Cultivate the fruits of the Spirit

The ancients philosophized very little about divine things… The curious subtlety of the Arians drove the orthodox to greater necessity… Let the ancients be pardoned… but what excuse is there for us, who raise so many curious, not to say impious, questions about matters far removed from our nature? We define so many things which may be left to ignorance or in doubt without loss of salvation. Is it not possible to have fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit without being able to explain philosophically the distinction between them and between the nativity of the Son and the procession of the Holy Ghost? If I believe the tradition that there are three of one nature, what is the use of labored disputation? If I do not believe, I shall not be persuaded by any human reasons… You will not be damned if you do not know whether the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son has one or two beginnings, but you will not escape damnation, if you do not cultivate the fruits of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, modesty, continence, and chastity.

Desiderius Erasmus, Preface to his edition of the works of St. Hilary of Poitiers (1523)

Memento mori (‘remember you will die’)

"Memento mori (‘remember you will die’) is the ancient Christian practice of contemplating death and especially our own. Rather than to give into the hopelessness of decay, we know that flesh and bone will rise in the Resurrection. But to get to the joy of Easter Sunday, we must also endure the pain of Good Friday.

"This week, Michael is joined by Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble to answer the question, 'How does reflecting on death bring us closer to understanding Christ’s death and Resurrection?' As a former atheist who has studied and practiced memento mori in her own spiritual life, Sr. Theresa offers some fascinating insights on how the contemplation of death can lead to a more fruitful Lent and a more joyful Easter..."

Read more and listen to the podcast here: The Lenten Practice of Memento Mori | feat. Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble https://catholicexchange.com/the-lenten-practice-of-memento-mori-feat-sr-theresa-aletheia-noble

For God has chosen the foolish things of the world...

No morons so play the fool as those who are obsessed with the ardor of Christian piety to the point they distribute their goods, overlook injuries, suffer themselves to be deceived, make no distinction between friends and enemies, eschew pleasure, glut themselves with hunger, vigils, tears, toils, and reproaches, who disdain life, who crave only death, who seem utterly to contemn all common sense, as if the soul lived elsewhere and not in the body. What is this if not insanity? No wonder that the apostles appeared to be drunk with new wine and Paul seemed to Festus to be mad. Christ himself became a fool when he was found in fashion as a man that he might bring healing by the foolishness of the cross. “For God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and the weak things of the world to confound the mighty.”

Desiderius Erasmus, Moriae Encomium

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Moriae Encomium (Latin) In Praise of Folly, also translated as The Praise of Folly, is an essay written in Latin in 1509 by Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam and first printed in June 1511