Month: November 2015

“Luisa Piccarreta saved my life”

The miracle attributed to Luisa

11/26/2015

Here below the translation of the articles of CoratoLive.it (electronic journal of Corato) by Marianna Lotito and in La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno (one of the most important newspapers in Southern Italy) by Giuseppe Cantatore on the miraculous healing of Mrs. Margarita Maria Chavez,  attributed by herself  to  the intercession of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta:

 Testimony of Maria Margarita Chavez:

An element that could be important in the process of beatification of the Servant of God, known more in the world that in her hometown.

In Florida the first miracle attributed to Luisa Piccarreta. The canonical process started. 

The testimony of Margarita: “Luisa Piccarreta saved my life”

Words of hope from Florida. Margarita experienced the intercession of Luisa for her recovery

According to American doctors, it is a miracle, the first that occurred through the intercession of Luisa Piccarreta.

Acute pneumonia combined with other complications had put the life of Maria Margarita Chavez in serious danger: according to the team that was treating her, she had less than 48 hours left to live. Then the inexplicable cure: “the Tuesday after Easter in 2007, they brought me a relic of Luisa and my lungs started to heal,” she herself recounted at the Conference on the “Divine Will” which was held in April in Corato. An element that could be important in the process of beatification of the Servant of God, known more in the world that in her hometown.

For this reason, Bishop Pichierri asked the association named after Luisa to begin the “canonical process” to “gather the first testimonies” before some of the main characters pass away. The main reference is the mother of Maria Margarita, who is now elderly.

“To respond to this invitation – confirms Sabino Lastella, president of the association Luisa Piccarreta – we worked to institute a due process in the diocese of residence of Chavez, and that is in Miami, Florida.”

In late May, the bishop of Miami, Mgr. Thomas Wenski, gave his approval, and “at this time we are contacting those who are part of the ecclesiastical tribunal,” added Lastella. The Interrogatories will be held: between December and January twelve witnesses should be heard. “Soon we will have a final schedule – Lastella continued – and at the conclusion of the work it is expected to take two days to meet and discuss in Miami, as the year of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Luisa is still going on.”

Once all the documents, with all the seals of the Archbishop of Miami, have been prepared, they will be sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican through the postulation.

To understand what this entails in the cause of beatification. we turned to Dom Sergio Pellegrini, assistant ecclesiastic  of the Little Children of the Divine Will. “Once the verification of the writings of Luisa (still in progress) has been completed, the Cause will begin, and it will be possible to develop the “Positio”, an annotated biography needed so that the venerability of Luisa is recognized.” Only then what science now calls a miracle “carry out its immediate effect in regard to the beatification” confirms Don Sergio.

To talk about a miracle recognized by the Church, the approval of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is required. “The testimonies will be evaluated – explained Dom Sergio – and any further investigations that the congregation will want to make.

The story of Margherita. Born in Cuba on May 18, 1959, she lives in Miami with her mother Dolores and her son Christopher. April 4, 2007 – during Holy Week, as she herself wished to point out – she was hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the hospital in Miami and in the care of doctor Mario Almeida who in 2006 had treated her bronchopneumonia found on her return from a trip to Italy. “I went to Italy to visit the places where Luisa lived and to meet Sister Assunta” said Margherita during the Conference.

On April 6, the medical case of the woman continued to get worse, the doctors decided to intubate her and do a lung biopsy . Connected to an artificial respirator, Margarita went into a coma after receiving the sacraments of confession and anointing of the sick.

On April 10, the Tuesday of the First Week of Easter, Father Cioffi put a relic of Luisa on the chest of Margherita, while around her they were reading the prayers and the writings of Luisa. The next day the first unexplained improvements were seen on x-ray: in a few days Margherita began to breathe on her own and could serenely face also the third kidney transplant.

Margarita remembers about her state of unconsciousness: “The Lord showed me the intrinsic evil of humanity. I was in a place of the elderly and the dying without being able to move, the workers took advantage of us, they gave sleeping pills to have no trouble. I still recall the images of a place where they were preparing the bodies of the dead people. As I was lying on a table, the Lord Jesus let me hear the illicit and malicious conversations of those who were around me. They put me in a coffin, leaving out an arm. The coffin was too small, my body would not fit. The pain I felt was very intense.

