What is the most off-putting aspect in a person?

 

Arrogance triggers people a lot.

What does arrogance say?

It says: "I am better than you, I know best, you can not teach me anything 

because I already know everything there is to know, I do not need you,

I am totally self sufficient, I am up on a horse's back looking down at you".

Arrogance is the twin-sister of Pride.

 

What does Pride say?

It says: "I am blown up with my own importance and/or achievements.

I am always right, and I need people around me to validate me, and if they 

do not, I become insulted and judge them.  I need to maintain and reinforce

the ideas that I have about myself, through activities that strengthens my ego.

I do not admit when I'm wrong, and I can neither apologise nor forgive."

Many people think this is only a healthy confidence in one self, but it is not

the same as self-confidence and it is not good for the soul, because it block's 

out the presence of God, which can only emerge in a humble person. 

And the truly humble person does not look for 

recognition or applause ( worldly glory), which creates a barrier in the 

internal space of our soul, where God dwells, so the divine qualities that 

are inherent, dormant, in all of us, can not develop and flourish.

 

It is not for nothing that Pride is regarded as the worst of all the deadly sins.

They are called deadly, because they kill the soul's capacities for the divine.

 

God is objective truth, and we should always live in His frame of reference.

If we do something really well, we are happy, especially if we have put 

a lot of work and effort into it, and we want to let others know about it, we 

like to boast a little. This is natural, but the Catholic Faith is supernatural, so

we should not do it. We should always remember that it was God that gave 

us our qualities and talents in the first place, so the glory goes to Him.

 

The Magnificat:

 

 "And Mary said:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  

for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One

has done great things for me—holy is his name.  

His mercy extends to those who fear him, 

from generation to generation. He has performed mighty deeds with 

his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.  

He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the 

humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich 

away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 

to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

 

Jesus's forerunner John the Baptist, who paved the way for Him,

says in John 1:27:

"He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not 

worthy to untie" 

and in

John 3:30:  "He must increase; I must decrease".

 

Being "small" is at the core of the spiritual teaching of Saint Thérèse 

of Lisieux, she says that in order to grow spiritually, (in holiness), 

we need to shrink in the eyes of the world.

 

This is in direct contradiction to the ways of the world, and it presents a 

great challenge for most people for this very reason.

 

Jesus Himself told us that in order to enter the kingdom of God we have 

to become like little children: 

"and said, “Verily I say unto you, unless ye be converted and become as 

little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

 Matthew 18:3

 

Where does the evil come from?

 

Father and Martyr Maximilian Kolbe

 

I can understand the argument of non-believers 

saying that if God existed He would not 

allow so much evil and suffering in the world. 

The fact that it is like that, is to their mind, evidence

that there is no God.

Because a God all powerful and all loving,

would have the capacity to put a stop to it all, 

and since He doesn't, well, He must not exist, and 

it is just a story that naive people cling to.

 

Their idea of God is maybe the old bearded man in the 

sky, or a power totally separated from us, something that

we believe only starts after death, like is the case with 

Islam.

 

But in Christianity it starts here and now, it has to start

now, here, in time, in this low dimension of earth.

 

The evil, madness and corruption we see today, has 

been present in the world since the fall of Man from 

grace.

 

Evil is everywhere, it is around us, and it is inside 

us. 

We have a name for it; it is called sin. Out of our 

sinful nature comes sinful and evil acts, it is us, we 

humans, who create every evil in this world, it comes 

from inside us and manifests outwards, in the world.

 

But fortunately God is also everywhere, and also  

within us, so the battlefield is first and foremost 

an internal one, that is where we have to start in 

order to master ourselves, and stop being our own 

victims.

God did not create the human species full of faults 

and weaknesses, He created us perfect; in His own 

image and resemblance, and Man lived connected 

to, and according to, His Creator.

  

In all the different cultures of the world, there are 

proof that this golden age existed, in Christianity 

we refer to it as the Garden of Eden.

 

But Man broke away from the original state of grace 

that he was born with, and sin and evil infected his 

nature with all it's terrible consequences.

 

He lost consciousness, he fell spiritually asleep, he 

found himself cut off from the Source of Life, from 

Divine Light.

 

But God did not give up on us, He sent His Only Son 

Jesus Christ, so that we could be reconciled again, and 

Jesus taught us and showed us how, what we have to do. 

Number one: we have to Believe, we have to have Faith.

But it is not enough to believe, because we are not 

protestants, we have to work, we have to do. 

