Catholic Fire

Someone recently  asked me, "How do I avoid purgatory ?" I had a few suggestions, but here are ten specific ways to avoid it: 1. In every prayer you say, every Mass you hear, every Communion you receive, every good work you perform, have the express intention of imploring God to grant you a holy and happy death and no Purgatory. Surely God will hear a prayer said with such confidence and perseverance. 2. Always wish to do God's will. It is in every sense the best for you. When you do or seek anything that is not God's will, you are sure to suffer. Say fervently, therefore, each time you recite the Our Father: "Thy will be done" 3. Accept all the sufferings, sorrows, pains and disappointments of life, be they great or small: ill health, loss of goods, the death of your dear ones, heat or cold, rain or sunshine, as coming from God. Bear them calmly and patiently for love of Him and in penance for your sins. Of course one may use all his efforts to w...

The saint of the day for June 4th is St. Francis Caracciolo, (1563-1608), confessor, and founder of the Minor Clerks Regular. He is the patron saint of Naples, Italy as well as the patron of chefs. He was born of a royal family in the Kingdom of Naples. At the age of 22, he contracted leprosy, and nearly died from it. In this trial he heard the Lord’s call and was ready to dedicate his life completely in the service of God and neighbor if he would recover. After his miraculous cure, faithful to his promise, he renounced all his properties and noble titles. He left his palace and went to Naples to prepare himself to priesthood. He was ordained priest and joined the Confraternity of the White Servants of Justice, a confraternity that looked after the spiritual welfare of prisoners and those condemned to death. He spent every possible moment in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. His thought was that it was for men that Our Lord came to us in the Eucharist, and while the ange...

"The Eucharist is the secret of my day.  It gives strength and meaning to all my activities of service to the Church and to the whole world...Let Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament speak to your hearts.  It is he who is the true answer of life that you seek.  He stays here with us.  He is God with us. Seek him without tiring, welcome him without reserve, love him without interruption: today, tomorrow, forever." ~ St. Pope John Paul II, L'Osservatore Romano , 41, October 8, 1997, 7.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” -- Matthew 11:28-30 "Everyone who follows Christ receives true peace, the peace that Christ alone can give, a peace which the world cannot give." -- Pope Francis "Each time we look upon Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, He raises us up into deeper union with Himself, opens up the floodgates of His merciful love to the whole world, and brings us closer to the day of His final victory 'where every knee will bend and proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord.' 'The reign of God is already in your midst.' The coming of Jesus to us in the Eucharist is assurance of His promise of final victory: 'Behold, I come to make all things new.'"  — Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

This is the photo of St. Peter Julian Eymard, founder of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament, Source Favorite Quotes: "Love cannot triumph unless it becomes the one passion of our life. Without such passion we may produce isolated acts of love; but our life is not really won over or consecrated to an ideal. Until we have a passionate love for our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament we shall accomplish nothing." "The Eucharist is the work of a measureless love that has at its service an infinite power, the omnipotence of God." "Have a great love for Jesus in his divine Sacrament of Love; that is the divine oasis of the desert. It is the heavenly manna of the traveller. It is the Holy Ark. It is the life and Paradise of love on earth."