November 10
“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, 'As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise[
b] to God.' So each of us shall give account of himself to God."
-Romans 14: 10-11
For Reflection:
Imagine standing before the judgement seat of God.
Will it be a day of joy or sorrow or both? Take those sins and regrets to confession with you on your next visit to the sacrament.
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Byron Katie (Photo courtesy of Wikicommons Images, Lovingwhatisnt CC BY-SA 3.0 DEED)
LO asks: "Can you recommend the book "Loving What Is" by Byron Katie? And also, practicing her process that she calls "the work" is that an OK thing to do or an anti-catholic thing to do? . . . I don't want to do anything or entertain anything that could take me in a direction away from Our Lord and the Catholic Church. In general, I'm having anxiety & stress and would like to do some independent reading/work before I need a therapist...can you give any ideas for authors or specific books?"
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KP writes:
"I was wondering what the difference was between enneagrams (which I know are bad) and other personality tests vs. temperament tests. I often see books like 'The Temperament God Gave You' etc in orthodox catalogs, such as Ignatius Press and Leaflet Missal Company. Do these not both still focus on the self rather than God or is the temperament test designed to help one focus on their weaknesses in terms of attachment to sin and how to overcome this, perhaps?"
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November 9
“The torments of a thousand hells are nothing in comparison to the anguish of being banished from everlasting bliss and the vision of God."
-St. John Chrysostom
For Reflection:
The chief misery of hell is being excluded from the beatific vision for all eternity. What a pity it would be for us if this were our end. Ask God for the grace today to be counted as one of the elect who will enjoy His presence for all eternity.
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
When given permission by a judge to decide how he wanted to attend school, James Younger, the seven-year-old boy whose mother insisted that he attend school as a girl, has chosen to be who he is – a boy.
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November 8
“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass,
and we fly away."
-Psalm 90:10
For Reflection:
Many saints have promoted the practice of regularly reflecting upon one's own mortality. How does the reality of the shortness of life encourage you to live each day with purpose?
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In a hard-hitting
blog written by Al Perrotta, the Managing Editor of
The Stream, who is a former enthusiast of Tarot-cards, there has been an alarming resurgence on interest in the use of these cards to divine the future.
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
The results of the 2019 elections, which flipped the Virginia legislature from pro-life to pro-abortion, is posing an even bigger threat to the lives of women and their unborn children. This state could now be the 38th state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which could make access to abortion a constitutional right.
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November 7
“Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
-Matthew 7:13-14
For Reflection:
How does this passage inspire you?
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Thanks to the hard work of Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO), a Catholic relief agency dedicated to serving “the poorest of the poor” in Dioceses throughout the world, more than 100,000 children will be receiving a “Box of Joy” this Christmas – but there’s still time to double that number!
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