Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Don’t argue with the Devil – he’s much more intelligent than us, says Pope Francis

"Don’t argue with the Devil – he’s much more intelligent than us, says Pope Francis"

The Devil is more intelligent than mere mortals and should never be argued with, Pope Francis has warned.

Satan is not a metaphor or a nebulous concept but a real person armed with dark powers, the Pope said in forthright remarks made during a television interview.

“He is evil, he’s not like mist. He’s not a diffuse thing, he is a person. I’m convinced that one must never converse with Satan – if you do that, you’ll be lost,” he told TV2000, a Catholic channel, gesticulating with his hands to emphasise his point.

“He’s more intelligent than us, and he’ll turn you upside down, he’ll make your head spin.

“He always pretends to be polite – he does it with priests, with bishops. That’s how he enters your mind. But it ends badly if you don’t realise what is happening in time. (We should tell him) go away!” he said.

Pope Francis frequently refers to the Devil in his homilies, sermons and on Twitter, where he is followed by 40 million people in nine languages.

He uses various terms to refer to the Prince of Darkness, including Satan, the Evil One, the Seducer, Beelzebub and the Great Dragon.

“It’s a Jesuit thing. He’s a Jesuit who is deeply imbued with the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola, which allow people to discern the movements of the good and bad spirit,” said Austen Ivereigh, a Vatican analyst and the author of The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope.

Three years ago the Argentinian pontiff told a convention of exorcists from around the world that they were doing sterling work in combating “the Devil’s works”.

He said that exorcists needed to show “the love and welcome of the Church for those possessed by evil”.

In 2013, during an address to crowds of faithful in St Peter’s Square, he said the Devil often appears “disguised as an angel, and slyly speaks his word to us.”

He shares stories about the Devil’s devious ways when he gives his daily homilies in the chapel of the guesthouse where he lives inside the Vatican.

Last week Pope Francis called for the wording of the Lord’s Prayer to be changed so that it blames the Devil, rather than God, for “leading us into temptation”.

**The Pope has warned that the Devil is more intelligent than mere mortals.** **Credit: EPA**

He said the prayer had been badly translated from the Greek used in the New Testament and the new version would better reflect its true meaning.

The life of a Christian is a continual battle against evil, the Pope has said.

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Taken from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/13/dont-argue-devil-much-intelligent-us-says-pope-francis/

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Pope Francis urges world leaders to respect UN position on Jerusalem

By Elise Harris

Vatican City, Dec 6, 2017 / 03:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With debate on the status of Jerusalem heating up in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial decision to recognize the city as the capital of Israel, Pope Francis has urged international leaders to proceed with prudence and respect for current U.N. resolutions.
“My thought now goes to Jerusalem. In this regard, I cannot ignore my deep concern for the situation that has been created in recent days,” the Pope said Dec. 6.

He issued a “heartfelt appeal” to the international community to ensure that “everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant Resolutions of the United Nations.”

The position of the U.N. on the Jerusalem issue is that East Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian territory, and that the city should eventually become the capital of the two states of Israel and Palestine.

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall during his weekly general audience, during which he recounted the phases of his recent Nov. 27-Dec. 2 trip to Burma, also called Myanmar, and Bangladesh.

His appeal for Jerusalem comes shortly after news came out that U.S. President Donald Trump would be recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – a widely controversial decision that has provoked a mixed reaction from the international community.

As part of the plan, the Trump administration is expected to eventually move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and while Israel welcomes the changes, both Palestinians and Arab leaders have voiced concern that the move could jeopardize the peace process in the Middle East, according to BBC.

Israel has traditionally always recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, however, Palestinians claim that the eastern portion of the city is the capital of the future Palestinian state. In recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the U.S. is the first country to do so since the state was established in 1948.

Debate on the issue is in many ways the crux of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which is backed by Arab leaders, including Saudi Arabia, and the wider Islamic world.

According to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, the final status of Jerusalem will be discussed in the late stages of the talks. Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognized by the international community, and all countries have embassies in Tel Aviv.

Recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, then, is likely to increase tension on the issue, particularly in regards to the 200,000-some settlements Israel has built in East Jerusalem, which are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this stance.

On Wednesday, a group of more than a dozen Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem released a statement cautioning that the U.S. policy change “will yield increased hatred, conflict, violence and suffering in Jerusalem and the Holy Land, moving us farther from the goal of unity and deeper toward destructive division.”

“Our solemn advice and plea is for the United States to continue recognizing the present international status of Jerusalem. Any sudden changes would cause irreparable harm,” they warned.
“We are confident that, with strong support from our friends, Israelis and Palestinians can work towards negotiating a sustainable and just peace, benefiting all who long for the Holy City of Jerusalem to fulfill its destiny.”

In his general audience, Pope Francis noted how Jerusalem is a “unique city” that is considered holy for Jews, Christians and Muslims. Because of this, he said the city has “a special vocation for peace.”

