Meditation

Taken from Preparation for Total Consecration according to Saint Louis Marie de Montfort.

Imitation: Book 2, Chapter 12

Unto many this seemeth an hard saying, "Deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow Jesus" (Matt. 16:24). But much harder will it be to hear that last word, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire" (Matt. 25:41). For they who now willingly hear and follow the word of the Cross, shall not then fear (Psalm 112:7) to hear the sentence of everlasting damnation. This sign of the Cross shall be in the heaven, when the Lord shall come to judgment (Matt. 24:30). Then all the servants of the Cross, who in their life-time conformed themselves unto Christ crucified, shall draw near unto Christ the Judge with great confidence.
Why therefore fearest thou to take up the Cross which leadeth thee to a kingdom? In the Cross is salvation, in the Cross is life, in the Cross is protection against our enemies, in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the Cross is strength of mind, in the Cross joy of spirit, in the Cross the height of virtue, in the Cross the perfection of holiness.
Take up therefore thy Cross and follow Jesus (Luke 14:27), and thou shalt go into life everlasting.

Book List

The following is a list of books that I have to read before I die. Any that I'm missing?

• The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (that's what I'm reading right now)
• The Silmarillion
• The Secret Garden
• Dante's Inferno
• Anything and Everything by Shakespeare
• The Man Who was Thursday
• Anne of Green Gables
• Tom Sawyer
• Peter Pan
• Pride and prejudice
  
• The Borrowers
• Of Mice and Men
• (finish) Augustine's Confessions
• Fr. Brown Mysteries
• Tale of Two Cities
• Brideshead revisited
• Sherlock Holmes (the ones I haven't already read)
• Shadow of the Bear
• Black as Night
• Jane Eyre
  
• The Scarlet Pimpernel
• The Robe
• Emma
• (finish) The Series of Unfortunate Events
• (finish) The Harry Potter Series
  

Well, you're probably wondering what I do with my time...But I will recommend some books that I have read.

• The Hiding Place
• Little Women
• The Merchant of Venice
• Much Ado About Nothing
• The Giver (by Lois Lowry)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin
• The Chronicles of Narnia (duh)
• The Hobbit (double duh)
  
• A Philadelphia Catholic in King James' Court
  
• The Screwtape Letters
• The Confessions of St. Augustine's (I know that's on my "to read" list also, but as far as I've read it I like it.)
• The Series of Unfortunate Events
• The Phantom tollbooth

Hmmm...that's all for now folks.