Defining the gift of perseverance
The Council of Trent (1547 A.D.) calls perseverance "a great
gift". Persistence and longevity in the Christian vocation can
not be achieved without help and grace from God. Perseverance is
possible with fortitude, proper prayer, and the proper reception
of the sacraments. If practiced with the virtue of temperance,
faith, hope, charity, and prudence, a Christian can endure both
joy and sorrow, prosperity and adversity, consolation and
desolation, serenity and disturbance, with equanimity and
stability of soul. The best person who exemplifies this virtue
of Christian perseverance is no other than Venerable John Paul
II. Even when he was suffering from Parkinsons, he never
resigned from his papal office. If we recall what he said while
he was asked if he would resign, he said: "Jesus never came down
from the Cross". Venerable John Paul II is truly a champion of
faith for our times.
Study on Christian unity and ecumenism
These are the sources gathered for the reflective-analytical
study on Christian unity and ecumenism:
- Lives of the Saints, by McBrien
- In Search of True Wisdom, by Bolshakoff
- That They May Be One, by Ven. John Paul II
To fill in other details or gaps in information on this study,
links to online resources will be referred to. This series of
articles will be published in the Site Feed.
Centenerian-saints
In line with the theme and subject of Christian perseverance,
there is a new Series of articles on centenerian-saints. These
are the saints who lived for 100 years of age or more. Although
there are for certain many in the history of the Church who
may have not been included in this Series, this Series will
feature a sample of these not very known, but just as equally
great saints. They have used their gift of longevity to keep the
fire of the Holy Spirit burning within their minds and hearts
- thus inspiring many Christian generations they have lived
through. learn more
New design and format
The Sunday Gospel Reflections section of the web site has a new
design and format. The design is meant to prepare the site for
the inevitable shift to HTML version 5.0 coding. Then the new
format on the other hand, is meant to provide richer content:
including a quote on the Eucharist, and a list of saints honored
on the same day as the Sunday Mass. learn more
Sunday Gospel Reflections
To follow the Sunday Gospel Reflections, you can bookmark this
web page in the favorites section of your browser.
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