“I ask the Lord that this identity be preserved and reinforced for the benefit of the Holy Land, the Middle East and the entire world, and that wisdom and prudence prevail to avoid adding new elements of tension in a global panorama already convulsed and marked by so many cruel conflicts,” he said.

Prior to his general audience, the Pope met with a Palestinian delegation of religious and intellectual leaders for a scheduled audience, urging dialogue that is respectful of everyone's rights in the Holy Land. He also voiced his hope that “peace and prosperity” would prevail for the Palestinian people.

On his trip to Burma and Bangladesh, Francis said it was “a great gift from God,” and thanked the civil authorities and bishops of each country for their welcome and for everything they did to prepare for the trip.

He noted how his Nov. 27-30 visit to Burma marked the first time a Pope has ever traveled to the country, which took place just months after the Holy See established full diplomatic relations with the nation in May.

“I wanted, also in this case, to express the closeness of Christ and of the Church to a people that has suffered due to conflict and repression, and which now is slowly walking toward a new condition of freedom and peace,” he said.

Burma, a majority Buddhist country where minorities, including Christians, often face stigma and discrimination, is still working to transition to a democratic government after more than 50 years of military rule, while also facing harsh criticism from the international community over what the United Nations has called a “textbook case of ethnic cleansing” of Rohingya Muslims from the country's Rakhine State.

In this context, Christians there are the “leaven of God,” he said, and called the Church in Burma a “living and fervent” community that he had the joy of meeting and affirming in faith and communion.

Similarly, he said his Nov. 30-Dec. 2 visit to Bangladesh was equally important, and focused largely on the need for “respect and dialogue” between Christianity and Islam, as the country is a majority Muslim nation with a small Catholic community.

Religious freedom was a major theme, and was reflected in each of his meetings, he said, and underlined the importance of “openness of the heart as the basis for the culture of encounter, harmony and peace.”

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Taken from: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-urges-world-leaders-to-respect-un-position-on-jerusalem-78725

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Pope Francis says mere possession of nuclear weapons is now 'irrational'

The Cold War-era policy of nuclear deterrence is no longer viable and that the mere possession of nuclear weapons is now “irrational”, Pope Francis has said.

“We’re at the limit of licitly having and using nuclear arms. Why? Because today, such sophisticated nuclear arsenals risk destroying humanity or at least a great part of it,” he said en route home following his trip to Bangladesh.

Amid increasingly heated rhetoric between the U.S. and North Korea, the Pope s told a nuclear disarmament conference last month that mere possession of nuclear weapons was to be condemned, given the risks, and that the only viable path forward was total disarmament.

He said he wanted to pose the question as a pope: “Today, is it legitimate to keep nuclear arsenals as they are? Or to save creation, to save humanity today, isn’t it necessary to go back?”

Earlier he defended his public silence in Myanmar over the plight of Rohingya refugees, saying a public denunciation would have “slammed the door in the face” of his hosts and prevented his overall message from being heard.

The Pope said he chose instead to speak in general terms about human rights in public so that he could speak more frankly in private.

Speaking to reporters en route home from Myanmar and Bangladesh, the Pope said he was “very, very satisfied” that his message had been received in his private meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s powerful military chief, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

He said: “It’s true I didn’t have the pleasure of slamming the door in their face publicly with a denunciation. But I had the satisfaction of dialogue, and letting the other side dialogue, and in this way the message arrived.”

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Taken from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/03/pope-francis-says-mere-possession-nuclear-weapons-now-irrational/

Monday, November 6, 2017

Yes voters vilify Christians to the bitter end

ONLY two days left to return your same-sex marriage postal survey, and the campaign is ending the way it began — with rainbow fascists silencing dissent and demonising Christians.

