Saturday, January 21, 2012

Madonna and Child with Three Angels


Picture source

St. Agnes


Picture source

O invincible Martyr, Saint Agnes most renowned, by thy confidence in God's help,
when, being condemned by the impious Roman prefect to see the lily of thy purity
stained and trampled in the mire, thou didst not despair, still trusting firmly in the God who giveth His angels charge over them that trust in Him: we beseech thee by thine intercession to obtain for us from Almighty God the forgiveness of all our sins and the sure confidence that He will bestow upon us life everlasting and the means necessary to merit it.

The Prayer Book

Monday, January 16, 2012

Reverence for All that is Holy

St. Stephen's Church's Chapel, Paterson NJ
Photo by Esther

Most examinations of conscience emphasize reverence to God. For example:


Second Commandment

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Have I...

Used the name of God in cursing or blasphemy?
...Spoken about the Faith, the Church, the saints, or sacred things with irreverence, hatred or defiance?...

Source.

Basic preparation for confession, right?

Good Catholics try to avoid offending God, His Holy Mother, His saints and all that is holy. We try to show the utmost respect and reverence at all times. That is how most of us were brought up. We learned to show respect and reverence regarding all things holy, as little kids.

When we speak about Jesus, or His blessed Mother, it should only be with reverence.  It is bad enough when the secular world thinks nothing of continuously taking the Lord's name in vain. But it is more shocking when Catholics do so in the various social networks.  Just to give you an example, once someone actually brought up the subject of Our Blessed Mother's bathroom habits!

It is best we to keep what is holy, holy

What is the purpose of writing something titillating with respect to God, or any sacred or holy person?  This type of writing will not help evangelize.  In fact, it will probably hurt any efforts to evangelize.  People are hungry for the sacred.  Anything else, they can find in the secular media.

Think about that.