#16........"He who loves Me, says the Lord, will keep My commandments, and this is my commandment, that you love one another." Thus he who does not love his neighbor fails to keep the commandment, and so cannot love the Lord." How literally do we have to take this commandment? Well, God put it with His FIRST, saying it is "like unto the first." That means all other commandments and laws and rules and traditions line up underneath it. If we really believed that, Christian

Here is # 13 : "The person who loves God cannot help loving every man as himself, even though he is grieved by the passions of those who are not yet purified. But when they amend their lives, his delight is indescribable and knows no bounds." And #15 : "If we detect any trace of hatred in our hearts against any man whatsoever for committing any fault, we are utterly estranged from love for God, since love for God absolutely precludes us from hating any man." Such a strug

I want to comment briefly on fear of God. Some souls only give God "a try" because they fear going to hell. Other souls try God because they want truth. Others come to God because he is beautiful - and the Holy Spirit has given them a "look" in some way and they want more. The point is, what begins as fear or a gentle yearning or even just curiosity, in time needs to become a love that draws us to him. Souls, as St. Therese says, are as different as faces, so God calls

Paragraph 2 tells us that certain things are connected....that faith leads to fear of God, which leads to self-control, which leads to patience, which leads to hope in God, which leads to dispassion, which leads to love. I am quoting from the Philokalia which is a treasure! Kindle has it for just a few dollars. In the "contents" look for Maximus the Confessor and click it. His first century on love is right there. #2 reads: "Dispassion engenders love, hope in God eng

I am planning to spend a lot of time writing about St. Maximus the Confessor, reflecting on his teaahings on love. He wrote 400 "paragraphs" on love, and this is the first: ""Love is a holy state of the soul, disposing it to value knowedge of God above all created things. We cannot attain lasting possession of such love while we are still attached to anythnig worldly." If love at its highest level is what you want - in the likeness of God - it means you must ask the Holy

Have closet, will pray ☺ When I was a pastor I got requests every day to pray for people. I still get a few but would love more. My prayer closet is 5×5 and perfect for praying the rosary for whoever needs prayer. So, keep me busy! It costs you nothing but a quick email.......frdouglorig@gmail.coms

If anyone wants me to talk about some aspect of the spiritual life, just ask a question in the the comments box. I will not be able to talk about everything folks bring up, but I can maybe help a little.☺

Another aspect of concern - pastoral concern - is the very real "off course" venue adopted by folks who become obsessed with messages. Often they enter the dark world of conspiracy theories and attribute it all to an apocalyptic revelation of impending divine punishment. The daily assignment of Jesus - to deliberately practice love of God and neighbor and to walk in his Gospel Commands gets sidelined by messages, dire warnings and a kind of self-induced paranoia. I have

I've been asked to talk a little about Marian apparitions, which are both a blessing and cause for real caution. First let's make a list of some things we know are part of the Catholic Church's take on the subject: 1. Catholics are NOT required to believe in any extraordinary revelations, Marian or otherwise. 2. Rome does not want extraordinary revelations to be treated as genuine while they are investigating them (ordinarlly at a bishop's r