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Show 126: The Holy Spirit · The Uncensored Catholic

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The f A. Hey, y'all, welcome to today's show. As promise,
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we're going to begin discussing the Holy Spirit today, and we'll get a
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few questions and answers that our radiop Lives Radio replies. But first of all,
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I want to give you a little announcement. As I'm recording this show
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today. It is ash Wednesday, and as a means of almsgiving for Lent,
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I have decided to give to my listeners, to my subscribers to the
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Uncensored Catholic Newsletter, to anyone who hears this message or receives the message that
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I post on social media, one free ebook of their choice. I normally
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sell these books in PDF format for nine to ninety nine, so it's a
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free a free basically ten dollars value. Just email me Judson at Judsoncarrol dot
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com and let me know which of my books you would like to buy or
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I mean, you would like to receive as a free gift, O strings
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attached, nothing, just absolute free gift from me. You can find all
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my books and their descriptions on Amazon, or if you want to go to
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my herbal blog Southern Appalachianerbs dot blogspot dot com. They're all listed down the
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right hand side of the page. Just click the picture and you get a
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description of the book. You can also go to Judson Carrol dot com.
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It's a little bit harder to navigate. I don't have the site set up
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as well it should be. That's something I need to work on pretty soon.
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But I've written thirteen books on mostly herbal medicine, but I guess three
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on religion now. Yeah, and anyway, anyway, if you're interested,
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just email me Judson Judson Carrol dot com, tell me what title you like,
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and this will be just, you know, a gift from me to
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you, and I hope you enjoy it. I hope you find it enriching.
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Now let's get on to the question, and this is this person has
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we've seen from the last couple of questions of very opposite way of looking at
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things. They are very not very rational at all. And this is an
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excellent example. This person says that Protestantism commends itself more to men, is
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evident from the fact that it is not attacked as is Catholicism. Well,
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that's actually the opposite of what Jesus said. I mean, he said that,
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you know, Christians would suffer and be attacked. And you know,
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as the venerable Fulton Sheen said so famously. If you want to identify the
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one, the true church, it's the one that's hated as Christ was hated.
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They answer, the world is not afraid of Protestantism, which has always
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been ready to water down Christian obligations to suit it, But instinctively the world
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hates and fears the Catholic Church, which will make no compromise, but insists
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upon the fullness of Christian doctrine, comfortable or uncomfortable. She insists upon the
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intellectual obedience of faith, disciplayers mission of the will, the impossibility of divorce
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and remarriage, the iniquity of birth control by evil means, the inadequacy of
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merely secular education. Her repetition of Christ's axiom deny thyself, take up thy
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cross, and follow me interferes too much with the comfort of men. If
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Christianity demanded merely a mission of a few religious doctrines, men would not object
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to it. But since it imposes moral obligation difficult for human nature, I
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am not surprised that men refuse it in its original and austere form. When
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they are offered a less exacting substitute with the assurance that is just as good.
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And the person says, are not the Protestant churches at least working for
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reunion? And no they're not, they answered, not for the reunion with
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the Catholic Church. Meantime, if they were to unite among themselves, the
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union would not last a generation. As long as men refuse to submit to
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the Catholic Church, they will insist upon the right to think for themselves and
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build up a system accordingly. If Protestantism grants the right of private judgment,
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it may secure the cry good. I think Catholicism is wrong, but it
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also must be prepared to hear the words, and I think Protestantism is also
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wrong. Already established, Protestantism can say nothing, and the man sets himself
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up for himself, so it will go on. The Catholic Church alone can
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preserve true unity. Every year finds Protestantism splitting up into still further sects,
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and in the end it will fail, as must every house divided against itself.
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And I think we are witnessing that in real time right now. As
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you know, religiosity, one might say, has been declining since the sixties.
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And you know, due to not having intact families, very few people
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grow up going to their parents' church with their parents and you know, sitting
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on the same pew with their grandparents and all that. And COVID seems to
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have been the last nail in the coffin, honestly, of Protestism that along
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with everyone spending you know, their world is on their cell phone, is
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on their you know, internet device. Uh people, Uh, the Protestant
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churches are empty. I mean I've mentioned before, and it's sad. I
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mean, you know, you got to say that Christian morality, whether Catholic
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or Protestant, has been a very positive force in this world, especially in
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America, and we're just falling apart into a degraded, horrible state. And
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now on Sundays, as I'm driving to a Catholic church, it's still pretty
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darn packed. I mean, you know, I'm passing Baptists and Presbyterian and
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Methodist churches that have been standing in these towns in North Carolina along a lot
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longer than the Catholic churches have. You know, Catholicism was essentially illegal in
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North Carolina until the late eighteen hundreds and didn't really get established until between nineteen
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twenty and in the cities between twenty and fifty as the cities became more industrialized
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and people moved south from the north. Most towns really did not have a
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Catholic church in North Carolina until the late nineties, mid nineties at least.
