Nick

"AND THIS IS THE TESTIMONY: GOD HAS GIVEN US ETERNAL LIFE, AND THIS LIFE IS IN HIS SON". — 1 John 5:11

[aslansdelight]

Thinking again of C.S. Lewis when he said that it's very easy to love, especially benevolently, when things are going well and nothing bothers you. The real challenge, and therefore true love, lies in another plane entirely.

The real trouble is that 'kindness' is a quality fatally easy to attribute to ourselves on quite inadequate grounds. Everyone feels benevolent if nothing happens to be annoying him at the moment. Thus a man easily comes to console himself for all his other vices by a conviction that 'his heart's in the right place' and 'he wouldn't hurt a fly,' though in fact he has never made the slightest sacrifice for a fellow creature. We think we are kind when we are only happy: it is not so easy, on the same grounds, to imagine oneself temperate, chaste, or humble.

— C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

[brendenfraser]

“I’m Gerry, by the way.” “Segen.” “Segen. First or last?” “Just Segen.”

[gloomiedyke]

This whole movie is just him adopting people. “These are my daughters. And this is my new son Tommy. And this is my new scientist son (RIP). And this is my new military amputee daughter.”

He’s a natural leader, trained fora crisis, AND born to be a dad, and the combination is just. Dad Friend Ultimate.

[aslansdelight]

I apologize for the less-than-stellar quality of the photos, but I'd like to show them to everyone here anyway. Found this display in a Catholic church in San Justo, Buenos Aires, and hastily took these photos as I was just walking out.

These vestments belonged to Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, late Pope Francis, before his 2013 trip to Rome.

- Cassock: His black cardinal’s cassock with red trim. The red buttons/piping show his rank as Cardinal.

- Zucchetto: The small red skullcap, used daily in Buenos Aires before he left for the conclave.

- Chasuble: The white outer Mass vestment shown here. The plaque says he used this one in December 2002. It goes over the alb — the alb is the plain white tunic underneath.

Cool piece of local history. Before he was “Francis”, he was our cardinal right here. 🥺🥺

⛪ Catedral de los Santos Justo y Pastor. San Justo, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[transgendercoolcat]

Baby Girl says if you needed a sign to carry on with life, this is it.

[aslansdelight]

One day we'll have to talk about how one of the reasons for the triumph of Lutheranism, besides the political and economic ones, was that celibacy was abolished and many friars and priests switched to Protestantism purely because they were eager to get laid.

They literally married the first women they saw days after that dogma became official. Before that, they were still "Catholic". Animals.

If they ever remove celibacy from the Catholic Church, they will remove the only compelling reason that keeps me there, if I'm being entirely honest.

[aslansdelight]

I think I'm going to hang a crucifix on the wall opposite my bed, as a reminder, for the despair at night

[biblequotesdaily]

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

[aslansdelight]

— Gabrielle Bossis, He and I (Translated by Evelyn M. Brown). Mumbai: ST. PAULS Publications, 2010. (Originally published as Lui et Moi by Beauchesne et ses Fils, 117 rue de Rennes, Paris).

[mercyofchrist]

You should not feel ashamed to be a Christian. You should not feel the need to be shy about your faith. You shouldn't have to say that you "believe but aren't THAT religious". You shouldn't have to feel ostracized for reading the Bible or carrying one around with you. You shouldn't feel bad for asking for Sundays off to go to Worship services. You should not feel embarrassed to praise the name of the Lord in public.

People will try to shame you for being open about your faith and how important it is to you. They'll say you make it your whole personality. But, if your actions of love towards God are just as strong as your actions of love towards your neighbor, then it will not matter what they say. Help others in whatever ways you can, and do it out of love for them, even if they belittle your reasoning.

In the same vein, you shouldn't have to flaunt your faith through clothes or accessories. You don't have to have that cross pendant, that "Jesus saves" t-shirt, you don't have to "prove" your faith with physical artifacts. In fact, you don't have to carry a Bible. You don't have to be loud about your faith, but most importantly you don't have to spend money to prove it to other people.

People will try to flex how "Christian" they are while spewing hate from their mouths. Their "Jesus saves" shirt means nothing if they condemn or hate their neighbors. You don't need to visually prove your faith, because your actions will speak for themselves, if you act in love for God and for neighbor.

In short, you do not have to prove your faith, you do not have to justify it, you do not have to flaunt your faith, and you do not have to be silent about it.

