tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439331035718369167.post603923523300025103..comments2024-02-09T02:48:13.776-06:00Comments on Daily Meditations with Fr. Alfonse: Luke 9:18-24 What Do You Say?Fr. Alfonsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02557206560119402976noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439331035718369167.post-56193639850568738222013-06-27T16:31:18.531-05:002013-06-27T16:31:18.531-05:00Exactly..."not necessarily."Exactly..."not necessarily."Fr. Alfonsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02557206560119402976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439331035718369167.post-67931839072442740182013-06-26T22:28:25.523-05:002013-06-26T22:28:25.523-05:00"If you ask an atheist, they will say you nev..."If you ask an atheist, they will say you never existed!"<br /><br />Not necessarily, they may just say he was just a man.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439331035718369167.post-43649281076174623812013-06-24T09:08:01.018-05:002013-06-24T09:08:01.018-05:00When in the world did scientists and doctors becom...When in the world did scientists and doctors become politicians and voters?<br /><br />C.S. Lewis explains in The Problem of Pain that “If tribulation is a NECESSARY element in redemption, we must anticipate that it will never cease till God sees that world to be either redeemed or no further redeemable. A Christian cannot, therefore, believe any of those who promise that if only some reform in our economic, political, or hygienic system were made, a heaven on earth would follow. ……….. If applied to individual life, the doctrine that an imagined heaven on earth is necessary for vigorous attempts to remove present evil would at once reveal its absurdity.” <br />(pg 114)<br /><br />We MUST have suffering on this earth, and in this age politics seems to be such a great evil that we seem to want to use all our energy to combat it. Yes, I have to do my part in stopping the evil, no question (pro-life actions, etc); but what is going to really stop it is OUR deeper conversion (the new evangelization) to prayer, reflecting on His Word, our Sacraments, denying ourselves, loving the other for Jesus, making ourselves one with our enemy, and “rejoicing” when we have pain and suffering in our lives because that is when we are REALLY closest to Jesus. I do desire the God of compassion – who doesn’t? He makes me feel great! He excuses me with His mercy! But I continue to pray that God gives me the grace to only desire Jesus Crucified and forsaken. It is in that moment when He was forsaken by the Very One who Jesus loved the most, that God revealed the most powerful, loving, compassionate, and strongest man. That moment revealed the truest and most honest image of Jesus. <br />I have such a long way to go. I know it's my very sins that bring suffering to this world, that helps make the evil politics what it is. It is my sincere desire to do His will - I just don't know what it is all the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439331035718369167.post-86909997139008071842013-06-24T08:48:59.890-05:002013-06-24T08:48:59.890-05:00“I would never have known that Jesus is Lord unles...“I would never have known that Jesus is Lord unless I had pledged my obedience to Him. This constitutes a serious dilemma for atheists and presents a powerful argument (revelation) for all humanity.”<br />What about Saul’s conversion? He was THE worst “atheist” in that he believed in all the Old Testament laws (& God) and Jesus broke some of them (Sabbath, etc) so Saul concluded Jesus was an imposter. Paul had nothing to do with His own conversion!!! (Isn’t it that many Catholic theologians correlate that the stoning of St Stephan was somewhat attributed to Paul’s conversion?) <br />I am not saying that we don’t have to be obedient. We do. There is a lot of gray in this world. I continue to pray.<br /><br />"You will never come to the same conclusion he came to simply because the Bible tells you so (just like you will never be able to come to the conclusion that God loves you “because the bible tells me so”)."<br /><br />This is why we cannot argue with atheists by pulling lines from the Bible. The Bible is just words to them. Actions speak so much louder than words. Only loving them by “making ourselves one with them” (really listening to them to thoroughly understand THEIR thoughts…. which is usually not intellectual but some type of hurt that is not healed.) is going to help convert them. God sees our sincerity and humility and is the only one that converts them. But it is because of our actions (genuine love, no ambition to convert them… which is real Love) that we help influence their conversion. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com