Category: ORIGINAL SIN

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, ORIGINAL SIN, QUOTES "CARPE DIEM" - Seize the Day, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on HOPE, QUOTES on JOY, QUOTES on SACRIFICE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on THE WORLD, QUOTES on VIRTUE

Thought for the Day – 4 September – Christian Optimism

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Thought for the Day – 4 September – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Christian Optimism

“There are two kinds of optimism.
The first is the optimism of worldlings who expect nothing but pleasure from life.
They run away from anything which smacks of sacrifice or self-control and, as a result, virtue is completely outside their grasp.
Their motto is the “carpe diem” of the poet Horace (Carmina 1:11).
Living for the day in this fashion, they seem to uphold the philosophy which the Book of Wisdom puts on the lips of the foolish: “Come, let us enjoy the good things that are real and use the freshness of creation avidly. Let us have our fill of costly wine and perfumes and let no springtime blossom pass us by. Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds ere they wither; let no meadow be free from our wantonness” (Wisdom 2:6-8).

This kind of optimism is an inversion of true human values.
It is the result of the domination which man’s lower instincts can sometimes acquire over his reason.
But because our natural longing for what is good can never be completely stifled, this pleasant epicurean approach, always leaves in its wake, a sense of disillusionment.

Sooner or later, this optimism is converted into pessimism.
Human pleasure must always turn tp sorrow and at this stage, unless some miracle of divine grace intervenes, the spirit rebels and falls prey to despair.
It is true, that most of us will have avoided the worst excesses of the epicurean outlook but, we may have developed a distortedly comfortable and selfish approach to life.
If this is so, we should remember that our lives are in conflict with Christian principles.

“Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies,” Jesus said, “it remains alone. But, if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” (Cf Jn 12:44).
“Unless you repent, you will all perish” (Lk13:5).
“The kingdom of heaven has been enduring violent assault and the violent have been seizing it by force” (Mt 11:12).
“If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Lk 9:23),

Let us consider whether our lives are in accordance with this teaching.
Christian optimism abhors the malice of sin, lightens our sufferings and moderates our pleasures.
It helps us to see God’s image in all creatures, gives us joy in this life and hope in the hour of death.
In this sense, let us be optimists!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

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Our Morning Offering – 31 August – Heal Us Lord God

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Our Morning Offering – 31 August – “Month of the Immaculate Heart”

Heal Us Lord God
By St Albert of Trapani O.Carm. (c 1240-1307)

O my God,
You have created the human race
by Your wonderful power.
It is an act of Your clemency that has called us
to share Your glory and eternal life.
When the first sin condemned us to suffer death,
out of Your goodness,
You wished to redeem us
through the Blood of Your Son,
To unite us to Yourself
through our faith
and Your great mercy.
You have brought us back
from the shame of our sin,
You have veiled our dishonour
in the brightness of Your glory.
Look now and see that what You have created,
giving it subtle limbs and joints
and made beautiful through its immortal soul,
is now subject to the attack of Satan.
Be pleased Lord
to reconstitute Your work and heal it.
May Your power be glorified
and may the malice of the enemy be stunned.
Amen

Posted in "Follow Me", ARMOUR of CHRIST, CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST the WORD and WISDOM, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ORIGINAL SIN, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on THE LIGHT of CHRIST, The HOLY EUCHARIST, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – 26 July – The Leaven of Life

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Quote/s of the Day – 26 July – “Month of the Most Precious Blood” – Readings: Exodus 32: 15-24, 30-34; Psalms 106: 19-20, 21-22, 23; Matthew 13: 31-3

The Leaven of Life

“Just as the Father who has life sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so the man who feeds on me
will have life because of me.”

John 6:57

“An inborn imperfection in our human dough
was removed, thanks to the leaven
that comes from His perfect body…
To complete what was missing,
in these human bodies of ours,
He gave something of Himself,
just as He gives Himself to be eaten …”

St Ephrem (306-373)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“Those who have been tricked into taking poison,
offset its harmful effect, by another drug.
The remedy, moreover,
just like the poison,
has to enter the system,
so that its remedial effect
may thereby spread through the whole body.
Similarly, having tasted the poison,
that is the fruit,
that dissolved our nature,
we were necessarily, in need of something, to reunite it.
Such a remedy had to enter into us,
so that it might, by its counteraction,
undo the harm the body had already encountered from the poison.
And what is this remedy?
Nothing else than the body
that proved itself superior to death
and became the source of our life.”

