Jesus works interiorly

He is the only teacher capable of acting directly on the souls, the minds, and the wills of his pupils.

Jesus moves our souls interiorly to accept his teachings and to put them into practice. 

The truths Jesus teaches are divine mysteries; therefore, we cannot master them by the art of human reasoning. 

To accept them, our minds must be equipped with a new supernatural light and power, the light and power of faith. 

Faith comes to us through Jesus as a fruit of his redemptive work: he is the “author and perfecter of faith” (Heb 12:2), and since he has merited it, he therefore infuses it in us.

Jesus has no need of books or teachers to instruct souls; he teaches without the noise of words.

Jesus interiorly teaches souls who know how to listen to him, and he teaches them above all by his Holy Spirit, according to what he had promised. 

Jesus and the Father are always sending the Holy Spirit from heaven into our souls; this divine Spirit makes us understand the profound meaning of our Lord’s teaching and suggests practical applications for our daily life. 

Jesus teaches us through the authority of the Church, to which he has entrusted the task of preserving his doctrine and transmitting it unchanged to all the faithful. 

When we accept Jesus as our Teacher, we must also accept all his teachings: the written words of the Gospel, the living word of the Church, and the mysterious, secret word by which he teaches our souls individually. 

If his word is to be truly a treasure, it is not enough for us merely to hear it; we must in humility obey the word of Jesus to its depths.

The disciple is bound by a grave obligation toward Christ his Master ever more adequately to understand the truth received from him; an understanding that is acquired by study, but which is deepened through prayer and meditation. 

Jesus works interiorly

He is the only teacher capable of acting directly on the souls, the minds, and the wills of his pupils.

Jesus moves our souls interiorly to accept his teachings and to put them into practice. 

The truths Jesus teaches are divine mysteries; therefore, we cannot master them by the art of human reasoning. 

To accept them, our minds must be equipped with a new supernatural light and power, the light and power of faith. 

Faith comes to us through Jesus as a fruit of his redemptive work: he is the “author and perfecter of faith” (Heb 12:2), and since he has merited it, he therefore infuses it in us.

Jesus has no need of books or teachers to instruct souls; he teaches without the noise of words.

Jesus interiorly teaches souls who know how to listen to him, and he teaches them above all by his Holy Spirit, according to what he had promised. 

Jesus and the Father are always sending the Holy Spirit from heaven into our souls; this divine Spirit makes us understand the profound meaning of our Lord’s teaching and suggests practical applications for our daily life. 

Jesus teaches us through the authority of the Church, to which he has entrusted the task of preserving his doctrine and transmitting it unchanged to all the faithful. 

When we accept Jesus as our Teacher, we must also accept all his teachings: the written words of the Gospel, the living word of the Church, and the mysterious, secret word by which he teaches our souls individually. 

If his word is to be truly a treasure, it is not enough for us merely to hear it; we must in humility obey the word of Jesus to its depths.

The disciple is bound by a grave obligation toward Christ his Master ever more adequately to understand the truth received from him; an understanding that is acquired by study, but which is deepened through prayer and meditation. 

From the treatise On Spiritual Perfection by Diadochus of Photice, bishop

All our love must be for God

No one who is in love with himself is capable of loving God. The man who loves God is the one who mortifies his self-love for the sake of the immeasurable blessings of divine love. Such a man never seeks his own glory but only the glory of God. If a person loves himself he seeks his own glory, but the man who loves God loves the glory of his Creator. Anyone alive to the love of God can be recognized from the way he constantly strives to glorify him by fulfilling all his commandments and by delighting in his own abasement. Because of his great majesty it is fitting that God should receive glory, but if he hopes to win God’s favor it becomes man to be humble. If we possess this love for God, we too will rejoice in his glory as Saint John the Baptist did, and we shall never stop repeating: His fame must increase, but mine must diminish.

I know a man who, though lamenting his failure to love God as much as he desires, yet loves him so much that his soul burns with ceaseless longing for God to be glorified, and for his own complete effacement. This man has no feeling of self importance even when he receives praise. So deep is his desire to humble himself that he never even thinks of his own dignity. He fulfills his priestly duty by celebrating the Liturgy, but his intense love for God is an abyss that swallows up all consciousness of his high office. His humility makes him oblivious of any honor it might bring him, so that in his own estimation he is never anything but a useless servant. Because of his desire for self abasement, he regards himself as though degraded from his office. His example is one that we ourselves should follow by fleeing from all honor and glory for the sake of the immeasurable blessings of God’s love, for he has loved us so much!

Anyone who loves God in the depths of his heart has already been loved by God. In fact, the measure of a man’s love for God depends upon how deeply aware he is of God’s love for him. When this awareness is keen it makes whoever possesses it long to be enlightened by the divine light, and this longing is so intense that it seems to penetrate his very bones. He loses all consciousness of himself and is entirely transformed by the love of God.

Such a man lives in this life and at the same time does not live in it, for although he still inhabits his body, he is constantly leaving it in spirit because of the love that draws him toward God. Once the love of God has released him from self-love, the flame of divine love never ceases to burn in his heart and he remains united to God by an irresistible longing. As the Apostle says: If we are taken out of ourselves it is for the love of God; if we are brought back to our senses it is for your sake.

From the treatise On Spiritual Perfection by Diadochus of Photice, bishop

All our love must be for God

No one who is in love with himself is capable of loving God. The man who loves God is the one who mortifies his self-love for the sake of the immeasurable blessings of divine love. Such a man never seeks his own glory but only the glory of God. If a person loves himself he seeks his own glory, but the man who loves God loves the glory of his Creator. Anyone alive to the love of God can be recognized from the way he constantly strives to glorify him by fulfilling all his commandments and by delighting in his own abasement. Because of his great majesty it is fitting that God should receive glory, but if he hopes to win God’s favor it becomes man to be humble. If we possess this love for God, we too will rejoice in his glory as Saint John the Baptist did, and we shall never stop repeating: His fame must increase, but mine must diminish.

