Thought for the Day: Embrace a Leper!

I have something challenging coming up and was praying about it this morning. Providentially, my spiritual reading addressed it. Catching up on my Benedictus meditations, I read this from October 5th: "The soldier of Christ must begin by victory over himself." 

The Lies Parents Tell

Parents want to rear their children to be truth-tellers. At least they should. But many parents today lie regularly to their children. Why? Mostly out of human respect. I’ll give an example from my own experience. 

Guest Post: Fr. Tom Collins Shares His Views on Mary as Co-Redemptrix Part A

Editor's note. Father's article is challenging but well worth reading. When I read a challenging article I ask the Holy Spirit for understanding. I've highlighted some of the unfamiliar terms Father uses and linked them to definitions. May we all grow in wisdom by immersing ourselves in the truths of the faith. A big thank you to Fr. Collins for his articles. Because of it's length, I've divided this post into two.

Part I

THE ORIGINAL BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN GENESIS AS THE BASIS FOR DECLARING THE DOCTRINE OF MARY AS CO-REDEMPTRIX

By Fr. Tom Collins

Basic premises for these reflections:

1) Only Jesus is God incarnate - both as Person and Mystery.

2) Being and action are the same in God. He does not just love, He is love. Therefore Jesus' saving act is His saving being. Covenant is not only what Christ does, it is also intrinsically Who He is.

Sunday Meditation: The Relationship Between Feelings and Sin

I've been reading selections from St. Claude de la Colombiere's writings: letters, retreat notes, diary entries, etc. He often writes about the correct approach to feelings and how to deal with them. In our age, when so many people have tossed reason to the wind and act mostly on their feelings, St. Claude's wisdom is much needed.

Reflections in the Snow

I've spent the past two days digging out from the big snow. Happily, the heavens dumped only about six inches unlike the massive snows of 2009 and 2010 when we were engulfed with about twenty inches of the white stuff. 

I remember well the 2010 storm and blogged about it at the time. My husband and I were out on the John Deere, snowplow in place, every 2-3 hours trying to keep our long driveway passable. At every round the driveway got narrower. Fortunately, the snow stopped before the width shrank to a path. Our long driveway made the clearing a Herculean task to free the car, but we succeeded. Definitely an accomplishment that we could not repeat today, fifteen years later!

Mind you, I'm not complaining. I enjoy snow (in moderation) and have many memories of rollicking with happy kids on unscheduled snow days when school was cancelled and all was right with the world.

Come, O Holy Spirit, Fill the Hearts of Your Faithful and Enkindle in Them the Fire of Thy Love!

My husband and I gave our priests worldly and otherworldly gifts for Christmas. The more important was our spiritual gift of the novena to the Holy Spirit which we plan to begin on New Year's Day. What a good way to begin a new year, we decided, by entreating the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and those of our spiritual guides. We expect that not only the priests will benefit from this gift, but we will too. Can you ever pray without being immersed in a pool of grace?

 This morning, during my prayer time, I read an excerpt from St. Claude de la Colombiere's 1674 notes from a retreat in Lyons. It confirmed for me the wisdom of choosing the Holy Spirit novena as a starting place for 2025. What better helper can we invoke as St. Claude writes; and what easier way to endure all things in peace and tranquility?:

Fr. Tom's Reflection on the Coming Feast of Pentecost and the Need for Penance

Anthony Van Dyck 1599 – 1641 The Descent of the Holy Spirit

As we prepare for the celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost this year, I am disturbed by the fact that this celebration, if lacking a serious commitment to integration into Christ, will be merely emotional, and not transformative.

Sodomites, Lezzies and Trannies - Stop Sinning to Stop Wars

Disobedience to God and His Commandments results in wars as punishment and chastisement to sinful man. Today mankind is so thoroughly disobedient that attraction to the opposite sex is not spoken of by the woke elite, and actually saying that marriage is between a man and a woman is forbidden. 

Therefore, here I am once again, telling the truth as only a non-woke person can, so sodomites, lesbians and trannies of all kinds, listen up. Notice in each video below the high amount of attraction and chemistry between the man and the woman. While Antonio Banderas and his dancing partner (from the movie Take the Lead) have a sort of steamy attraction and look as if they'll jump into bed directly after tangoing, Prince Charming and Cinderella's attraction for each other is more innocent yet no less passionate. That's the way it's supposed to be. Attraction to the opposite sex. Man, woman. Male, female.

Why on earth I or anyone else have to spell out that opposite sexes are supposed to be attracted to one another boggles the mind. Therefore, do your part for world peace and to stop wars by doing what God intended you to do from the beginning when He made Adam and Eve. Stop sinning to stop wars.

Sacrilege: It's Real and It's Serious! Don't Compound Your Sins by Committing It.

By Fr. Tom Collins

It was once observed that, while a fly can irritate a king, it cannot offend a king. Only a person can offend another person. This simple observation is filled with profound wisdom, a wisdom that has been seriously eclipsed in the consciousness of many Catholics in the Western world. This eclipse has been manifested to me numerous times in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As appreciation of the importance of this sacrament in the spiritual life has been lost to many Catholics, even those who do regularly confess their sins often indicate a rather superficial understanding of the actual sanctifying dynamic of this sacrament.

How Can Planned Parenthood Do It? They Have Killed Their Consciences!

Aborted quadruplets were born with arms ‘wrapped around each other’: Former Planned Parenthood worker

Newborn twins hug each other in the bath.

I cried when I read this. How many people would have leaped at the chance to love those little ones!

What particularly horrifies me about the videos coming from the Center for Medical Progress is that almost exclusively, the killers and their enablers depicted are women. Think about that. This is the sex God made to be mothers: to nurture, to hug, to sing lullabies, to cradle in arms and rock, to tell stories, to stroke fevered brows, to love unconditionally.