Miranda Devine

The latest display of “tolerance” comes from The Rose Hotel in Chippendale, which has banned a group of young Christians from holding their monthly meeting in the pub’s beer garden because patrons complained that gay marriage was being discussed.
Tomorrow night’s Theology on Tap meeting, titled Listening as a Form of Love, has been cancelled after organiser Natalie Ambrose received an email on Friday afternoon from The Rose Hotel licensee George Kanellos.
“I’m terribly sorry to inform you that we can no longer let you host your event with us in the beer garden,” the email said.
“We’ve experienced some backlash from customers, and within these complaints they have threatened not to return if these events continue… I was told by staff yesterday that worked the previous event that 4 different groups of people got up and left and, out of the two groups, we were told that they might not ever come back.
“It was about the debate of marriage equality that had frustrated these groups and our locals.”
Kanellos refused to comment when contacted on Friday, but confirmed he had cancelled the Theology on Tap booking on the first Monday of every month, which attracts 200 to 300 people.
The event which so antagonised Rose Hotel patrons was a talk last month by American nun Sister Mary Patrice Ahearn titled, ironically enough, Resilient Faith: How to Survive When Under Attack.
The talk, organised by the University of Notre Dame’s Catholic chaplaincy, was not about gay marriage, but how to cope with being attacked for your faith.
Sister Patrice quoted the Gospels: “If the world hates you know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
She mentioned gay marriage as one issue, along with euthanasia, for which Christians would be persecuted.
“Most of us are feeling… tension, conflict, disruption in relationships, because of these issues,” she said.
She urged her audience to find “common ground between the two sides… I’m sure most of us in this room know or love someone who’s gay. Persons with same-sex attraction desire love, friendship and intimacy as much as you or I do.”
In other words, she could not have been more loving or charitable.
But for the “tyrants of tolerance”, anything a nun says has to be hate speech, and discrimination against Christians is the highest sign of virtue.
It’s part of what former High Court justice Dyson Heydon describes as “the new de-Christianisation campaign… the tyrants of tolerance pay lip service, but only lip service, to freedom of religion as a fundamental human right,” he said in a speech last month.
“Modern elites do not desire tolerance. They demand unconditional surrender”. There’s no way an LGBTIQ group would be treated so shabbily as Theology on Tap, not least because sexual orientation and every other permutation of human diversity — except religious belief — is protected under anti-discrimination laws.

Waverley Baptist Church was been vandalised with pro same sex marriage graffiti. (Pic: supplied)

Freedom not to serve people with whom you disagree only cuts one way. It is perfectly lawful for a pub to hang a “No Christians” sign in its window, which effectively is what The Rose Hotel has done.
Vilifying Christians has been a hallmark of the same-sex marriage campaign.
Rainbow bullies have physically attacked No volunteers, spat on them, stolen their placards, vandalised their churches, racially vilified them, blockaded their meetings. They abused Catholic students at Sydney University as “homophobes”, “bigots”, “neo-Nazis” and “gay-bashers” ... they screamed, on video.
They graffitied “Crucify No voters” on church walls, and stormed a Coalition for Marriage launch, chanting “crucify Christians”, and brandished a banner reading: “Burn Churches not Queers”.
The frightening intolerance of the rainbow fascists has been on display for everyone to see during the plebiscite process.
But disappointingly few high-profile people stood up to defend traditional marriage — not one member of Cabinet, few religious leaders, no business leaders or sports bodies, almost no one in the media — even those regarded as conservatives.
So cowed is the business community that it is refusing to be associated with the Catholic Church.
One bank, which previously had donated to an archdiocesean annual appeal, this year grudgingly agreed to donate a smaller amount but on the condition its name was kept secret.
Any wonder that “No” voters have kept their opinions to themselves, and that published polls are wildly out of kilter with the reality that No campaigners have found on the ground?
No voters “feel like dissidents in their own country”, as the ACL’s Lyle Shelton puts it.
For all the criticism, with voter turnout at 80 per cent the process has been a success, and most importantly has galvanised a new generation of social conservatives, as Tony Abbott said last week.

Shelton says they are part of a “dissident movement against the elites and the celebrities and the media”.
“Win or lose, they’re determined to keep fighting for freedom.”
If the Yes vote gets up, religious freedom will be the battleground.

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Taken from: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/yes-voters-vilify-christians-to-the-bitter-end/news-story/88c2b6ed2282f9ce97f14384108629d3

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Passages on Purgatory in Diary of St. Faustina

Shortly after this, I fell ill [general exhaustion]. The dear Mother Superior sent me with two other sisters for a rest to Skolimow, not far from Warsaw. It was at that time that I asked the Lord for whom else should I pray for. Jesus said that on the following night He would let me know for whom I should pray.

[The next night] I saw my Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in PURGATORY. The souls call her “The Star of the Sea.” She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of that prison of suffering. [I heard an interior voice] which said, My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it. Since that time, I am in closer communion with the suffering souls. (Diary, 20)

Once I was summoned to the judgment [seat] of God. I stood alone before the Lord. Jesus appeared such as we know Him during His Passion. After a moment, His wounds disappeared except for five, those in His hands, His feet and His side. Suddenly I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it. I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God. I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for. What a moment! Who can describe it? To stand before the Thrice-Holy God! Jesus asked me, Who are you? I answered, “I am Your servant, Lord.” You are guilty of one day of fire in PURGATORY. I wanted to throw myself immediately into the flames of PURGATORY, but Jesus stopped me and said, Which do you prefer, suffer now for one day in PURGATORY or for a short while on earth? I replied, “Jesus, I want to suffer in PURGATORY, and I want to suffer also the greatest pains on earth, even if it were until the end of the world.” Jesus said, One [of the two] is enough; you will go back to earth, and there you will suffer much, but not for long; you will accomplish My will and My desires, and a faithful servant of Mine will help you to do this. Now, rest your head on My bosom, on My heart, and draw from it strength and power for these sufferings because you will find neither relief nor help nor comfort anywhere else. Know that you will have much, much to suffer, but don’t let this frighten you; I am with you. (Diary, 36)

