Articles For Heart Mind Soul

Woe To A Generation That Refers To Evil as Good and Good As Evil! And thus the bait is attractive By: Msgr. Charles Pope Satan, it would seem, does not act in an arbitrary manner when trying to tempt us. Rather, he is more a master hunter carefully setting traps, or a skilled fisherman studying behavior in order to choose the most effective bait. Satan is calculating and clever. Sadly, most of us are far less calculating and clever in seeking to avoid temptation and sin. We often engage in the wishful thinking that no trouble will befall us. Our strategy seems to depend more on dumb luck than anything else. Would that we were as ingenious in holiness as Satan is in trying to trap us! Jesus sadly and ironically observed, For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light (Luke 16:8). Let us ponder for a moment the notion of the bait and the hook, to use imagery from the fis

I don’t know if this qualifies as an inspirational thought . . . but I just wanted to share . . . that I have come to believe that: It’s not that we have “disabilities”; but rather that we have “distinct abilities”.

Biblical Verses on Humor Proverbs 17:22   A joyful heart is good medicine Ecclesiastes 3:4   A time to laugh Proverbs 15:13   A glad heart makes a cheerful face Psalm 4:7   You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.

On Tuesday, May 31 at Sacred Heart Church the Legion of Mary of the Del Rio Catholic Faith Community invites everyone to attend the Bilingual Pro-Life Rosary at 5:00 pm followed by Mass for Life at 5:30 pm and Silent Holy Hour for Life from 6:00 – 7:00 pm Please make every effort to attend and pray for the cause of life, that we may defend the dignity and sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death and fight the evils of abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia. Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Life, pray for us El martes , 31 de mayo en la Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon la Legion de Maria de la Comunidad de la Fe Católica en Del Rio invitada a todos a asistir al Rosario Pro-Vida Bilingüe y sigue la Misa por la Vida y Hora Santa en Silencio   por la Vida Por favor, haga todo lo posible para asistir y orar por la causa de la vida, para que podamos defender la dignida

Letter to the Editor, Beauty and the bully Julie the Bully: “You're fat and ugly.” Judy the Beauty: “No I'm not! I'm pretty.  I have lots of friends. I'm intelligent, athletic and artistic. Everyone likes me and thinks I am very nice. I am beautiful inside and out.” That's what Judy secretly wished she would have said back to Julie, but she just remained silent. Judy was intelligent and received very good grades, but Julie said she wasn’t smart. And when Judy did struggle to learn a new concept, Julie told her she would never get it. Judy liked playing sports, but Julie told her she wasn’t good enough to make the team and didn’t even know why the coach put her in to play. Whenever Judy got a part in the school play, Julie told her she needed voice lessons to be good enough to be on stage. What was the director thinking? Julie told Judy that she didn’t have any friends, no real friends, anyway; that if anyone seemed to be her friend, it was bec

Psalm 47:1 Clap your hands; shout to God with cries of joy. 1 Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Nehemiah 8:10 For the joy of the LORD is your strength. Philemon 1:7 Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you have refreshed the hearts of the saints. Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Psalm 27:6  I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. Isaiah 35:10 Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. John 16:22 But I will

God commands four (4) things: 1)                   Flee 2)                   Find 3)                   Fight 4)                   Forgive FLEE - We don't flee the Lord. We love Him.  We don't flee the devil.  We attack him, and he flees from us.  However, we do flee "all this".  We flee the love of money, wanting to be rich, discontent, false teaching, bickering, and injustice.  We must flee a secularized, self-centered, pleasure-seeking lifestyle. FIND – We must find the pearl of great price who is Jesus Christ.  When we find Him we will have found the way, the truth and the life.  When we find Him then we must help others find Him also. FIGHT - We must fight the evil one.   We must fight the good fight of faith.  We must fight our most formidable foes which are our most frightening fears. We must fight and never grow weary because we have faith that our fight has already been won by Christ and we are the victorious ones.

Four part prayer First, I pray for "full knowledge of [God's] will through perfect wisdom and spiritual insight" (Col 1:9). Second, I pray to "lead a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing to Him in every way" (Col 1:10). Third, I pray to "multiply good works of every sort and grow in the knowledge of God" (Col 1:10). Finally, I pray for "the strength needed to stand fast, even to endure joyfully whatever may come" (Col 1:11). I pray for the grace to pray this four-part prayer for as long as the Spirit leads me to pray it.  I will not only receive the immediate benefits of the prayer, but also the inspiration to pray other parts of the Bible.  This will revolutionize my prayer life, which will in turn transform my entire life.

Afterwords: Seven (7) statements about sin 1.        Sinners Today;  Saints Tomorrow   2.        Only the grace of God can change sinners into saints   3.        In order to stop denying our sins and stop sinning; we must start admitting our sins and start repenting of our sins   4.        Hate sin; love sinners   5.        Sin complicates; Faith simplifies   6.        Repent of selfishness, self-deception and sin   7.        Saints are simply sinners saved