Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen on Sin and Penance
Also, Fulton Sheen on Penance “Woe to those who call evil goodand good evil,who put darkness for lightand light for darkness,who put bitter for sweetand sweet for bitter.“— Isa.5:20
Tag: Sin
Does God send wars as a punishment for sin?
Be it near or still a ways off, Jesus the Lord said regarding the last times, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there… Read More Does God send wars as a punishment for sin?
“Extortioners, adulterers, tax collectors…”
Love and Penance “No crime, however heinous, can be committed or even conceived which the Church has not power to forgive, just as there is no sinner, however abandoned, however depraved, who should not confidently hope for pardon, provided he sincerely repent of his past transgressions. Furthermore, the exercise of this power is not restricted to… Read More “Extortioners, adulterers, tax collectors…”
The Dark Wood
Canto I of Dante’s Inferno. by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321).translated by Stephen Binns. Midway along the journey of our days__I found myself astray in a dark wood,__for lost was right direction in that maze.How hard a thing to speak of how it stood:__how dense the wood, how difficult the course.__The very thought renews the chill of… Read More The Dark Wood
The Falls of Albert Camus
I’ve always loved Camus. But his shadow side must be faced. In his novella, The Fall, the Algerian-French philosopher and novelist Albert Camus stops lamenting social injustice for a moment as well as the “meaninglessness” and “absurdity” of an empty Nietzschean universe in general, and turns instead to biography, specifically to his own cruelty. Camus was a… Read More The Falls of Albert Camus
Romans 7 and our Spiritual – Existential Predicament
Originally Titled ‘A Catholic Flavored Commentary on Romans 7. By Craig Truglia, Sept. 2015. With the help of Augustine, we undergo exegeting perhaps the most confusing chapter of the Bible. Does a Christian, who is dead to sin, still sin? Can he lose his salvation? Is he even the one sinning? What is the Flesh?… Read More Romans 7 and our Spiritual – Existential Predicament
Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come
by John Daniel Davidson. G. K. Chesterton said, “Some say it is impossible to return to the past; but the truth is that there is now nothing before us but the choice between two paths which both return to the past. We can return to some sort of Catholic fellowship, or we can return to… Read More Pagan America: The Decline of Christianity and the Dark Age to Come
Beginning Again. A Prayer of Forgiveness, Reparation, and Penitential Love.
“LORD JESUS CHRIST, Who revealed the infinite mercy of Thy SACRED HEART in saying, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you (Matt. 5:44), and again, Bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you (Luke 6:28): Give me, I beseech Thee, grace to obey these commandments of Thine and to… Read More Beginning Again. A Prayer of Forgiveness, Reparation, and Penitential Love.
The Ubiquity of Pornography..
There is very little surprise anymore. When children’s minds and souls are being warped beyond belief, when high and low clergymen are falling like flies, when churches themselves in consequence become a laughing stock, when half of all marriages in the West fail, when sex trafficking on the Internet is another ubiquitous reality, when the… Read More The Ubiquity of Pornography..
Never to despair
St. Bernard declared forcefully, “[You may say] I have committed a great sin. My conscience will be troubled but I will not despair because I remember the wounds of my Lord. For indeed, He was wounded for our iniquities. What sin is there so deadly that it cannot be remitted through the death of Christ?… Read More Never to despair
“Our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you”
“We acknowledge our wickedness, O Lord, and the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against you.” Jeremiah 14: Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord, for your name’s sake;for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.8 O you hope of Israel, its savior in time of trouble,why should you be like a stranger in the land, like a traveler… Read More “Our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you”
Frs. Francis Spirago, Richard F. Clarke On Penance
“Our whole life ought to be one continued penance“. Joel 2:12: “Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all of your heart,with fasting, weeping, and with mourning“ “if the wicked do penance. . . . .I will not remember all his iniquities.”—Ezek.xviii.21 The Nature and the Necessity of Penance — > “As soon as… Read More Frs. Francis Spirago, Richard F. Clarke On Penance
The Destiny of Wickedness
“Sinners themselves admit the magnitude of their misery, as we read in the Book of Wisdom: “We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction, and have walked through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we did not know. What has pride profited us? Or what advantage has the boasting of riches… Read More The Destiny of Wickedness
On Confession. By Fr.Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD.
