, “He wants all men to be saved and come to know the truth” (1 Tim 2:4). The truth, of course, is that only faith in Jesus – the Truth - can save us and enable you to achieve our fullest potential, which is to be God’s image and likeness in the world to the best of our ability and to be perfected in Heaven. This is the faith that assures us that all our yearnings and needs, our fondest hopes and dreams will be met in ways beyond your wildest imagination. The Catholic faith is the only faith that can shape you and me into a spiritually fulfilled person. God is the only one who can “comfort us in all our afflictions, and thus enable us to comfort those who are in trouble, with the same consolation we have received from Him” (2 Cor 1:4). Reason tells us that being shaped by faith in God far surpasses being shaped by the world. Sadly, the majority have chosen the world as their master, which means that the majority of people are unreasonable. Religious faith means, Forsaking All I Trust Him. (fr sean)

The Power of Authoritative Words

If I came up to you and said, “You are arrested,” but you know I’m not a policeman, you would not be arrested and pay no attention to me. But if a policeman said to you, “I’m arresting you,” you would actually be arrested. What’s the difference? My words do not have authority but the policeman’s words have authority to do what he says.

The same is true of the Holy Eucharist. If you as a lay person took bread and said “This is my body,” it wouldn’t become your body because you didn’t have the authority to change it. But if a Catholic priest while offering up the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass acting in Jesus’ place said over the bread, “This is my body,” it actually becomes Jesus’ body because the words spoken by the priest have the authority to change the bread into Jesus Body and make it a reality. The same is true of the wine that becomes Jesus’ blood. It is the power of the Word spoken by authority. Jesus grants that authority to suitable men through His Church’s sacrament of Holy Orders.

cassini · « **Reply #128 on:** October 22, 2025, 12:04:22 PM »

Fr Sean again
The Kind of Prayer God Hears

Does God hear your prayer? It depends on your attitude. In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, King Claudius is on his knees trying to repent of murdering his brother but doesn’t get any comfort from God. He noted, “My words fly up, my thoughts remain below. Words without thoughts never to Heaven go” (Act iii, scene 2). Claudius prayed for God’s mercy, but he had no intention of repenting and changing his lifestyle. His words were empty, self-serving, so God didn’t respond, like Jesus who didn’t answer Pilate when he asked Him, “What is truth” (Jn 18:38). Jesus knew that Pilate wasn’t interested in the truth so He wasn't going to waste His breath answering him. God doesn’t waste His merciful grace on the disingenuous who pray with their lips but their hearts are unchanged (Is 29:13; Mt 15:8).

Two Kinds of Pray-ers

Jesus told a story about two men praying in the Temple. One offered a long prayer thanking God that he was more faithful than the man sitting in the back of the Temple feeling very unworthy. Jesus noted in the story that Pharisee prayed “with head unbowed” (Lk 18:11). His prayer reflected self-praise for being such a law-abiding person. The other man, a Publican, prayed with a completely different spirit. He “…kept his distance, not even daring to raise his eyes to Heaven. All he did was beat his breast and say, ‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner’” (Lk 18:13). Jesus told His listeners that the Publican’s prayer, whom the Pharisee referred to as “a sinner,” made him right with God while the Pharisee’s prayer didn’t. The difference was that one man’s prayer was devoted to telling God that he was such a good person. The other man’s prayer reflected his sense of unworthiness as he begged God’s mercy. The Publican identified himself as a sinner in need of forgiveness while the Pharisee identified himself as a “good person” deserving of God’s praise. The Publican wanted to change his heart and amend his life. He was humble while the Pharisee was prideful believing that he was perfect and had no sin. He was like those Catholics who think they don’t need Confession. God hears the prayer of the sinner asking for the grace of repentance and the gift of forgiveness.

To Whom Does God Listen

God listens only to those who need Him to save them from their sin. While “The Lord is a God of justice who knows no favourites” (Sir 35:12), He is not “unduly partial toward the weak, yet he hears the cry of the oppressed” (Sir 35:16), especially those who are oppressed by Satan and his human allies. The self-righteous are those who think they can save themselves and don’t need God’s help. Admitting our need for God’s justice and mercy means we have recognized that we can neither resist temptation nor deliver ourselves from evil. Such recognition requires humility on our part and supernatural faith, hope and charity from God. St. Paul might seem to be prideful when he wrote, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now one the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for His appearance” (2 Tim 4:7-8). But the difference between St. Paul and the Pharisee is that Paul doesn’t see himself as better than anyone else and attributes his accomplishments to Jesus Christ. It’s a good thing to be righteous, which is to “act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly in the sight of God” (Micah 6:8). That means reverencing and worshipping God and respecting our neighbour by honouring his or her dignity. No one can be right with God, with oneself, and with one’s neighbour without God’s grace.

