Merton on Christian Love

The root of Christian love is not the will to love, but the faith that one is loved.  The faith that one is loved by God.  That faith that one is loved by God although unworthy -- or, rather, irrespective of one's worth!  In the true Christian vision of God's love, the idea of worthiness loses its significance.  Revelation of the mercy of God makes the whole problem of worthiness something almost laughable: the discovery that worthiness is of no special consequence (since no-one could ever, by himself, be strictly worthy to be loved with such a love) is a true liberation of the spirit.  And until this discovery is made, until this liberation has been brought about by the divine mercy, man is imprisoned in hate.  

~ Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation

Patience

Patience is seeing the Night, and appreciating the Stars, while waiting for the Dawn.

The Spirit Creates

"365 The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the "form" of the body:²³⁴ i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a single nature.
366 The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not "produced" by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be reunited with the body at the final Resurrection.<sup>235"

~ Catechism of the Catholic Church

ML's commentary:  In plain language:  Spirit precedes matter; in fact it is the Spirit that generates all reality.</sup>

"I want to live!"

“The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion.” ~ Blessed Mother Teresa

I have some friends who seem to value and enjoy loving people, anyone, “everyone”, regardless of differences.  And yet, they are “pro-choice” and support the pro-abortion agenda.  I can’t help but think that if these friends could meet the babies in their mothers’ wombs who are about to be aborted (for these are also part of that supposed “everyone”), and these babies could share their hearts with them, my friends might realize the love they have to share MUST include loving and protecting these little ones.

Even though these babies in the womb can’t speak with audible words, they can even-so share their hearts.  Their tiny little hearts are beating, pumping blood through their developing bodies, showing in a very tangible way their 100 % desire to live! 

When a baby is aborted, it is sometimes burned (with chemicals) to death.  Sometimes the baby is pulled apart in the womb, limb by limb; the abortionist pulls off the baby’s legs, the baby’s hands, the baby’s head…  Abortion is not the removal of mindless, heartless tissue; abortion is the mutilation and killing of a baby, a human-being. 

93% of all abortions occur for social reasons .  http://abortionno.org/index.php/abortion_facts/

Is this loving everyone?  http://www.abortionno.org/  Be forewarned: the video on the homepage of this site shows what abortion really is with live footage of an abortion.  Don’t watch it if you aren’t prepared to face the truth.  There are also beautiful videos of a developing baby in the womb showing the development of various organs.  These babies have minds, hearts, feelings; most of all they wish to live.

"The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a direct war, a direct killing - direct murder by the mother herself. And we read in the Scripture, for God says very clearly: Even if a mother could forget her child - I will not forget you - I have carved you in the palm of my hand. We are carved in the palm of His hand, so close to Him that unborn child has been carved in the hand of God. And that is what strikes me most, the beginning of that sentence, that even if a mother could forget something impossible - but even if she could forget - I will not forget you. And today the greatest means - the greatest destroyer of peace is abortion. And we who are standing here - our parents wanted us. We would not be here if our parents would do that to us. Our children, we want them, we love them, but what of the millions. Many people are very, very concerned with the children in India, with the children in Africa where quite a number die, maybe of malnutrition, of hunger and so on, but millions are dying deliberately by the will of the mother. And this is what is the greatest destroyer of peace today. Because if a mother can kill her own child - what is left for me to kill you and you kill me - there is nothing between. And this I appeal in India, I appeal everywhere: Let us bring the child back, and this year being the child's year: What have we done for the child?"  ~ Blessed Mother Teresa (from her Nobel Peace Prize lecture)

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-lecture.html

Sacco on the Illusions of Status

From Praying With Saint Mark's Gospel, published by Magnificat

"The kingdom of heaven in not about status.  Our rank, our titles, our possessions, our popularity will all mean less than nothing in the next life.  Only our openness to love, coupled with our capacity to forgive, will determine our experience of heaven.  In a place of perfect happiness and joy, how can one person be happier or more important than the next?
Suffering will come to us all, but once we have cleansed ourselves of our sins and petty jealousies, we will be able to finally sit with Christ at the heavenly banquet.  And none of us will be concerned about the status of the seating arrangement."

~ Jack Sacco, an award-winning author, whose book Where the Birds Never Sing was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, and his latest novel is The Resurrection Sequence.

Sometimes I am surprised to find I need this reminder myself. :S  Praise be Jesus the Lord loves a contrite heart! :)

Washington on Morality

"(T)he foundation of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; ...the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained..." George Washington, First Inaugural, April 30 1789

from "Quotes From The Founding Fathers"

Apples

“All badness is spoiled goodness. A bad apple is a good apple that became rotten. Because evil has no capital of its own, it is a parasite that feeds on goodness.”
—Fulton J. Sheen

From the book “Through the Year with Fulton Sheen”.


I found this quote on Ignatius Press's Facebook page.  This is real food for thought!