I was reading todays meditation from In Conversation With God by Francis Fernandez. It talks about how our attitude affects others. "Alongside charity we have to also show the world our joy...It is essential to the apostolate. Who would be attracted by a sad and negative critic or gloomy complainer?" (Ouch! I resemble that, as the saying goes, much of time.) "The apostolic fruitfulness of the first Christians was the result, in good part, at their joy in being heralds of the Good News. They were the messengers of the One who had brought salvation to the world. They shone forth as happy people in the middle of a world in anguish. Their happiness spread abroad their faith in Christ. It was a special gift that they shared in their families and among their friends....at every moment, since it was their reason for living."
I had to cringe reading this, thinking back on today as I grumbled and whined at work when it got hectic. I catch myself doing that a lot. I have to make a conscious effort to correct that! What do I have to complain about? I have a job, family, roof over my head and most of all my heavenly Father who is always there for me.
"Let us ask ourselves whether we reflect Christian joy in our ordinary life. We have so many reasons for being happy: the wonder of our divine filiation, the comfort of divine mercy, the knowledge that we are on the road to heaven..., the joy of being able to receive communion often!"
I think I definitely need an attitude adjustment. Per St. Josemaria Escriva in The Forge, number 858: "The first step in bringing others to the ways of Christ is for them to see you happy and serene, sure in your advance towards God." Bingo.
I am Catholic!
I AM A CATHOLIC ... Because the founder of the Catholic Church is the God-Man Jesus Christ, Who was foretold by the prophets, and Who proved the divine character of His mission and teaching by wonderful miracles, especially by His Own Resurrection from the dead; Because Christ established upon Peter and the Apostles the Church, one, holy, universal, apostolic, with which He declared He would remain all days to the consummation of the world, and against which the gates of Hell would not prevail; Because Christ gave this society certain well defined doctrines which all men everywhere must believe under pain of damnation, to which they may not add or from which they may not subtract; Because Christ the Author of all holiness, promised to guard this society from error and preserve it until the end of time; Because the Catholic Church possesses all marks of this Church established by Christ: The Catholic Church is ONE because she everywhere professes the same faith, has the same sacrifice and sacraments, and is governed by one and the same visible head, the Pope. All non-Catholic sects lack unity. Because of the principles of private judgment they are conditionally splitting and subdividing. They have no central authority to hold them together. Their doctrines and practices are changing from day to day. The Catholic Church is HOLY because its Founder, Jesus Christ, is all-holy; because its doctrines are holy; because its means of sanctification, the sacraments, are holy; because it produces holy, saintly men and women. The Catholic Church is UNIVERSAL because it subsists throughout the ages, teaches all nations, and maintains all the truths given to it by Christ. The sects are not spread over the whole world but rather localized, nor do they they teach everything that Our Lord taught the Apostles. The Catholic Church is APOSTOLIC because it was founded on Christ's Apostles, because it is governed by their doctrines through their lawful successors, and because it never ceases to teach their doctrine. The sects cannot trace their origin to Christ or to the Apostles. I am a Catholic, finally, because God Who is Supreme Truth and Holiness could not possibly be the Author of the countless sects with their mutually destructive and contradictory teachings and practices.
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