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Meditation of the Day – No One Should Fear Any Temptation of the Devil

“I’ve appointed the Devil to tempt and to trouble My creatures in this life [St. Catherine of Siena reports that Our Lord said to her]. I’ve done this, not so that My creatures will be overcome, but so that they may overcome, proving their virtue and receiving from Me the glory of victory. And no one should fear any battle or temptation of the Devil that may come to him, because I’ve made My creatures strong, and I’ve given them strength of will, fortified in the Blood of My Son. Neither the Devil nor any other creature can control this free will, because it’s yours, given to you by Me. By your own choice, then, you hold it or let it go if you please. It’s a weapon, and if you place it in the hands of the Devil, it right away becomes a knife that he’ll use to stab and kill you. On the other hand, if you don’t place this knife that is your will into the hands of the Devil—that is, if you don’t consent to his temptations and harassments—you will never be injured by the guilt of sin in any temptation. Instead, you’ll actually be strengthened by the temptation, as long as you open the eyes of your mind to see My love, and to understand why I allowed you to be tempted: so you could develop virtue by having it proved. My love permits these temptations, for the Devil is weak. He can do nothing by himself unless I allow him. So I let him tempt you because I love you, not because I hate you. I want you to conquer, not to be conquered, and to come to a perfect knowledge of yourself and of Me.”— St. Catherine of Siena, p. 159-60

//The Catholic Company//

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Minute Meditation – The Pain of Betrayal

There is a poignant passage in the Servant Song from Isaiah that illustrates and prepares us for two betrayals that are about to happen: “I thought I had toiled in vain and uselessly, I have exhausted myself for nothing” (Isaiah 49:4). Surely that is the human feeling after someone we love turns against us. On some level, we all feel we have made some kind of contract with life, when life does not come through as we had hoped, and we feel a searing pain called betrayal. It happens to all of us in different ways. It is a belly punch that leaves us with a sense of futility and emptiness. And here it happens to Jesus from two of his own inner circle, both Judas and Peter. The more love and hope you have invested in another person, the deeper the pain of betrayal is. If it happens at a deep and personal level, we wonder if he will ever trust again. Your heart does “break.” It is one of those crossroad moments, when the breaking can forever close you down, or in time just the opposite—open you up to an enlargement of soul—as we will see in Jesus this week. What is happening is that we are withdrawing a human dependency, finding grace to forgive and let go, and relocating our little self in The Self (God), which never betrays us. It can’t! It might take years for most of us to work through this; for Jesus it seems to have been natural, although who knows how long it took him to get there. All we see in the text is that there are no words of bitterness at all, only a calm, unblaming description in the midst of the “night,” which is almost upon us. 

“Solitary Jesus, you get more alone as the week goes on, till all you have is a naked but enduring hope in God. Do not bring me to such a test, I would not know how to survive.”

— from the book Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent

by Richard Rohr, OFM

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Saint of the Day – March 30 – Saint Fergus of Scotland

St. Fergus of Scotland (d. 730 A.D.), also known as St. Fergustian or Fergus the Pict, Bishop of the Gaels, was a bishop serving in the north of Scotland. Little is known of his life. He is believed to have been trained as a bishop in Ireland, ministering there for many years before traveling as a missionary to Scotland. He went throughout the Scottish countryside preaching the Gospel, setting up churches dedicated to St. Patrick of Ireland, and working to convert the pagan people to Christianity. He also traveled to St. Peter’s Basilica to participate in the Council of Rome in 721 A.D. He died around the year 730 A.D. and is buried in Glamis, Angus, in Scotland. Nearby is St. Fergus’ Well. The site is believed to be where St. Fergus presided over religious services before the first church of Glamis was built. His feast day is March 30th.

//The Catholic Company//

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Meditation of the Day – Every Good Thing Will Be Yours

“If you wish to explore the Holy Scripture, and you overcome your laziness and apply yourself, thirsting for the knowledge, then every good thing will be yours. You will fill your mind with the divine light. Then, when you apply that light to the doctrines of the Church, you will very easily recognize everything that is true and unadulterated, and lay it up in the hidden treasures of your soul.”— St. Cyril of Alexandria, p. 167

//The Catholic Company//

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Why Does God Allow Evil?

If God is all-loving and good, then why does He allow evil? Read more here.

Suffering and doubt often draw people away from their faith. It is so easy to think, “How could a merciful and loving God allow this to happen?”

If you have ever doubted God during hard seasons, you are not alone. From Job in the Old Testament to St. Thomas Aquinas, Christians throughout history have grappled with the problems of evil and suffering with a supposedly good God. Thankfully, early Church Fathers have shown us how to keep our faith in the midst of darkness.

In his book What To Say and How to Say It: Discuss Your Catholic Faith with Clarity and Confidence, bestselling author Brandon Vogt outlines “The Threefold Problem of Evil,” which consists of “The Logical Problem of Evil,” “The Evidential Problem of Evil,” and “The Emotional Problem of Evil.”

