How many of you heard your parents, or anyone else, constantly say, “If you do ‘such and such’ God will punish you”? And if you heard comments like the above did that really bring you closer to God? Not for me. I grew up believing God was just waiting for me to ‘trip’ up to punish me. I grew up fearing, and staying away from really knowing Him.
I totally disagree with the approach of instilling fear into anyone to get them to stop offending God! I firmly believe that accentuating the positives of our Faith, accentuating the posiitives of loving a Loving God, is the best, surest, way to bring souls to God.
I (ironically) happened to be watching Dante’s “Divine Comedy” last night before going to bed. Yeah, hearing about the torments in store for sinners scares the bejibbers out of me. And the reality of a just punishment keeps me on the right path. I remind myself that those who find themselves in hell are there because they did not love.
Thankfully, I found God through the Marian homilies that once were the embodiment of the Franciscans of the Immaculate here in Griswold.
My love for God began with loving His Holy Mother first, not fear of punishment. Fear (servile fear) kept me away from the Faith because I saw God in a negative light. I have noticed over the past few months that negativity predomates many of the homilies now. I rarely see the Marian homilies that I had come to love so much.
Love begets love. Love is attractive. Fear brings anger, resentment, uneasiness, …and it is debilitating, if it goes too far.
I hope to see more Marian homilies filled with the beauty that brought me closer to the the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
06min) Play- Fr. Ignatius explains two fundamental motives for the sinner to do the right thing: fear and love.
Audio (MP3)
Dante’s “Divine Comedy”
How many of you heard your parents, or anyone else, constantly say, “If you do ‘such and such’ God will punish you”? And if you heard comments like the above did that really bring you closer to God? Not for me. I grew up believing God was just waiting for me to ‘trip’ up to punish me. I grew up fearing, and staying away from really knowing Him.
I totally disagree with the approach of instilling fear into anyone to get them to stop offending God! I firmly believe that accentuating the positives of our Faith, accentuating the posiitives of loving a Loving God, is the best, surest, way to bring souls to God.
I (ironically) happened to be watching Dante’s “Divine Comedy” last night before going to bed. Yeah, hearing about the torments in store for sinners scares the bejibbers out of me. And the reality of a just punishment keeps me on the right path. I remind myself that those who find themselves in hell are there because they did not love.
Thankfully, I found God through the Marian homilies that once were the embodiment of the Franciscans of the Immaculate here in Griswold.
My love for God began with loving His Holy Mother first, not fear of punishment. Fear (servile fear) kept me away from the Faith because I saw God in a negative light. I have noticed over the past few months that negativity predomates many of the homilies now. I rarely see the Marian homilies that I had come to love so much.
Love begets love. Love is attractive. Fear brings anger, resentment, uneasiness, …and it is debilitating, if it goes too far.
I hope to see more Marian homilies filled with the beauty that brought me closer to the the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
Ave Maria!