Then came a man, dressed in a white coat, and I began to ask Jesus to have mercy on me. The more I begged pity from the Lord, the more the man squeezed my hand. I remained like that for a long time: he would be hammering my arm, and kept trying to close the coffin with my arm hanging outside. This lasted a long time. The man kept telling me that if I stopped asking Jesus for mercy, he would leave me alone and would not torture me anymore, but I did not stop asking Jesus for mercy. Then, I found myself in front of our Lord Jesus Christ who told me, “Daughter, your sins are forgiven.” Immediately, I saw coming out of me, and I felt coming out of me, like a smoke, a breath, a black shadow. Then, my body felt very light. I felt clean.”

La Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno Wednesday, November 18, 2015

FROM MIAMI, UNITED STATES, THE TESTIMONY THAT WILL BE ASSESSED BY THE COURT OF LOCAL DIOCESE

“It’s me, miraculously healed by Luisa”

A 49 year old Cuban woman reveals the first miracle that could be attributed to Piccarreta.

CORATO. It was the spring of 2007 when the lungs of Maria Margarita Chavez, a 49 – year – old woman from Cuba, were going to succumb definitively under the blows of a severe pneumonia. The diagnosis of doctors was merciless: they gave her only a few days to live.

Then, there was the poor woman’s sudden recovery that cannot be explained even today by those who were treating her. So sudden, in fact, that Maria herself has attributed it to a miracle, through God’s servant Luisa Piccarreta, to whom she was and is very devoted.

“I was admitted to Hospital in Miami, United States, during Holy Week,” told the woman last April, when she came to Corato to participate, together with thousands of faithful, in the fourth international conference on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Luisa “the Saint.” “My clinical condition – she explained – continued to aggravate more and more, to the point that my lungs were completely obstructed. I could hardly breathe, I was induced into a coma and was connected to a respirator – the Central American woman also remembered -. The doctors, who had lost all hope, said to my mother to begin preparations for the funeral. During my unconscious state, I had several spiritual experiences. It was then, on Tuesday of the First Week of Easter, that they brought a relic of Luisa and imposed it on my chest. The next morning, my lungs my lungs started to heal and in a short time, even after a kidney transplant, I have completely recovered. “

Today this moving testimony could become a crucial step in the process of beatification of the “Servant of God”. While the archdiocese is still busy producing the “typical and critical” edition of the many writings of Luisa, Bishop Giovan Battista Pichierri asked the association named after Piccarreta to start the canonical procedure to gather testimonies about this happening. “We started the procedure to institute a due process in the Diocese of Miami, Florida, where Maria Margarita Chavez lives” says Sabino Lastella, president of the association. Last May, the Bishop of Miami, Thomas Wenski, granted his approval and in recent weeks the ecclesiastical authorities have been setting the Court that between December and January will hear 12 witnesses.

“At the conclusion of the work – Mr. Lastella adds – we will schedule some days of meeting in Miami,  as the year of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Luisa is still going on.” Once all the proceedings have been filled, the whole dossier, with the seals of the Archbishop of Miami, will be sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican. It will be this entity to establish whether the healing of Maria Margarita Chavez was a miracle or no. “

“The collected testimonies will be evaluated and, if necessary, any further investigations that the congregation will want to make.” – explained Dom Sergio Pellegrini, assistant ecclesiastic  of the “Little Children of the Divine Will”. First the verification of the writings is to be completed, then the Cause will begin and it will be possible to develop the ” Positio”, an annotated biography needed so that the venerability of Luisa is recognized. Only then, concludes Don Sergio, what science now calls a miracle  can carry out its immediate effect in regard to the beatification.

CoratoLive- Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno

Telefono: 0808982221 | Email: info@luisapiccarretaofficial.org

Associazione Luisa Piccarreta – Piccoli Figli della

WHAT IS NEEDED:

Storm Luisa with your prayers

If we wish the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta
to continue, and even hasten,
her ascent to the glory of the altar,
let us give Luisa a chance to perform first class miracles.
Luisa’s holiness and the favors already granted should impregnate our supplications
with unquenchable confidence.
It is certainly permissible to pray to Luisa in our daily needs,
but let us not be afraid to implore real miracles from her.
Let us invoke Luisa or have her invoked in cases of fatal maladies,
wherein science has to declare itself powerless.
That is when Luisa Piccarreta
will be able to display the prodigious power of her intercession.