St Greogory of Nyssa (c 335– c 395)
Father of the Church

“The doctrine of Christ
is fittingly called leaven
because, the bread is Christ.”

St Anbrose (340-397)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“ … For He did not only give His Body but,
just as our flesh, drawn from the earth,
had lost its life and died through sin,
so He has introduced, so to speak,
another substance like a leaven,
this is His Body, the Body
sharing the same nature as ours but free from sin
and abounding in life.
And He has given it to all of us,
so that, fed with the banquet of this new food …
we might enter immortal life.”

St John Chrysostom (347-407)
Father ad Doctor of the Church

“Dust, so to speak,
had forcibly entered humanity’s eye;
earth had entered it,
had injured the eye
and it could not see the light.
… That physician made a salve for you.
And because He came, in such a way,
that by His flesh,
He might extinguish the faults of the flesh
and by His death He might kill death … ”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of the Church

Posted in CHRIST the PHYSICIAN, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, DOCTORS of the Church, FATHERS of the Church, ORIGINAL SIN, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on THE LIGHT of CHRIST, The HOLY EUCHARIST, The WORD

Quote/s of the Day – – 12 February – The Divine Remedy

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Quote/s of the Day – – 12 February – Readings: Genesis 3:1-8, Psalms 32:1-2, 5, 6,7, Mark 7:31-37

The Divine Remedy

But the serpent said to the woman,
“You will not surely die.
For God knows, that when you eat of it,
your eyes will be opened
and you will be like God …”

Genesis 3:4-5

“Those who have been tricked into taking poison,
offset its harmful effect, by another drug.
The remedy, moreover,
just like the poison,
has to enter the system,
so that its remedial effect
may thereby spread through the whole body.
Similarly, having tasted the poison,
that is the fruit,
that dissolved our nature,
we were necessarily, in need of something, to reunite it.
Such a remedy had to enter into us,
so that it might, by its counteraction,
undo the harm the body had already encountered from the poison.
And what is this remedy?
Nothing else than the body
that proved itself superior to death
and became the source of our life.”

St Greogory of Nyssa (c 335– c 395)
Father of the Church

“An inborn imperfection in our human dough
was removed, thanks to the leaven
that comes from His perfect body…
To complete what was missing,
in these human bodies of ours,
He gave something of Himself,
just as He gives Himself to be eaten …”

St Ephrem (306-373)
Father and Doctor of the Church

“This Body He gave to us to keep and eat,
as a mark of His intense love’.”

St John Chrysostom (347 to 407)
Father & Doctor of the Church

“Dust, so to speak,
had forcibly entered humanity’s eye;
earth had entered it,
had injured the eye
and it could not see the light.
… That physician made a salve for you.
And because He came, in such a way,
that by His flesh,
He might extinguish the faults of the flesh
and by His death He might kill death … ”

St Augustine (354-430)
Father and Doctor of the Church

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Thought for the Day – 10 January – The Sacrament of Baptism

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Thought for the Day – 10 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Sacrament of Baptism

“We are drawn towards Heaven by a golden chain of grace.
The most precious links in this chain of benefits are the Sacraments, which Jesus Christ instituted as sensible and efficacious signs of divine grace.
When we are born, tainted by original sin and, therefore, deprived of supernatural grace, the Church purifies and regenerates us through the Sacrament of Baptism.
We then become the adopted sons of God and heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is helpful for us to repeat the Baptismal vows which were once made by others, in our name.
Let us imagine that we are at our own Baptism, solemnly promising, through our Godparents, to renounce the devil, the world and the flesh, in order to follow Jesus.

Can we claim to have kept our promises?
Or are we forced to admit that we have not always lived up to our obligations?

