Here are some thoughts for those of us who think we are living in the worst of times —
“This is a cheerful world as I see it from my garden under the shadows of my vines.
“But if I were to ascend some high mountain and look over the wide lands, you know very well what I would see: brigands on the highways, pirates on the sea, armies fighting, cities burning; in the amphitheaters men murdered to please the applauding crowds; selfishness and cruelty and misery and despair under all roofs.
“It is a bad world, Donatus, an incredibly bad world.
“But I have discovered in the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a great secret.
“They are despised and persecuted, but they care not. They are masters of their souls.
“They have overcome the world. These people, Donatus, are the Christians — and I am one of them.”
Words of St. Cyprian, a third-century martyr. Thanks to Anna Shvets for the photo.
Are YOU the master of YOUR soul? As a Christian, have YOU overcome the world, no matter what shape the world is in?
JESUS, LET THEM SEE YOU IN ME!!