We have to love others, help others, even to go as far as 

being willing to give up our lives for others, and we have 

to examine our conscience every day, see ourselves as 

we really are, without illusions, and we have to confess 

what we find inside ourselves that we know is bad, to a 

priest, in Confession. 

It is uncomfortable, but real progress is 

based on hard work, there are no easy ways.

 

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and 

broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter 

through it."

Matthew 7:13

 

Then Jesus told us, and showed us, that we have to pick up 

our cross and carry it, if we want to follow Him.

  

Accepting whatever hardship that comes our way, not 

revolting against it, not resisting it, not running away 

from it. Be fully present with it.

It is a lot harder than it might sound like, but this is what 

is asked of us.

Our human nature will always be looking for a quick fix 

or instant rewards for any sacrifice, but the reward here 

is of a supernatural nature; divine life.

 

Jesus Christ was fully GOD and fully HUMAN.

God became Man so that Man could become 

(more like) God; Holy.

Because the spark of the divine is in each one of us.

But those who deny this, those who believe that this 

earthly life is all there is, who mocks and hates Jesus, 

who deny the existence of God, are still killing Him, 

today, as they did 2023 years ago. 

 

"I and the Father are one.”

Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone 

him, but Jesus said to them,  “I have shown you many 

good works from the Father. For which of these do you 

stone me?”

 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they 

replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, 

claim to be God.”

 John 10:30-33

 

 

"Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. 

No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had 

known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now 

on you do know Him and have seen Him.” Philip said to 

Him,“Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for 

us.”

Jesus replied, “Philip, I have been with you all this time, 

and still you do not know Me? Anyone who has seen Me 

has seen the Father. 

How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe 

that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words 

I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the 

Father dwelling in Me, performing His works. Believe Me 

that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me—or at least 

believe on account of the works themselves."

John 14: 6-14

 

Before Our Lord ascended into Heaven, He promised his 

apostles that He would send them The Holy Spirit which 

would give them power, we celebrate that at Whitsun. A 

baptized person who receives the Sacrament of  

Confirmation, receives the Holy Spirit.

 

Our God is Three Persons of the One and same Substance, 

all three The One and same God, equal in power; 

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit; 

The Blessed Trinity.

 

"Is there any likeness to the Blessed Trinity in your soul?

"There is this likeness to Blessed Trinity in my soul: that 

as in One God there are 3 Persons, so in my one soul there 

are 3 powers."  

Article 29, the Penny Catechism

 

"Which are the 3 powers of your soul? 

The 3 powers of my soul are my memory, my understanding 

and my will." 

Article 30, the Penny Catechism.

 

Us Catholics have the complete family unit, corresponding to

 

the earthly model.

 

We have God the Father; the Ultimate Power and Authority,

We have a Mother of our souls; The Virgin Mary, being the 

Mother of Jesus, is The Mother of God, she is called 

"the new Eve".

Eve made humanity fall, Mary helps to lift us up, by 

going through her, she intercedes and pleads on our behalf.

We have Jesus, our Brother. 

Jesus is called "the new Adam",  He has the power to restore 

us to full Life, if we believe and trust in Him.

The Catholic Church has produced at least 10.000 Saints and 

well over 14 000 martyrs that we know of; men, women and  

children too, who preferred to be killed, in the most horrendous 

ways, rather than to renounce Christ. 

 

Margaret Clitherow, for example, born Margaret Middleton in 

1556, in York, England, was a convert to the Roman Catholic 

Faith.

From a respected family, she married a wealthy man. 

Completely without fear, she helped to hide Catholic priests 

during the period when Catholicism was illegal, and she was 

put to death while pregnant with her 4th child, by being 

crushed to death. 

They attached a sharp stone on her back, they laid her on 

the ground, they put the door of her own house on top of her, 

they loaded it with heavy rocks, thus pressing and crushing 

her body into the sharp stone under her back.

 

There is Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who was sent 

to Auschwitz in 1941 for having published anti nazi material. 

When a prisoner escaped from the camp, in order to deter 

other escape attempts, the Chief in command decided to pick 

out 10 prisoners and put them in an underground bunker

to be starved to death.

When one of the men who was picked, cried out: "my wife, 

my children!!" Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and 

volunteered to take his place. 

After 2 weeks without food and water, 6 of them were dead, 

but Kolbe and the three others were still alive, they were then 

given lethal injections, because the guards wanted the bunker 

emptied.

 So what IS that, which gives a human being such strength?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Culture

 

We have this notion that a culture is always something good and 

justifies everything, it is morally accepted.

We travel to other countries, experience other cultures,

different to ours, and we are predisposed to accept it, whatever it 

is, because it is their culture,  and if we say anything negative about 

it, we are deemed judgemental and narrow minded.