Praise the Lord for His goodness, praise Him that we may act on his two highest commandments of loving Him with all our heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

[sedesapostolica]

"A Jesus who agrees with everyone and everything, a Jesus without his holy anger, without the hardness of truth and genuine love, is not the real Jesus as he is depicted in the Scriptures, but a pitiable caricature. A concept of "Gospel" that fails to convey the reality of God's anger has nothing to do with the Gospel of the Bible. True forgiveness is something quite different than weak indulgence. Forgiveness is demanding and requires both parties, the one who forgives and the one who is forgiven, to do so with all their minds and hearts. A Jesus who sanctions everything is a Jesus without the Cross, for such a Jesus would not need the torment of the Cross to save mankind. As a matter of fact, the Cross is being increasingly banished from theology and reinterpreted as just a vexatious mischance or a purely political event. The Cross as reconciliation, as a means of forgiving and saving, is incompatible with with a certain modern mode of thought. Only when the relationship between truth and love is rightly comprehended can the Cross be comprehensible in its true theological depth. Forgiveness has to do with the truth. That is why it requires the Son's Cross and our conversion. Forgiveness is, in fact, the restoration of truth, the renewal of being, and the vanquishment of the lies that lurk in every sin; sin is by nature a departure from the truth of one's own nature and, by consequence, from the truth of the Creator God."

Joseph Ratzinger, Co-Workers of the Truth: Meditations For Every Day of the Year: (Entry for April 27; page 139).

[aslansdelight]

This beautiful excerpt is from He and I, the spiritual diary of the 20th-century French nurse and mystic Gabrielle Bossis, recording her dialogues with Christ, from 1936 to 1950.

— Gabrielle Bossis, He and I (Translated by Evelyn M. Brown). Mumbai: ST. PAULS Publications, 2010. (Originally published as Lui et Moi by Beauchesne et ses Fils, 117 rue de Rennes, Paris).

[transgendercoolcat]

💖 Help me take Baby Girl to vet 💖

Hi everyone. As many of you may know, this is a blog strictly for my cat Baby Girl. Currently I'm diagnosed with a terminal illness and have been unable to work due to being on dialysis 7 days a week. When I adopted Baby Girl from the shelter, I had a job so could afford vet bills, etc.

Right now Baby Girl is dealing with excessive weight gain, despite me being careful of what my personal support workers feed her. I had a cat before Baby Girl with this exact issue and it turned out to be a thyroid issue which they needed medication for. I want to take Baby Girl to the vet to make sure she's okay but I can't afford it myself. The basic exam is $90 and I'm sure they will want to run further testing, so I'm going to need to raise $90 to begin with. Click here to donate 💖

Any shares and donations are greatly appreciated.

0/90

[aslansdelight]

Please pray for this woman, that she may enjoy the best possible health and be able to raise funds to take her cat to the vet. Any additional help, whether by donating or simply reblogging, would be great!

[aslansdelight]

Anyone who claims that mental suffering (mental illness) matches the severity and the sheer brutality of physical suffering is harboring a delusion so profound it borders on the grotesque. People who say that don't know the first thing about real suffering and I'm not arguing about it.

They take for granted the privilege of having an untroubled body, free of chronic pain; that they can go on a walk for the sake of it, grab a coffee, sit on whatever uncomfortable chair is available for hours, and go home without a care. They don't have to worry if lying down in their own bed later is going to feel like being tortured.

They get to just.. live comfortably in their skin, without their body betraying them. Must be nice!

So yeah, don't talk to me about 'equal suffering' until your own body turns into your cell. :)

[aslansdelight]

Here are two photos of one of my four cats, Susie. In the first one, she's relaxing near the heater because of the winter, haha.

[themariandevotion]

(saying it slowly for the people in the back)

There is no such thing as a Christian Witch ♥️

[aslansdelight]

It made me a little sad to hear from the priest during today's mass that certain things, considered sinful, are justified if there is anxiety involved because that is "illness". Is it that compulsive pleasure is sought when one is well?

No one becomes an alcoholic, or desperately wants to have sex, with whomever and whenever, if deep down there is no emptiness that seeks to be filled and a discomfort that one wants to avoid at all costs. Psychological suffering is not an illness that can be cured pharmacologically or externally in the form of therapy and excuses certain acts..

[aslansdelight]

Jesús Misericordioso (Merciful Jesus)

⛪ Catedral de los Santos Justo y Pastor. San Justo, Buenos Aires, Argentina.