One night, a sister who had died two months previously came to me. She was a sister of the first choir. I saw her in a terrible condition, all in flames with her face painfully distorted. This lasted only a short time, and then she disappeared. A shudder went through my soul because I did not know whether she was suffering in PURGATORY or in hell. Nevertheless, I redoubled my prayers for her. The next night she came again, but I saw her in an even more horrible state, in the midst of flames which were even more intense, and despair was written all over her face. I was astonished to see her in a worse condition after the prayers I had offered for her, and I asked, “Haven’t my prayers helped you?” She answered that my prayers had not helped her and that nothing would help her. I said to her, “And the prayers which the whole community has offered for you, have they not been any help to you?” She said no, that these prayers had helped some other souls. I replied, “If my prayers are not helping you, Sister, please stop coming to me.” She disappeared at once. Despite this, I kept on praying.

After some time she came back again to me during the night, but already her appearance had changed. There were no longer any flames, as there had been before, and her face was radiant, her eyes beaming with joy. She told me that I had a true love for my neighbor and that many other souls had profited from my prayers. She urged me not to cease praying for the souls in PURGATORY, and she added that she herself would not remain there much longer. How astounding are the decrees of God! (Diary, 58)

Three requests on the day of my perpetual vows. Jesus, I know that today You will refuse me nothing.

First request: Jesus, my most beloved Spouse, I beg You for the triumph of the Church, particularly in Russia and in Spain; for blessings on the Holy Father, Pius XI, and on all the clergy; for the grace of conversion for impenitent sinners. And I ask You for a special blessing and for light, O Jesus, for the priests before whom I will make my confessions throughout my lifetime.

Second request: I beg Your blessings on our Congregation, and may it be filled with great zeal. Bless, O Jesus, our Mother General and our Mother Directress, all the novices and all the superiors. Bless my dearest parents. Bestow Your grace, O Jesus, on our wards; strengthen them so powerfully by Your grace so that those who leave our houses will no longer offend You by any sin. Jesus, I beg You for my homeland; protect it against the assaults of its enemies.

Third request: Jesus, I plead with You for the souls that are most in need of prayer. I plead for the dying; be merciful to them. I also beg You, Jesus, to free all souls from PURGATORY.

Jesus, I commend to You these particular persons: My confessors, persons recommended to my prayers, a certain person..., Father Andrasz, Father Czaputa, and the priest I met in Vilnius [Father Sopocko], who is to be my confessor, a certain soul... (111) a certain priest, a certain religious to whom You know how much I owe, Jesus, and all the people who have been recommended to my prayer. Jesus, on this day You can do everything for those for whom I am pleading. For myself I ask, Lord, transform me completely into Yourself, maintain in me a holy zeal for Your glory, give me the grace and spiritual strength to do Your holy will in all things.

Thank You, O my dearest Bridegroom, for the dignity You have conferred on me, and in particular for the royal coat-of-arms which will adorn me from this day on and which even the Angels do not possess; namely, the cross, the sword, and the crown of thorns. But above all, O my Jesus, I thank You for Your Heart — it is all I need.

Mother of God, Most Holy Mary, my Mother, You are my Mother in a special way now because Your beloved Son is my Bridegroom, and thus we are both Your children. For Your Son’s sake, You have to love me. O Mary, my dearest Mother, guide my spiritual life in such a way that it will please Your Son.

+ Holy and Omnipotent God, at this moment of immense grace by which You are uniting me with Yourself forever, I, mere nothingness, with the utmost gratitude, cast myself at Your feet like a tiny, unknown flower and, each day, the fragrance of that flower of love will ascend to Your throne.

In times of struggle and suffering, of darkness and storm, of yearning and sorrow, in times of difficult trials, in times when nobody will understand me, when I will even be condemned and scorned by everyone, I will remember the day of my perpetual vows, the day of God’s incomprehensible grace. (Diary, 240)

Jesus gave me the grace of knowing myself. In this divine light I see my principal fault; it is pride which takes the form of my closing up within myself and of a lack of simplicity in my relations with Mother Superior [Irene].

The second light concerns speaking. I sometimes talk too much. A thing could be settled in one or two words, and as for me, I take too much time about it. But Jesus wants me to use that time to say some short indulgenced prayers for the souls in PURGATORY. And the Lord says that every word will be weighed on the day of judgment.

(123) The third light concerns our rules. I have not sufficiently avoided the occasions that lead to breaking the rules, especially that of silence. I will act as if the rule were written just for me; it should not affect me at all how anyone else might act, as long as I myself act as God wishes.

Resolution. Whatever Jesus demands of me regarding external things, I will immediately go and tell my superiors. I shall strive for childlike openness and frankness in my relations with the superior. (Diary, 274)

December 24, 1934. The Vigil of Christmas. During the morning Mass, I felt the closeness of God. Though I was hardly aware of it, my spirit was drowned in God. Suddenly, I heard these words: You are My delightful dwelling place; My Spirit rests in you. After these words, I felt the Lord looking into the depths of my heart; and seeing my misery, I humbled myself in spirit and admired the immense mercy of God, that the Most High Lord would approach such misery.

During Holy Communion, joy filled my soul. I felt that I am closely united to the Godhead. His omnipotence enveloped my whole being. Throughout the whole day I felt the closeness of God in a special manner; and although my duties prevented me throughout the whole day from going to chapel even for a moment, there was not a moment when I was not united with God. I felt Him within (145) me more distinctly than ever. Unceasingly greeting the Mother of God and entering into Her spirit, I begged Her to teach me true love of God. And then I heard these words: I will share with you the secret of My happiness this night during Holy Mass.

We had supper before six o’clock. Despite all the joy and the external noise accompanying the sharing of the wafer and the mutual exchange of good wishes, I did not for a moment lose the awareness of God’s presence. After supper, we hurried away to finish our work, and at nine I was able to go to the chapel for adoration. I was allowed to stay up and wait for the Midnight Mass. I was delighted to have free time from nine until midnight. From nine to ten o’clock I offered my adoration for my parents and my whole family. From ten to eleven, I offered it for the intention of my spiritual director, in the first place thanking God for granting me this great visible help here on earth, just as He had promised me, and I also asked God to grant him the necessary light so that he could get to know my soul and guide me according to God’s good pleasure. And from eleven to twelve I prayed for the Holy Church and the clergy, for sinners, for the missions, and for our houses. I offered the indulgences for the souls in PURGATORY. (Diary, 346)

There was no one in the chapel, so I got up, picked up the pieces of the flowerpot, repotted the flower and tried to do all this before anyone came in. But I did not manage to do so, as Mother Superior [Borgia] came in at that moment together with the sister sacristan and several other sisters. Mother Superior was surprised that I had been touching something on the altar and (172) thus caused the flowerpot to fall. Sister sacristan showed her displeasure, and I did my best not to explain or excuse myself. But towards evening I felt very exhausted and could not make my Holy Hour, so I asked Mother Superior to allow me to go to bed early. I fell asleep as soon as I lay down, but at about eleven o’clock Satan shook my bed. I awoke instantly, and I started to pray peacefully to my Guardian Angel. Then I saw the souls who were doing penance in PURGATORY. They appeared like shadows, and among them I saw many demons. One of these tried to vex me; taking the form of a cat, he kept throwing himself onto my bed and on my feet, and he was quite heavy, as if [weighing] a ton.

I kept praying the rosary all the while, and toward dawn these beings vanished, and I was able to get some sleep. When I entered the chapel in the morning I heard a voice in my soul, You are united to Me; fear nothing. But know, my child, that Satan hates you; he hates every soul, but he burns with a particular hatred for you, because you have snatched so many souls from his dominion. (Diary, 412)

One evening, one of the deceased sisters, who had already visited me a few times, appeared to me. The first time I had seen her, she had been in great suffering, and then gradually these sufferings had diminished; this time she was radiant with happiness, and she told me she was already in heaven. She told me that God had tried (58) our house with tribulation because Mother General [Michael] had given in to doubts, not believing what I had said about this soul. And further, as a sign that she only now was in heaven, God would bless our house. Then she came closer to me, embraced me sincerely and said, "I must go now." I understood how closely the three stages of a soul’s life are bound together; that is to say, life on earth, in PURGATORY and in heaven [the Communion of Saints]. (Diary, 594)

O Jesus, I understand that Your mercy is beyond all imagining, and therefore I ask You to make my heart so big that there will be room in it for the needs of all the souls living on the face of the earth. O Jesus, my love extends beyond the world, to the souls suffering in PURGATORY, and I want to exercise mercy toward them by means of indulgenced prayers. God’s mercy is unfathomable and inexhaustible, just as God Himself is unfathomable. Even if I were to use the strongest words there are to express this mercy of God, all this would be nothing in comparison with what it is in reality. O Jesus, make my heart sensitive to all the sufferings of my neighbor, whether of body or of soul. O my Jesus, I know that You act toward us as we act toward our neighbor.

My Jesus, make my heart like unto Your merciful Heart. Jesus, help me to go through life doing good to everyone. (Diary, 692)

From early morning on the following day, I offered everything for her intention. During Holy Mass, I had a brief experience of her torment. I experienced such intense hunger for God that I seemed to be dying of the desire to become united with Him. This lasted only a short time, but I understood what the longing of the souls in PURGATORY was like. (Diary, 1186)

Today bring to Me the souls who are in the prison of Purgatory, and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury (64) of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice. (Diary, 1226)

Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in PURGATORY, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of the purifying fire, that in that place, too, the power of Your mercy may be praised.

From that terrible heat of the cleansing fire
Rises a plaint to Your mercy,
And they receive comfort, refreshment, relief
In the stream of mingled Blood and Water.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in PURGATORY, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded, manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way than through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. (Diary, 1227)

August 15, 1937. During meditation, God’s presence pervaded me keenly, and I was aware of the Virgin Mary’s joy at the moment of Her Assumption. Towards the end of the ceremony (10) carried out in honor of the Mother of God, I saw the Virgin Mary, and She said to me, Oh, how very pleased I am with the homage of your love! And at that moment She covered all the sisters of our Congregation with Her mantle. With Her right hand, She clasped Mother General Michael to herself, and with Her left hand She did so to me, while all the sisters were at Her feet, covered with Her mantle. Then the Mother of God said, Everyone who perseveres zealously till death in My Congregation will be spared the fire of PURGATORY, and I desire that each one distinguish herself by the following virtues: humility and meekness; chastity and love of God and neighbor; compassion and mercy. After these words, the whole Congregation disappeared from my sight, and I remained alone with the Most Holy Mother who instructed me about the will of God and how to (11) apply it to my life, submitting completely to His most holy decrees. It is impossible for one to please God without obeying His holy will. My daughter, I strongly recommend that you faithfully fulfill all God’s wishes, for that is most pleasing in His holy eyes. I very much desire that you distinguish yourself in this faithfulness in accomplishing God’s will. Put the will of God before all sacrifices and holocausts. While the heavenly Mother was talking to me, a deep understanding of this will of God was entering my soul. (Diary, 1244)

When Sister Dominic died at about one o’clock in the night, she came to me and gave me to know that she was dead. I prayed fervently for her. In the morning, the sisters told me that she was no longer alive, and I replied that I knew, because she had visited me. The sister infirmarian [Sister Chrysostom] asked me to help dress her. And then when I was alone with her, the Lord gave me to know that she was still suffering in PURGATORY. I redoubled my prayers for her. However, despite the zeal with which I always pray for our deceased sisters, I got mixed up as regards the days, and instead of offering three days of prayer, as the rule directs us to do, by mistake I offered only two days. On the fourth day, she gave me to know that I still owed her prayers, and that she was in need of them. I immediately (28) formed the intention of offering the whole day for her, and not just that day but much more, as love of neighbor dictated to me. (Diary, 1382)

When I had gone to the chapel for a moment, the Lord gave me to know that, among His chosen ones, there are some who are especially chosen, and whom He calls to a higher form of holiness, to exceptional union with Him. These are seraphic souls, from whom God demands greater love than He does from others. Although all live in the same convent, yet He sometimes demands of a particular soul a greater degree of love. Such a soul understands this call, because God makes this known to it interiorly, but the soul may either follow this call or not. It depends on the soul itself whether it is faithful to these touches of the Holy Spirit, or whether it resists them. I have learned that there is a place in PURGATORY where souls will pay their debt to God for such transgressions; this kind of torment is the most difficult of all. The soul which is specially marked by God (134) will be distinguished everywhere, whether in heaven or in PURGATORY or in hell. In heaven, it will be distinguished from other souls by greater glory and radiance and deeper knowledge of God. In PURGATORY, by greater pain, because it knows God more profoundly and desires Him more vehemently. In hell, it will suffer more profoundly than other souls, because it knows more fully whom it has lost. This indelible mark of God’s exclusive love, in the [soul], will not be obliterated. (Diary, 1556)

When the soul of a certain young lady came to me one night, she made me aware of her presence, and made known to me that she needed my prayer. I prayed for a while, but her spirit did not leave me. Then I thought to myself, “If you are a good spirit, leave me in peace, and the indulgences I will gain tomorrow will be for you.” At that moment, the spirit left my room, and I recognized that she was in PURGATORY. (Diary, 1723)

The Lord said to me, Enter into PURGATORY often, because they need you there. O my Jesus, I understand the meaning of these words which You are speaking to me, but first let me enter the treasury (98) of Your mercy. (Diary, 1738)

....
http://www.prayforsouls.org/library/references/diary_passages.php

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Pope slams 'eugenic' mentality that seeks to eliminate disability

By Elise Harris

Vatican City, Oct 21, 2017 / 04:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Saturday, Pope Francis issued a harsh condemnation of the underlying eugenic mentality in society that leads many to abort children who are are disabled, saying the Church must be a place of acceptance and welcome for all who are vulnerable.
While great strides have been made in recent years in terms of recognizing the dignity of every person, especially the weakest and most vulnerable, “at the cultural level there are still expressions that undermine the dignity of these people due to the prevalence of a false conception of life,” the Pope said Oct. 21.
“An often narcissistic and utilitarian vision unfortunately leads not a few to consider people with disabilities as marginal, without perceiving in them the multifaceted human and spiritual wealth,” he said.
Far too prevalent in common thought is also “an attitude of rejection” toward people with disabilities, as if their handicap “impedes them from being happy and fully realizing themselves,” he said.
“This is proven by the eugenic tendency to suppress the unborn who have some form of imperfection.”
An example of this “eugenics” mentality is a recent article in CBS News claiming that Iceland has come close to being the first country to “eradicate” Down syndrome, meaning they are aborting every unborn child found to have the condition.

Pope Francis offered his comments to participants in a Vatican-sponsored conference dedicated to catechesis for those with intellectual disabilities, titled “Catechesis and Persons with Disabilities: A Necessary Engagement in the Daily Pastoral Life of the Church.”
Taking place Oct. 20-22 at the Pontifical Urbanianum University in Rome, the conference drew over 420 people who work in catechesis from professions and countries all over the world, as well as people with disabilities themselves.
Among the participants is Bridget Brown, a young actress, speaker and prolife advocate with Down syndrome. In a letter written to the Pope, Brown said her heart breaks to think that “I might be the last generation of people with Down syndrome.”
“The world will never again benefit from our gifts,” she said, explaining that she does not “suffer” from the condition, but is “filled with joy” to be alive.
Referring to German dictator Adlof Hitler and the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. commemorating the thousands of people who died under the Nazi regime, Brown noted how people with disabilities were often the first to be killed.
“It seems to me we are doing the same thing to children with disabilities today in our country,” she said. However, despite being discouraged, Brown said she has hope for people with disabilities, and prays for people “who think we don't have the right to live.”
In his speech, Pope Francis said the response to this “eugenic tendency” must be one of love. “Not the false, clever and pious kind,” he said, “but the one that is true, concrete and respectful.”
To the extent that people with disabilities are “welcomed, loved, included in the community and accompanied to look to the future with confidence,” a true path of life develops and “lasting happiness is experienced.”
This goes for everyone, but even more so the most fragile, he said, adding that faith is “a great companion” which allows these people to feel God's presence closely, no matter their condition.
Francis said that as far as the Church goes, she cannot be “voiceless” or “out of tune” in the defense and promotion of people with disabilities.

“Her closeness to families helps them to overcome the loneliness which they often risk closing themselves into due to a lack of attention and support,” he said, adding that to have this closeness is even more important for those who form others in the Christian life.
Neither words nor gestures can be missing for “the encounter and welcome of people with disabilities,” especially in the liturgy, he said, because this encounter with the Lord and the community is a source of “hope and courage” on a path that isn't easy.
Catechesis, then, “is called to discover and experience coherent forms so that each person, with their gifts, their limits and their disabilities, even serious ones, is able to encounter Jesus on their path and abandon themselves to him in faith.”
“No physical or psychological limit can ever be an impediment to this encounter, because the face of Christ is shown in the intimacy of every person,” the Pope said, stressing that everyone, but especially ministers of the Church, must be careful “not to fall into the neo-pelagian error of not recognizing the need for the strength of grace which comes from the Sacraments of Christian initiation.”
The Church and her ministers must learn to “intelligently 'invent' adequate instruments” of catechesis to ensure that no one lacks “the support of grace,” he said.
Catechists must be formed, “first of all by example,” who are “increasingly able to accompany these people so that they grow in faith and give their genuine and unique contribution to the Church,” he said.
Pope Francis closed his address voicing hope that within the Christian community, people with disabilities can themselves increasingly “be catechists, even with their testimony, to transmit the faith in a more effective way.”
Though his speech was little over 10 minutes long, the Pope stayed with the group for more than an hour, personally shaking hands with participants.

....
Taken from: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-slams-eugenic-mentality-that-seeks-to-eliminate-disability-86791

Monday, October 16, 2017

Mark Latham: ALP is full of useful idiots assisting cultural Marxism

Posted by amaic on October 16, 2017Edit This

Posted in: Uncategorized. Taged: AMAIC, Australian Marian Academy of the Immaculate Conception, Sacred Heart of Jesus and Eucharist John the Evangelist Book of Revelation Apocalypse Sister Faustina Divine Mercy Holy Year academia.edu. Leave a comment

Mark Latham, The Daily Telegraph

October 17, 2017 12:00am

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When Vladimir Lenin coined the phrase “useful idiots” in politics, he gave us a handy way of understanding Bill Shorten’s Labor Party.

As identity politics has taken hold of our major public institutions and private companies, Labor politicians have played along.

In wanting to help so-called “oppressed minorities”, they have fallen into the trap of naively assisting the far more dangerous agenda of cultural Marxism.

media_cameraMark Latham. Picture: Harold David

In the eyes of this far-Left movement, they are very useful idiots.

With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, most people thought Marxism had been defeated.

But this was only true of economic Marxism — government control of the means of production.

