Careful!

"Even if we perform upon thousands of good works, my brethren: fasts, prayers, almsgiving; even if we shed our blood for our Christ and we don’t have these two loves [love of God and love of brethren], but on the contrary have hatred and malice toward our brethren, all the good we have done is of the devil and we go to hell. But, you say, we go to hell despite all the good we do because of that little hatred?

Yes, my brethren, because that hatred is the devil’s poison, and just as when we put a little yeast in a hundred pounds of flour it has such power that it causes all the dough to rise, so it is with hatred. It transforms all the good we have done into the devil’s poison."

-St. Kosmas Aitolos

Comeback Complete

One game back as we head into the dog days of August!!!

What a night.

Hillary Clinton

I am currently watching this woman giving her sales pitch to the denizens of the United States.

She is really the face of evil.  In the midst of the noise of the brainless audience, a Catholic can discern all the evil and malice that she stands for.

Oh Lord, please spare us from evil leaders.

The Heart

"The heart itself is only a small vessel, yet dragons are there and lions. There are poisonous beasts and all the treasury of evil. There are rough and uneven roads in that little place. There are precipices, thoughts. There too are God and his angels. There is life. The Kingdom is there. There too is light, the Apostles, the heavenly cities, the treasures of greats. All things lie within that little space."

-St. Macarius the Great 

Small Drop

Our lives are but a small drop in the larger ocean.  Because of the result of original sin, we can often believe that we are really great and should be significant in the world.

We are servants of God and we must let ourselves be utilized by God in the way that He wants to.  If he wants to break your heart, accept the suffering with resignation.  If he gives you joy, accept it with a calm disposition.  Do not try to engage in a struggle with God for you will only cause your heart much agony and distress.

Let us hope in the Mother of God for she will lead us away from the snares of the world and will be our great advocate in the quest for Paradise.

Let us suffer, let us suffer for Paradise.


"According to thy mercy, pour out upon me, who am miserable, at least one small drop of grace to make me understand and be converted, that I might make at least some small effort to correct myself. For if thy grace does not illumine my soul, I will not be able to see the carelessness and negligence that the passions have produced in me through my apathy and recklessness."

-St. Ephrem the Syrian

Quiet

"Nilius said, 'The arrows of the enemy cannot touch someone who loves quiet.  But those who wander about among crowds will often be wounded by them.'"

-The Desert Fathers

Request

Please, out of charity, pray for me.  I am experiencing deep spiritual turmoil and if you could ask the Mother of God to give me the strength to walk this dark tunnel, I would be very grateful.  I will pray for you as well.

"Suffering reminds the wise man of God, but crushes those who forget him."
-St. Mark the Ascetic

The Four Virtues and Stillness

"He who wants to cross the spiritual sea is long-suffering, humble, vigilant and self-controlled. If he impetuously embarks on it without these four virtues, he agitates his heart, but cannot cross.

Stillness helps us by making evil inoperative. If it also takes to itself these four virtues in prayer, it is the most direct support in attaining dispassion."

-St. Mark the Ascetic

Cross of Christ

"Do not seek the perfection of the law in human virtues, for it is not found perfect in them. Its perfection is hidden in the Cross of Christ."

-St. Mark the Ascetic

The Reality of Death

I have been meditating on death for some time now.  Death, I have concluded, is a serious business. It is the end of your "written record" here on Earth.  After we die, we can longer merit.  We can no longer repent from mortal sin.  We can no longer go to Confession.

Man, that is very frightening.  May God have mercy on me and my readers and may we all die in the state of grace.


“You must not be greatly troubled about many things, but you should care for the main thing — preparing yourself for death.”
-St. Ambrose of Optina

From Book II, Meditations

"Yes, you can--if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered, irritable."

-Marcus Aurelius

Death

"Keep death and exile daily before thine eyes, with all else that men deem terrible, but more especially Death. Then wilt thou never think a mean thought, nor covet anything beyond measure."

-Epictetus

Tranquility

"How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable, and immediately to be in all tranquility."

-Marcus Aurelius

Things learned from yesterday's final

1.) Nothing is more beneficial in football than having a solid compact defense.

2.) Just because you are playing at home does not mean you are entitled to a victory (Brazil 2014, France 2016, Bayern Munich 2012, etc....)

3.) Always have a plan B in case your star player gets injured and execute such a plan to perfection.

4.) If you have a clear header, do not hit the ball over the net (Griezmann '65)

5.) Football is fun.


Congratulations to Portugal.

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

With the Lord

“Whatever you are doing, with whomever you are speaking, whether you are going somewhere or sitting, let your mind be with the Lord. You will forget yourself, and stray from this path; but again turn to the Lord and rebuke yourself with sorrow. This is the discipline of spiritual attentiveness.”

-St. Theophan the Recluse 

Disappointed

I am not down because Wales lost.  I am more frustrated by how they lost.  A couple days ago, we saw a spirited performance against Belgium which ended in a resilient victory.  However, today, we saw completely the opposite.  The first half was completely poor mostly because they did not show the initiative to even try to score.  After Ronaldo broke the deadlock in the 50th minute, Wales was forced to actually play in the game.  At least that is what I thought.

After the second goal, I had a feeling that tonight was going nowhere.  Bale, for his talent, was poor.   The passing was sub-par, his crosses were not able to enter the danger zone, and he was not able to be dangerous in front of goal.

Portugal, if we are honest, are not that great.  There have been better Portuguese teams in the past that have not won trophies so it was for the taking (especially after beating Belgium)!  So yes, Wales did much better than expected since a SF finish is something to be proud of.  However, the prospects of what could have been!

P.S: I am not Welsh but I have grown to admire the team over the Euros.  Also, Gareth Bale is my favorite player.  Let us hope they qualify for the World Cup!

Narrow Focus

"Those who keep thoughts of the welfare of all mankind inattentively let slip by that which is in front of their eyes. Because they do not have the opportunity to perform a general work, and let slip by the opportunity to perform a particular work, they accomplish nothing towards the main purpose of life.
All troubles come from a mental outlook that is too broad. It is better to humbly cast your eyes down toward your feet, and to figure out which step to take where. This is the truest path."

-St. Theophan the Recluse

Deception

“The devil appeared to a monk disguised as an angel of light, and said to him, ‘I am the angel Gabriel, and I have been sent to you.’ But the monk said, ‘Are you sure you weren’t sent to someone else? I am not worthy to have an angel sent to me.’ At that the devil vanished.”

Hos Erouf

We are living in such times

"Abba Anthony said:  The time is coming when people will be insane, and when they see someone who is not insane, they will attack that person saying: You are insane because you are not like us."

Are You Watching England?