Tag: theuseandabuseofthesacraments

Posted in GOD ALONE!, GOD is LOVE, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, SACRAMENTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Thought for the Day – 4 December – The Use and Abuse of the Sacraments

Posted on by AnaStpaul

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

The Use and Abuse of the Sacraments

“In His great love and mercy, Jesus Christ has given us all the other Sacraments as well as Baptism.
This long chain of spiritual favours links the stages of our progress, from the cradle to the grave, sustaining and sanctifying us on the way.
Although His goodness is Infinite, God could not do any more for us.
He has endowed us through the Sacrament of Baptism, with supernatural life; He has given us the light and strength of the Holy Spirit in Confirmation; He has granted us forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance; power over His Real and His Mystical Body, in the Sacrament of Holy Orders and, a reflection of Divine Love, in the Sacrament of Matrimony.
At the close of our lives, He will heal the scars of sin and comfort our weary hearts, by means of Extreme Unction.
But, He has also bestowed on us, a gift, infinitely greater than all these, for He has given us Himself, in the Blessed Eucharist.

How can we remain cold and indifferent in the presence of so much goodness and generosity?
We have all the means necessary for salvation.
It will be disastrous for us, if we fail to cherish them and, if we neglect to repay such great love, with all the love of our poor hearts and with a determined effort to be good and holy.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/11/thought-for-the-day-11-december-the-use-and-abuse-of-the-sacraments/

Posted in BAPTISM, DIVINE Mercy, Goodness, Patience, MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on GRACE, QUOTES on SIN, QUOTES on VIRTUE, SACRAMENTS

Thought for the Day – 11 December – The Use and Abuse of the Sacraments

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 11 December – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

The Use and Abuse of the Sacraments

“Let us go back in our imagination to the day when we were Baptised.
That was the day of our spiritual rebirth, when we were cleansed from original sin and enriched by the gift of grace, which is the life of the soul.
On this solemn occasion, we promised, through the agency of our Godparents, to remain faithful to the trust which we had received and to renounce Satan and whatever else might have power to extinguish our supernatural life and to plunge us into sin.

Have we kept these promises, which were made4 on our behalf and which we repeated from time to time before the Altar as we grew older?
Every gift of God demands our gratitude and our co-operation.
It is our own grave loss, if we remain cold and indifferent, in spite of the precious favours which we received from God.
God is infinitely good and merciful but, precisely because of this, He demands generous co-operation on our part.
If we abuse His graces, He will leave us to our own devices.
We shall no longer be aware of His inspirations and His appeals to us to advance in virtue.
What is to happen to us then?
We shall be like an arid plain on which only weeds and thorns can grow.
Our lives will be meaningless and purposeless, for God and everlasting happiness are the only goals worthy of our pursuit.”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci