Saturday, 14 December 2013

SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE UPDATE: PATIENCE


SPIRIT OF MEDJUGORJE UPDATE: PATIENCE


.a good Christian life cannot be pursued without a regular examination of conscience and a good grounding in the virtues...

...virtues stem from the grace deposited in the ground of the soul by God..the root of all virtue is humility which is characterized by a patient and loving submission to authority...


...the stem of the virtues is Holy obedience which allows us to utilize the commands of God in daily life...


...the other virtues branch off this tree and allow our soul to become a verdant abode of God’s spirit (the Holy Spirit)....


..the virtues themselves may be divided into three categories..the theological, the intellectual and the moral...



..indeed Religion without Sacrifice is an enemy of virtue....if one has not mortified the reason through prudence and obedience to succesors of the apostles in good standing then they have practiced Religion without sacrificing their will and in the end no virtue can grow from the ground of the soul where God deposits grace..God does not deposit grace in the emotion or intellect if he did these would need to transcend themselves ...God deposits his grace in the ground of the soul where it cannot be felt..so we must exercise grace in order for virtue to grow from it...and in this way the fruits of grace will be felt through charity to our neighbour.... from the inside out not as we see in MEDJUGORJE from the outside in....this is how we hear the saying the kingdom of God is within,,since God works from the inside of the soul where we are made in his image and likeness..


...is is whythe devil works  through the emotions and feelings so we guard ourselves from such spiritual flushings since the devil can easily trick some into the belief they have had a  quasi "religious experience"..indeed this is all false since the devil cannot get inside as God can..so the devil will lure us with flushings and stirrings to get us to betray the reason and the tradition of the Church...and trust ourselves..this is how the devil scatters the flock indeed one of the devil's names is the one who scatters....from the Greek diabellein..is derived the word devil..since God and the Holy Spirit unify through charity  of course the devil is intent on casting apart and dividing the flock..however he does this subtly since he is a beguiler....

...attached to the the moral virtue of fortitude is the virtue of patience which disposes a soul to endure present evils so that such a one is not cast down or become crestfallen when crosses and tribulations arise...patience disposes a person to hope in the life of the world to come and so works as  a support for faith...without patience one cannot exercise faith since faith is concerned with the things unseen and the things to come...if one has not the patience to wait and persevere through the passing fates of the present then such a soul will falter in faith and become cold and intemperate..and since temperance is a custodian of all the virtues such a one will inevitably fall into unseemly habits such as overzealousness, fanaticism, extremism and spiritual gluttony...since without patience such a one will fail in charity by being unable to endure assaults and insults and injury since they will be quick to anger and querulous (quick to quarrel) with urges and desires...such a spirit is opposed to God since God is not quick to anger and  steadfast in love  and fidelity to all... as the scripture says...


[8] The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy. [9] The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. [10] Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless thee.
Psalm 144:8-10, Douay Rheims


…as we see in MEDJUGORJE adherents are eager and curious and hungry for the next message from the GOSPA…they are impatient and do not exercise faith but turn devotions into chores rather than acts of faith…everything in such a spirituality is turned inside out..everything is done for themselves rather than for their neighbour..people go on long pilgrimage for their own good feelings and call these stirrings “graces”..yet they fail in charity to their neighbour since they do not pray for unity of cause of the Church but only long to save themselves..this is a contradiction to the message Jesus teaches in the Gospel….it is an entirely self-centred spirituality…it is a denial of faith hope and charity which are the three theological virtues…


[41] Then he shall say to them also that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels. [42] For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink. [43] I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you covered me not: sick and in prison, and you did not visit me. [44] Then they also shall answer him, saying: Lord, when did we see thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? [45] Then he shall answer them, saying: Amen I say to you, as long as you did it not to one of these least, neither did you do it to me.

[46] And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting.

Matthew 25:41-46, Douay Rheims


..let us all guard ourselves from spiritual gluttony so that we may not fail in charity to our neighbour…in the active life we must put ourselves at the disposal of our neighbour so that we become attentive to the needs of others rather than be turned in upon ourselves…being consumed with prayers and fasting yet being inattentive to the needs of the people we come in contact with on a daily basis sets us up for hypocrisy and in the end makes all Christians look bad..remember the devil inspires people to live outside their vocation so that a person who has specific talents for a certain vocation becomes inspired through deceits of the devil to cling to a station in life they are not suited…yet through pride they aim above their aspect…and this is a deception of the devil..in the spiritual life we should aim for balance not excess…

…what good is it if one fasts and prays but vilifies the traditions of the Church of Christ through mockery of two Bishops in good standing through public festivals which are unauthorized…indeed attending the sacraments is good but if one does not exercise charity to their neighbour the good is cancelled out by negligence and spiritual laziness..at MEDJUGORJE people just want to feel good yet they do not strive to carry the cross of Christ in obedience as Christ did….

Let us see what the humble and gentle saints say about the virtue of patience……

'Just as suffering and dishonor usually give birth to virtues, so pleasure and self-esteem usually give birth to vices.'
- St. Mark the Ascetic


'Patience is a companion to wisdom'

-St. Augustine

(as opposed to vain curiosity in visions and messages)



And we beseech you, brethren, rebuke the unquiet, comfort the feeble minded, support the weak, be patient towards all men

1 Thessalonians 5:14  (Douay Rheims bible)


........amen




No comments:

Post a Comment