Devaluing your integrity/pride by your selfish Yes, I prefer it to be so! By Rev Fr Paul Ikechukwu Ogujioffor [Ogun P] Thursday 10/09/2015 Parr. Chiesa di Sacro Cuore di Gesu’ Niscemi-CL Sicily.

Why do you lament that he/she has left you for another woman /man? Have you ask yourself and admit as well, of your selfish devaluing of your integrity by your mere or apparent negative passion in love. When you think you are in love, whereas you are shamelessly parading yourself in moral debasement, did you know of this? Love is never egoistic. Nevertheless, that was what you are interested in, without thinking of your value, integrity, womanhood or manhood. Who takes the blame, you as a person that misled yourself or someone whom you imposed yourself to him/her? A value debased with trunked integrity leads to spirituality aridity and moral tsunami.

Stop, read and meditate on these words: Peccatum peccavit Jerusalem, propterea instabilis facta est; omnes qui glorificabant eam spreverunt illam, quia viderunt ignominiam ejus: ipsa autem gemens conversa est retrorsum. Sordes ejus in pedibus ejus, nec recordata est finis sui; deposita est vehementer, non habens consolatorem. Vide, Domine, afflictionem meam, quoniam erectus est inimicus-Heinously Jerusalem sinned; what wonder if she became an outlaw? [‘An outlaw’; literally, ‘unable to hold her ground’; but the word used in the Hebrew text implies ceremonial defilement.] How they fell to despising her when they saw her shame that once flattered her! Deeply she sighed, and turned away her head.  She might have skirts of her robe the defilement conceal; alas, so reckless of her doom, alas, fallen so low, with none to comfort her! Mark it well, Lord; see how humbled I, how exultant my adversary! [Jerusalem has sinned so gravely that she has become a thing unclean. All who used to honour her despise her, having seen her nakedness; she herself groans aloud and turns her face away. Her filth befouls her skirts, she never thought to end like this, and hence her astonishing fall with no one to comfort her. Yahweh, look at my misery, for the enemy is triumphant! NIV] Lamentation 1:8-9.

Lamentation increases in one’s life when she/he remembers how she/he has made herself/himself so cheap whenever they meet as friends in a closed door. Therefore, always make the hare while the sun shines, that tomorrow you will not lose anything particularly of your integrity and worth when you are no more with your spiritual arid and moral debased friends.

God is ever merciful to us. Once we ask for sincere pardon and make amend never to repeat or be obstinate to that immoral fault and mistakes, He comes to our help, for grace builds on nature.

Orji Johnpaul Alb commented on your post in St Peter's and St Thomas Aquinas Seminary Old Boys Association. 3:44pm Friday 11 September 2015. 'Grace builds on nature'. Please throw more light.

Ogun Ik P - Thank you so much John Paul Orji Alb, for making out time the read the article. Grace as we know is a gift from God. God gives freely to us through the instrumentality of our personal, deliberate and conscientious conscious liberty/freedom of acceptance. This freedom/liberty ought to gear towards God as fons et fides. Consequent to the faith, if one believes and accepts the truth, the truth incarnates himself/herself. This act of incarnating in one’s body is the grace building upon nature. If one decides not to believe and accept the truth in his/her life, the grace will not be effective in him/her. Therefore, the Sacred Scriptures speaks to us individually thus: Deus ab initio constituit hominem, et reliquit illum in manu consilii sui: adjecit mandata et præcepta sua. Si volueris mandata servare, conservabunt te, et in perpetuum fidem placitam facere. Apposuit tibi aquam et ignem, ad quod volueris porrige manum tuam. Ante hominem vita et mors, bonum et malum: quod placuerit ei dabitur illi:-When men first came to be, it was God made them, and, making them, left them to the arbitrament of their own wills; yet giving them commandments to be their rule. Those commandments if thou wilt observe, they in their turn shall preserve thee, and give thee warrant of his favour. It is as though he offered thee fire and water, bidding thee take which thou wouldst; life and death, blessing and curse, man finds set before him, and the gift given thee shall be the choice thou makest Sirach 15:14-18.

Ipso facto, the willingness of the will of a person to say to others, “Yes, I prefer it to be so” negates/affirms the grace to build or not to build in his/her nature