Overview
Getting the Most from this Website
The Vision of St. Augustine
St. Augustine devoted more than 30 years working on a treatise to explain the mystery of the Holy Trinity. One day he was walking on the beach contemplating and trying to understand this great mystery when he saw a small boy repeatedly dipping a sea shell into the ocean and then carrying and emptying it into a small hole in the sand. The boy said he was trying to empty out the ocean and pour it into the hole. Augustine told the boy the obvious: what he was attempting was impossible.
The following is from Our Lady of Mercy Lay Carmelite Community website.
“That is true,” the boy said. “It would be easier and quicker to draw all the water out of the sea and fit it into this hole than for you to fit the mystery of the Trinity and His Divinity into your little intellect; for the Mystery of the Trinity is greater and larger in comparison with your intelligence than is this vast ocean in comparison with this little hole.”
“And then the child vanished.
“What does it mean?
“Some say that St. Augustine had been talking with an angel sent by God to teach him a lesson on intellectual pride. Others say it was the Christ Child Himself who came to remind Augustine of the limits of human understanding in relation to the great mysteries of our Faith.”
The audacity of our website is self-evident. Its objective is to demonstrate that God has not only provided ample evidence of his Being but possesses a love for us so profound and deep that we could spend the next 30 years trying to unravel its mysteries and stand a better chance of emptying out the ocean. God understands our limitations and made our journey to him simple. He gave us empirical proof of the biblical Jesus and the means to approach him. Since we are not mere animals, but made in the image of God, he also gave us free will to accept or reject him. We are sadly mistaken if we think pure logic will bring us to the doorstep of God. The intellectual approach can be a good start, but it can only be a beginning. It would be like trying to empty the ocean into a hole in the sand. A sturdy faith is available only to those who recognize their limitations and approach the Lord with child-like humility. God made it pretty simple for us. Don’t muck it up.
This site is intended to help the person who in good faith is trying to find the Lord or who could use some guidance to help others find the Resurrected Jesus. Here is a quick roadmap for accessing the information on this site. Be sure to go to Help my Unbelief for a summary of each of these points.
4. Prayer
4.1 Brother Lawrence: Remaining in the Presence of God
5. Evidence Independently Verified
5.1.1 Our Lady of Fatima and the Miracle of the Sun
B. Our Lady of Fatima 1917: The First Four Appearances
C. Our Lady of Fatima: The September 13th Miracle
D. Our Lady of Fatima: The Effects of Her Appearances
F. Our Lady of Fatima: The Floundering Skeptic
5.1.2 Our Lady of Lourdes
5.1.3 Our Lady of Knock
5.1.4 Our Lady of Zeitoun
5.1.5 Our Lady of Guadalupe: Crushing the Snake
A. Our Lady of Guadalupe: Gilding the Lily
5.2 The Shroud of Turin: A Brief Introduction
5.2.1 The Shroud of Turin: Historical Documentation
5.2.2 The Shroud of Turin: Facts that Compel Belief
5.2.3 The Shroud of Turin: Evidence against the Shroud’s Authenticity
5.2.4 The Shroud of Turin: Proving the Supernatural
5.3 The Sudarium Confirms the Shroud of Turin
5.5.1 When God Shows Off!
5.6.1 Jack Traynor
5.6.2 Marie Bailly and Nobel Laureate Alexis Carrel
5.6.3 Gabriel Gargam
5.6.4 Marion Carroll
5.6.5 Francis Pascal: Blindness Cured
5.7.1 Miracle of the Holy Fire
5.7.2 Great Peshtigo Fire
5.7.3 Our Lady of China
5.7.4 Cokeville, Wyoming
6.2.1 Alexandrina da Costa of Balasar
6.3 The Savior’s Incredible Love
6.4 Why did Jesus have to Suffer and Die?
6.5 Hell: A Loving God and Eternal Punishment?
7.1 The Resurrection
7.1.1 The Resurrection: Complementary Gospel Accounts
7.2 Incongruous Doctrines and Events
7.2.1 The Apostolic Conspiracy
9.1.1 To Heaven, Hell and Back
9.1.2 Heaven is for Real
9.2 Portrait of Jesus, Ruler of All
10.1 Praying to Mary
10.1.1 Mary’s Love and Fidelity
10.2 The Rosary
10.2.1 Understanding the Rosary
10.2.2 The Rosary: Its Power and Importance
10.2.3 The Rosary: A Quick Tutorial
10.2.4 The Joyful Mysteries: The Birth and Childhood of Jesus
10.2.5 The Luminous Mysteries: Jesus Proclaims the Gospel
10.2.6 The Sorrowful Mysteries: Christ Crucified
10.2.7 The Glorious Mysteries: Resurrection and Promise of Eternal Life
10.3 Gospel through Inspirational Music
10.4 Seven Last Words of Jesus from the Cross
10.4.1 First Word: “Father, forgive them . . . .
10.4.2 Second Word: To the good thief: “. . . you will be with me in Paradise.”
10.4.3 Third Word: “Behold, your mother!”
10.4.4 Fourth Word: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
10.4.5 Fifth Word: “I thirst.”
10.4.6 Sixth Word: “It is finished.”
10.4.7 Seventh Word: “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!”
11.1 Christian Unity and Division
The gospel message is simple, clear and succinct: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. If you keep this passage in mind and follow the above outline you will hit a home run. God’s love is limitless, which means it includes you – if that’s what you want.
Footnotes and Attributions
The Vision of St. Augustine by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
Last modified September 15, 2019