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Tribulation Times
THE TRIB TIMES WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(Rom 8:17-18) And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him. For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.
EXCERPT BLOGGER: Daily Mass... ready to die
I have become almost completely fearless! In this day and age where calamity can befall us at any point in time, I move around without a care in the world. And if Jesus Christ himself can subject himself to a violent and painful death, what right do I have to shy away from such an end? Granted, one does not pray for a brutal death, but my Christian faith compels me to accept the possibility calmly, even if I don't yearn such a death.
EXCERPT: The Shortness of Life by St. Alphonsus de Liguori
Third Point - Importance of the Last Moment
(Job 14, 1) "Man born of a woman, living a short time … who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed."
How great, then, the folly of those who, for the miserable and transitory delights of this short life, exposes themselves to the danger of an unhappy eternity. Oh! How important is that last moment, that last gasp, the last closing of the scene! On it depends an eternity either of all delights or of all torments - a life of eternal happiness or of everlasting woe.
Let us consider that Jesus Christ submitted to a cruel and ignominious death in order to obtain for us the grace of a good death. That we may at that last moment die in the grace of God, is the reason why He gives us so many calls, so many lights, and admonishes us by so many threats.
Antisthenes, though a pagan, being asked what was the greatest blessing which man could receive in this world, answered, "A good death."
And what will a Catholic say, who knows by faith, that at the moment of death eternity begins, and that at that moment he lays hold of one of two wheels, which draws with it either eternal joy or everlasting torments? If there were two tickets in a lottery, on one of which might be written Hell and on the other Heaven, what care would you not take to draw that which gives you a right to Paradise, and to avoid the other, by which you would win a place in Hell! O God! How the hands of those unhappy men tremble who are condemned to throw the dice on which their life or death depends! How great will be your terror at the approach of that last hour, when you will say: On this moment depends my life or death for eternity; on this depends whether I shall be forever happy or forever in despair!
St. Bernardine of Sienna relates, that at death a certain prince exclaimed, with trembling and dismay: Behold, I have so many kingdoms and palaces in this world; but if I die this night I know not what apartment shall be assigned to me.
Brother, if you believe that you must die, that there is an eternity, that you can die only once, and that if you then err, your error will be forever irreparable, why do you not resolve to begin at this moment to do all in your power to secure a good death? St. Andrew Avellino said with trembling: "Who knows what will be my lot in the next life? Shall I be saved or damned?"
The thought of the uncertainty of being damned or saved filled St. Louis Bertrand with so much terror, that he could not sleep during the night, because of this thought which would suggest to him: "Who knows whether thou wilt be lost?" And will not you, who have committed so many sins, tremble?
Oh! Hasten to apply a remedy in time. Resolve to give yourself sincerely to God, and begin from this moment a life which, at the hour of death, will be to you a source, not of affliction, but of consolation. Give yourself to prayer, frequent the sacraments, avoid all dangerous occasions, and, if necessary, leave the world, secure to yourself eternal salvation, and be persuaded that to secure eternal life no precaution can be too great.
RELATED: Mortal sin: The what, why and how to heal
SWINE FLU INFO FOR FEARLESS CATHOLICS
FACTBOX: Top Swine Flu Myths Debunked
COMMON SENSE PREPARATION: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Content/HHS/phs/communicabledisease/Immunization/panflu/PDFs/Stay-At-Home_Toolkit.pdf
IN THE NEWS: Mexicans put faith in Christ as flu fears grow
WILL WALL STREET EVER LEARN?: Don't fear the swine flu . . . trade it
Saint Bernardo Tolomei, Pray for Us!
Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
Blessings+READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/april.asp?version=63&startmmdd=0101
April 30, 2009THE TRIB TIMES WILL RETURN NEXT WEEK, GOD WILLING (James 4:15).
(Rom 8:17-18) And if sons, heirs also; heirs indeed of God and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him. For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us.
