Everything in life boils down to one thing, whether or not we get to heaven or not. Everything else is just so much passing window dressing. This end, this Journey to the Heavenly City, the New Jerusalem, must be the one whole focus of our heart's desire and nothing, nothing at all must be allowed to distract us from that end. No matter how much success or Earthly goods we accumulate in this life; no matter how popular or high in the esteem of others if we wind up in Hell everything is utter and Eternal Failure. ...and if all around us count us a total failure but we reach the shores of the Eternal City our life has had meaning and purpose and is an Eternal Victory. This may sound selfish . But none of us on reaching Heaven will reach it alone. We shall pull others up the mountain of life in our wake. When we reach the Eternal Banquet we shall draw others, perhaps countless others there with us. None of reach heaven or hell alone. No man is a spiritual island. If we at the evening of life find ourselves screaming n the Eternal Fires other will scream there with us and because of us. Life is very,very short. St Teresa of Avila said we will look back on this life as a Night spent in a bad Hotel. We are, as Scripture informs us like grass that springs up in the morning and withers in the evening. Now as the Great Storm of our Times is upon us recall that even the worst times in life garner the great reward of our personal sanctification and purification and that of Our Holy Mother the Church. So let us press ever onwards to that Golden City our Eternal Destination.
Padraig, that is so beautiful and divinely inspired! Thank you for sharing! We need to be reminded of this often! Blessings!
Thank you. I think these days I sometimes think of life as a tight rope. I get this sometimes when I read the dreams and visions of St John Bosco. He took concerns for Salvation very,very seriously indeed. I was thinking about the son of the US President Hunter Biden last night. I feel a little sorry for him and pray for his soul, he is leading such a dissolute dishonest lifestyle. I fear for his Salvation. Anyone in grace danger of hell is very much to be pitied. I think one thing that make me feel so sorry for Hunter because his father Joe Biden , the US President seems to be a wicked and corrupt man. I think to myself what chance did Hunter have with a father like that? There is a real mystery to this; that saints and good people tend to come from good families whilst evil and bad children tend to come from evil families. It isn't always so , but mostly it is. It is as if whole family groups appear from the beginning to head for either heaven or hell. Such a Mystery. But it is a reminder of how closely interlinked we all are. There is an old saying, 'Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are'. There is a lot of truth in that. Prayers for Hunter.
There is a wonder speech from Sylvester Stallione in , 'Rocky 5' , to his son. As a boxer Rocky reminds his son that in life it is not about how much we can get from life but in how much we can take. I met a nurse this morning telling me how cold it was this morning , though it is early September and how cold it is in her appartment because she cannot afford the heating. This reminds me of a story he told me about with my grandmother. My grandmother was deserted by my grandfather (who was a serial bigamist) and left with three children to take her of on her own in very,very hard times. They often did not even have anything even to to eat. My grandmother one time was desperate, she had tried the local priests and Catholic Charities but they all had no money to give; even for food. There was a priest about 16 miles away who had a reputation for being a saint. So she asked my father to walk there and back to beg him for money. My father was very hungry before even starting the long walk. When he got there the saintly father gave him some money . He started home but was so hungry by this time he stopped at a shop and bought a bar of chocolate. He said he felt so guilty about this it nearly killed him , for he knew that chocolate could have went to buy a bag of potatoes that would have fed them for a week. It seems to me that previous generations had the stamina to endure great privations, to roll with the punches precisely because they had Faith. But we no longer have such Faith. We are certainly not going to roll with the punches and endure. We will just get angry and look for people and things to blame. We will not endure.
Padraig we will soon be plunged into economic chaos. By next year there will be food rationing and energy rationing. I worry about the real possibility of hyperinflation. https://amp.theguardian.com/busines...market-turmoil-sparked-a-pension-fund-selloff
This need to blame others has really infected our culture. It goes along with the grievance mentality. The only antidote as far as I can see is to "give thanks in all things" as St Paul says. Start with an attitude of gratitude. If things get really really bad people will begin to realize how blessed they were back when they were blaming and complaining. That story of your grandmother and your father touched my heart. How strong and brave our grandparents and parents were. We have NO idea. We are spoiled by too much of everything. When it all goes away, like the prodigal son, God willing, our culture will wake up and return to the Father's house.
