effects

“Thus, brethren, God has loved you from eternity,
and through pure love, he has selected you from among so many men
whom he could have created in place of you;
but he has left them in their nothingness,
and has brought you into existence, and placed you in the world.
For the love of you, he has made so many other beautiful creatures,
that they might serve you, and that they might remind you
of the love which he has borne to you, and of the
gratitude which you owe to him.”
St. Alphonsus Liguori, p. 218
An Excerpt From
Sermons of St. Alphonsus Liguori

(a tiny ghost crab / Julie Cook / 2021)

“The works of man, whether they are good or bad,
are not always isolated, transitory acts; more often,
especially in the case of the leaders of nations and those who are
invested with public authority,
they continue to subsist after they are concluded,
either in the memory of other men or in public acclaim,
as a result of the consequences they have had and the scandal
they have caused.
Thus, at first sight, a particular,
secret crime seems to be only a private, personal deed;
but it becomes social on account of its effects.
Certainly it is of faith that there is a particular judgment,
and that every man, at the instant of his soul’s departure
from the body, appears before the tribunal of God to hear
his eternal sentence pronounced. Yet this judgment cannot suffice,
and it is essential that it should be followed by another public judgment,
in which God will not examine the actions in isolation and taken in themselves,
but will examine them in their effects upon other men,
in the good or evil deriving from them for families and peoples—in a word,
in the consequences they produced and which those who perpetrated
them ought to have foreseen.”
Fr. Charles Arminjon, p. 94
An Excerpt From
The End of the Present World

Death means not ruin but restoration—undertake that which is for God’s glory

“So, if God has not resolved to cast His work back into nothingness forever,
if this earth, sanctified by the footsteps of Christ, is destined,
once radiant and renewed, to remain forever,
then man must rise again in a future life to reconquer its scepter and kingship.
Hence, once more, it follows that death means not ruin but restoration.
If God has decreed that our earthly abode shall one day be dissolved,
it is not for the purpose of despoiling us of it, but to render it subtle, immortal, serene.
His aim may be compared to that of an architect, says St. John Chrysostom,
who has the inhabitants leave his house for a short period,
in order to have him return with greater glory to that same house,
now rebuilt in greater splendor.”
Fr. Charles Arminjon, p. 84
An Excerpt From
The End of the Present World

(Cable’s Mill / Cades Cove, The Great Smokey Mt. Nat. Park / Julie Cook / 2020)

“Undertake courageously great tasks for God’s glory,
to the extent that he’ll give you power and grace for this purpose.
Even though you can do nothing on your own, you can do all things in him.
His help will never fail you if you have confidence in his goodness.
Place your entire physical and spiritual welfare in his hands.
Abandon to the fatherly concern of his divine providence every care for your health,
reputation, property, and business; for those near to you;
for your past sins; for your soul’s progress in virtue and love of him;
for your life, death, and especially your salvation and eternity—in a word,
all your cares. Rest in the assurance that in his pure goodness,
he’ll watch with particular tenderness over all your responsibilities and cares,
arranging all things for the greatest good.”
St. John Eudes, p. 363
An Excerpt From
A Year with the Saints

using our time to the fullest

“I will go anywhere and do anything in order to communicate the love of Jesus to those
who do not know Him or have forgotten Him.”
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

(tufted titmouse sits on budding blueberries in the rain / Julie Cook / 20120)

“In truth, if the earth and all it contains must one day disappear by fire,
the goods of this world are no more to be esteemed than wood and straw.
What point is there, then, in making them the object of our desires and cares?
Why seek to build and leave marks of our genius and power where we have no permanent abode,
and where the form of this world will be removed,
like a tent that has no travelers to shelter?
It may be said that it will be a thousand years before this frightening cataclysm takes place;
but Christ has said that a thousand years are but an instant compared with eternity,
and when the moment comes—-when, from the land of the future life,
we are the witnesses and actors in that supreme drama—the whole span of humanity
will seem so short to us that we shall scarcely consider it to have lasted a single day…
Christ tells us to meditate upon these great teachings,
for it is certain that we shall be taken by surprise, and that the time will
come sooner than we think.”
Father Charles Arminjon, p. 28
An Excerpt From
The End of the Present World