MAKE KNOWN THE FAVORS RECEIVED

For the glory of God and of Luisa Piccarreta, kindly write out the favors obtained,
sign them, with two witnesses, if possible, and send to:

Postulation for the Cause of Beatification Luisa Piccarreta
Palazzo Arcivescoville
70059 Trani (BA) Italy

Only 40 days ’till Christmas!

40 day countdown to Christmas Day

Thanksgiving (Nov 26),

Advent begins (Nov 29),

the Immaculate Conception (Dec 8),

Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec 12),

St John of the Cross (Dec 14, for all you Carmelite Fans),

then Our Lord’s Birthday (Dec 25)

followed by the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ, the first drops of his innocent blood shed for humanity, on New Year’s Day!

Get Ready for the Christmas by praying the Christmas Novena!

Feast of Christmas

The Most Powerful Prayers

Volume 11 – June 15, 1916

In the Divine Will everything is complete.

The Most Powerful Prayers over the Heart of Jesus, and those which move Him the Most, are to clothe oneself with all that He Himself did and suffered.

Continuing in my usual state, my always lovable Jesus came, He Transformed me completely in Him, and then He told me:

“Daughter, pour yourself into my Will to make complete reparations for Me.

My Love feels an irresistible need for them; after so many offenses of creatures, it wants one at least who, placing herself between Me and them, would give Me Complete Reparations, Love for all, and would snatch from Me Graces for all. But you can do this only in My Divine Will, in which you shall find Me and all creatures. Oh, with what yearnings am I waiting for you to enter into My Divine Will, to be able to find in you the Satisfactions and the Reparations of all! Only in My Divine Will shall you find all things in act, because I AM engine, actor and spectator of everything.” Now, while He was saying this, I poured myself into His Divine Will – but who can say what I saw? I was in contact with every thought of creature, the Life of which came from God; and I, in His Divine Will, multiplied myself in each thought, and with the Sanctity of His Divine Will I repaired everything, I had a ‘Thank You’ for all, a Love for all. Then I multiplied myself in the gazes, in the words and in everything else – but who can say what was happening? I lack the terms, and maybe the very angelic tongues would stammer; therefore I stop here.

So I spent the whole night with Jesus in His Will. Then I felt the Queen Mama near me, and She told me:

“My daughter, pray.” And I: ‘My Mama, let us pray together, for by myself I don’t know how to pray.’

And She added: “The Most Powerful Prayers over the Sacred Heart of my Son, and those which move Him the Most, are for

the creature to clothe herself with everything He Himself did and suffered,

since He gave everything as Gift to the creature.

Therefore, my daughter,

“Surround your head with the thorns of Jesus, bead your eyes with His tears, impregnate your tongue with His bitterness, clothe your soul with His Blood, adorn yourself with His wounds, pierce your hands and feet with His nails, and like another Christ present yourself before His Divine Majesty. This sight will move Him in such a way that He shall not be able to deny anything to the soul who is clothed with His own insignia. But – oh, how little do creatures know how to make use of the Gifts which my Son gave them! These were my prayers upon earth, and these are my prayers in Heaven.”

So, together we clothed ourselves with the Insignia of Jesus, and together we presented ourselves before the Divine Throne.

This moved all; the Angels made way for us and remained as though surprised.

I thanked Mama, and I found myself inside myself.

Prayer of Miraculous Trust

Prayer of Miraculous Trust

We all need prayer. In Catholicism, we speak of the communion of the saints, which means that all the faithful – both here and departed – are fully alive to God, and we have access to the faithful departeds’ prayers if we only ask. (for those who have any theological doubts on this point, please see Matthew 22:32, Mark 12:27 and Luke 20:38). But the prayers of the Church Militant, that is the faithful still on earth, for each other are crucial – and even more crucial in these times.

Right around the turn of the millennium, the archangel, Gabriel, gave me a prayer and told me the time would come when we would need miracles – and many miracles would be wrought through the faithful use of the prayer.

Right now, many things are collapsing before our very eyes.

When the normal means of healing are easily available, you should always take advantage of them. When God has provided abundant means of normal medicine, it is a presumption to demand only His supernatural medicine. Ideally, it is best to take advantage of both. But soon (and it is happening far more rapidly than I expected) availability of normal services will be spotty – and if you have something chronic or are elderly, much will not be available at all as surviving doctors start working under an implicit triage mentality because of the shortages of supplies and equipment. God will not leave you bereft.

