I have many flaws and sins. But what other people think of my religious devotions never enters my mind. I recall a non-Catholic Judge, a good guy, thought I had dirt on my forehead on Ash Wednesday. (This was many years ago prior to Ash Wednesday becoming a thing in some Protestant churches. ) He was extremely apologetic after I explained, but I noted to him that no apology was necessary as he hadn’t known and I was happy to explain.
Thought For The Day
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Thinking and acting in the realities of eternity and the responsibilities thereof creates bewilderment for those who live on a horizontal plane only.
From the 1995 Evangelium Vitae
All who commit themselves to following Christ are given the fullness of life: the divine image is restored, renewed and brought to perfection in them. God’s plan for human beings is this, that they should “be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom 8:29). Only thus, in the splendour of this image, can man be freed from the slavery of idolatry, rebuild lost fellowship and rediscover his true identity.
“Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (Jn 11:26): the gift of eternal life
37. The life which the Son of God came to give to human beings cannot be reduced to mere existence in time. The life which was always “in him” and which is the “light of men” (Jn 1:4) consists in being begotten of God and sharing in the fullness of his love: “To all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (Jn 1:12-13)
Thy kingdom come…thy will be done…
The Ashes are one of the few times I’ve had the chance to publicly witness to someone, in a way that didn’t make them uncomfortable.
Don- on an Ask Wednesday in the last century I asked the same question as that judge (except that I assumed it was newspaper ink) Now I am a convert to the Church.
These seemingly little events make a difference. I can look back to a handful of moments that put a grain or two on the right side of the conversion scale and often wonder about the thousands of grains God put on that side of the balance without me ever knowing. Thanks be to God!
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