I know a man who, though lamenting his failure to love God as much as he desires, yet loves him so much that his soul burns with ceaseless longing for God to be glorified, and for his own complete effacement. This man has no feeling of self importance even when he receives praise. So deep is his desire to humble himself that he never even thinks of his own dignity. He fulfills his priestly duty by celebrating the Liturgy, but his intense love for God is an abyss that swallows up all consciousness of his high office. His humility makes him oblivious of any honor it might bring him, so that in his own estimation he is never anything but a useless servant. Because of his desire for self abasement, he regards himself as though degraded from his office. His example is one that we ourselves should follow by fleeing from all honor and glory for the sake of the immeasurable blessings of God’s love, for he has loved us so much!

Anyone who loves God in the depths of his heart has already been loved by God. In fact, the measure of a man’s love for God depends upon how deeply aware he is of God’s love for him. When this awareness is keen it makes whoever possesses it long to be enlightened by the divine light, and this longing is so intense that it seems to penetrate his very bones. He loses all consciousness of himself and is entirely transformed by the love of God.

Such a man lives in this life and at the same time does not live in it, for although he still inhabits his body, he is constantly leaving it in spirit because of the love that draws him toward God. Once the love of God has released him from self-love, the flame of divine love never ceases to burn in his heart and he remains united to God by an irresistible longing. As the Apostle says: If we are taken out of ourselves it is for the love of God; if we are brought back to our senses it is for your sake.

The HIGH PRIEST: Jesus Christ 

The Ministerial Priest: The Priest

The Common Priest: Religious and Laity

Although the ancient Jewish priesthood is the foundation for the Christian priesthood, we no longer have high priests, because Jesus is the High Priest. And we all become priests.

In our baptisms, we all died to our earthly human nature and were resurrected as priests, prophets and kings joined to these important service-oriented functions of Christ. When we gather to worship God as a community, we, the common priests (the laity and consecrated religious) together with the ministerial priests (the ordained clergy), offer him our sacrifices and prayers.

Christ comes to earth today in the Sacraments through the ministerial priests. In Catholicism, because their ordinations connect all the way back directly to St. Peter's, they become "in persona Christi", i.e., they are simultaneously sinful man and the holy presence of Christ. Two thousand years ago, Jesus gave his holy orders to the Apostles (the meaning of ordination), who gave Christ's holy orders to the next priests, who ordained the next, and so on to this very day; this is called the "apostolic succession of priests".

Thus, Jesus our High Priest is fully present with us at every Catholic Mass in the Word of God, in the Eucharist, and in the priest (regardless of how sinful he is) through whom Jesus preaches the Word and through whom Jesus changes the bread and wine into the Eucharist.

When we -- the common priests and the ministerial priests -- eat his body and drink his blood, we are united to Christ's sacrifice and the salvation that it gives us. Thus united to Jesus, we all become Christ's body on earth for the continuation of his ministry.

The HIGH PRIEST: Jesus Christ 

The Ministerial Priest: The Priest

The Common Priest: Religious and Laity

Although the ancient Jewish priesthood is the foundation for the Christian priesthood, we no longer have high priests, because Jesus is the High Priest. And we all become priests.

In our baptisms, we all died to our earthly human nature and were resurrected as priests, prophets and kings joined to these important service-oriented functions of Christ. When we gather to worship God as a community, we, the common priests (the laity and consecrated religious) together with the ministerial priests (the ordained clergy), offer him our sacrifices and prayers.

Christ comes to earth today in the Sacraments through the ministerial priests. In Catholicism, because their ordinations connect all the way back directly to St. Peter's, they become "in persona Christi", i.e., they are simultaneously sinful man and the holy presence of Christ. Two thousand years ago, Jesus gave his holy orders to the Apostles (the meaning of ordination), who gave Christ's holy orders to the next priests, who ordained the next, and so on to this very day; this is called the "apostolic succession of priests".

Thus, Jesus our High Priest is fully present with us at every Catholic Mass in the Word of God, in the Eucharist, and in the priest (regardless of how sinful he is) through whom Jesus preaches the Word and through whom Jesus changes the bread and wine into the Eucharist.

When we -- the common priests and the ministerial priests -- eat his body and drink his blood, we are united to Christ's sacrifice and the salvation that it gives us. Thus united to Jesus, we all become Christ's body on earth for the continuation of his ministry.

Since I believe the church which has lasted over 2000 years is being guided by YOU even with evil people at the top. I should not have a problem that you are still governing them. 

You were the one who made the apostles write the infallible word of the Bible. Of course you can make the holy church decisions if traditions just as infallible no matter who you use to write them for out for us. 

Since I believe you and your ability to not steer the church wrong, I believe I must humble myself and obey your teachings.  I do not have to understand. For You make good out of evil. I would’ve never thought the cross was the way to show salvation-how much more some of the thoughts of yours compared to mine. 

Therefore to help my psyche I must be in full communion with the holy church. You chose the liturgy, the Bible translation, the devotions, the leadership, everything that pertains to your holy church. All for your own purpose and I don’t need to believe the  humans governing, but I do need to believe your holy power to make your Will well known and done through the church. 

And in humility and in trust in you Almighty God, I surrender my fears and my will. I pray for you to keep guiding your church and little me, to do and believe your will. Help us not to apostatize  in these great unsure times. You are the way to eternal life and your church is the bulwark of Your Truth. 

Save me. 

Amen