Spiritual  Guidance

There is nothing more terrifying than eternity.  The words 'forever, forever, forever', and the words 'never, never, never' with regard to hell should make our human nature shudder. We die only once.

Never seek to prove to yourself what the Church proposes for your belief. Know well that the Church is infallible, and this should be enough for you. Christ told St. Thomas, 'Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe' (John 20.29).  This refers to those who do not seek proofs or signs.

As soon as you become conscious of a wicked thought, chase it away quickly either by saying a short prayer, or by thinking of any of the Last Things, or else by thinking of some duty you have to do.  Never hold a bad thought for any length of time, whether it is against faith, or against purity, or about revenge.  Wicked thoughts separate us from God.

You should realize that a venial sin may become mortal because of various reasons like the erroneous conscience of the agent, the frequency of repeating it,  its very attraction, (that is, that if it were a mortal sin you would consent to it just the same), a very  wicked intention, contempt towards the legislator, its immoral effect, or else because of the scandal that the sin may cause.

Alas for the world that gives scandal, said Christ.  Those who give scandal are guilty not only of their own personal sin, but also of those other sins committed by others because of them. Murderers deprive others of their earthly life, but scandal mongers deprive others of the life of grace.

In order to really understand the gravity of the sin of scandal, think of its consequences. If you seriously scandalise ten persons, each one of those ten persons may every year give a scandal of the same gravity to ten other persons, and so on.  The person scandalised is normally a cause of scandal to others.

From the Writings of St. George Preca, the Maltese Saint.