Like a scene from a Terminator movie, neo-Marxists reassembled themselves, morphing into an even more menacing force.

They adopted the tactics of the Italian writer Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937). Instead of seeking economic control, they pursued cultural control by manipulating the beliefs, values and language of society.

Gramsci proposed a “long march through the institutions”, steadily taking over universities, schools, media outlets and government agencies by appointing like-minded people to senior positions.

media_cameraKarl Marx argued for state control of production.

media_cameraAntonio Gramsci argued that socialists should first control culture, beliefs and values of a society before being able to control the economy.

Sound familiar?

This is what has happened to Australia over the past 20 years. Political correctness is being used to control our language.

Gender fluidity courses in schools are being used to teach young people there is no such thing as fixed, biological science.

Post-structuralist Marxism is now the dominant ideology in Australia’s universities, such that students are being made to “unlearn” all prior knowledge and to regard history, science and even education itself as “capitalist constructs”.

Employment quotas and theories of “unconscious bias” are dismantling merit-based recruitment, with people hired by the medieval habit of how they look (skin colour and gender).

The overall impact has been to create a society devoid of certainty, drained of institutional ballast.

Cultural Marxism aims to convince people their true beliefs and identities in life are being repressed, that in feeling anxious and uneasy, they need to rise up against the existing social order.

MARK LATHAM: Stop! Diversity police, this is just too much

It’s a powerful movement that started in the underbelly of our institutions and now dominates around 80 per cent of Australian public life.

The rest of us, the 20 per cent, are the resistance.

I say these things from a background in the right-wing of the Labor Party, where I fought the Left internally on most issues.

But I’m not the only one saying it.

Peter Baldwin, the intellectual leader of the Socialist Left faction in the period of the Hawke and Keating governments, has been making similar points.

He has called for a new political alliance: for conservatives, libertarians and traditional social democrats to unite in preserving the values of the 17th-century Enlightenment.

To defend freedom, science and reason.

MARK LATHAM: Finally, someone goes against the herd

To fight for fraternity: bringing people together in common cause.

This is where Shorten and Labor have lost the plot. Identity politics is an incredibly divisive doctrine.

It pits Australians against each other: black versus white, female versus male, gay versus straight.

The neo-Marxists like it this way, as it creates the preconditions of political unrest: large parts of society agitating on spurious grounds.

Why would Labor ever endorse it?

media_cameraOpposition Leader Bill Shorten sees Aboriginals, migrants and females as victims, according to Mark Latham. Picture: Kym Smith

The founding purpose of social democracy is to encourage co-operation between people, transcending self-interest and superficial differences such as skin colour.

Under Shorten’s leadership, the ALP has ditched this kind of thinking.

It’s now a wholly owned subsidiary of identity politics, where questions of race, gender and sexuality are central to its policymaking.

Shorten believes Australia is so bigoted that a democratic vote on same-sex marriage would force large numbers of gay people to kill themselves — a false prophecy.

He sees Aboriginal, migrant and female Australians as victims of institutionalised prejudice.

He has said an ALP government will actively discriminate in favour of these groups.

This means more safe space segregation, more language policing, more radical gender theory, more job quotas and more damaging social division.

In effect, the Daniel Andrews Labor model in Victoria will be imported to Canberra.

These policies are not only wrong but unnecessary. Research has consistently shown Australia to be one of the most tolerant nations on earth.

A major study inside the Prime Minister’s Department earlier this year found that, if anything, we tend to overcompensate in supporting women, migrants and Aborigines, in giving them a fair go.

media_cameraMark Latham believes the Yes campaign is remarkably unconcerned by the need to protect religious freedoms. Picture: AAP

For the cultural Marxists, the purpose of identity politics is not to empower so-called minorities but to tear down perceived majorities — most notably, white straight men.

In the same-sex marriage debate, for instance, the Yes campaign is remarkably unconcerned by the need to protect religious freedoms.

Christians are expected to suffer into the future, just as gays claim to have suffered in the past.

Similarly, radical left feminists are not intent on empowering women, but disenfranchising men — to make them pay for past perceptions of privilege.

Recently, a Mark Latham’s Outsiders viewer wrote to me describing how, in his workplace in Melbourne, men were being sacked under a policy of eliminating “stale, pale males”.

Division of this kind is sparking bitter resentment.

It’s destroying social capital and the cause of Labor.

The one person with a moral duty to speak out against it is Shorten.

Yet he sees his role as egging it on.

This is a stunning betrayal of social democracy: a Labor leader who has lit a Bonfire of the Vengeances, with Australians fighting each other on the basis of race, gender and sexuality.

Truly a useful idiot.

….

Taken from: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/mark-latham-alp-is-full-of-useful-idiots-assisting-cultural-marxism/news-story/6425b58d26c78ec0659d9d225a194608?nk=b88dad37a2c83b63e4079d919c47e3e0-1508190807