Vae victis ..Woe to the Vanquished

Recently I visited a town renowned for its traditional blacksmiths; everything from machetes for farming to replicas of battle-ready medieval swords. The process is long and exacting; spring steel forged at high temperature and hammered repeatedly on the anvil into shape and its cutting edges prepared; tempered and quenched to harden the steel; and sharpening with grindstone and then assembled with hilt and pommel. 

All of which reminded me of a confessor I had many years ago. My last visit to him ended with a mysterious warning: “expect a lot of suffering”.  As a recent returnee to the Father’s house I was thinking more of unlimited ‘fatted calf’ barbecue for some time to come; but he spotted something else: a rusted chunk of spring steel that would need a lot of work. The only way for God to bring about change in the heart of man is really by means of suffering; there is no other way. 

And right on cue it began. I didn’t know the enemy would be given such a free hand (or have a couple of little helpers placed in my circle). I felt like an unarmed, bewildered Hobbit being overrun by an army of ugly violent Orcs as I underwent the beginner’s spiritual warfare training. Analogous to Prometheus having his liver torn out every day; my mind and heart were tormented by whatever deceiving spirit was let loose. The only relief I found were a few minutes per day at Mass during the consecration and a few minutes afterward. Whatever it was had to flee at that point it seems. I could only pray and cling to a God I barely knew (I never prayed so much, so hard or for so long) trusting that the horror would in fact end, which two years later it did. Delivered just as suddenly as it began, at His word, and the aggressors were finally vanquished. Vae victis ! I too had been forged, hammered, tempered, sharpened, hopefully a little more useful by then in the hand of the Maker.

St. John Baptist de La Salle: The Dignity of Believers

Below is a new book :- St. John Baptist  de La Salle: The Dignity of Believers By Eppie V. Estanislao Clark, PhD.

Feel free to download and share .

Download Link

The Path of Glory e-book (free Download)

Here is a link to the Path of Glory e-book.

This is a wonderful book of testimonies from the Philippines. How great is our God !

 The Path of Glory e-book

The Boy who Shared

Many years ago, I had a Catholic Truth Society children’s book, kept in my grandparent’s house, which I looked at often when I visited, entitled “The Boy who Shared”. It was about the feeding of the five thousand from the perspective of the boy; as I didn’t like reading much I followed the story by looking at the pictures.

All our actions do have a ripple effect; but when they are in union with Jesus that effect can be enormous and far reaching. When the boy bankrolled the miracle with five loaves and 2 fish, he could not have anticipated such ROI (return on investment). Five thousand men were fed; this story was etched in the minds of every believer across 20 centuries and around the world. 

I read a more recent story from South Africa a few years ago, about a youth pastor, who after a long day decided to stop at a burger joint for a big dinner. Outside was a group of 5 street children begging and the Holy Spirit prompted him to get them each a hamburger. Whilst he realised this would reduce his anticipated feast, he submitted to the inspiration and bought 6 burgers including one for himself. He went outside to distribute them and as he did another crowd of street kids ran across the road towards him. There would not be enough. Anyway as he slipped his hand into the bag there was always one more there, he gave one to each of the newcomers and at the end there was still one left for him. The lesser known miracle of the multiplication of hamburgers!

No act of kindness or charity, done in union with God, is without its effect, both immediate and eternal. As St Paul puts it in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Medjugorje International Relief