We oftentimes wonder why bad things are happening to us, or why we have accidents or sickness comes upon us. Sometimes we never realize it’s because of our sins. Some people will say, “That’s not always the case,” and that is true. However, very often it is true. The Holy Scriptures are filled with examples of how, when people turn away from God and offend him many times a day, they are plagued with sickness, accidents, war, and famine, diseases, epidemics and all sorts of calamities. Hear what David says in this Psalm: 2 ”Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath. 3 For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me. 4 There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins. 5 For my iniquities are gone over my head: and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me. 6 My sores are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness. 7 I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: I walked sorrowful all the day long. 8 For my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in my flesh. 9 I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: I roared with the groaning of my heart. 10 Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee. 11 My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.”
No health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins. 5 For my iniquities are gone over my head: and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me. 6 My sores are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness. Then again, you have the man by the pool waiting 38 years to try to get into the pool for healing but never could. Our Lord Jesus Christ heals him, and finds him later, and says to him, “Behold thou art made whole: sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee.” Sin no more, lest some worse thing happen to thee. The implication here is that some previous sins caused him to be laid up for 38 years. Yes, sin has consequences, and very serious ones. But how often do we sin and never think about how God is offended? So, we don’t make the connection that our sin has to do with our affliction.
Oftentimes our sins affect our family as well, spiritually and physically. There was a man many years ago who used to swear and take God’s Name in vain all the time. Well, his daughter died at the age of twelve. Another man in our own time used to swear and take God’s Name in vain, and his son was killed in a car accident at only age 16. This same man flew into a rage one morning taking God’s Holy Name in vain, and before the morning was out, ripped his hand and hand to go to the doctor to get stitches. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for he shall not be unpunished that taketh his name upon a vain thing.” [Deuteronomy 5:11]. 12 “A man that sweareth much, shall be filled with iniquity, and a scourge shall not depart from his house. 13 And if he make it void, his sin shall be upon him: and if he dissemble it, he offendeth double: 14 And if he swear in vain, he shall not be justified: for his house shall be filled with his punishment.” A scourge shall even fall upon his house, it says, and his house shall be filled with his punishment.
Sometimes God’s punishment is swift, at other times He is patient and long-suffering. In the time of St. Joan of Arc it was swift. She heard a rough soldier say, “So that’s the Maid is it? Well, by God, let me have her for a night, and she won’t be a Maid any longer.” She reined in her horse and looked at him for a minute, and then said, “Why do you take God’s Name in vain like that, when you have such a short time to live?” And an hour later he slipped into the river and drowned. Another man was admonished about taking God’s Name in vain, and he didn’t think it was a big deal. Not long afterwards, he cut his leg with a chain saw.
In the book of Judith, chapter 5, Achior gives Holofernes an account of the people of Israel. He informs him that as long as the people of God do his will, He protects them and even fights for them, but when they sin and turn away from Him, they were given to spoil, and to the sword, and to reproach. 16 “Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame. 17 And there was no one that triumphed over this people, but when they departed from the worship of the Lord their God. 18 But as often as beside their own God, they worshipped any other, they were given to spoil, and to the sword, and to reproach.”
Millions of Catholics have left the true Church, millions more have become lukewarm, and many have left the faith. Now their children are growing up without proper instruction in morals, nor doctrine. Morals is how we live, doctrine is how we believe. Live two tires on a bike, they both have to be good to get us to heaven. There are a boatload of Catholics who do not observe the regulations for proper modest dress. Mothers and daughters going out in public for everyone to see, and the fathers and husbands do not seem to mind. See the Decree on Modesty by Pope Pius XI, tinyurl.com/tdakwyaj.
Am I a careful father? https://motherofgodlibrary.org/2020/01/23/. A careful father leads his family in the faith as the head of the family. The husband and wife should be working together to instruct their children on the way to heaven. If they become negligent, then evils start befalling the family. Let us look at some examples: A married couple came and complained to Fr. Paul of Moll that all their children had died. Fr. Paul said, “You yourselves are the cause of your misfortune..” To the woman he said, “You ought to have given good example, and yet you have not been to confession for 12 years. And you,” he said to the husband, Have not been to confession in 20 years. What blessings can you expect under these circumstances? Enter into yourselves, be converted, then return and I shall receive you with a generous heart.” “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.” 1 St. John 1:9. Another lady asked him to cure her, and he said, “First be converted, for I am ashamed to see you.” Four children of a boatman in Antwerp being sick, the father went to Father Paul. Fr. Paul said to him, “You did not go to confession in seven years, and your wife not in six. This is the cause of your children’s illness. Let both of you go to confession in Antwerp, and your children will recover their health.” “A bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” ADVICE TO PARENTS – Saint Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787), http://tinyurl.com/ynukn4zp. We see far too many parents taking their children to sports every day, with their very skimpy immodest attire, but very few who take them often to Mass, Holy Hours and Visits, confession and so forth, “sporting themselves to excess,” as St. Peter says, (2 Peter 2:13); while neglecting the spiritual upbringing of their children.