To Whom Did Jesus Come

Jesus revealed, “I have come to call, not the righteous (those who think that have no sin), but sinners” (Mt 9:13). Therefore, only those who recognize their sinfulness, repent, and seek forgiveness need Jesus. That’s why Jesus’ Church at the beginning of every Holy Mass calls the worshippers to individually identify themselves as sinners in need of God’s saving grace of repentance and forgiveness. The members of the congregation begin this act of worship by praying, “I confess to Almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned through my fault …” God can work only with sinners. He can’t save those who think they have no sin. Our prayer must come out of our sense of who God is for us, namely “Our Father who art in Heaven,” who alone can block us from yielding to temptation and who alone can deliver us from evil. God hears this kind of prayer.

The Proper Disposition

If in our prayer to God we don’t admit our need for the saving grace with which He changes us into saints, our words are empty and, like Claudius, our prayer keeps us earthbound and doesn’t move us Heavenward. Moving us Heavenward is the purpose of prayer. That means we focus on the things of Heaven and not on earthly things. When we do focus on earthly things it must be to view them only in a manner that brings us closer to God our Creator. But only God can keep us from being distracted by the earthly world we live in and focused on our Heavenly home. When we’re focused on Heaven we realize that we need purification from our tendency to selfishness through the awareness that God calls everyone to embrace Him as their Heavenly Father. So there’s no room for conceit or feelings of superiority because we’re all equally dependent on God’s justice and mercy to make us holy. We’re also equally dependent on God to free us from every bad thing we either do ourselves or is imposed on us by others. In God’s eyes none of us is better or superior to anyone else. God shows no partiality, but He joyfully responds to the needs of the humble, the poor in spirit. If we pray with humility and act out of a spirit of poverty God will hear us and make us right with Him, with ourselves, and with our neighbour. “A broken humble heart, O God, you will not despise” (Ps 51:17). The 23rd Psalm is that of a humble pray- er. God always hears our humble prayer that we pray from a heart that seeks conversion. (fr sean)

Reflections on Prayer

Christian prayer is a lifestyle. It reflects a life lived in Jesus’ company, guided by the loved exchanged between He and His Father personified in the Holy Spirit, seeing what is real, good, true, and beautiful through His eyes.
Prayers we don’t feel are seldom heard by God since they don’t come from the heart.
A Christian without prayer is like life without breathing – impossible.
The Church teaches us that prayer is the constant raising up of our mind, heart, soul and body to God and to pray always, in all dangers, temptations, and afflictions.
Courage is fear that has said its prayers. Prayer is the key of the morning and the lock of the evening. There is a difference between what we need from God and what we want.
Prayer doesn’t change things – it changes people and people change things.
Prayer is being on friendly terms with God as our loving Father who wants us to have an intimate Father-child relationship with Him.
“Thank you” prayers are the most important. The Lord’s Prayer is the complete prayer apart from the Holy Mass which is the perfect prayer.
Prayer only from the mouth is only mouthing words and is not prayer at all.
“The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; it does not rest till it reaches its goal” (Sir 35:12-18).
Jesus reveals: “You will receive all that you pray for, provided you have faith” (Mt 21:22).
The Lord’s Prayer, apart from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, is the perfect prayer through which Jesus teaches us how to pray and what to pray for beginning with what God wants from us and then what we need from God.

cassini · « **Reply #129 on:** October 29, 2025, 02:12:28 PM »

Fr Sean again
Dying Well: Facing Death, Judgment, Heaven or Hell

We’re headed into winter. The leaves on most of the trees have donned their autumnal colours only to slowly lose their grip on the branches, fall to the earth, and die. Winter is nature’s reminder of the reality of death. In the poem, Robin Redbreast, the Irish poet, William Allingham, noted, “The leathery pears and apples/Hang russet on the bough, /It’s Autumn, Autumn, Autumn late/ Twill soon be winter now.” Winter brings the year’s seasons to an end. Each of us has our spring, summer, autumn, and winter. I am in the winter of my life now and face the four last things every human being faces, namely Death, Judgment, Heaven or Hell. Everything has a beginning, middle and an end. We’re born. We mature. We grow weak. We die. What’s the meaning of it all? The Catholic dedicates the month of November to focusing on the reality of death and what happens afterward. She honours the saints, the men and women who lived holy lives and are now in their Heavenly Father’s arms. She prays especially for the dead during this month. Prompted by God’s revelation in 2nd Maccabees she reminds us that while death is the end of life on earth, it isn’t the end of life. “For if he had not expected the fallen to rise again it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead” (2 Macc 12:44). The pilgrim Church here on earth intercedes for the suffering Church in Purgatory and the Church in Heaven intercedes for all of us. Thus all God’s children, living and dead, suffering and glorious, help one another as one family, one community united in Christ. And even after death God expresses His mercy and justice in the Church’s doctrine of Purgatory. She teaches that, “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. The Church gives the name purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (CCC #1030-1031).

