Category Archives: Repentance

Repentance

Fear of Death can lead to Life

16 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by in Eternal Life, Repentance, Sacraments

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I have had many failed attempts at making regular posts to my blog. There are many reasons for this, which amount to a pile of excuses. Recently I have been thinking that a regular post of my morning homily might be possible for the to keep up with. But I am going to try to keep it at 200 words or less so that I can actually get it done without spending a great deal of time on it. As a result, I may not explain things as well as I would like. So if you have questions about what I have written it would be an excellent opportunity to post a comment and I will answer.

Today’s Gospel reading for Mass can be found here. It is the story of the healing of the Official’s son.

The distance between Capernaum and Cana was approximately 20-25 miles. And it must be remembered that this distance had to be covered without benefit of modern conveniences such as buses, trains, planes, or cars. Therefore it would have taken a great deal of time for the Official in the Gospel to come to where Jesus was. We all know why he went to see Jesus – to ask for healing of his son. What we need to ask, though, is what motivated him to go to Jesus? His motivation, it seems to me, must have been the fear of losing his son.

Most parents would have a similar motivation for saving their children and other loved ones. That is why people spend billions and billions of dollars every year seeking cures to their various diseases. Therefore, if a doctor or miracle worker was able to guarantee healing for any disease then the line to see that person would never end.

And yet, healing for every spiritual infirmity is offered to us by Jesus Christ in the Sacrament of Penance. So why don’t the lines for Confession stretch out the door and down the street of every Catholic parish? It seems to me that one answer could be a lack of fear. That being, the fear of losing our soul for all eternity. Fear of losing his son drove the Official in today’s to Jesus. In a similar manner a fear of eternal death should drive us to Christ in the confessional. With a word He was able to heal the Official’s son and with a word – I absolve you – He is able to bring healing to whatever ails our souls. It is true that the fear of Hell is not the perfect contrition that God wants from us, but at least it is a start.

Loving our Neighbor as Ourselves

04 Sunday May 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, Repentance, Salvation

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Even while we kill and punish we must try to feel about the enemy as we feel about ourselves—to wish that he were not bad, to hope that he may, in this world or another, be cured: in fact, to wish his good. That is what is meant in the Bible by loving him: wishing his good, not feeling fond of him nor saying he is nice when he is not.

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

I am working on something else to post today, but am not sure if I will be able to finish it. Therefore, I am posting this quick quote by Lewis because it cannot be repeated often enough. At the time he wrote this he would have been referring to the Nazis as the ‘enemy’. Today a similar enemy to which this quote could apply is secular progressives. And how are these two groups are similar: both the Nazis then and the secular progressives now think (in their own minds) that they are making the world a better place through acts that are immoral, unethical and even evil. For example, the Nazis wanted to make a better world through creating a ‘pure race’, therefore they exterminated anyone that did not fit the mold. Secular progressives want to make a perfect world through a false understanding of equality – men and women should have exactly the same opportunities. But, when an unintentional pregnancy happens the woman is ‘punished’ with a baby while the man is not. He can go on and be successful (in the eyes of the world) without any hindrance but she must ‘put her carrer on hold’ and raise a baby. Therefore, for things to be ‘fair and equal’, the ‘problem’ (i.e. the baby) is exterminated.

Nevertheless, as Lewis says, we should love our neighbor, which in this case is secular progressives. We should not retain hatred within our hearts in regards to them but instead should desire and pray for their repentance and ultimate salvation. But in addition to praying for them, we are obligated to do everything in our power to overturn everything they have established that is immoral, unethical and evil.

The Stench of Sin

07 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in Pope Francis, Repentance, Salvation, Truth

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From Catholic World News:

During his Sunday evening homily, Pope Francis preached on the raising of Lazarus.

“Only the power of Jesus can help us come out of these tombs of sin in each and every one of us,” he said. “But sometimes we are too attached to these tombs and are reluctant to leave them. This is when our soul starts to stink; this is the stench of sin.”

