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.
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 | | |
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?
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