I am thinking and praying for those who will be received into the Church tonight at the Easter Vigil. So welcome home! God is great!
It also marks my own anniversary as a Catholic as I also came into the Church on April 3rd, 1999 at the Easter Vigil.
I count myself lucky that by the time I was received into the Church I had read enough Church history to not have been expecting an idealized Church. That the Church was made up by fellow sinners like me. I expected to be frustrated by the hierarchy, fellow Catholics, and my own sinfulness. That we are all on a journey and that we must constantly fix our focus on Christ and our final end. That our consciences can be like a GPS to always say “redirecting” as we once again go off track.
If you don’t have the time to go in-depth into Church history, it is contained in this summary.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” – Dickens’ ”A Tale of Two Cities”
Despite this truth—in all conditions, God has raised up saints. That it is in the here and now that we are called to holiness.
I am so grateful to God for how far he has brought me and also thankful that he will not just leave me in my current miserable state, but desires to bring me closer to him.
In Saint John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter “Salvifici Doloris” he writes:
“Christ did not conceal from his listeners the need for suffering. He said very clearly: ”If any man would come after me… let him take up his cross daily ’’, and before his disciples he placed demands of a moral nature that can only be fulfilled on condition that they should “deny themselves”. The way that leads to the Kingdom of heaven is “hard and narrow”, and Christ contrasts it to the “wide and easy” way that “leads to destruction”. On various occasions Christ also said that his disciples and confessors would meet with much persecution, something which—as we know—happened not only in the first centuries of the Church’s life under the Roman Empire, but also came true in various historical periods and in other parts of the world, and still does even in our own time.”
It might seem like a bit of a buzzkill to talk about welcoming people to the Church and saying that her disciples will suffer. This quote is from his chapter on the “The Gospel of Suffering”, literally the “Good News of Suffering.” It is indeed good news that our sufferings have meaning and can be salvific in cooperation with Christ.
1 comment
Hey Jeff!
It’s been awhile since I last wrote here but truth be known sinner vic has been keeping KIND of a close look on you and as you probably know from some of my past comments and I must thank you for not having deleted me yet… Long story short, why don’t we ask sinner vic what he thinks about this post… Take it away sinner vic!
VICTOR! VICTOR! “I” mean Victor they should be taking YA away akin, “I” mean again if simply for trying to miss lead, “I” mean YA’ve got to stop praying and forget bout that beer and that Paul, “I” mean that perk that YA just took in, “I” mean gave US… Victor, Victor, Victor! ALL of US (USUAL SINNERS), “I” mean All of us Godly cells, MO! NO! NO! “I” MEANT TO SAY! YA’VE GOT TO STOP MAKING US GODS YELL… “i” mean, long story short! YA can go crazy on YAR OWED Time…
LONGER STORY SHORTER sinner vic, “I” mean Victor! YA can tell Jeff that no amount of born again Christians entering the Church will be able to save Hem, Hem and Hem, “I” mean look her, “I” mean listen here Victor! ADAM! “I” mean MAN TRIED AND HE FAILED… “I” mean Adam tried and He failed… “i” meant to say… Nowadays as far as most Cat licks, “I” mean Catholics are concerned… over two thousand years ago Adam was no where near Jesus The Christ while GOD walked HIS earth… Come to think BOUT IT Victor, YA still don’t truly be live, “I” mean believe “IT” YAR self butt! “I” mean but me, myself and “I” believe “IT” cause we were there… MIne! “I” mean Mind YA! In Spirit we saw what took place and YA can tell Jimmy and HEY! We gods didn’t even need to use one of our unpaid space ships…
YA Almost got US Victor cause “I” was just about to tell YA that at The Last Supper who do YA think “IT WAS” who said out loud in so many words to God’s Apostles that one Dam, “I” mean that Judas was about to betray Christ and Adam went on to say in so many other words that “IT WAS” the one who was about to dip his bread in his bold, “I” mean in His bowl but Jesus knew that Adam wanted to take the easy way out so Christ told Judas to go and do what he was told… And who do YA think “IT WAS” who cried out in a loud voice while the nails went through God’s skin saying in so many words, MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YA FORSAKEN ME?
WAY THAT GO VICTOR! HEY! YA GOT THAT MUCH OUT OF US butt, “I” mean but YA won’t get anymore out of these godly cells of me, me and me… to tell YA the truth… none of US really blame MAN, “i” mean Adam and “I” must say that YA really can’t blame MAN! “I” meant to say Adam cause he simply wanted what any other human being would have asked for and………………………………………………………………………………and………………………………………………………………..and…
Victor! Victor! Victor! “I” was simply going to say “Thanks for The Beer and and……………………………………………………………………………….and……………………………………………………………….and…
END! END! END YA SAY sinner vic? DON’T BE LIKE THAT! BE NICE NOW!
Go Figure Humanity!?
GOD BLESS ALL HIS new comers…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUaB874DTvU&t=163s
Peace
A-man… “I” meant Amen