Catholic Spirituality and Devotion

[newbie.86]

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Miracles --- one of the things that separate Catholics from other religions. It is our child-like belief that God is always present with us and working his ways with us, even if we are ready to believe or not.

take a look at this modern miracle on the highway:


ANGEL OF HIGHWAY 19

[TheSunKing]

THE END OF CIVILIZATION

- - - Updated - - -

THE ROAD TO HEAVEN

[TheSunKing]

CONFESSION

Yesterday at confession, I have noticed that most of us were young men -- most of them still in their college uniforms. There were 12 of us -- 10 were men and 2 were women (also college). It's just heartening to see that young people, men especially, has taken this sacrament seriously, and take part in this sacrament without being told!

From personal experience, it is only this time that I have appreciated the value of confession. I sneak into the confessional from time to time -- sometimes for an anonymous chat about questions in life with the priest, asking for advice, and of course, for absolution. The longest confession I had lasted for 30 minutes, last year! That was 6 years since my last confession. Good thing there was another priest on the next confessional who can assist other penitents. Got a lot of questions -- I'm just thankful that the priest was very patient with me.

Anyway, I would like to share the benefits of regular confession from my own experience:

Self-Knowledge is Increased. -- We became conscious and reflective of everything we do. We also become mindful of the proper thinking and behavior, and mindful of the proper relationship we had on God and others.

Bad Habits are Corrected. -- Well, I stuggle with some bad habits and I think confession helps me to go forward no matter how imperfect I am with my promises.

Conscience is Purified. -- By the grace of God we attain peace of mind since we are comforted by the fact that our sins have been forgiven.

The Will is Strengthened. -- As our self awareness increases towards doing what is good, we have more control of our actions. We become aware that not everything we want is pleasing to the Lord.

Salutary Self-Control is Attained. -- While self control is not perfect, we become more mindful of our actions and more resistant to temptations.

We Become More Sinless. -- God gives us the chance to start again, and we are responsible to lkeep clean this new garment that he has given us.

We Become More Submissive to the Holy Spirit. Naming and admitting our sins require much much humility. The sense of shame we feel when we reflect on our sins and tell them to the priest to ask Jesus' for forgiveness is indeed a humbling experience. I could say that I have struggled with this one, and has the tendency to package sins in nice little packages. But nothing beat calling sin by its proper name and asking pardon for it.

[TheSunKing]

(Statue of Molech who requires child sacrifice. the live child is fed on the burning oven on the statue's stomach to satisfy the hungry god and ensure material abundance for the devotee.)


THE PLAGUE OF PAGANISM

Most of us would think that Paganism was an ancient phenomenon, only to be associated with the long-lost gods of Olympus and imperial Rome. But no, Paganism is sweeping the planet, and is taking the place of Christianity in a lot of countries, including predominantly Catholic Philippines.

Whether it’s called the enlightenment, atheism, communism, free-thinking, Wicca, or whatever, modern paganism is a philosophy that replaces a belief in the Almighty with a belief in the greatness of man, or the power of sorcery. The modern world has embraced these 4 tenets of paganism big time:

	Ancient paganism beliefs/practices	Modern Paganism beliefs/practices
	Unlimited ***, temple prostitution of women, sodomy	Pornography, casual ***, sodomy, premarital ***, bestiality
	Human sacrifice, child sacrifice	Contraception, abortion,
	Worship of nature	Gross materialism, worship of “created” things, machines, science
	Potions	Drugs, mind altering substances

---> Ancient pagans prostitute their daughters to strangers before marriage at the temple of Astarte/Venus to ensure fertility. Prostitution, homosexual "marriage", bestiality and incest enjoy equal privilege.

---> Modern pagans are demanding the same "privileges" from our secular government by legislating homosexual "marriage" and maybe next time, legal bestiality and incest. Now, "enlightened" youths prostitute themselves to one another through casual ***. Pornography and sodomy is rampant.

---> Ancient pagans offered infant and human sacrifices to Molech to have abundance and plentiful harvests.
---> Modern pagans still offer infant sacrifices to Molech through contraception and abortion,in order that they can have abundance of material things. These women are too poor to feed the babies anyway. Better for them to abort, and Im being compassionate about it (sarcasm intended).

---> Ancient pagans worship "created" things from nature.
---> Modern pagans brought it to a higher level. They still worship "created" things from nature (yeah, animals have rights, too! lol), but added the worship of science and its creations.

---> Pagan priestesses and worshippers enjoy hallucinogenic drug/potions during worship.
---> Modern pagans enjoy the same -- mind altering substances are now being peddled in the disco, streets and everywhere. They are being used by even the very young.

The Church that Jesus Christ started as being out of date with the times, for not having women priests, for not embracing homosexuality as being wonderful, as well as touting science as being the solution to all of our problems, think “the enlightenment”.


In reality, “the enlightenment” was really the dark ages,
because it was the beginning of the replacement of faith in Jesus Christ with the mind of man.

[TheSunKing]

CATHOLIC SUPERMODEL






Perfectly fulfilling the will of God since the Immaculate Conception.

#catholicmemes

I believe that Mary, the mother of Christ is the first Christian because she was the first one to give assent to Christ's will. With her "yes"during the Annunciation, she paved the way for our salvation even if it meant a great sacrifice on her part. With this, Catholics consider her an instrument of our salvation through Christ and bestow her the honor as the Mother of God or the Theotokos. This title is to emphasize that Jesus Christ was both human and divine in One Person, and to correct the false teaching of Patriarch Nestorius at the Council of Ephesus.

Mary of Nazareth is indeed the most blessed among women, and is the most popular woman of all time. Even Angelina Jolie cant beat that.

[TheSunKing]

Marriage, Single-Blessedness and Consecrated Celibacy

Gospel Reading for Today: MT 19:3-12

Some Pharisees came to Jesus, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?”

He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”

His disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

But he said to them, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”


REFLECTIONS:

Men were given vocations by which we are commanded according to one's own predisposition.

Concerning marriage and divorce,
Jesus is clear that divorce equates to adultery, when he said: Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." -- Mark 10: 11-12

Concerning Single-Blessedness:
Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others.

Concerning Consecrated Celibacy:
They have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.

There are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure...purchased from among men and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb (Revelation 14:4)

In his final exhortation, Jesus commands us to accept and behave the way we out to be: Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.

[TheSunKing]

MORAL PRINCIPLES

[The_Child]

the biggest problem of the church is its members' dogmatism.

[newbie.86]

the biggest problem of the church is its members' dogmatism.

Catholic dogma is summarized in the Nicene creed/Apostle's creed bro -- and all Christians are required to believe in those 12 dogmas.

[Dorothea]

I wouldn't call myself an ideal Catholic...not by a long shot.

But I do take comfort in my faith. My two favorite prayers are the Memorare and the Prayer to St Michael. These prayers calm me down in times of distress and craziness. And the Guardian Angel's Prayer, I hold dear to my heart, because I still distinctly remember when my mommy taught me that, the first one I memorized.