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And so these churches that were once the pillars and backbones of the community that
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were so important to the people who lived in those towns, it's sad to
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see them sitting empty. People go to the megachurches, you know, but
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that's a fad that's not going to last. Well, I mean, it's
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just more of our duty than ever as Catholics to try to encourage people into
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Catholicism because it's going to be the last one standing. We're promised that in
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the Bible. Let's get on with our discussion today about the Holy Spirit from
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Father Spirago's exhaustive explanation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. And considering we're
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only on about two hundred pages into a seven hundred page book, yeah it's
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pretty exhaustive. So we are to the eighth article of the Creed, which
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he tells the Holy Ghost, as you know, that was once more commonly
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the name given the third person of the Trinity. Now we say Holy Spirit,
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mainly because people understand the word spirit a little better than ghost. You
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know, in popular culture, a ghost is the spirit of a dead person,
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so that doesn't work. But in more traditional languages, spirit and ghost
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and to have the same root words, you know, so we always say
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holy Spirit. In the eighteen nineties when he wrote this book, holy Ghost
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was more commonly used. Point number one, the grace of the Holy Ghost
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is necessary to us. One. The Holy Ghost is the third person of
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the Blessed Trinity, and is therefore God himself. Hence he is eternal,
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omnipresent, omniscient, almighty and almighty. The Holy Ghost, as Tertullian,
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is God of God, as light is of light. Saint Cyril of Alexandria
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compares the Holy Ghost and his likeness to the Father and the Son, to
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the vapor arising from water, which is like in its nature to the water
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producing it. Saint Isidore, commenting on the words of Christ I drive out
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devils through the Finger of God, says that as the finger, it is
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of the same nature as the body. So the Holy Ghost is of the
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nature of God. Saint Athanasius writes that the Holy Ghost is called the finger
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of God because it is only through him that the Father and the Son enter
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into communication with man. Through him. It was that the table Stones were
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written, and the Second General Council of Constantinople in eighty three eighty one it
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was defined that the Holy Ghost is eternal and omnipresent, et cetera, in
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opposition to the heresy of the Macedonius. Of Macedonius, the Holy Ghost proceeds
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from the Father and the Son. The Greeks, who denied this article of
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faith and fell away from the Church in eighty eight sixty seven and AD ten
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fifty three, fell into the Turkish yoke in the year fourteen fifty three,
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and strangely enough, on the Feast of Pentecost. That was really that is
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one of the difference in belief of the Trinity, was one of the main
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divisions between the Greek Orthodox and the Catholic Church. And that's interesting that they
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would have been conquered by the Turks. Is Muslim Turks on Pentecost Sunday.
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Well, we just have to be glad they're free now, right, you
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know, very often. Unfortunately, the Orthodox churches are actually for more orthodox
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in many modern Catholic churches. I'm using the word orthodox in two different ways,
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but I mean they adhere more closely to the teachings of Christ. Then
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our short has just been infested with liberalism and socialism and etc. Over the
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past few decades. Point number two, modernism. That's probably the best way
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to put it. We need to go back and take the oath against modernism.
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That Pope Pious was it the tenth I think it was recommended. It's
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very important in my opinion. So point number two. The Holy Ghost dispenses
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the grace which Christ merited by the sacrifice of the cross. The Holy Ghost
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produces nothing in addition to what Christ gained for us. He only increases and
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perfects that work of Christ, just as the sun, when shining on a
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field, is not so new seed, but develops that which is always sun.
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A grace is a favor granted to a person who has no claim to
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the favor. If a sovereign grants to a sovereign, meaning a ruler a
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king essentially grants to a reprieve to a criminal into the sentence of death.
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That reprieve is a grace. So too, God acts with regard to man,
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granting him numberless favors without any merit on the part of man. It's
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reverence to Romans three twenty four. These favors or graces may be temporal,
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such as health, riches, station, or spiritual, such as the forgiveness
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of our sins. It is with the latter class of favors that we are
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dealing now, and it was to secure these for us that Christ consented to
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die on the cross, hence point number three. Hence, the assistance of
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the Holy Ghost is absolutely necessary for salvation. No mere natural act of man
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can gain for him eternal salvation. The following illustration may help. A little
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boy longs to reach some fruit on a tree. He stretches out his arm
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to the utmost, but the fruit is still out of reach. The child's
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father then lifts him up so that he can pluck the fruit for himself.