Along with this posting I have linked to a religious supply house that has printed up thousands of prayer cards containing this prayer and instructions on how to use it. It is the Full of Grace Supply House which is also linked at the right hand of this page. The woman who owns it gave me most of them to give away. I always carry a supply with me. I asked her to carry them in her inventory, so that as many as possible might have access to them.

Now, if you treat these as some magic object, I have utterly failed my duty to you. There is no magic in the card, nor magic in the prayer. Rather, the instructions for the prayer teach you how to align your will with that of God. Having said that, there have been many startling results from the proper use of this prayer. Let me explain.

First, the Lord often acts to confirm His intentions. I tell you to acknowledge Our Lady of Tepeyac, which is Our Lady’s proper title in this image, though she is commonly called Our Lady of Guadalupe. I know this because she told me long ago. She is sent as the Mother of Conversion in these terrible times. It pleases Our Lord that you acknowledge, then spread devotion to His servant and mother in this role He has given her for these times.

Second, prayer must begin with faith, the knowledge that God is in control of all things. But it must not end there. The demons in hell know that Christ is Lord, they know Scripture better than you and all the greatest theologians combined and, as James said, they tremble because of that knowledge. If all you have is faith, you have nothing more than the demons in hell.

Faith must lead to trust, the trust that once you acknowledge and follow Him, whatever the Lord allows to befall you is for your benefit or instruction or that of another that you may give witness to, perhaps never knowing until judgment the witness you have given by your trust. Many Christians treat prayer as the cloth with which they rub the magic lamp to bind God to their will. Prayer is to bind you to God’s will – and to begin to understand it. That cannot happen unless you trust, knowing that His ways are not your ways. Some purported faith healers teach that God will always heal those who trust Him. They are right, but not in the way they think. Their imaginations are so impoverished that, whatever they say, the only good they can envision is of this world. God always heals for eternity – that you may have abundant life with Him in heaven. If that means you must suffer some here to quell your rebellious yearnings, than suffer you will – if you trust God. If you are a particularly useful soul, God may allow you to suffer in penance for others who do not know they need penance, that more might be saved. Trust.

Trust will lead to abandonment. That is giving yourself entirely and willingly to whatever God wants of you. Gabriel came to Our Lady, Holy Mary, and told her she would get a great honor if she accepted – become the mother of Our Lord in His human incarnation. But there was a catch, This would happen in a way that would subject her to shame and, perhaps even a brutal execution. What incredible faith, trust and abandonment she lived to be able to say almost immediately, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to your word.” Of course, as Gabriel noted when he first spoke to her, she is “full of grace.” It is hard to get outside yourself. Some years ago, I was undergoing some serious suffering – and it would not go away. I begged and begged to know what I was doing wrong so I could correct it and escape my sorrows. Finally, the Lord, Himself came and said, “This is not about you.” Then He told me who it was about – someone I dearly loved who, unbeknownst to me, was in great spiritual danger. The Lord asked was I willing to accept this penance on the person’s behalf, for he desperately needed it. Foolish and self-centered as I was, I am proud I said yes – and soon was rewarded by seeing how much it was needed. Abandon yourself to His will – and don’t feel bad when He shows you what a silly, little fool you are. He only does that to those in whom He sees great promise. Be glad of your rebukes.

Finally, it is good to have prayer partners. It is even better to have one who already beholds the Face of God, for the saints’ faith is assured and will not fail. Take full advantage of the communion of the faithful. We are really going to need all hands on deck.

Know that with God, the intention is the action. Keep your prayers of petition short. It is not the length of them that aligns you with God, but the trust behind it. If you had perfect trust, all your intentions would merely be stated and then you would accept perfectly what God sends you. If you pray long in petition, you risk deluding yourself it is the Herculean nature of your efforts rather than the effortless grace of God that brings light, and thus become vainglorious. And yet, do not begrudge those who must make long, moaning prayers of petition. It is their lack of faith warring with their hope that makes it necessary. Such brevity is not for all prayer. Prayers of worship, praise and thanksgiving – and those that involve the will of another, may be said at great length, either privately or in community. Also, when a demon is involved, prayers of intercession may go for weeks, but that is best left to priests under most circumstances.