Excellent point from our Holy Father!

Thy Will Be Done

07 Monday Apr 2014

Posted by in Repentance, Salvation, Sermons

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Sermon for the Fifth Sunday in Lent – April 6, 2014

Have you ever wondered why Jesus performed the miracles that He did? Certainly, it wouldn't be just to astound the crowds of people around Him. To say it was because He had compassion on those who were sick and suffering would be closer to the Truth, but even that falls short of explaining the true reason for His miracles. Fortunately, we don't have to guess because He tells us the reason plainly in today's Gospel reading, “that they may believe that You have sent Me.” What this means is that His miracles were done to prove to us that He is who He said He is – the Son of God. But the miracle from today's Gospel gives proof to more than just His Divinity. The raising of Lazarus from the dead goes one step further than most of the other miracles because it reveals to us not only Jesus' full divinity but also His full humanity. St. John reveals this to us so subtly that if we are not careful we could miss it.

When Jesus saw (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

And then, in the shortest verse in the whole Bible, we are told simply, “Jesus wept.” Two simple words, which could easily be overlooked; and yet, they are very important for our understanding of who Jesus is. To put this into perspective let us recap what happened. First, Jesus is told that His friend is sick. After hearing the news Jesus stays where He is for two more days at which point His friend is dead. Then, He tells His disciples they are going to Bethany in order to restore Lazarus to life. And, even though He knew that He was going to bring Lazarus back to life, when He arrived on the scene and saw everyone weeping, He too was overcome with grief and wept. Continue reading →

Remembering Grievances – a cancer in the mind

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by in Liturgy of the Hours, Repentance, Salvation, Thought for the Day

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No time to comment on the quote below from the Office of Readings for the day. Suffice it to say that it is something we all need to think about – including myself.

Put aside hatred and hostility. See to it that you refrain from harsh words. But if you do speak them, do not be ashamed to apply the remedy from the same lips that inflicted the wounds. In this way you will show each other mercy and not keep alive the memories of past wrongs. Remembering grievances works great damage. It is accompanied by anger, fosters sin, and brings a hatred for justice. It is a rusty arrow spreading poison in the soul. It destroys virtue and is a cancer in the mind. It thwarts prayer and mangles the petitions we make to God. It drives out love and is a nail driven into the soul, an evil that never sleeps, a sin that never fades away, a kind of daily death.

Be lovers of peace, the most precious treasure that anyone can desire. You are already aware that our sins drive God to anger, so you must repent of them, that God in his mercy may spare you. What men conceal is open to God. Turn to him with a sincere heart. Live in such a way that you bring upon yourselves the blessing of God, and that the peace of God our Father may be with you always.

From a letter by St Francis of Paola

And the winner is…

30 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Catholic Obligations, Politically Incorrect, Pro-Life, Repentance, Salvation, What's Wrong with the World?

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The title to today's post will make sense in a moment. First, please start with the quotes below. (Let it be known that I in no way support any of the following quotes.

We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members. Continue reading →

…you were bought with a price.

21 Friday Mar 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Repentance, Salvation, The Screwtape Letters, Thought for the Day, Transformation in Christ

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Today I have for you a selection from The Screwtape Letters. I have used bold to draw your attention to certain parts. Throughout the day, especially since it is the day of week that our Lord purchased your soul with His own Blood, try to reflect upon the fact that you are not your own. And, in addition, that you owe everything to Him.

The sense of ownership in general is always to be encouraged. The humans are always putting up claims to ownership which sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell and we must keep them doing so. Much of the modem resistance to chastity comes from men’s belief that they ‘own’ their bodies—those vast and perilous estates, pulsating with the energy that made the worlds, in which they find themselves without their consent and from which they are ejected at the pleasure of Another! It is as if a royal child whom his father has placed, for love’s sake, in titular command of some great province, under the real rule of wise counsellors, should come to fancy he really owns the cities, the forests, and the corn, in the same way as he owns the bricks on the nursery floor.

