tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845239886251312993.post2852021048373051269..comments2023-09-26T00:42:29.508-07:00Comments on Caritas in Veritate: Fifteenth Sunday after PentecostFather John Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10581732723849634398noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845239886251312993.post-46548797305208988332009-09-17T18:16:04.660-07:002009-09-17T18:16:04.660-07:00I myself fell away from the Church when I was 18 y...I myself fell away from the Church when I was 18 yrs old, and my parents prayed me back. Essentially the judgements of God fell on me like a ton of bricks and I came scurrying back to the Confessional. That was 1964.<br /><br />SO, when my own son was born in 1978, I thought to myself how much I would pray for him if he ever fell away from the Church. And then the thought came to me, Why not pray for him as much now and with the same intensity as if he had already fallen away, so that he never falls away?<br /><br />After all, it is much easier to keep someone from falling away in the first place than to bring them back once they have fallen.<br /><br />Basically we did that. For many years as a grown man he was a daily communicant and weekly penitent, but I think his work as a lawyer has pretty much swamped him now. Nevertheless he is a faithful, fervent and apostolic Catholic. He and his wife get together once a month on a Friday evening with four or five other couples for pizza, a discussion of that Sunday's gospel, followed by a rosary. <br /><br />In short, it is a strategy that worked- together with throwing out the TV, of course, and spending many evenings reading good books together.<br /><br />Things are going well, but we believe in follow- through. My wife and I say a rosary each for both of our children in the evening, even with our daughter in a contemplative convent. Who knows what temptations might otherwise come along to lure them away from the straight path?<br /><br />Though this may seem admirable, in a way it is extremely selfish. I absolutely did not want to suffer the way I had made my own parents suffer and worry. Nor did I ever want a call from a police station, a hospital, or a morgue.<br /><br />Prayer, one prayer after another, like one foot after another can carry you pretty far over time. It is a strategy that has brought many, many blessings over the years- so I think that maybe it was a thought whispered in our ears by an angel.Lee Gilberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16506547355314136320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6845239886251312993.post-55132388714415264432009-09-16T12:46:15.052-07:002009-09-16T12:46:15.052-07:00What a lovely homily, Father! I loved reading that...What a lovely homily, Father! I loved reading that your devout mother spent an hour each day praying for each of her six children! What a lady she must have been, to make such a sacrifice each day. That inspires me a lot. Thank youFinolahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14391423831728332925noreply@blogger.com