Do not say this particular prayer more than once for any specific intention. To do so is to fail in trust – and defeat the purpose of this prayer, which is abandonment to God’s will. Certainly, God knows how needy we are, so you may say other prayers for the same intention if the need arises, but not this one. In fact, following the lead of St. Monica, you should pray frequently on matters involving the will of another – but only once for this prayer, which is for abandonment to God. If you can, it is best to say it and then let it go, trusting that whatever comes of the matter now is for your eternal good regardless of what happens

Here are instruction and the text for the prayer:

A prayer to abandon yourself to trust in God; to bind yourself to His will with trust rather than trying to bind Him to yours. Pope Francis called Our Lady of Guadalupe the “Virgin of Tepeyac” at her last feast day. Tepeyac Hill is where she appeared, not Guadalupe, hence the title Our Lady of Tepeyac, Mother of Conversion. At its deepest level, this is a prayer that we all convert ourselves to God’s Holy Will.

Back of card: PRAYER OF MIRACULOUS TRUST: (This prayer is to help you turn things over to God, trusting that once you have done so, whatever He then allows is for your eternal good and that of those you love. It lets you ask what you want of God, then closes by abandoning yourself to what God wants of you. Do not say it more than once for any particular intention, as this is an abandonment to trust)

Begin by asking for the help of Our Lady of Tepeyac, then cross yourself and say:

By the power of Our Lord, Jesus Christ; to the honor of Our Lady, the Immaculate Conception; in service to her Immaculate Heart; I ask you Lord (state intention here and ask for the intercession of the saint of your choice). I thank you for hearing my prayer. Thy will be done. Amen.

Cross yourself again, and give it over to God entirely with trust.”

I saw a pithy saying last week I will end with: “Don’t worry about tomorrow. God is already there.”

http://www.fullofgraceusa.com/index.php?route=product%2Fproduct&product_id=327

You Need a Theology of Delayed Gratification!

“When we walk without the Cross, when we build without the Cross, and when we confess a Christ without a Cross, we are no longer disciples of the Lord. We are mundane. We are bishops, priests, cardinals, Popes, everyone, but we are no longer disciples of the Lord…do not be afraid of suffering.” Pope Francis I – given at his 1st Holy Mass as Pope

“Rational natures are poised between alternatives. God moves the human spirit to good; nevertheless, it could resist. It is God’s doing, then, that a man prepares himself to receive grace. If he lacks grace, then the cause of the failure lies in him, not in God.” Saint Thomas Aquinas


You Need a Theology of Delayed Gratification!

By Dr. Taylor Marshall

Learn to wait and delay good things…

Did you know that there is a connection between your child waiting for the prayer of blessing before meals and his ability to avoid premarital sex?

It has to do with delayed gratification:

When we sit down at a meal, it is just and right that we first thank God and ask His blessing upon the food that we are about to enjoy. Then, and only then, do we pick up our forks and eat.

Little children are usually tempted to sneak a bite from their plates while mother is turned around getting the last dish on the table. It’s the duty of parents to stop this. The children must learn to wait. Why?

Meal ThanksWell one day their appetites will include not only food for preservation of the human body, but they will have an intense appetite for the preservation of the human race. Will they be allowed to nibble a little bit here and there before the blessing? In case you’re not following the analogy:

hungry child > dinner blessing > fulfillment of hunger appetite

young person > matrimonial blessing > fulfillment of sexual appetite

You see if Timmy learns that he can eat before the family is assembled and father leads in the religious blessing, well then, Timmy will not likely wait to have sex until after his family is assembled at church and Father has pronounced the religious blessing on Timmy’s bride and Timmy at the altar.

Are you following this?

Delaying Good Things for Good Reasons:

And this isn’t just about family meals. It’s about everything. School, jobs, Advent, Lent, the Eucharistic fast, fish Fridays, penance, sacramental preparation, childbearing, childrearing, illness, natural death, and so on and so on.

Catholicism is the religion of delayed gratification. This life is a test run to determine our eternal gratification. If we live only to have pleasure in the now, we won’t have beatitude in the future. Christ has instituted His Catholic Church to provide us with small mini-trials every day.

The Eucharistic fast is one obvious example. Humbling one’s self in the confessional before receiving the Holy Eucharist is another. It’s learning how to do something difficult or inconvenient for some other greater good.

Let’s go back to Timmy. If Timmy learns to break the Eucharistic fast or cheat his resolutions during Lent, what will he do in other areas of life? He’ll push the boundaries, but ultimately he’ll fail because he does not understand that all success derives from delayed gratification – both temporal and eternal.

