As someone said--maybe Marino Restrepo--that God gives us what we desire. We show what we desire by our day to day choices for or against Him. The way of Jesus is both hard and easy and it is a minute to minute walk. Why have Catholics from time immemorial begged for final perseverence? Because the way is narrow and I for one do not trust myself. Left to myself I will lose the way. Thank goodness Mother Mary is with us.
This is a great mystery. But I believe a soul in rebellion cannot bear the fire of God's love. They hurl themselves away from it. Purgatory prepares us for this fire that is glorious to the purified soul. But a soul who dies in mortal sin is fixed in the rejection of God. Terrifying. We (I) must pray hard for sinners and for myself. "Let a man who stands take heed lest he should fall"
Yes! Pray for the grace of final perseverance. Pray for sinners. The three Fatima children prayed much for sinners, and offered hard penances for them. They SAW Hell and souls floating in the flames. That’s enough to convince me.
I read a lot of bad books when I was younger. My Spiritual Director warned me about this. A lot of bad stuff we read sticks, like an infection. I try to be much more careful now by trying to read spiritual classics ; the older the better. I am afraid loads and loads of modern stuff is drek, even Catholic Spiritual writers that are highly praised. It really is like some kind of awful spiritual mortal germ. It can ofte be seen in homilies. Very bad ideas, read in books being passed on.
I am glad you posted this. I have been repeating that warning myself. It is a centuries-old Catholic teaching, a warning not to read bad books. There used to be the Index of Forbidden Books. Don't know what happened to this. The warning against reading material contrary to faith and morals also applies to the websites we visit and the great numbers of questionable editorials we read, the inflammatory nature of some of the bloggers. I know some people think it is freedom of choice, but at what price to our souls? Some of this stuff sticks to us, as you said, and poisons our peace. It can even be mortally sinful. It is not the Thought Police, it is the wisdom and grace of God to avoid bad books and bad shows and movies and websites.
We are fallen creatures with weak constitutions. In humility, it is stupidity to say,"I'll read anything I damn well please!" What we do should bring joy to the Heart of Jesus! Galatians 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would.
I placed a comment under Bishop Barron's 'There is a reasonable hope....' video on YouTube pointing out that the Fatima apparitions seemed to rule out the possibility. The bishop responded to my comment saying that Fatima is a private revelation and that no-one is obliged to accept it as authentic. Which I take to mean that he doesn't (he can't do or he wouldn't keep pushing the 'reasonable hope' theory). I also pointed out that Jesus said of Judas that 'it were better if that man had not been born' which clearly indicates that his eternal fate is not a happy one or, otherwise, of course it were better that he was born. I received no response to that point. If a bishop doesn't accept Fatima as authentic (or, at a stretch probably so) then he is IMHO dangerous to souls.
I am glad you commented! I agree with everything you have said. For pity’s sake, two of the Fatima children are canonized saints. And we have the Lord’s own words in Scripture. Good job!
Honestly, that is why I stopped going to various sites regarding end time prophesies 2 years ago, WAY TOO MUCH "NOISE". As is, we all get overloaded. I personally can't handle Q. PEACE within Our Lady and Archangel Michael's protection.
It is not just bad books it is the whole of Christian Culture now that is bad. Far, far worse than say at the Downfall of the Roman Empire. For instance the way people dress. I noticed this this afternoon walking round the park. The way specially preteens were dressed, with the knowledge and consent of their parents was scandalous. They become sexual objects . You could take a thousand thousand instances from our decadent culture, our music, our art, our literature... whatever. You did not get this in ancient Rome before it's fall. To the elites, yes but not to the masses or ordinary people. Now everyone is touched. But we are so used to it we don't even notice it. Apart from old cranky cranks like myself But I believe Our Lady did mention bad fashions and impurity at Fatima too.
If the Church had heeded Pope Leo's vision/conversation of Satan and God in 1884 and if the Church had continued to repeat the exorcism prayer to St. Michael world wide, we would not be close to where we are today headed into the great purification and chastisements forthcoming. It stands to reason, as technology advanced, God was not so needed in the minds of the progressives. But to not think for a moment, that we would be where we are today without the diabolical institution of Freemasonry, which advanced quickly the belief that all that was necessary to get to heaven was to believe in a god, no matter which one. This is what has brought all the ism's in our world and in our church and Pope Leo understood this. In the end it will all be purified and we can hope to be in the new world when it comes to be.
No one is obliged to believe in the speculations of Hans Urs Balthasar either. I hope for the best from Bishop Barron but this is sad. And unkind to the Queen of Heaven.
As in the words of the Our Father, we are on this planet to be put to the test. If we were all to be saved anyway, all the suffering of the world, and the Suffering of Our Lord, would have been for nothing. To put mankind through all this suffering for no purpose would be monstrous, and the only conclusion to be that God is a monster. If we are all destined for Heaven regardless, a loving God would have put us straight into Heaven, without inflicting this Fallen World upon us. The Truth is that we were created in freedom and from the very beginning, as with Adam and Eve, Man has been given the autonomy to find and choose his own destiny. Men have the freedom to accept God and His Heaven, and the freedom to reject Him and to choose Hell. Technically, it is statistically possible that all men will choose God in the end, and I suspect all will certainly be given a final, fully conscious choice at some moment before death, but it is the height of presumption to lend any serious expectation to this possibility. The Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