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Thus man cannot attain salvation by his own efforts. To the Holy Ghost gives
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him supernatural strength, as the cannot discern distant objects without a telescope, and
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the arm cannot lift heavy weights without a lever. So the natural powers of
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man require supernatural help in order that salvation may be attained. Hence the words
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of Christ. Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost,
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he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, that means baptism and confirmation
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into the Catholic Church. Without the help of the Holy Ghost, we cannot
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do the least work of salvation. We can do nothing without God's help.
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Our sufficiency is from God Tewod Corinthians three five. As Saint Thomas Aquinas said,
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we are since the fall like a sick man who cannot leave his bed
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without help. The following may serve as illustrations. A man cannot work without
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light. Thus, too, he cannot do any good work without the light
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of the Holy Ghost. The body is helpless unless animated by the soul.
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In like manner, man can do no good unless the Holy Spirit, to
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us, the life of the soul, come to his aid. That's a
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reference to Saint full gentious work. Our souls bring forth no fruit unless they
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are watered by the rain of the grace of the Holy Spirit. That's quote
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from Saint Hilary. As Grace can do nothing without the cooperation of the will,
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so neither can the will achieve any result without grace. Compare the action
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of the earth. It can produce no fruits without rain, and rain cannot
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produce fruit without the earth. That's referenced Saint John Christossum as ink is required
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for the pen. So the grace of the Holy ghost is necessary to inscribe
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the virtues in our souls. That's from Saint Thomas Aquias. Every good work
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is the effect of two coordinated principles, the Holy ghosts and our own free
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will. That's for Corinthians fifteen ten. We may compare the action of the
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schoolmaster who guides the boy's hand while he writes. Thus, we can never
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ascribe the merit of our good works to ourselves. The earth does not bring
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forth flowers, but rather the sun by means of the earth. As we
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ascribe the activity of the body to the soul, we should ascribe our good
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works to the grace of God. We might put down our good works to
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our own account with as much truth as a soldier might claim victory without reference
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to his commander. With the help of the Holy ghosts, we can carry
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out the most difficult works. Saint Paul says, I can do all in
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him who strengthens me. Philippians four thirteen point number two the actions of the
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Holy Ghosts or subheading number two. The grace is conferred by the Holy Ghosts
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are as follows. He gives to all men actual graces, he gives to
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some men sanctifying grace. He usually gives the seven Special gifts and occasionally quite
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extraordinary graces. And finally he sustains and guides the Catholic Church actual grace.
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The Holy Ghost influences our life by enlightening the mind and strengthening the will.
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Such passing influence of the Holy Spirit is called actual grace or Pentecosts. The
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apostles were still ignorant, slow of heart, as Our Lord expressed it in
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the Gospel of Luke. The Holy Ghost and descending upon them, enlightened their
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understanding and strengthened their will. The fear, which had caused them to keep
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in concealment, was now changed into undaunted courage. The fiery tongues symbolized the
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enlightenment of their minds. The whirlwind, the strength which they received the Holy
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Ghost is like the sun, giving light and warmth. When the sun begins
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to shine, the stars which were visible before begin to wane, and we
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see nothing in the firmament but the sun. When the Holy Ghost enlightens our
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souls, we despise all earthly objects which formally attracted our loves, such as
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eating, drinking, playing, etc. And all our thoughts returned towards God.
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Moreover, the light of the sun reveals to us the true form of
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objects, the stones which we have gathered, the various roads before us.
