1. Life sucks, and then you die.
2. Life is a blessing, and then you go to heaven.
We are Catholic. The Forgotten Virtue of Hope leads us to "2".
Yes, essentially even the Crosses and trials of this life when with the grace of God, we bear them patiently and for the Love of God, are a blessing, and the means of our sanctification.
Life does "suck" for all those who make of this world and the things of this world, their whole purpose in life; for these people, everything that they placed all their hopes for happiness in; comes to and end sooner or latter; there is no more. Except an eternity of misery in Hell.
Very good, James. -
Quote from: Michael Wilson on January 07, 2024, 10:32:28 AMYes, essentially even the Crosses and trials of this life when with the grace of God, we bear them patiently and for the Love of God, are a blessing, and the means of our sanctification.
Life does "suck" for all those who make of this world and the things of this world, their whole purpose in life; for these people, everything that they placed all their hopes for happiness in; comes to and end sooner or latter; there is no more. Except an eternity of misery in Hell.
Very good, James. -
Un "Muy bien, burn dicho" a ti también, Señor.
I would adjust it to "Life sucks. Period." for 1 and 2, and then 1 is you die and, presumably, go to hell, or 2, yet you find things in life to be grateful to God for and, presumably, go to heaven.
From personal experience, the mindset that life suck and there's nothing that can be done about, while still perceiving God's love for you, is perhaps the most hellish experience one can experience in this life. I have never experienced more torment than knowing that God loved me no matter what, not wanting it, and knowing with absolutely certainty I could never escape it.
Being human is to suffer. When we suffer we participate in Christ's salvation.
And by choosing to suffer, especially for what is righteous, we love God, whom we only see through a veil. And if by God's Mercy we go to heaven, then this will be a great treasure in heaven.
Thus life is a gift.
Quote from: Heinrich on January 07, 2024, 10:39:05 AMQuote from: Michael Wilson on January 07, 2024, 10:32:28 AMYes, essentially even the Crosses and trials of this life when with the grace of God, we bear them patiently and for the Love of God, are a blessing, and the means of our sanctification.
Life does "suck" for all those who make of this world and the things of this world, their whole purpose in life; for these people, everything that they placed all their hopes for happiness in; comes to and end sooner or latter; there is no more. Except an eternity of misery in Hell.
Very good, James. -
Un "Muy bien, buen dicho" a ti también, Señor.
My Faith is being tried now like never before. Brutal. Suffering is very hard for me.
Been there.
Quote from: Heinrich on January 09, 2024, 07:06:02 PMMy Faith is being tried now like never before. Brutal. Suffering is very hard for me.
Its hard for everyone; we can't escape it, but accepting it and uniting our sufferings with that of Our Lord's, makes the Crosses bearable. Also as St. Louis de Montfort tells us in his "Friends of the Cross", we may licitly pray for the crosses to be removed, or if not, that they may be made more bearable.
Quote from: Heinrich on January 09, 2024, 07:06:02 PMMy Faith is being tried now like never before. Brutal. Suffering is very hard for me.
:pray1: Ave for you homie
For Hienrich (a dear friend) and for Melkite, :pray2: :pray2:
Prayers for Hienrich and Melkite.
"If there is a God, He will have to beg my forgiveness." — A phrase that was carved on the walls of a concentration camp cell during WWII by a Jewish prisoner.
God replies: "Apokatastasis. Please forgive me."
Thank you for the prayers, Michael Wilson and James. To clarify, though, I haven't been at that point for a few years now. I used to go to my church, light a candle by the icon of the Theotokos in the back of the church and pray that God would have mercy on me and let me cease to exist when I died. It was the only thing I could hope for. I couldn't imagine ever being free from suffering. Thankfully, God and the Theotokos pulled me out of that slump. Life sucks, but God loves us and there is so much in the world to be thankful for that, if it doesn't completely cancel out the suffering, it at least makes it bearable most of the time.
Quote from: james03 on January 06, 2024, 10:24:28 AM1. Life sucks, and then you die.
2. Life is a blessing, and then you go to heaven.
We are Catholic. The Forgotten Virtue of Hope leads us to "2".
Quote from: james03 on January 06, 2024, 10:24:28 AM1. Life sucks, and then you die.
2. Life is a blessing, and then you go to heaven.
We are Catholic. The Forgotten Virtue of Hope leads us to "2".
Well said. Let's aks what is behind each of these?
1. The existence of Almghty God is denied. All reality is subjective (each man has his own truth).
2. God is the alpha and the omega, the reason we exist is to know love and serve Him. Truth is objective (our opinions and feelings do not determine reality.)