Let us renew our promises today and let us ask Jesus, for the grace to be faithful to them, till the end of our lives.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in ADVENT REFLECTIONS, DECEMBER - The DIVINE INFANCY and The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, DOGMA, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MARIAN QUOTES, MARIAN REFLECTIONS, MARIAN TITLES, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, MOTHER of GOD, ORIGINAL SIN, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on SIN, The IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, The WILL of GOD

Thought for the Day – 8 December – THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

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Thought for the Day – 8 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

“Let us read the first chapter of St Luke’s Gospel in order to try and understand, as far as possible, the Immaculate Conception and the sublime holiness of Mary.
“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David and the virgin’s name was Mary. And when the angel had come to her, he said, ‘Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women’” (Lk 1:26-28).
The Blessed Virgin was troubled when she heard these words but the Angel reassured her.
He told her that she had found favour with God and added, that she would become the Mother of God, for the Word would become flesh in her womb through the power of the Holy Spirit, in such a manner that in her nature, the privileges of virginity and of the divine motherhood, would be miraculously united.
Mary then gave her assent to the will of God and, her ‘fiat’ placed her on a pedestal, high above all the generations of humanity and all the choirs of the angelic kingdom.

It is on this passage of the Gospel, that the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, chiefly depends.
She was full of grace and the supremely beloved of God.
How then could she have been subject to the rule of sin which we inherited from Adam?
If her soul had been stained with sin at the first moment of her conception, she would not have enjoyed the special favour of God and the plenitude of grace.
She was, moreover, predestined to become the Mother of God.
Was it possible that the divine Word, Who was to become her Son, could have permitted her soul to have been sullied, even for a single instant, by sin, which deprives us of grace and makes us enemies of God?
It was on good grounds, therefore, that the Church defined, that from the first moment of her conception, Mary was free from all taint of sin, by a singular privilege conferred on her by God and through the merits of her divine Son, Jesus Christ.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, OCTOBER - The HOLY ROSARY, ORIGINAL SIN, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on DIVINE PROVIDENCE, QUOTES on PRAYER, QUOTES on TRUST in GOD, QUOTES on WORK/LABOUR, QUOTES on WORRY/ANXIETY, The HOLY ROSARY/ROSARY CRUSADE, The LORD'S PRAYER

Thought for the Day – 21 October – Our Daily Bread

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Thought for the Day – 21 October – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

“Month of the Holy Rosary”
Our Daily Bread

“In the Pater Noster, Jesus instructs us to ask for our daily bread – that is, for sufficient bread for today, not for tomorrow.
In this way, He warns us not to be too preoccupied with the future but, to trust in Providence and accept, from God’s hands, from day to day, whatever is necessary for us.
God is our Father and loves us as His children.
Knowing this, why should we worry about the future?

We are in the hands of God, Who looks after all His children.
Let us entrust ourselves completely to His care.
This does not mean that we should indulge in any kind of fatalism, expecting everything from God and doing nothing ourselves.
We cannot and should not expect unnecessary miracles.
We are under an obligation to work because work, is the result of and the punishment for, sin.
It enable us to co-operate with God in His work of creation and has ben ennobled and sanctified by Jesus Christ, Who chose to be “the carpenter’s son,” (Mt 13:55) and a carpenter Himself (Cf Mk 6:3).
We should work, therefore but, should not worry.

When we have done everything of which we ae capable, we should leave the rest to Divine Providence.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, FATHERS of the Church, MARTYRS, ONE Minute REFLECTION, ORIGINAL SIN, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on SCANDAL, QUOTES on SIN, SAINT of the DAY, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 9 October – ‘Neglecting grace’ – Luke 11:15-26

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One Minute Reflection – 9 October – Friday of the Twenty Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, Readings: Galatians 3:7-14, Psalms 111:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, Luke 11: 15-26 and the Memorial of Saint Denis of Paris (Died c 258) and Companions, the First Bishop of Paris, Martyr

“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone, it roams through arid regions searching for rest but, finding none, it says, ‘I shall return to my home from which I came…” – Luke 11:24

REFLECTION – “The unclean spirit dwelt in us before we believed, before we came to Christ when our soul was still committing fornication against God and was with it’s lovers, the demons.
Afterward it said, “I will return to my first husband” and came to Christ, who “created” it from the beginning “in his image.”
Necessarily, the adulterous spirit gave up his place when it saw the legitimate husband.
Christ received us and our house has been “cleansed” from it’s former sins. It has been “furnished” with the furnishing of the sacraments of the faithful that they who have been initiated know.
This house does not deserve to have Christ as it’s resident immediately, unless it’s life and conduct are so holy, pure and incapable of being defiled, that it deserves to be the “temple of God.”
It should not still be a house but a temple in which God dwells.
If it neglects the grace that was received and entangles itself in secular affairs, immediately, that unclean spirit returns and claims the vacant house for itself.
“It brings with it seven other spirits more wicked,” so that it may not be able again to be expelled “and the last state of that kind of person is worse than the first.”
It would be more tolerable, that the soul would not have returned to it’s first husband once it became a prostitute, than having gone back after confession, to her husband, to have become an adulteress again.
There is no “fellowship,” as the apostle says, “between the temple of God and idols,” no “agreement between Christ and Belial.” – Origen of Alexandria (c 185-253) (Homilies on Exodus, 8)