We produce this sense of ownership not only by pride but by confusion. We teach them not to notice the different senses of the possessive pronoun—the finely graded differences that run from ‘my boots’ through ‘my dog’, ‘my servant’, ‘my wife’, ‘my father’, ‘my master’ and ‘my country’, to ‘my God’. They can be taught to reduce all these senses to that of ‘my boots’, the ‘my’ of ownership.

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

“You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19b-20

To forgive as we have been forgiven, part 2

16 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by in Repentance, Salvation, von Hildebrand

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On Tuesday I wrote in regards to the Gospel lesson for the day from Matthew 6, when our Lord taught His disciples the Pater Noster. My intention from the beginning was to include this part 2 with the original post, but the first post was getting long and I was running out of time. (Also to be noted, there was a typo in the original post that has been corrected in the last paragraph.)

What I want to discuss today in regards to forgiveness comes from von Hildebrand’s book The Heart, an Analysis of Human and Divine Affectivity. I am only about halfway through the book at this point but I would say that the main point is von Hildebrand's belief that the heart, as the center of affectivity, the will and the intellect should all work together within man. He is also trying to correct misunderstandings: people believe that the affective part of man shouldn’t be trusted because it is subjective and leads to sentimentality. He rebukes this misconception and shows how the affective sphere of man is necessary but must be used properly.

Continue reading →

To forgive as we have been forgiven

11 Tuesday Mar 2014

Posted by in C.S. Lewis, Repentance, Salvation

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In the Gospel reading for Mass today our Lord teaches us the following,

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Matthew 6:14-15, RSV-CE

This He said immediately after He taught His followers the Pater Noster in the midst of the Sermon on the Mount. I want to focus on these verses from 6:14-15 because they should not be overlooked. With these words Jesus is reiterating what He said just a few verses previous in the Pater Noster. In the twelfth verse Jesus said, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” And, of course, in our praying of the Pater Noster we change ‘debt’ to ‘trespass’. Even though we change debt to trepass for reciting the Pater Noster the words for debts/debtors in the Greek text of verse 12 are not the same as words used for trepasses in the Greek text of verses 14-15. Nevertheless, in the context of the passage it does seem that Jesus is speaking of the same thing in both verse 12 and verses 14-15: trepasses or sins.

Continue reading →

And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites…

05 Wednesday Mar 2014

Posted by in Politically Incorrect, Pro-Life, Repentance, Salvation

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My first post today was in regards to how we should understand the penance of Ash Wednesday and the Lenten Season. This post is in regards to how we should not understand it. This is what our Lord has to say on the matter:

Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them…when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:1a,16-18 RSV-CE

I am sure you have noticed the pictures of the unholy trinity at top. By posting these pictures and this quote from our Lord am I thereby suggesting that these three so-called Catholic politicians are hypocrites? Yes! Yes, I am. But my reason for saying so is not just beause of the ashes on their foreheads.

It might be pointed out by someone that many faithful Catholics go the whole day on Ash Wednesday displaying the ashes on their foreheads they received at Mass in the morning. Given what our Lord had to say about the matter I am not sure how that custom came about but nevertheless that is our custom. And as such, I am willing to accept it. What I cannot accept is the above mentioned politicians, and others like them, who are so obviously insincere about their Catholic faith. These people embody the very definition of hypocrite. They claim to be faithful Catholics and yet consistently speak out against the teachings of the Church. The most obvious example of this is the pro-death, pro-abortion stance they all claim as their own.

Please understand that I would be the first to admit that I, in addition to these politicians, am a sinner. I am not saying that I am better than them. My point is that they need to repent. And of course, we all do! But those who are knowingly unrepentant in regards to serious sin are endangering their eternal souls. In addition, because these three (and others) are such public figures their unrepentance leads to scandal. The whole world hears what they have to say and it does not coincide with what they claim to believe and so the Truth is distorted. Let us all pray that we may truly repent from our sins during this Lent and let us especially pray for those who are knowingly unrepentant. Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.