Something Strange is Happening

     Something strange is happening -- there is a great silence on the earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.
   

From the Cross

     Anyone who sits by the bedside with a loved one, who is dying, would not find it difficult to recall the words that were spoken to them. Those words would be etched deeply within their memory and cherished as precious jewels. Each word, each sentence would be recorded and recalled as a gift.

     So too are the words of Christ that were uttered from the cross. They are recorded for us in Holy Scripture and are venerated by Christians throughout the world. They were spoken with great effort as Jesus suffocated on the cross. They should hold a great significance for us because they reveal the love, sacrifice and wisdom of God.

     Let us thoughtfully ponder them on this blessed day, Good Friday.

St. Catherine of Genoa and the Fire of God's Love--Part 1

     “I believe no happiness can be found worthy to be compared with that of a soul in Purgatory except that of the saints in Paradise. And day by day this happiness grows as God flows into these souls, more and more as the hindrance to His entrance is consumed.  Sin’s rust is the hindrance, and the fire burns the rust away so that more and more the soul opens itself up to the divine inflowing.”

     This quote is from a book entitled “Fire of Love” by St. Catherine of Genoa, who was a fifteenth century mystic. Caterinetta Adorna was born to an aristocratic family and at age thirteen, she was denied entrance to the convent because of her young age.  After the death of her father, her eldest brother for political and financial reasons arranged a marriage for Caterinetta. The marriage was a disaster. Catherine’s husband was unfaithful to the point of having a mistress and child and squandered his fortune. The first five years of her marriage, Catherine withdrew from society. Her family pleaded with her to get involved with the social life of Genoa, thinking this would help. After another five years, Catherine instead fell into a deep depression.