On Confession, by Fr.Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD. “Penance is the sacrament of Christ’s Precious Blood in which God — according to the eloquent words of St. Catherine of Siena — “has bathed us in order to cleanse the face of our souls from the leprosy of sin.” If mortal sin only is the… Read More On Confession. By Fr.Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD.
Perseverance, Patience, Penance.
Patience in Penance. Fourteen Years the Abbot spent on Overcoming One Fault. “Love demands a complete inner transformation – for without this we cannot possibly come to identify ourselves with our brother… And this involves a death of selfishness In the Verba Seniorum [Words of the Elders] we read of Abbot Ammonas, who spent fourteen… Read More Perseverance, Patience, Penance.
St. Francis de Sales on Spiritual Self-knowledge
“We are surprised at falling: an evident mark that we scarcely know ourselves. We ought, on the contrary, to be surprised at not falling more frequently, and into more grievous faults, and to return thanks to God for the dangers from which He preserves us. We are troubled every time that we are beguiled into… Read More St. Francis de Sales on Spiritual Self-knowledge
“Those who pray will be saved, those who do not will be lost”
James 4:2: “you have not, because you ask not.“ The great Doctor of the Church, Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, wrote, “The absolute necessity of prayer is taught throughout the Holy Scriptures, and by all the holy Fathers; while, on the other hand, I see that Christians are very careless in their practice of this great… Read More “Those who pray will be saved, those who do not will be lost”
On Confessing Our Sins. Fr. Brian Kilcoyne
If there has been a better talk on Confession in recent years, I haven’t heard it.
Lucifer Believes
Lucifer, the “Light-bearer,” we are warned in Scripture, always “appears as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14) and comes as the “liar from the beginning” (Jn. 8). He believes his own lying narrative. So do his followers, who believe even when they know they are lying. ________ In the News — Lord Marchmain’s Long… Read More Lucifer Believes
Pope St. John Paul II on Mortal and Venial Sin
Quoting St. Thomas Aquinas, John Paul wrote: “When through sin, the soul commits a disorder that reaches the point of turning away from its ultimate end God to which it is bound by charity, then the sin is mortal; on the other hand, whenever the disorder does not reach the point of a turning away… Read More Pope St. John Paul II on Mortal and Venial Sin
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Forgive Me…
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on me. O God, forgive me for all the sins of my life; The sins of my youth and the sins of my age, The sins of my body and the sins of my soul, The sins I have confessed and the sins I have forgotten, The sins… Read More Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Forgive Me…
Spiritual Warfare in A Culture That Weakens Us
No matter the state of our souls, “Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet”. — Diary of Saint Faustina, 699
The Abuse Crisis 20 Years Later
The World Over | Bill Donohue of The Catholic League with Raymond Arroyo. Ignatius Press: “This work unpacks the history and root causes of the clergy sex abuse scandals in the United States. Building on decades of data and research, author Bill Donohue, who holds a doctorate in sociology, tells the story from a fresh… Read More The Abuse Crisis 20 Years Later
American Slavery in the Global Context
National Review. An ancient evil abolished. “No topic in American history is more enduringly controversial than slavery. It sits at the heart of every indictment of America and our founding principles. It is central to battles over critical race theory, the removal of monuments, and the renaming of places and institutions. It is invoked in… Read More American Slavery in the Global Context
Standing on the Edge
A Personal Account. July 3, 2021 Brother Lawrence Mary, Tert. M.I.C.M. Have you ever paused on the edge of a life-changing decision, one in which you contemplated an irreversible choice that would separate you forever from everything that you know and love? Maybe you traveled to a new country, knowing you would never return. Or… Read More Standing on the Edge
Sin & Penance | Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
—Also, Fulton Sheen on Penance “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.“— Isa.5:20
