If you believe that you don’t need God to know what is right or wrong, that humans are just an accident of nature with no more value than a rock, have no issue with people like Stalin, Hitler or Mao Tse-Tung who all killed millions upon millions of humans based on these same assumptions, then read no further.
It is even more important to practice conformity to God’s will in the small things than larger ones both because they are more frequent and they form the habit of supporting them in a Christian spirit to prepare for more serious difficulties.
Truth is NOT the popular consensus, “true for you but not true for me” or even what can only be proved by reason. For some, the first stumbling block to knowing God Exists, is a lack of knowledge with regards to “The Truth.” The First Step, to peace in...
St Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) Provides us with five basic proofs for the existence of God. Each proof proceeds from an effect to a cause or inductive reasoning. It is important to note that these are not five ways of stating the same argument (as they might appear to...
The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory.
The traditional fruits of the Holy Spirit. There are 12 traditional fruits of the Holy Spirit, some which overlap the biblical list:
Love,
Joy,
Peace,
Patience,
Kindness,
Goodness,
Long-suffering,
Humility/gentleness,
Fidelity/faithfulness,
Modesty,
Continence/self-control
Chastity.
[Gal. 5:22-23, Latin Vulgate]
The Bible’s fruits of the Holy Spirit.There are nine biblically-based fruits of the Holy Spirit as given by St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians: “
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
generosity,
faithfulness,
gentleness
self-control
(Galatians 5:22-23).
Please note that while the Cathechism of the Catholic Church lists 12 fruits, you will only find 9 in the modern versions of the Holy Bibles. The Latin Vulgate (Latin translation of the Bible circa 382) states 12 fruits.
“Like a warm blanket wrapped around my Soul!”
These are some personal testimonies of mine that describe the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit Frees Us
The holy Spirit frees us from or chains of our attachments, the wealth that turns our heart to material things, the pleasures that weaken our will, and pride that caries us above ourselves. This is the first consolation of the Spirit the consolation of freedom.
Why would any of these things matter if we “Seek first the kingdom of God”?
The troubles of this earth, the shadows of life and the pains in our body do not matter if we have God in our soul. The consolation that makes us forget the troubles of life, or least wrap them in the splender of celestial happiness is the consolation of the union with God’s Love.
The Holy Spirit gives usconsolation of Hope. The Holy Spirit gives us the hope in the inheritance of eternal life in heaven with God. We rejoice in our hope not only because we trust in God, but also because we carry with us the guarantee of its fulfillment.