You have prayed and have not yet, as you think, had the complete answer. This is usually because you have not given Our Lord something he asks for, in order to answer you. For example, when He worked miracles He asked for some trifle which one would suppose useless--as, for example, the loaves and fishes for the feeding of the five thousand; and again, for the Mass, He asks the offering of the simple substance of bread and wine for the miracle of the Consecration. You say, "He hasn't worked the miracle," "He hasn't given me the courage I need." Well, the answer usually is: "You have not given Him anything to work the miracle with." Of course, He can do miracles without, but usually He asks us to give something, and, if the miracle you ask is personal transubstantiation--that you may be changed into Him--then clearly, unless you offer yourself--all of yourself--He can't do it, for what has He got to change?
--Caryll Houselander, Letters
This letter was to a Mrs. Boardman, who wished to become a Catholic but was encountering great resistance and hostility from her family.
It's going to be worth the whole 100 dollars
Posted by: Grumpy | 01/01/2013 at 10:37 AM
I think I would agree with you. It really is remarkable, the way I keep coming across these impressive passages while just browsing.
Posted by: Mac | 01/01/2013 at 10:58 AM
I'm sure it will be. If I didn't have easy access to one, I would surely buy it. I'll probably buy it eventually anyway.
BTW, Grumpy, I've been looking for one of yours at Amazon and it makes $100 look like chump change.
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 01/01/2013 at 07:16 PM
I'm sorry about the cost of my books Janet! There's a couple of them on line at a thing called Voegelin View which are probably free. This guy appeared and asked me if he could put my books on Voegelin View, so I said OK. Appeared in my mailbox.
Posted by: Grumpy | 01/01/2013 at 08:04 PM
Thanks, Grumpy, I'll have to investigate that. I didn't really think that you were responsible for the cost. ;-)
AMDG
Posted by: Janet | 01/02/2013 at 12:06 PM
Mac, do you know that couple is double underlined above? I wondered why, and so I clicked on it and it led me to a dating site. And I think that might be a euphemism.
Posted by: Grumpy | 01/02/2013 at 02:03 PM
I don't see that. Maybe it's something to do with your browser. Do you mean in your 1/1 8:04 comment above? I'm only seeing two occurrences of "couple" in this post and its comments, and they're both just plain text.
Posted by: Mac | 01/02/2013 at 02:15 PM
I think I must have a 'bot' or something - because now 'dating site' is double underlined and leads to err, well for example, 'Russian singles'. The IT guy here is going to laugh when I tell him my latest problem.
Posted by: Grumpy | 01/02/2013 at 02:36 PM
Yes, it sounds to me like you do. I don't know much about this stuff but it's possible to add software "plugins" to your browser (Firefox, Chrome, whatever) for special purposes, like managing bookmarks. And my guess is that you have a malicious one.
Posted by: Mac | 01/02/2013 at 02:51 PM
This is one of the best things I've read in a long while.
Posted by: Craig | 01/04/2013 at 02:34 PM