According to Vogt, the Logical Problem of Evil essentially asks, “Is there a logical contradiction between an all-good, all-powerful God and the existence of evil?” He explains that perhaps God is permitting evil and, by doing so, bringing about greater goods through suffering. Vogt explains:

But what kind of goods?… One answer is free will. It’s one of the most extraordinary gifts we’ve been given, the powerful to freely choose how to act. We know that free will means we can choose good or evil, and when faced with such a choice, we often choose poorly. Of course, God could simply prevent us from ever choosing evil, but think about what that would mean. If we could never really choose evil, then our freedom is not real freedom. True freedom requires saying yes or no, choosing good or evil, without constraint.

Evil is the absence of good, and it is the result of God’s gift of free will. God loves us enough that He allows us to choose to do good, rather than force us to do so. As a result, some will choose evil. Jesus Christ reminds us in the Beatitudes that those who choose God will have great rewards in eternal life.

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Will Fallen-Away Catholics go to Hell?

Will those who have left the Church go to Hell? It depends. Read more here.

While separation from the Catholic Church is an obstacle for those seeking Heaven, that does not necessarily mean that every person who denies the Catholic Church will go to Hell.

In his book What Catholics Really Believe: 52 Answers To Common Misconceptions About the Catholic Faith, Karl Keating answers this tough question.

He begins by citing Pope Pius XII’s 1943 encyclical Mystici Corporis Christi, translated to On the Mystical Body of Christ. This encyclical explains three aspects identifying a Catholic: valid baptism, participation in communion with the Church, and profession of the Faith.

Once someone is baptized, they are sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and original sin is washed away from their soul permanently. A person cannot be “unbaptized.” However, no one is forced to remain in the Catholic Church. Those who willingly disassociate themselves with the Church are no longer members.

Christians reject or leave the Catholic Church for many reasons—some have good intentions, some don’t. Sometimes people leave the Church and join a different Christian denomination for what they believe are good reasons. In other words, these Christians are more misguided than unfaithful. God alone can judge, for He alone knows their intentions—we are simply called to evangelize to these souls lovingly and truthfully.

Karl Keating explains how leaving the Church in good faith can affect one’s justification:

“[These Christians] remain related to the Church spiritually, even though they cease to be legal members of it. They still may achieve justification and salvation, but these are harder to achieve the further one distances oneself from the complete truth, found only in the Catholic Church, and the ordinary sources of grace, the sacraments. Leaving the Church, even with the best of intentions, is a great blunder because, all things being equal, the move diminishes one’s chances for heaven.”

However, if one leaves the Church in bad faith—knowing that Catholicism was founded by Jesus Christ and holds the ultimate truth—that person has knowingly abandoned the truth and would not enter Heaven.

At the end of the day, however, we as human beings cannot judge the interior state of someone’s soul. The best thing we can do is pray for their salvation.

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Did St. Patrick really drive snakes out of Ireland?

There are no snakes in Ireland – did St. Patrick actually drive them out?

It is true that there are no snakes in Ireland. Legend tells us that St. Patrick drove them away during his missionary journey around the fifth century. For this reason, many images depict St. Patrick crushing a snake with his foot.

But did St. Patrick really drive the snakes out of Ireland? While we know about his impact on the spread of Catholicism in Ireland, we don’t know many of the details of his life. St. Patrick is also a major symbol of Irish culture, so there are a lot of legends about his life.

St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland is almost certainly one of those legends. Yes, Ireland is snake-free, but most experts believe they never made it to Ireland in the first place. But St. Patrick did drive the metaphorical snakes of evil and paganism out of Ireland, converting an entire people to Catholicism. That is why the legend persists and why, while probably not literally accurate, it is spiritually true.

Before St. Patrick, pagan practices were rampant in Ireland. St. Patrick helped incorporate the Christian message into Irish culture to help the Irish people understand the Christian God and abandon their pagan practices.

So while St. Patrick likely did not physically drive snakes out of Ireland, we can say with certainty that he did have a major role in driving the Devil out of Ireland by converting the Irish to Christianity.

This Saint Patrick’s Day, in the midst of all the festivities, we should honor St. Patrick’s legacy by helping spread the Word of God to those who are unreached.

//The Catholic Company//

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Why Do Catholics Use Holy Water?

Ever wonder why holy water is so widely used in parishes around the world? Find out here.

Holy water is so customary for Catholics that we sometimes don’t question why the Church uses it or the significance behind it. We most commonly use holy water when we walk into church and dip our fingers into a font to bless ourselves.

So what does holy water actually do, and why is it important?

Holy water is one of the Church’s most essential sacramentals. It’s blessed by God through a priest, with a rite of blessing that includes prayers of exorcism. This blessing elevates the water to a sacramental that helps us receive God’s grace when used faithfully. Not only is holy water used to give grace to God’s children, it is also used to help defend us in spiritual warfare.

Because of its power, holy water is used in almost every sacrament. For instance, in the Sacrament of Baptism, the priest pours holy water over an infant’s or new convert’s head. Holy water is also used for Anointing of the Sick. In weddings, the priest uses holy water to bless the couple’s rings. At funerals, the priest sprinkles holy water over the deceased person’s coffin.

So how can we truly appreciate holy water and enjoy the benefits of it? By incorporating it into our daily lives.

In addition to using holy water to bless ourselves when we enter a parish, we should also use it to bless our homes, our families, our work spaces, and anything that you use with the goal of glorifying God in your daily life.

//The Catholic Company//