Hey! This book is full of some advice for some teens (like myself) who are aspiring to become a better Catholic/Christian and stuff. Or if you're thinking of coming into the Church. Feel free to ask any questions, and I'm also here to talk with you...
A/N : The way I connect with Jesus best is through music. A way to do this is to make a Jesus jam-out list! I have a total of 46 songs, but these are five of the ones that make me all "YAY JESUS!!!"
1) Broken Things - Matthew West
2) Land of the Rising Sun - Ike Ndolo (this dude is amazing!)
3) We Are the Beggars - Ike Ndolo
4) Love So Mighty - Mary Castner (she's also amazing!)
5) Lion of Judah - Beverly Crawford (THIS ONE GIVES ME THE BETS JAM-SESSION EVER!!)
Proverbs - Chapter 6
My child, if you have put up security for a friend's debt or agreed to guarantee the debt of a stranger— if you have trapped yourself by your agreement and are caught by what you said— follow my advice and save yourself, for you have placed yourself at your friend's mercy.
Now swallow your pride; go and beg to have your name erased. Don't put it off; do it now! Don't rest until you do. Save yourself like a gazelle escaping from a hunter, like a bird fleeing from a net.
Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.
But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep? When will you wake up?
A little extra sleep, a little more slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.
What are worthless and wicked people like?
They are constant liars, signaling their deceit with a wink of the eye, a nudge of the foot, or the wiggle of fingers. Their perverted hearts plot evil, and they constantly stir up trouble. But they will be destroyed suddenly, broken in an instant beyond all hope of healing.
There are six things the Lord hates— no, seven things he detests:
- haughty eyes,
- a lying tongue,
- hands that kill the innocent,
- a heart that plots evil,
- feet that race to do wrong,
- a false witness who pours out lies,
- a person who sows discord in a family.
My son, obey your father's commands, and don't neglect your mother's instruction. Keep their words always in your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you walk, their counsel will lead you. When you sleep, they will protect you. When you wake up, they will advise you.
For their command is a lamp and their instruction a light; their corrective discipline is the way to life. It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman.
Don't lust for her beauty. Don't let her coy glances seduce you. For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man's wife will cost you your life. Can a man scoop a flame into his lap and not have his clothes catch on fire?
Can he walk on hot coals and not blister his feet?
So it is with the man who sleeps with another man's wife. He who embraces her will not go unpunished. Excuses might be found for a thief who steals because he is starving. But if he is caught, he must pay back seven times what he stole, even if he has to sell everything in his house.
But the man who commits adultery is an utter fool, for he destroys himself. He will be wounded and disgraced. His shame will never be erased. For the woman's jealous husband will be furious, and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge. He will accept no compensation, nor be satisfied with a payoff of any size.
St. Maria Goretti - Age 11
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^^^ Painting of Maria Goretti above ^^^
Maria was born on October 16, 1890. Her father died of malaria when she was merely 9 years old, and soon the family was struggling to survive. While her siblings worked in the fields, Maria remained inside, cooking, cleaning, sewing, and watching over Teresa, her youngest sister. They were all close to God despite their abundant struggles. Maria had even recieved Comfirmation at only six years old!
On July 6, about two months before her birthday in 1902, an 18-year-old man named Alessandro Serenalli surprised Maria by grabbing her as she was sewing his shirt on the steps. He immediately threatened her with death if she did not allow him to have sex with her. Dark, I know.
Maria immediately refused. She cried out, saying that it's a sin and if he continued he would go to hell.
Alessandro began to choke her in a fit of rage, and she immediately responded in saying that she would rather die than submit. Once he heard this, he immediately pulled out a knife and stabbed her eleven times. He then proceeded to stab her three more times when she tried to reach the door, then fleeing from the scene.
Her sister, Teresa, began to cry when she heard Maria. The Goretti family returned home only to find her bleeding out on the floor.
She was unable to be saved by the surgeon.
While she was undergoing surgery (without anesthesia), the man asked her to think him while she was in paradise. She told him that she didn't know who would be there first, and when the man told her that she was going to die, she simply replied that she would gladly think of him.
After she died, Alessandro was caught and question about Maria's death. He stated that he was unable to assault her and was sentenced to thirty years in prison.
Shortly after his arrest, in which he refused to repent for his actions, he had an extremely vivid dream that he was in a garden. Maria was in the garden, dressed in white, smiling and fearlessly walking toward him. He wanted to run, although he was unable to do so. She was picking white lilies and handing them to him. He wanted to refuse, although she only replied with "Alessandro, take them!" One by one, she handed him a total of fourteen lilies, one for each of the mortal blows that he had struck her with. When he recieved them, they burst into a flurry of purifying flames. Before he awoke, Maria had said "Alessandro, as I have promised, your soul will one day reach me in heaven."
Allesandro was a changed man. Immediately after 27 years in prison, he went to Maria's mother and begged for her forgiveness. She replied saying "If my daughter can forgive him, who am I to withhold forgiveness?"
...
Maria Goretti has always been one of my favorite saints. Seriously. Her story of forgiveness is incredible, especially after being stabbed 14 times! She was able to maintain her purity throughout her life, and when someone tried to rob her of that, she preferred death above sin. Not only that, but she forgave her murderer both before and after death.
Her forgiveness immediately spread to her family. If I were the mother of Maria, I would have been beyond pissed, and yet, Maria had been able lead her own mother by example. Alessandro was so touched that he converted into a more faithful life. How can anything be more beautiful than that?