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The light of the Holy Ghost shows us the true value of earthly things,
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our own sins, and the true goal of life. So when the sun
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becomes. When the sun comes, the ice brings to melt and the plants
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to blossom. So too, the Holy Ghost warms our hearts, stirring them
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with the love of God and of our neighbor, and helps us to do
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actions to deserving of heaven. The Holy Ghost is therefore a light descending from
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the Father of light. As Saint Augustine says, actual grace is a light
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which enlightens and moves the sinner. There are many and various channels through which
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the Holy Ghost makes his influence, act for instant sermons, the reading of
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good books, illness and death, the good example of others, religious pictures,
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and the advice of superiors and friends, etc. The people were moved
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by the Holy Ghost at Pentecost when they heard the preaching of the Apostles,
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So to Saint Anthony the Hermit on hearing the sermon on the rich young men
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man, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, by the reading of the lives of the
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saints, Saint Francis of Assisi during an illness, Saint Francis Borisia on seeing
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the dead body of Queen Isabella, Saint Norbert Norbert on seeing death by lightning,
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etc. Etc. In all these cases there was a sudden interior change
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which the Holy Ghost took occasion of to speak to their hearts. All of
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them might have said, with Saint Cyprian, when the Holy Ghost came into
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my heart, he changed me into another man. Often God sends a suffering
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before the Holy Ghost speaks to us. Just as wax must be subjected to
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the flame and the stamp before receiving an impression, so the heart of man
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must be softened by suffering in order to receive the impress of the Holy Spirit.
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Before paper can be used for writing, it must be prepared and finished
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in a similar manner. Man must be purified from evil desires before he is
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fit for the working of the Holy Ghost and his soul. The actions of
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the Holy Spirit sometimes makes itself perceptible to the senses. For example, the
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appearance of a dove and the voice from Heaven at the baptism of Christ,
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the fiery tongues and the rushing of wind at Pentecost. We might reflect also
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how Christ is to the sacraments with forms appealing to the senses. The Holy
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Ghost does not force us, but leads us in perfect possession of our free
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will. The Holy Ghost is, as it were, a guide whom men
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may follow or not, as a list. He is the light proceeding from
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God to which a man can if he will close his eyes, as Saint
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Augustine says, to obey the voice of God or not, as left to
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a man's free will. God does not act upon us as if we were
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inanimate objects without intellect or free will. Man's freedom is very sacred to God,
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nor will he deprive him of it, even when he uses it to
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his own perdition. In the words of Saint Gertrude, as God would not
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allow our great enemy to deprive us of our freedom, So neither would he
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take it from us himself. Man can cooperate with actual grace or reject it.
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Saint Saul of Tarsus cooperated with grace. The young man in Luke eighteenh
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eighteen through twenty five rejected it. The people who on Pentecost reviled the Apostles
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rejected grace as Acts two thirteen, as also those who monks mock Saint Paul
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when he spoke to them on the I am trouble on Areopagus. I think
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that's it of the Gospel and the resurrection of the dead. Herod, too,
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when he heard of the birth of Christ from the magi, failed to
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cooperate with grace. Francis de sal draws an illustration from marriage. When a
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man wishes to marry, he offers his hand to some suitable person, and
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that person may accept or reject the offer. Thus God acts, he offers
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us his grace, and we may accept it or reject it. Whoever constantly
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resists actual grace and dies in that resistance is guilty of grave sin against the
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Holy Ghost, a sin which cannot be forgiven. Such a man resembles the
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devil, who is ever resisting the truth whoever cooperates with actual grace acquires greater
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graces. But he who resists loses other graces and must answer the judgment for
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his obstinacy. The first grace, if responded to, brings with it a
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string of other graces. The servant who employed well his five talents received five
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talents more. Hence, the words of Christ, he that hath to him,
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shall be given, and he shall abound. The punishment which fell on
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the city of Jerusalem in eighty seventy is a terrible example of the rejection of
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grace, because it did not know the time of its visitation. You may
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recall that Jesus prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed, and it was eighty seventy
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because according to tradition, they rejected the Christ. To him who rejects grace
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supplies those words of Christ. The unprofitable servant casts you out into the exterior
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darkness. There should be weeping and gnashing of teeth. It is an insult
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to a great lord to refuse his gifts, all the more if he be
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the Lord of heaven and earth and God himself. He who rejects grace's has
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little chance of getting to heaven as the traveler of reaching his destination, who
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should neglect to enter the train whilst it is at the station. The moment
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of actual grace is like the crisis of a sickness, where there when a
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little carelessness may cause death. Many people give a poor reception to the Holy
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Ghost when he comes to them on the occasion of a death, the reception
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of the sacraments, or the celebration of great feasts, by giving way to
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worldly distractions and following their inclinations. They should then seek solitude and time for
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recollection, prayer, or purify their souls from sin by confession. Thus acted
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Saint Ignatius of Loyola, when after his conversion he retired to a cave at
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Manreesa. Thus too Saint Mary of Egypt, when she retired to the desert.