PRAYER – Lord God, You sent St Denis and his companions to proclaim Your glory to the nations and gave them the fortitude to die for Your sake. Help us, by their exmple, to meet with a like indifference, the triumphs and afflictions this world has to offer. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, one God with You and the Holy Spirit, now and for all eternity, amen.

Posted in MARIAN TITLES, ONE Minute REFLECTION, ORIGINAL SIN, QUEENSHIP of MARY, QUOTES for the NEW YEAR, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on HUMILITY, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY, QUOTES on TEMPTATION, QUOTES on VIRTUE

One Minute Reflection – 22 August – “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” … Matthew 23:12

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One Minute Reflection – 22 August – Saturday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time, Readings: Ezekiel 43: 1-7ab, Psalms 85: 9ab,10, 11-12, 13-14, Matthew 23:1-12 and The Memorial of the Queenship of Mary

“Whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” … Matthew 23:12

REFLECTION – “Humility is a secret power the saints receive when they bring all their life’s ascetical practices to a successful conclusion. For indeed, this power is only bestowed on those who attain to the perfection of virtue through the strength of grace … It is the same power the blessed Apostles received in the form of fire. Our Saviour commanded them, in fact, not to leave Jerusalem until they had received the power from on high (Acts 2:3; 1:4). Here Jerusalem stands for virtue; the power is humility and the power from on high, is the Paraclete, in other words the Consoler Spirit.

Now this is exactly what Sacred Scripture had said – these mysteries are revealed to the humble (Lk 10:21). To the humble it is given to receive within themselves that Spirit of revelation that uncovers mysteries. That is why certain saints have said that humility is what brings the soul to fulfilment in divine contemplation. So let no-one start thinking they have attained complete humility because at some moment a thought of compunction came to them or because they shed a few tears …. But if someone has overcome every contrary spirit …, if he has overturned and subjected all the strongholds of the enemy and if he then feels that he has received that grace in which “the Spirit bears witness to our spirit” (Rom 8:16), in the apostle Paul’s words, then there is the perfection of humility. Blessed are they who possess it. For they continually embrace the breast of Jesus (cf. Jn 13,25).” … St Isaac the Syrian of Nineveh (c 613-c 700) Bishop of Nineveh, Monk at Mosul – Ascetical discourses, 1st series, no 20

PRAYER – Almighty God, our Father, You have given us Mary, the Mother of Your Son, to be our Mother and our Queen. Grant that, supported by her example and her prayers, we may learn true humility and come to the kingdom of heaven and to the glory destined for Your children. We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, ORIGINAL SIN, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on PRAYER

Thought for the Day – 21 July – Nature and Grace

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Thought for the Day – 21 July – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

Nature and Grace

nature and grace - bacci 21 july 2020

“Observe diligently, the motions of nature and grace,” says The Imitation of Christ, “for they move with great contrariety and subtlety and, can hardly be distinguished but by a spiritual man and, one that is inwardly enlightened” (Bk III c54).

The struggle between fallen nature and grace is due to original sin, which extinguished in us the supernatural life and gave rise to the disharmony which exists between our lower faculties and reason and between reason and God.
Even the Saints experienced this fearful internal battle between good and evil.
“I see another law in my members,” says St Paul, “warring against the law of my mind” (Rom 7:23).
Elsewhere he complains that “the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh” (Gal 5:17) and that the temptations of the flesh assailed him so strongly, that he pleaded with God to save him.
But God’s reply to his entreaties was: “My grace is sufficient for thee, for strength is made perfect in weakness” (Cf 2 Cor 12:7-9).

This does not mean that human nature is substantially corrupt and incapable of doing good as a result of sin.
The inclination towards goodness and towards God, remains and is very strong in our better moments.
Nevertheless, we need the helping hand of God, so that this inclination may express itself in good actions worthy of an everlasting reward.
For this reason, we should pray humbly and constantly, for the precious gift of divine grace.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci