I Take off the MASK!

Grief and Healing - Download the eBook

“The revelation of Fatima is a reminder that we live in a moral universe, that evil is self-defeating, that good is self-preserving…” – Fulton Sheen

No matter how victorious and attractive evil may seem to be, let us always remember that it could never triumph in the end. For it is in the very nature of evil to destroy itself. It is in the very nature of sin to lead to death.

Evil merely hides behind an illusion, an illusion that it could somehow survive, that the good it offers can somehow be sustained. This illusion entraps us and make us believe in a lie.

Darkness cannot even preserve itself. No matter how small we think the sin we give excuses for, it harms us, and it will eventually lead to our own destruction.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death. – James 1

Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. -James 1

There are some things in this life that give us happiness for a moment, and after which, they leave us with a far greater pain and emptiness than we had before. There are some things that seem good at the start yet little by little we discover the darkness that they hide underneath.

Let us not fall into the illusion of such things. They only appear good for a while, but beneath them all is something that will keep us away from true happiness and peace.

Let us consider God’s gifts instead. God’s gifts are the ones that give true joy and lasting peace. The good that they contain is pure. There is no shadow of illusion in them, and the light that they bring us is not tainted by any kind of evil.

We were not made for things of fading beauty or diminishing good. We were made for eternal wholeness and perfect joy. Expect and receive nothing of lesser worth.

Unhappy is the soul enslaved by the love of anything that is mortal. – Saint Augustine

All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful. – Flannery O’Connor

There are times when we think we are so lost we could never find the way to happiness anymore. There are times when we have tried so very hard only to fail again and again, and we no longer think that change is still possible, that there is still hope for us.

Do not be discouraged. Even if you feel so weak you can’t even get up on your own. Even if you see all your weaknesses and you can’t see how you could possibly be the person you wanted to be.

God has a plan for you. From the very beginning, He has thought of you and loved you. It is not by your own strength that you can do it, it is by God’s power.

Change will not be easy. But it is worth it. God can give you the grace. What seems impossible will be possible. When all else fails, God will carry you!

…that you put away, as concerning your former way of life, the old man that grows corrupt after the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of truth. – Ephesians 4, WEB

“The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”-Samuel Johnson

There is something about bad habits that keep us bound to them. Aside from the pleasure we derive from them, it is the thought that we can control them and that at any moment we desire, we can break free from them.

We think that we can set boundaries to bad habits that can ensure our safety. We convince ourselves that we would only allow ourselves to taste a little now and then and that there can be no harm to these things that we do.

Sooner or later however, we find out that we become more addicted to its pleasures. We sink deeper and deeper, craving more and more until what desired to control has eventually gained control over us.

Do not be ensnared from the very beginning. It is a deception to think we can overcome such a great fire when we are already burning through and through. Every fire begins with but a spark. Let us extinguish it before it grows into a flame we could never put out.

Therefore let’s also… lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us… looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and many be defiled by it; lest there be any sexually immoral person, or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. – Hebrews 12

Let us learn to be more gentle with ourselves. Quite often, our harshness towards others is merely a reflection of our own harshness towards ourselves. – Jocelyn Soriano

God is kind and gentle. He is kind with you. He is gentle with you. How could you not be kind and gentle also with yourself?

While it is true that we must never let sin reign over us, neither should we let discouragement and harshness fill our souls. Harshness is not compatible with love. It is never compatible with compassion.

We need to love ourselves right so we’d know how to love others. It is this love within us that will spread to those around us.

If we can only understand ourselves more and have more patience for our shortcomings, maybe we can also be more patient with others. Maybe then, we can truly love others the way Jesus Himself loves us.

But we were gentle amongst you, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children. – 1 Thessalonians 2:7, WEBBE