This is a beautiful humble post DeGaulle. We are all like St Paul fighting the force within us that always sets us up to let evil in. " who will save me from this body of sin?" St Paul explains it well. Jesus saves us. Not once. But over and over. Every day--every minute we are making the choice for Christ. It is truly a battle that requires the full Armour of God. ( again St Paul) i used to teach the masterpieces of Western Lit to high school students and they were struck by the coldness and hard justice of Greek tragedy. They were particularly horrified by the House of Atreus and its history ( bloody and vengeful--the current film the Odyssey makes reference to it) in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus the chorus watching the horror of Clymenestra's revenge against Agamemnon when he returns from Troy sings out " one chamber of the human heart/holds pride and strength within/ the next a mad sick animal/ and the line between is thin" This blew us away in class. We talked about good and evil and the line that runs through every human being just as you said. We are all capable of very great evil and by God's grace very great good. All resides in the Will and the choices we make. Our world right now seems to have lost its balance completely. It is so easy to get caught up in the tide of evil and not even realize it. I see it played out in my own soul. I am constantly running a check on my own barometer with an examin of conscience every day. I truly believe Our Lord has given us the Blessed Mother to safeguard in these days. To discern the fierce tides that assail us. To help us fight. She really is the Ark in the midst of this flood that engulf us. Sorry to go on and on. I was just greatly moved by your post and I took a long time to get to my point.
This popped into my inbox tiday from Chris Stefanik... was perfect timing. Alyce and I were on our morning walk and I shared with her that i am full of angst about so many things going on within our family... hard things... I said i need to just move today. My anxiety us off the chain. And to see thus immediately after walking is a gift In the parable of the wheat and weeds (Matthew 13:24-30), which Catholics around the world heard in yesterday’s Gospel, a man sows good seed in his field, but his enemy comes at night and sows weeds among the wheat. When the servants offer to pull the weeds, the master tells them to let both grow together until the harvest, so as not to uproot any wheat by accident, and then after harvest, separate them—burning the weeds and gathering the wheat into his barn. Jesus told his apostles that the field is the world where good and evil (the children of the kingdom and the children of the evil one) grow together until the end of time, when the angels will separate the righteous from the wicked at the final judgment. Lots to take away from this one, but my takeaway is one of the most powerful and underrated words in the spiritual life: RELAX. When we see the evils in the world, the conflict in our families, and the imperfections in our marriages, so often we can’t sit still. We want the wrong righted. We want the weeds gone. All of them! But what if they’re there for a reason? What if all the rubs and bumps and bruises we get from living in an imperfect world is a feature and not a flaw in God’s plan? What if the competing weeds are the very things that make the grains of wheat stronger and taller as they fight for their spot in the sun, and as they push their roots deeper as they compete for good soil? (That’s actually not far from how it works in nature—plants and trees really can grow taller under a little pressure.) You’re not gonna get perfect in this life. Life is full of weeds. Family members will annoy you. All marriage issues won’t be completely resolved. And you’re gonna live in a world where the wicked and the holy live side by side….actually it’s worse: you’re even gonna pray in a church where the wicked and the holy sit side by side in pews. Of course we should work on healthy conflict, the healing of wounds, and all the rest. (And some weeds—like real abuse and serious sin—do have to be pulled. God isn’t asking us to sit still for those.) But don’t work at it all with the idea that we’re gonna grow old in a sterile field, thoroughly cleansed of every weed. They’ll always be there in this life. Jesus was clear on that point. So maybe instead of expecting to successfully pull every weed out of life, we should ask the Master of the Harvest, “How do you want me to grow in the ground where I’m planted? How are you using the conflicts and discomforts to make me grow stronger—to make me more patient, humble, listening, and merciful?” Because if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll see that the real divide between righteous and wicked isn’t “out there.” It’s in our own hearts. Or, in the words of Solzhenitsyn, “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.” Maybe that’s why God lets the fields of our lives—on this side of heaven—get sprinkled with weeds. It strengthens the wheat in us. So stop squirming so much and get used to the discomfort. RELAX in it, even. That prickly weed is part of the plan.
Wow Following article originally appeared in the Renewal Ministries’ August 2018 newsletter. “If you would like to visit a place where the symptoms of the sickness of our time are found near their furthest limits, come to Ireland. Here you will see a civilization in freefall, seeking with every breath to deny the existence of a higher authority, a people that has now sentenced itself not to look upon the cross of Christ, lest it be haunted by his rage and sorrow.” 1 These words, from Irish commentator John Waters, are in response to the people of Ireland’s choice to deny the unborn the right to life. Ireland is the first nation in history to enshrine the law through a majority vote of its people; it wasn’t imposed upon them by cultural elites or the courts. St JohnPaul 2
I was searching for the 7 year prophecy of Ireland sinking but instead I found the above post. I had no idea that it was not forced upon Ireland as it was in the United States, We are not our governments, we are just people trying to survive. Normal facts are great but it gets to the point where it goes over the line constantly. We have lost loved ones, who fought for our Country. And what I share is not of pride but of love for my family and loved ones...
I just got back from my first trip to Europe ever... Lourdes, Rome, A trip to see Pio, Benidict Abby, Loretto, and Assisi. Oh Assisi, i never knew i could fall in love with a place so quick. The most at peace I have ever been in my life was on this trip. Lots of praying, and no worrying
You can truly say you’ve ‘done’ Europe with that fabulous itinerary. I’m here in Europe all my life and I’ve only been to Lourdes (a place of great peace) and Rome.