EXCERPT BLOGGER: Daily Mass... ready to die
I have become almost completely fearless! In this day and age where calamity can befall us at any point in time, I move around without a care in the world. And if Jesus Christ himself can subject himself to a violent and painful death, what right do I have to shy away from such an end? Granted, one does not pray for a brutal death, but my Christian faith compels me to accept the possibility calmly, even if I don't yearn such a death.
EXCERPT: The Shortness of Life by St. Alphonsus de Liguori
Third Point - Importance of the Last Moment
(Job 14, 1) "Man born of a woman, living a short time … who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed."
How great, then, the folly of those who, for the miserable and transitory delights of this short life, exposes themselves to the danger of an unhappy eternity. Oh! How important is that last moment, that last gasp, the last closing of the scene! On it depends an eternity either of all delights or of all torments - a life of eternal happiness or of everlasting woe.
Let us consider that Jesus Christ submitted to a cruel and ignominious death in order to obtain for us the grace of a good death. That we may at that last moment die in the grace of God, is the reason why He gives us so many calls, so many lights, and admonishes us by so many threats.
Antisthenes, though a pagan, being asked what was the greatest blessing which man could receive in this world, answered, "A good death."
And what will a Catholic say, who knows by faith, that at the moment of death eternity begins, and that at that moment he lays hold of one of two wheels, which draws with it either eternal joy or everlasting torments? If there were two tickets in a lottery, on one of which might be written Hell and on the other Heaven, what care would you not take to draw that which gives you a right to Paradise, and to avoid the other, by which you would win a place in Hell! O God! How the hands of those unhappy men tremble who are condemned to throw the dice on which their life or death depends! How great will be your terror at the approach of that last hour, when you will say: On this moment depends my life or death for eternity; on this depends whether I shall be forever happy or forever in despair!
St. Bernardine of Sienna relates, that at death a certain prince exclaimed, with trembling and dismay: Behold, I have so many kingdoms and palaces in this world; but if I die this night I know not what apartment shall be assigned to me.
Brother, if you believe that you must die, that there is an eternity, that you can die only once, and that if you then err, your error will be forever irreparable, why do you not resolve to begin at this moment to do all in your power to secure a good death? St. Andrew Avellino said with trembling: "Who knows what will be my lot in the next life? Shall I be saved or damned?"
The thought of the uncertainty of being damned or saved filled St. Louis Bertrand with so much terror, that he could not sleep during the night, because of this thought which would suggest to him: "Who knows whether thou wilt be lost?" And will not you, who have committed so many sins, tremble?
Oh! Hasten to apply a remedy in time. Resolve to give yourself sincerely to God, and begin from this moment a life which, at the hour of death, will be to you a source, not of affliction, but of consolation. Give yourself to prayer, frequent the sacraments, avoid all dangerous occasions, and, if necessary, leave the world, secure to yourself eternal salvation, and be persuaded that to secure eternal life no precaution can be too great.
RELATED: Mortal sin: The what, why and how to heal
SWINE FLU INFO FOR FEARLESS CATHOLICS
FACTBOX: Top Swine Flu Myths Debunked
COMMON SENSE PREPARATION: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/Content/HHS/phs/communicabledisease/Immunization/panflu/PDFs/Stay-At-Home_Toolkit.pdf
IN THE NEWS: Mexicans put faith in Christ as flu fears grow
WILL WALL STREET EVER LEARN?: Don't fear the swine flu . . . trade it
Saint Bernardo Tolomei, Pray for Us!
Ladder of Divine Ascent excerpt: Step 15- "On incorruptible purity and chastity"
37. The mother of sweetness is earth and dew, and the mother of purity is stillness with obedience. Dispassion of the body attained by stillness has often been shaken on coming into contact with the world; but that obtained by obedience is genuine and inviolable everywhere.Prayer request? Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com
This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.
Deacon John
Sent from Mt Dora, Florida, United States
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