Today is my birthday. And I’m going to discuss funerals. I’ve been to a number of funerals, as we all. One thing I’ve noticed, and this has been commented upon quite often in the Catholic blogosphere and social media: the deceased are canonized. It’s understandable, but it its also uncharitable. If you are attending a …
In her diary, ‘Divine Mercy in my Soul,” St. Maria Faustina Kowalska writes of when she was given the gift of appearing before the judgement seat of God: 36 Once I was summoned to the judgment [seat] of God. I stood alone before the Lord. Jesusappeared such as we know Him during His Passion. After …
This morning’s Office of Readings for Saturday, 34th Week on Ordinary Time has a sermon by Saint Augustine which I take the following excerpt: “Let us sing Alleluia to God, who is good and frees us from evil”: “O! what a happy alleluia there, how carefree, how safe from all opposition, where nobody will be …
An excerpt from “The treatise of St Cyprian on mortality, ‘Let us shut out the fear of death and meditate upon immortality’” contained in the Office of Readings for Friday, 34th Week of Ordinary Time: has encouraging words for those who long for Heaven: “We ought never to forget, beloved, that we have renounced the …
In the Office of Readings for Tuesday, 34th Week of Ordinary Time we read an excerpt from “A treatise of St Augustine on St John’s gospel – You will come to the spring and see light itself”: “When, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ comes and, as the apostle Paul says, brings to light things hidden …
Quite often you read or hear about how we Christians are supposed to keep our “eyes on the prize.” In other words, be mindful of death. (In Latin, that is “Memento Mori.”) We should try to keep our minds on our ultimate goal, Heaven, and remember that we will be judged upon our death. Doing …
Several years ago when my wife and I went to a Daily Mass we were delayed due to a funeral being said before the regular Mass. We had to wait for a while in the Adoration Chapel adjacent to the Church proper, when the final hymn was sung (“On Eagle’s Wings”) we moved over to …
What happens when you die? A lot of hopeful people assume that you go straight to Heaven. Hell is a fantasy to scare people into being good, and that God would never send anyone to Hell (This is true, God would never send anyone to Hell. But people send themselves to Hell by the choices …
Our true home is Heaven. Our life on Earth is an exile, the time we spend here prepares us for our arrival home. If we misuse this time to an extreme (consistently rejecting the will of God and working against His Will) we will banish ourselves and be eternally damned. Damnation is the natural consequence …
Note: this was originally posted in different form long ago here at Sober Catholic: On October 13, 1917 the final Marian Apparition at Fatima, Portugal took place. I know the anniversary was a few weeks ago, but I decided to post this today, the Feast of All Hallow’s Eve (a/k/a “Halloween”). I’ll explain at the end. …