"When a sinner has filled up the measure of his sins, his evils become incurable; he gets outside the range of God's mercy and into His justice, from which he shall never escape." St Basil the Great
"The number of the elect is so small - so small - that, were we to know how small it is, we would faint away with grief: one here and there, scattered up and down the world!" St Louis Marie de Montfort
"The number of the saved is as few as the number of grapes left after the vineyard-pickers have passed" St John Mary Vianney
"Bad confessions damn the majority of Christians." St Teresa of Avila
"Taking into account the present development of humanity, only a limited number of the human race will be saved...many will be lost." Lucy of Fatima
"Notwithstanding assurances that God did not create any man for Hell, and that He wishes all men to be saved, it remains equally true that only few will be saved; that only few will go to Heaven; and that the greater part of mankind will be lost forever." St John Neumann
"I do not speak rashly, but as I feel and think. I do not think that many priests are saved, but that those who perish are far more numerous." St John Chrysostum
4 comments:
Well, in that case why bother!? That sort of talk during the 19th century may have actually encouraged the faithful to make more strenuous efforts, but in today's skeptical climate the likely response is; "hey man, sounds like the race is rigged".
Thank you for you comment, Anon.
We all need reminders, and that is why I thought it might be interesting to post this. Every Catholic funeral I have attended in recent decades is all full of happy-happy, see-you-in-Heaven stuff that people attending forget the gravity of their situations. Our priests and our Popes talk incessantly about everybody going to Heaven after death and eventually people just begin to assume that we'll all be in Heaven eventually sitting around having coffee and playing golf. Open any newspaper's obituary page for a good illustration of this.
Sometimes one has to be a party pooper and throw a bit of cold water into people's faces, to remind them that maybe we will have to work a bit to attain our salvation. I believe the above Saints were giving us a helpful, if a bit stark, reminder.
Anonymous, why such a defeatist attitude. We are all among His creation of souls and our obligation is so basic. Instead of a defeatist despair you should be pressing forward in confidence to please your God even knowing you may fail. Doing so with that knowledge would further your success.
I have no intention of doing anything other than MY BEST to save my soul. Not just because of the obvious, but because that is what God wants of me and I love Him even more than I love me. Besides, we should be fighting to help other souls.
To not fight to know, love and serve God, to not work out our salvation in fear and trembling, to not fight for other souls is to have no charity at all. When we put true Charity first everything else falls into place. If then after all Our Lord has done, all the saints, all you and I do there are stll so few who gain Heaven it will not be because all has not been given them?
God is all good, all merciful and also all just. Let us do our part to save souls and our own soul. Please, please lets pray for each other that we do not fail in doing all we can,,,united to Christ of course and through the Immaculate Heart of His Most Holy Mother.
We have been given every resource, every aid. It is not God that fails us.
You want to be saved? It is not too hard, after all. It is merely that folks won't do what it takes.
Step one: Admit that there is a God and that you are not Him.
Step two: Learn about Him and His Revelation. (Hint: the Catholic Church has all the info you need.)
Step three: Humble yourself enough to ask for His help, and try to conform yourself to His instructions, admitting that you are weak, and can't make it with out His help. This means fighting to let go of your demands, desires, and demerits.
Step four: (or better, the first thing) Pray. Talk to God, tell him your problems, your fears, your desires, your needs. Open up to Him and let Him be part of your life. Do this even when you feel He is not listening, not there, or not caring. Pray without ceasing.
These steps, in any order, will bring you closer to God. Persevere in them, and you will wind up in Heaven.
God wants all men to be saved, but those that are, are those that sought Him out, and stayed with Him to the end. If you do not give up on God, He will not give up on you.
Fall as you may, just keep it up. He wants you to, and will help you, if only you do not give up.
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