Catholic during the Great Apostasy

1 The life of the human heart is a perpetual reel of cares and desires. “Take care of yourself”. – in this admonition one of the ancient sages encapsulated all the teachings of wisdom.

There are people who devote themselves entirely to external matters, who care about everything but themselves. To think only of oneself is bad, but to think also of oneself is good. There is no created thing for which a rational man should care as much as for his soul, as for his inner life.
My soul is dearer than the whole world. What good is the whole world to me, if I suffer damage to my soul? After mortality comes eternity; my soul is immortal. Temporal life is short; it has been given to me mainly so that I may gain eternal life.

We care much for the health of the body, how much more should we care for the health of the soul! I have only one soul; God adopted it as a child, by that grace of adoption it is worth as much as the precious blood of Christ.

ONCE WE LOSE A SOUL, WE LOSE IT FOREVER.

The happiness of my soul is my happiness. In order to achieve this happiness, I must pass the test of life. The trial is short, and eternity hangs from it.
Man’s life is like a wave that rises for a moment and then falls on the vast surface of vanishing time. And man in the course of this short life sees himself confronted with an extremely important choice. The current of relations that surrounds him is not in his power. But he can choose in this current a direction towards either infinite happiness or eternal torment. In this trial you should co-operate faithfully with grace; your happiness in your hand laid.

You must choose!
You stand at a crossroads; the road that seems more difficult to you leads to your destination; the more comfortable road leads to a bottomless abyss.
Almost constantly, life confronts you with a choice between evil and good. Each such choice is fraught with meaning. Evil grows quickly, good grows slowly; the nettle grows without effort, the rose requires cultivation.

It is worth the trouble to reach the goal of life! Great things are achieved by effort alone, not by desire alone. The animal does not fall alone into the mouth of a sleeping lion.

The main part of the trial is to make good use of the discomforts and annoyances of life. Joy and suffering change frequently – and this is the fate of man; he who does not fall in this change is a strong man. In misfortune heart up, in happiness be humble.
So let your most important endeavour be to endure and win the trial on which the salvation of your soul hangs.

The good things of this life can be cared for, but not too much. Whoever cares only about keeping himself healthy for as long as possible is like a miser who accumulates treasures although he will never use them. Evaluate everything and in everything act according to the will of God.

2.The trial to which man is subjected here presents certain dangers. Hence it is said in Christian circles to save the soul.

SAVE YOUR SOUL!
Your Lord and Creator is waiting for you to endure the trial and earn salvation for yourself. God has not predestined any man to perdition.
Even though man has committed the greatest sins, God does not want him to die, but to repent and live. But when man does not want what God wants, God does not force anyone.
Woe to the man who stands before God as a rebel.

What prince, even the most magnanimous, will indefinitely grant favours to a subject who deliberately insults him day after day.

God will cast the proud one into hell , which he deserves with his sinful life.
It is a terrible thing to be seized by a machine, to be crushed by a force of nature; but how much more terrible will it be to fall into the hands of a just God?

Save yourself! What “save yourself” means, you will understand if you have read the description of a sinking ship or a burning house.
If you were sitting on a train that you know is about to plunge into an abyss, what would you do? Would a comfortable cushion keep you in your seat?

And what do you want to do when you know that the train of your life is hurrying towards the abyss with increasing speed?
Save yourself! You are sick; you have a mortal wound, the danger of which increases with each passing day.
Save yourself from eternal death, from the terrible abyss! Save yourself in the many dangers that surround you during the experiences of mortal life. These dangers are so great that you would perish if you were only left to your own strength.
Save yourself by leaning firmly on God.

The Christian Philosophy of Life – Fr. Tilmann Pesch SI, Translation from the German. vol. I, 2nd ed. Cracow 1930, pp. 161-164.