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Sailors put out to sea, says Louis of Grenada, as soon as
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they see that the favorable wind is blowing with like promptitude. Ought we to
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act when we feel the influence of the Holy Spirit. If we delay,
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God will withdraw his graces, just as in the case of the Israelites,
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those who failed to rise in the early morning to gather the man I felt
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it, it found it had melted away after the sunrise. The greater the
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graces we receive, says say Gregory the great the greater is our responsibility.
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Christ's own words are unto whomsoever much is given, much shall be required.
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The Holy Ghost acts on every man on the center, as well as the
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just, and more on Catholics than on non Catholics and unbelievers. God is
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the good shepherd who seeks the lost sheep till he finds it. Christ is
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the light of the world to enlightens every man that comes into the world.
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God's will is that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the
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truth. Besides all this, God has a very special love for the souls
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of men. My delight is to be with the children of men. It's
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Proverbs eight thirty one. The Holy Ghost was even from the beginning of the
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world active in promoting the salvation of mankind. But on Pentecost he came into
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the world in a much more efficacious manner. While the Jews were in excellent
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Babylon, the Holy Ghost was working in the heathen. By many miracles were
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wrought to demonstrate God's power, as in the instance of the three children in
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the Furnace, and Daniel and the lions den. He was working not only
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in the patriarchs and the prophets, but even in the heathens, like Socrates,
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who taught the existence of God and for that reason was contemned to death
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in three ninety nine BC. Just as the sunrise is preceded by the dawns,
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so the Son of Justice Christ is preceded by the dawn of the Holy
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Ghost. The Holy Ghost does not distribute his gifts equally to all men.
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The members of the Catholic Church received the richest share. One servant five talents,
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another two, and another one talent. That said Matthew twenty five point
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fifteen. The Jews received more than the Heathen, the Blessed Mother of God
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more than all other men. The towns of Korzaan and Besseida received more graces
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than Tire and Sidon Kafarnam more than Sodom. That's Matthew eleven, twenty one
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and twenty three. There are ordinary graces which are given to all men without
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distinction, and there are special graces which God grants only to be few souls,
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and that with a view of some special work. Many graces may be
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obtained, especially by the prayers of others in cooperation with the first grace.
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Saint Augustine received many more graces than other men in consequence of the prayers of
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Saint Monica. So to Saint Paul. Through the dying prayer of Saint Stephen,
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the Holy apostles obeyed the first call of our Lord and thus obtained many
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other graces. The action of the holy ghosts and the souls of men is
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not constant, but occasional. Hence the exhortation of Saint Paul, now is
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the acceptable time. Behold now is the day of salvation. Compare the parable
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the vineyard, where the workman received only one sum only one summons. Times
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of special grace are given the seasons of lent, or when a mission is
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being given, or the jubilee year. These times of graces are like market
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days, when things are easier to obtain, with this difference that no money
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is required. Come by my wine and milk, without money and without prices.
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From Isaiah. Graces are obtained by the performance of good works, especially
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by prayer, fasting, in alms, deeds, and more especially by the
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use of the means of grace. Provided by the church by hearing Holy Mass,
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worthy reception of the Sacraments, and attendance at sermons. God's grace can
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not be merited by our own good works alone, otherwise it would not be
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grace. Yet these good works are necessary, for as Saint Augustine said,
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God who created us without our cooperation, will not save us without our cooperation.
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Not according to the works which we have done. But out of his
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mercy has God saved us. The Holy Ghost gives to each one as he
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wills, with regard however, the preparation and cooperation of each individual. Hence
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it is that a man receives more actual grace as he is richer in good
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works. In particular, we know that prayer to the Holy Ghost is very
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efficacious, for the Father in Heaven gives the Holy Ghost to those who ask
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him. Prayer to the Mother of God is also very efficacious, for she
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is full of grace and the dispenser of all good gods gifts. Let no
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one, says Saint Alfonsis, consider this last title extravagant, for the greatest
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saints have so spoken of her, and the saints, as we know,
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were inspired by the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of truth, prayer to the
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blessed. Sacrament also confers many graces, So to retirement for the world or
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solitude in which God speaks to the heart, and the mortification of the senses
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are all excellent means of drawing down grace. A good example to be found
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in the conduct of the apostles during the time preceding Pentecost. And we'll leave
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it there. Next time we'll pick up with sanctifying grace. But as today
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is ash Wednesday, the discussion on actual graces and how they can be obtained
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through fasting and prayer and penance, I thought was very appropriate. See y'all
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in the words of Saint Padre Pio, pray, hope and don't worry,
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and I will talk to you next time.