What is the Church telling us? Guided by the Holy Spirit she tells us that all who die with their souls still stained by unrepented and self-centered habits or haven’t made full restitution for the damage caused by their sins, but still embraced Jesus as their Saviour when they died, must be fully cleansed in order to enter Heaven. Sin cannot exist in Heaven. She is also telling us that the faithful on earth can intercede for the souls undergoing purgation through their prayers and sacrifices on their behalf. While Purgatory isn’t specifically mentioned in the Bible there is biblical support for this teaching. Jesus revealed that the sin against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven “either in this world or in the next” (Mt 12:32). This implies that purification from sin that isn’t mortal can take place after death. Jesus also speaks about sinners being kept in prison “until they have paid the last penny” (Mt 5:26; Lk 12:59). This refers to a period of time between earthly life and Heaven. St. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, speaks about being passively purified after death when he noted that, “The work of each will be made clear. The Day (Judgment) will disclose it. That day will make its appearance with fire, and fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If the building a man has raised on this foundation still stands, he will receive his recompense; if a man’s building burns, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one fleeing through fire” (1 Cor 3:13-15).

The Church has made no definitive statements about what exactly happens, or where, or exactly how long it takes. The suffering in Purgatory is mainly that of self-recrimination that evokes a sense of shame, regret, and guilt at having rejected God’s love and mercy offered so many times here on earth but refused due to egotism and the desire to do wrong because it felt good. This is made more acute because the individual can now see how God wanted to love him or her but was denied and is even now the beneficiary of God’s loving mercy and justice in Purgatory. She assures us that a purification after death exists, that it involves some kind of suffering, and that the pain can be alleviated by the prayers and offerings the living make to God on behalf of the souls in Purgatory. Each of us must begin our purification while here on earth through prayer, sacrifices, indulgences, participation in the Sacraments, especially the Holy Mass, and carrying out the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, so that we can avoid Purgatory and enter Heaven straight away.

Stephen Covey in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” pointed out that a key habit of successful people is working “with the end in sight.” The end is the vision that motivates the mission and keeps it on track. The end gives us our purpose by which we decide what’s meaningful or meaningless in our life. Without a purpose life is meaningless. To make life meaningful we need to clarify its purpose. Who determines the purpose of our life? Do we decide what our purpose is or do others decide it for us? Actually, the purpose of a creature is determined by its creator. Therefore, since God is our Creator, He gives us our true purpose. God’s purpose for us is to know, love and serve Him on earth and afterwards be happy with Him forever in Heaven. To live meaningfully, we must know our true purpose. Knowing our true purpose and living a meaningful life means we must live each day knowing, loving and serving God in everything we do and say. That’s what gives our life ultimate meaning. This is the end we must keep in sight if we are to die well. To die well means to face eternity in union with Jesus Christ.

God didn’t create death “…nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living” (Wis 1:13). Where did death come from? It came from Satan. The Holy Spirit tells us that, “By the envy of the devil (envious of Adam and Eve’s happiness), death entered the world, and they who are in his possession experience it” (Wis 2:24). Death infected humanity through the sin of Adam and Eve. The Holy Spirit tells us that, “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). God revealed, “I take no pleasure in the death of anyone…” (Ez 18:32), “Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live ...” (Ez 33:11). Death was never in God’s plan for mankind. It was the result of man and woman rejecting the Life-giver, that created death with suffering as its companion. God promised to “destroy death forever” (Is 25:7). The Holy Spirit promised that, “The Lord Yahweh will wipe away the tears from every cheek… For we … rejoice that the Lord has saved us” (vs 8-9). Jesus fulfilled that promise through His passion, death and Resurrection.

Jesus is our bridge over the troubled waters of suffering and death. He has made real the hope of the Psalmist, “I am sure that I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Hope in Him, hold firm and take heart” (Ps 26:13-14). From our supernatural faith in Jesus comes a “Hope is not deceptive because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us … He died to make us righteous” (Rom 5:5-11).

We must face the fact that this earth is not the land of the living but the land of the dying. Heaven is the land of the living who live happily forever. Every day brings us closer to our death. Every day we live we die a little. Every day lessens our time on earth. Our focus must be on dying well, which means we’re able to rise to a new life of happiness in the arms of our Heavenly Father in the most intimate of relationships. Only Jesus, who died and rose again, can make this possible for us. Each day we live is a preparation for the day we die. We will die well if we live in a manner that prepares us for Heaven. So we either prepare to die well or else we’re headed for hell. The choice is ours. We make that choice by how we choose to live each day. If we live each day dying to whatever might separate us from God we prepare ourselves to die in His arms. When we die in God’s arms, being the Author of life, He restores us to a full life that’s eternal, joyful, and happy. To aid us in living to die well Jesus bids us, “Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt 11:25-30). When we let Jesus yoke us to Himself in His Church we’ll die well. With the Church we pray: May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen! (fr sean)

To Whom Do You Listen, the World or Jesus?
The World says: “Follow your heart!”
Jesus says: “Follow me!”
The World says: Believe in yourself!”
Jesus says: Believe in me!”
The World says: “Discover yourself!”
Jesus says: “Deny (sacrifice) yourself!”
The World says: “Be true to yourself!”
Jesus says: “Be true to me!”

CathInfo.com

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