Look at all these hipsters in America. They have college degrees. They vote. They are somewhat intelligent. They even own an interesting collection of vinyl records. Yet they do not have jobs.

It’s now being reported that our college educated hipsters are becoming dependent on state subsidies. They hang out in coffee shops discussing Renoir, Radiohead, and Rousseau, but they buy their groceries with food-stamps! It looks like they’ve fallen for the hipster trap.

What’s going on here?

These young people have been raised to reject delayed gratification. They are the products of society that glorifies immediate gratification  They want meaningful jobs…right now. They want to be art gallery directors, professors, CEOs, non-profit directors, film-directors, Facebook creators, authors, actors, and poets.

What they don’t see is that it takes a helluva lot of hard work to ascend to these professions.

This is why we must realize the value of Catholicism for our culture. Catholicism, in this regard, helps us in two ways: The first way is supernatural and the second way natural, temporal, and social.

  1. First, the Catholic theology of waiting confirms that the honors and accolades of this world are vanity of vanities. The Faith is what led the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to resign his power and live his remaining days in an obscure monastery. The smaller natural pleasures of this life are not worth trading for the enormous supernatural beatitude to be attained in the next. This life itself is a prolonged wait for something better and beyond.
  2. Secondly, the theology of waiting or delayed gratification is not one of passivity. You are active and waiting. Unlike the ideology of hipsters smoking hand rolled cigarettes and complaining about those faceless stiff-shirts belonging to the “one percent,” the theology of waiting calls for sacrifice now for something better later. So if you want a meaningful job, get up off your skinny jeans and produce something. Contribute. Nobody cares about your thoughts and feelings unless they contribute to something. If you’re an artist, it may take you 20 years to actually sell something. If you can’t accept that, then don’t throw a tantrum and complain about the world. Learn a little delayed gratification. Write down your goals and realize that it takes a long time to reach important goals.

Contraception and Delay:

Contraception is the perfect example for our society’s desire for instant gratification. Contraception is the idea that you can have lots and lots of immediate pleasure (feels really awesome!) without committing to one person (a sacrificial act), and without committing to a pregnancy (a hugely sacrificial act), and without committing to raising a human person for eighteen years (an immensely sacrificial act).

Back to Timmy for one last time. From the time Timmy is born, he will be maintaining his “threshold for waiting.” He will observe the “threshold of waiting” in his parents. Do they live on a whim? Do they go into debt to have fun now? Are they penitential? Are they religious hypocrites? Then he will begin to see how the standard for the “threshold of waiting” is applied to him. Is he allowed to throw temper-tantrums when he is not immediately gratified. Will he persevere in household tasks? Will he finish homework? Will he keep the Eucharistic fast or will he sneak a cookie before Mass? Will he maintain simple customs such as not eating before the Blessing? You get the idea.

If Timmy does not learn this Catholic principle of delayed gratification, what will he become? He’ll become a contracepting hipster with a B.A. waiting for that $60,000 job to fall into his lap. Regrettably, he’ll be a nothing. Worst of all, he won’t live the abundant life that Christ promised for those who would take up their cross and follow Him.

Of course, it’s not easy to assume this theology of waiting. It is the most difficult teaching of Catholicism. As the Blessed Virgin Mary said to Saint Bernadette: “I promise to make you happy, not in this world, but in the next.” Those words terrify me. However, it is a sure promise. None of us will be perfectly happy in this life. It’s just not going to happen.

CS LewisC.S. Lewis once speculated that if God gave us perfect happiness in this life, it would be unjust since we would then stop seeking after God Himself. Saint Thomas Aquinas would say it is impossible to find happiness anywhere else since our Summum Bonum is none other than God Himself.

So don’t get down in the mouth about delayed gratification. It’s delayed…not never. Life won’t be perfect. Embrace this truth. There is freedom in it. There is joy in realizing it. Here the verse that wraps it all up nicely:

“But if you partake of the sufferings of Christ, rejoice that when his glory shall be revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:13)

And another:

“But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.” (Matthew 24:13)

Godspeed,
Taylor R. Marshall

Aquinas. Please also explore Taylor’s books about Catholicism at amazon.com.

The post You Need a Theology of Delayed Gratification! appeared first on Taylor Marshall.