The inner life of man is greatly hindered in this life by the needs of the body. Thus, the Prophet devoutly prays that he may be set free from them, saying, “Lord, deliver me from my necessities!” Woe to those who refuse to recognize their own wretchedness, and doubly woe to those who love this miserable and corruptible life! For some cling so closely to it, that although by working or begging they can hardly win the bare necessities, they would yet be willing to live here for ever if it were possible, caring nothing for the Kingdom of God.
How crazy and lacking in faith are such people, who are so deeply engrossed in earthly affairs that they care for nothing but material things! These unhappy wretches will at length know to their sorrow how vile and worthless were the things that they loved. But the Saints of God and all the devoted friends of Christ paid little heed to bodily pleasures, nor to prosperity in this life, for all their hopes and aims were directed towards those good things that are eternal. Their whole desire raised them upward to things eternal and invisible, so that the love of things visible could not drag them down. My brother, do not lose hope of progress in the spiritual life; you have still time and opportunity . . .The devaluing of life is how satan burns God in effigy. (spelling?)How sad for you, too, that you so devalue the gift of life from God Himself.
People tend toward sin? What a shocker. This doesn’t render the gift any less precious.
To say the world is sinful and corrupt borders on blasphemy.
You’ve tossed this same question to me over and over.Sailor;
The question is how to interpret John 12:25:
“The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
Is this passage of scripture blasphemy too?
Or, how about this one:
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!
Our life, our sweetness, and our hope!
To thee do we cry, poor banished
children of Eve, to thee do we send
up our sighs, mourning and weeping
in this valley, of tears.
Turn, then, most gracious advocate,
thine eyes of mercy toward us; and
after this our exile show unto us the
blessed fruit of thy womb Jesus;
O clement, O loving, O sweet virgin Mary.
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God
That we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.
Why not perfect ourselves in this world in preparation for the World to Come?You’ve tossed this same question to me over and over.
The only answer is that I do not interpret Scripture. My priests and Bishops and Pope do.
Beware that one does not ‘hate’ this life so much he becomes like a jihadist seeking ‘glory’ in the next world.
You are opinionated for somebody who claims not to interpret scriptures on their own.I have no idea what that has to do with ‘interpreting’ Scripture. I’m a Catholic. I leave interpretation to the Magisterium.
Are you going in circles by accident or in some other way?You are opinionated for somebody who claims not to interpret scriptures on their own.
I’m backing up my arguments with prayers, the Imitation of Christ, and sacred scripture. You have noticed this, but you fail to respond directly to it. Surely Satan exists, and corrupts this sinful world. How I wish I could be saved from this world today and enter into the Hereafter! This life is nothing compared to the light and glory of Heaven! Surely you can find some disdain for this corruptive life when comparing it to the Hereafter! Surely one must become detached from this life to walk in the footsteps of Christ.Are you going in circles by accident or in some other way?
I’ve already posted several times that I heard the explanation of the use and history of words like ‘hate’ and ‘life’ from LEARNED PRIESTS such as Father Mitch.
Unless you have a degree in theology and are a priest or Bishop, what you are stating is your personal opinion—over and over.
Please tell me how Father Mitch interprets John 12:25?Are you going in circles by accident or in some other way?
I’ve already posted several times that I heard the explanation of the use and history of words like ‘hate’ and ‘life’ from LEARNED PRIESTS such as Father Mitch.
Unless you have a degree in theology and are a priest or Bishop, what you are stating is your personal opinion—over and over.
Prayers and books aren’t scripture and don’t carry the same weight.\Scripture and tradition are what we go by…And they say life is precious. Heck if everybody had that kind of thinking you could justify- suicide, murder, abortion- you are just a tiny step away from that. what you are doing is dancing on the edge and I for one think you are justifying your negative thoughts by putting them in a religious light! This is extremely unhealthy.And can tell you from a biblical standpoint that ‘hate in the context of that scripture and others means-“to love or like less” "Jacob loved Rachel but hated Leah"does not mean he despised her. It just means that he love her less then his true love - Rachel. In other words you cannot hold this life in as high esteem as the next, you have to love this life a little less then the next. It doesn’t mean hating your existence- wanting to cease to be. You were given your life for a purpose and reason- don’t try to get away from your purpose by making excuses like the “world is to awful” Oh boo -hoo. Then do something about it.Whining and moaning and saying I cant’ wait to die does nothing for you , your soul or your fellow man.You are here to be God’s hands and feet and arms and legs.If you don’t care about yourself - your life or death- then care about somebody else’s. Jesus certainly didn’t go around say- “Gee I can’t wait until I get back to heaven” And that is somebody who knows how great it is! things had to be done- people to help- souls to save- teaching-I’m backing up my arguments with prayers, the Imitation of Christ, and sacred scripture. You have noticed this, but you fail to respond directly to it. Surely Satan exists, and corrupts this sinful world. How I wish I could be saved from this world today and enter into the Hereafter! This life is nothing compared to the light and glory of Heaven! Surely you can find some disdain for this corruptive life when comparing it to the Hereafter! Surely one must become detached from this life to walk in the footsteps of Christ.