Speaking of sins of the tongue again, St. Peter said, “He that would love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile (deceit). 1 Peter 3:10. See the connection. “He that hath no guard over his speech, shall meet with evils.” Proverbs 13:3. Does it get any plainer than that? Another case with Fr. Paul of Moll, we read of a man of Canaghem, who from a decayed tooth, contracted a most painful disease of the tongue. He wrote to Fr. Paul requesting a cure. The Father replied, “You may be cured, if you cease to blaspheme. You have cancer of the tongue in punishment for your blasphemies.” So long as the man refrained from swearing, his condition daily improved; but he unfortunately resumed his former evil habit, his malady increased, and the man died. “By what things a man sinneth, by the same is he tormented.” Wisdom 11:17. See the connection? The man sins with his tongue; he is afflicted in his tongue.
We all take sin lightly, at least more than we should, but if we would know the seriousness of sin, let us consider the horrendous suffering that Jesus Christ took upon himself for our sins. Imagine if a person committed fornication with another, or adultery, or immodesty, or if they committed a murder, or some other grave violation of the commandments, and their sin became known, they were taken to trial and convicted, then sentenced to just having one spike driven through their hand for that sin, do you think they would still take sin lightly? Imagine being tied to a wall, and the minister of justice walked up and just drove that one spike through their hand, what screams and agony they would feel. Then they were told, “You commit that sin one more time and we are going to drive a spike through the other hand.” Do you suppose if sin were punished that way, that there would not be a lot of speedy conversions? This is why God told Moses to stone the man to death, for merely picking up sticks on the Sabbath, Numbers chapter 15, to show the seriousness of violating God’s law.
Let us look at the gravity of sin another way. We know that if we sin grievously against God’s commandments and die unrepentant, the penalty is eternal hellfire. God has warned us, in the Scriptures, in the Church, and in the Tradition of the Church. Now if sin is not that bad, why is it that for one mortal sin, we can burn in hell for millions and billions of years if it is not repented of? Because God is infinitely good, and He wants to share His happiness with us so much that the Father sent His Son to die for our sins for a debt we could never repay. “No brother can redeem, nor shall man redeem: he shall not give to God his ransom. Nor the price of the redemption of his soul: and shall labour for ever, And shall still live unto the end.” [Psalms 48:8-10]. To reject the goodness of God and His infinite happiness He wants to share with us merits an infinite punishment. Now just imagine for any grievous sin such as those mentioned above, you were taken prisoner and convicted, and your punishment would be to be thrown into a red hot boiler like in a factory and killed, and you knew this would be your fate, and that you would be found out and convicted, would you still commit that sin? But a day will surely come, as sure as there is a God, that the sinner who dies in mortal sin will go to burn eternally in the fire of hell. Is it worth it, that short pleasure? Fr. Ronald Tangen said, “How stupid can we be, how darkened our intellect, how weakened our will, to condemn ourselves to hell for all eternity for 15 minutes of unlawful sexual pleasure, or for missing Mass on Sunday to watch a football game!” If we cannot put our finger on a hot burner, how will we endure the everlasting fires of hell? Reflect on The Pains of Hell, From the Writings of St. Anthony Mary Claret: https://www.olrl.org/doctrine/pains.shtml.
Let us not forget when we are suffering, to offer it up. Our Lady of Fatima gave the children a simple yet easy prayer to offer things up: O Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
“He who prays shall be saved, he who prays not shall be condemned.” – St. Alphonsus.
“Death rather than sin.” St. Dominic Savio.
O Lord, keep Thy hand over me this day, otherwise I will betray Thee.” – St. Philip Neri.
“Pray the rosary every day,” said Our Lady of Fatima. “Many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and sacrifice for them…In order to save souls, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. Only I can help you. If what I ask is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace.”
“If we do not listen to Our Lady of Fatima, God himself will not help us, because He has entrusted the peace of the world to her.” – Fr. Nicholas Gruner.
“St. Augustine said, “There are many graces God wants to give to us, but we are not worthy. The only way He will give them to us is through the Blessed Virgin Mary.” – Fr. Nicolas Gruner.
Do not follow the crowd. St. Augustine said, “Wrong is wrong even if the whole world is doing it. Right is right even if nobody is doing it.”
“All priests say a Hail Mary with the faithful before preaching, to ask for God’s grace. They do this because of a revelation that St. Dominic had from Our Lady. ‘My son,’ she said one day, ‘do not be surprised that your sermons fail to bear the results you had hoped for. You are trying to cultivate a piece of ground which has not had any rain. Now when Almighty God planned to renew the face of the earth He started by sending down rain from heaven—and this was the Angelic Salutation. In this way God made over the world. So when you give a sermon, urge people to say my rosary, and in this way your words will bear much fruit for souls.” St. Dominic lost no time in obeying, and from then one he exerted great influence by his sermons.” – Blessed Alan de la Roche, THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY, Third Rose.
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SOULS IN HELL. WHAT THE SAINTS AND SCRIPTURES SAY ABOUT IT.
A CAREFUL FATHER I WANT TO BE! Poem: https://tinyurl.com/5n7a9cxb
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