Quote from: Michael on January 11, 2024, 11:09:43 PM"If there is a God, He will have to beg my forgiveness." — A phrase that was carved on the walls of a concentration camp cell during WWII by a Jewish prisoner.
God replies: "Apokatastasis. Please forgive me."
Apokatastasis i.e. Universal Salvation, including the demons, was condemned by the Church.
The carving that you quoted is a blasphemy.
Quote from: Michael on January 11, 2024, 11:09:43 PM"If there is a God, He will have to beg my forgiveness." — A phrase that was carved on the walls of a concentration camp cell during WWII by a Jewish prisoner.
God replies: "Apokatastasis. Please forgive me."
This is another Holocaust fable.
Quote"If there is a God, He will have to beg my forgiveness." — A phrase that was carved on the walls of a concentration camp cell during WWII by a Jewish prisoner.
And then the jew went to hell for blaspheming.
The worse things become in the world and the closer we get to envying the dead, the more my depression lifts.
When I see secular people panicking on Twitter about WW3 I get a little schadenfreude boost. You could say that I am sort of feeding from others suffering.
The decades long lull where nothing much happened was the worst time for me. Now I can see that man's earthly paradise is failing apart, as forecast, I am feeling kind of perky.
What has really surprised me is how these stupid secular fools have gone and fought and been slaughtered for a shithole like Ukraine. I particularly enjoy the stories of the foreign fighters who go there raving about 'defending freedom' and then leave when they understand how venal the place is. Any Ukrainian of course knows Ukraine is corrupt as hell and has been since 1991, yet they still fight. So many humans really are idiots. If anyone ever tries to recruit me I will play along and then frag them while they sleep.
My old boss is a Putin hating Ukrainian Jew. He must be having a whale of a time.
Who can say the world that murdered 1 billion children doesn't deserve this and much more?
Cheer up. You are part of God's glorious wrath. That is something rare and wonderful. Smile with all those aborted babies at the justice of it all.
QuoteThe worse things become in the world and the closer we get to envying the dead, the more my depression lifts.
When I see secular people panicking on Twitter about WW3 I get a little schadenfreude boost. You could say that I am sort of feeding from others suffering.
I'm a little emotional right now. Well done. Spoken like a true Clanger!
That's all. Too choked up to type anymore.
Back on topic, when I was at my lowest, if someone had said to me: "Offer it up!!!", you can imagine my response.
During this time I rediscovered Job.
QuoteAnd he said 3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived 4 Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it ...
Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish when I came out of the belly?
And what does scripture say of Job:
QuoteIn all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God.
And what did God Himself say?
QuoteAnd after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Themanite: My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right before me, as my servant Job hath.
I became a stronger Catholic after reading this, because the Faith is so real.
Now ULTIMATELY, suffering, if done correctly will increase your ETERNAL reward in heaven. And God knows this because He is already there seeing the joy you have in heaven. And yet even though He knows this, because it is, He still does not like to see His people suffer.
QuoteJesus, therefore, when he saw her weeping, and the Jews that were come with her, weeping, groaned in the spirit, and troubled himself, 34 And said: Where have you laid him? They say to him: Lord, come and see. 35 And Jesus wept.
Even though Jesus knew that His friends were minutes away from the incredible joy of having Lazarus returned to them, He still wept at their suffering.
If you cannot offer it up learn to enjoy the pain and suffering of evil people.
Quote from: Michael on January 11, 2024, 11:09:43 PM"If there is a God, He will have to beg my forgiveness." — A phrase that was carved on the walls of a concentration camp cell during WWII by a Jewish prisoner.
God replies: "Apokatastasis. Please forgive me."
This type of posting will not be tolerated here.
Final warning under pain of ban.[/i]
Quote from: james03 on January 06, 2024, 10:24:28 AM1. Life sucks, and then you die.
2. Life is a blessing, and then you go to heaven.
I'd say it's more somewhere in-between that.
It's more, life sucks sometimes and is a blessing and joy sometimes, either way we trust in God and know that He loves us and when life sucks we draw closer to His passion, when the cross is carried correctly, this 'life sucks' is what leads to eternal life.
In a Private Revelation with Roman Catholic Imprimatur I have read, Christ says to pray for those who do not know of suffering for it is certain that they are not among His own.
It's on the cross where many virtues are learned.
Life sucks sometimes, but Christ loves me, He proved it by suffering much more than I do or any man could, and I show my love for Christ by trying to carry this cross like He did.
Take for example Gestas and St Dismas, the impenitent thief and the penitent thief.
Both were sinners, both carried the same cross, both lives sucked especially at that point, one ascended and the other descended, the cross is salvation but also damnation based on how we carry it.
Those are my thoughts on it.
God Bless