By ‘valley of tears’ I would think that the tears would be sin, and of course this life is full of sin. And, while I hate sin, I don’t hate the place where the sin resides. By doing that I would also have to hate people and I know that is not God’s will. We are prisoners in the sense that we cannot leave to be with our Master until He calls us. As for the ‘woe is me’ part, everyone longs to be in heaven with their Creator whether they realize it or not. But this does not mean that we should hate the world. To hate this life would be to encourage things like murder, abortion, suicide, etc.The Golden Key to Heaven
by Saint Anthony Mary Claret
The death of the just: Death will reach everyone, the good and the bad; but the destiny of each one is quite different. The just man sees himself in this valley of tears as a prisoner, serving a very hard term. He considers himself a slave in this world, suffering an extremely distressing servitude. He regards himself a sailor caught in a horrible storm. And as death means an end of his confinement, an end of his slavery, and is the port of his salvation, he ceases not to cry with David, “Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged!. . .” (Ps. 119:5). He ceases not to ask with the Apostle, “. . . Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” (Rom. 7:24)
Now wait a minute - I didn’t say I love the things of this world more than God. I would gladly give up my very breath if it were God’s will. But this doesn’t mean we should hate it. This just means that we should keep it in it’s proper perspective.. . . Many weak and foolish people, say, “See what a good life that man enjoys! He is so rich, so great, so powerful, so distinguished!” But raise your eyes to the riches of Heaven, and you will see that all the riches of this world are as nothing. All are uncertain and even burdensome, for they are never enjoyed without some anxiety or fear. The happiness of man does not consist in abundance of this world’s goods, for a modest share is sufficient for him. The more spiritual a man desires to become, the more bitter does this present life grow for him, for he sees and realizes more clearly the defects and corruptions of human nature. For to eat and drink, to wake and sleep, to rest and labour, and to be subject to all the necessities of nature is a great trouble and affliction to the devout man, who would rather be released and set free from all sin.
The inner life of man is greatly hindered in this life by the needs of the body. Thus, the Prophet devoutly prays that he may be set free from them, saying, “Lord, deliver me from my necessities!” Woe to those who refuse to recognize their own wretchedness, and doubly woe to those who love this miserable and corruptible life! For some cling so closely to it, that although by working or begging they can hardly win the bare necessities, they would yet be willing to live here for ever if it were possible, caring nothing for the Kingdom of God.
How crazy and lacking in faith are such people, who are so deeply engrossed in earthly affairs that they care for nothing but material things! These unhappy wretches will at length know to their sorrow how vile and worthless were the things that they loved. But the Saints of God and all the devoted friends of Christ paid little heed to bodily pleasures, nor to prosperity in this life, for all their hopes and aims were directed towards those good things that are eternal. Their whole desire raised them upward to things eternal and invisible, so that the love of things visible could not drag them down. My brother, do not lose hope of progress in the spiritual life; you have still time and opportunity . . .
–The Imitation of Christ, Book 1, Chapter 22 Thomas à Kempis
You are very self righteous and yes- self absorbed. I’m glad you think you are one of the elect and we poor"crazy and lacking in faith"" and we “still have time and opportunity” to come to your state of spiritual perfection.You must be continually say"lord I am glad that I am not like these" us lacking faith.’ While we , poor slobs, are beating our breasts and saying"Be merciful to me O God a sinner".. . . Many weak and foolish people, say, “See what a good life that man enjoys! He is so rich, so great, so powerful, so distinguished!” But raise your eyes to the riches of Heaven, and you will see that all the riches of this world are as nothing. All are uncertain and even burdensome, for they are never enjoyed without some anxiety or fear. The happiness of man does not consist in abundance of this world’s goods, for a modest share is sufficient for him. The more spiritual a man desires to become, the more bitter does this present life grow for him, for he sees and realizes more clearly the defects and corruptions of human nature. For to eat and drink, to wake and sleep, to rest and labour, and to be subject to all the necessities of nature is a great trouble and affliction to the devout man, who would rather be released and set free from all sin.
The inner life of man is greatly hindered in this life by the needs of the body. Thus, the Prophet devoutly prays that he may be set free from them, saying, “Lord, deliver me from my necessities!” Woe to those who refuse to recognize their own wretchedness, and doubly woe to those who love this miserable and corruptible life! For some cling so closely to it, that although by working or begging they can hardly win the bare necessities, they would yet be willing to live here for ever if it were possible, caring nothing for the Kingdom of God.
How crazy and lacking in faith are such people, who are so deeply engrossed in earthly affairs that they care for nothing but material things! These unhappy wretches will at length know to their sorrow how vile and worthless were the things that they loved. But the Saints of God and all the devoted friends of Christ paid little heed to bodily pleasures, nor to prosperity in this life, for all their hopes and aims were directed towards those good things that are eternal. Their whole desire raised them upward to things eternal and invisible, so that the love of things visible could not drag them down. My brother, do not lose hope of progress in the spiritual life; you have still time and opportunity . . .
–The Imitation of Christ, Book 1, Chapter 22 Thomas à Kempis