But what if it is unhealthy and damaging, and  in opposition 

to the Catholic Faith?

 

In France, food; meals; eating; is a cultural central part of great 

importance to the people. 

As we know, eating is a necessary....., but in France, 

it is on another level. 

One come together, one socialize, one have meetings, almost 

always, around food. 

It seems to me that nothing can take place unless there is food 

on the table.

Even in the family, dinners are more than just satisfying hunger, 

and nourish the body, they are elevated to mini parties; events. 

The preparation of meals are often laborious, and the food 

produce must be of high quality, and taste good.

This focus often leads to gluttony; a deadly sin for a catholic. 

 

Then in Ireland, the culture of drink; "having a pint" is totally 

socially accepted as the norm. Although "having a pint" must 

not be taken in the literal sense as it normally means having 

more than one. Business meetings and important decisions are 

taken as alcohol is being consumed, and professional people 

returns to work after an alcohol consuming lunch.

 

We hear of people visiting pagan tribes, where killing and all 

sorts of barbarism is the norm; their culture.

 

Maybe we need to look a bit closer at the word culture, as

it obviously does not necessarily imply being cultured. 

In former Catholic strong-hold countries like France; the oldest 

daughter of the Church, the general culture demands, even in the 

Catholic Church; (Novus Ordo parishes), 

tolerance of foreign cultures and religions within their own country.

 

But it is often a twisted and simplistic understanding of tolerance, 

one that is self-destructive. Because tolerating means putting up 

with, accepting the differences, showing civil respect. 

It does not mean, as some seems to think, that in order to be tolerant 

we have to be like them. 

Look at the "work" of ecumenism; the work of unifying with the 

other Christian churches, which has at this stage extended to other 

religions as well. 

What has happened to those that has invested themselves in this 

work, is a loss of the true doctrine of the Catholic Church, 

all in order "to approach the other and to be nice". 

The Catholic doctrine has almost been totally erased in many 

Novus Ordo  parishes, what remains is vague, loose, imprecise, 

and there are even Catholic religious Sisters who attend protestant 

worship gatherings regularly....

The very concept of ecumenism is illogical, because the Catholic 

Church is not a political organization, or a worldly association. 

The only way there can be unity is when those that protested and 

left, who broke away from the tree, comes back and reunites, and 

this actually happens a lot on individual basis. 

But now it has gone as far as they are trying to lead Catholics to 

believe that muslims have the same God as us, that we should 

worship with them.

But, with the unlimited influx of immigrants from muslim countries, 

that we must accept in the name of tolerance, 

the French culture itself will unfortunately disappear.  

Is that not intolerant towards all the French who would like to 

conserve their culture?

 

There is also a cultural (mis)understanding of clericalism; when people 

say that someone is anti-clerical it means to them anti catholic church, 

anti catholic faith, but in reality being clerical is not a good thing, 

because it implies a faith in the person of the cleric, rather that in the 

Person of Jesus; true God and true Man, who, 

unlike the other person, is without fault, and can be trusted.

 

Apart from when he is carrying out the Sacraments, during which 

he has the full authority from God, and acts in the role of Jesus, 

His Only Son, the task of the priest is to transmit the truth about 

God and man, while he himself remains a sinner, a mere human. 

When the scandals committed by clergy was revealed, it also revealed

the huge numbers of Catholics who believed in the clergy rather than

in Christ, and so they left the Church. 

They threw the baby out with the bath water.

 

This lack of distinction and differentiation is also the case in the 

culture of confusing sin with the sinner. 

Those who think that Christians are judgemental people, are mixing 

up the two. 

We have to call out a sin, but we never  judge, 

as in condemn, the person who commits the sin. 

How can we? 

When we know full well our own weaknesses and sins? 

It would be impossible.

 

"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto 

them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

John 8:7  

There is a culture and history of heresies within the Church too, it has, 

contrary to popular belief, always existed in more or less degree. 

These false beliefs serve as occasions for the Church Magisterium

to clarify, define, precisely what the correct teaching is, 

and to distinguish nuances.

All Catholics are called to evangelize.

 

Definition of a Catholic : 

1. A person that has been baptized in the Church

2. A person that has the Faith in what the Church teaches

3. A person that recognizes the authority of the Church to 

teach the Faith. 

 

In evangelizing we simply pass on the information, we do not try to 

convince (we are not car sales men).

With our own free (God-given) will, we are free to do what we will, 

free to receive or to reject. 

This free will will not be taken away, not for as long as we live in 

this dimension.