Random Thoughts

For several decades, the British scholar and author, Antony Flew, was the most consistent proponent of atheism. However, in the latter stages of his life, he conceded that scientific evidence convinced him of the existence of God. Flew said that the latest biological research “has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce (life), that intelligence must have been involved.” Antony Flew conceded that many of his philosophical followers will be shocked by his announcement. But he told Associated Press: “My whole life has been guided by the principle of Plato’s Socrates: Follow the evidence, wherever it leads.”

One simple thought on suffering – God has never asked of anyone else what he himself had not suffered first.   JTE

When I was young and strong, it did not much matter to me that Jesus was crucified. Now, however, it is important to me that I cannot say to HIM “And what exactly do you KNOW about human suffering being GOD?” His crucifixion allows me to pray.  Unknown author

“Truth and freedom are closely and necessarily related”. “Honestly seeking and aspiring to truth is the condition of authentic freedom. One cannot live without the other. The Church, which desires to serve unreservedly the human person and his dignity, stands at the service of both truth and freedom. She cannot renounce either, because what is at stake is man himself, because she is moved by love for man, ‘the only creature on earth which God has wanted for its own sake’, and because without this aspiration for truth, justice and freedom, man would lose his very self.  Pope Benedict XVI In Spain  2010

“Tolerance is the virtue of a man without convictions.” G.K. Chesterton

“Neither theological knowledge nor social action alone is enough to keep us in love with Christ unless both are proceeded by a personal encounter with Him. Theological insights are gained not only from between two covers of a book, but from two bent knees before an altar. The Holy Hour becomes like an oxygen tank to revive the breath of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the foul and fetid atmosphere of the world,” – Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

“Salvation comes, not from human beings and their powers, but solely from God—from an act of his grace.”  Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)

“Heaven cannot be populated by human beings who refuse to be there, whose lives indicate they do not want to be there.”  James Schall

“Our lives begin in time but we are destined for eternity. Our soul is what makes us what we are. It animates the body, enables us to sense and imagine, and most importantly to think and will. Life is a drama in which we are readying ourselves to die, that is, to save our souls. The deeds we do, with the grace of God, make us what we ought to be for all eternity. It is a sobering thought that we can fail at this.”  Dr. Ralph McInerney