Apparitions

http://www.spiritdaily.com/bishopsversusseers.htm   I thought this was an interesting article regarding apparitions and seers. When the Church asks people to refrain from visiting certain sites that have been condemned, we, as Catholics, should listen. People are in an uproar over a few seers whose messages have been condemned over the past few years, but no one should lose their peace of heart over such things, including the seers themselves. Our faith is in God, not in a specific site or visionary. I believe that Mary is appearing to many people around the world and some of the messages I read are very helpful and uplifting. All the apparitions cannot be false, but it is likely that a number of them are. If the messages are in line with Catholic teaching and it bears good fruit then I cannot see the harm in following it until the Church makes a decree on it. I become concerned when the visionaries and followers are outraged  when the Church makes a negative decree. Where is the humility in this? God is omniscient, we should trust Him completely and so should  the followers of the apparitions that are condemned. I really don't understand when the seers themselves get upset as that just shows that they haven't abandoned themselves completely to the Lord. If they had, it wouldn't matter either way...right?

The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is our best friend. He is always with us to help us, inspire us, lead us, heal us, console us, and He even prays in us. For many years I neglected praying to the Holy Spirit. I would say an occasional prayer or do a novena once in a while,  but that was about it. In general, I'd have to say that the Third Person of the Trinity is the most neglected by Christians. When I listen to people talk about their prayer life, I rarely hear people mention Him.

I now pray to the Holy Spirit often each day and this has helped me tremendously in my daily walk with the Lord. Sometimes I just talk to Him, other times I pray formally. I ask His help in everything that I do. Here is a simple prayer to the Holy Spirit that I often pray:

O Holy Spirit
I humbly implore You,
be with me always
so that in all things,
I may act under the influence
of your holy inspiration.     
                  Amen

"Now we direct our attention to the principal conditions for the gift of God par excellence. This gift is precisely the Holy Spirit, whom, we know,"breathes where He wills." But He does not reject the longing of anyone who waits for Him, calls on Him, and welcomes Him.....What are these conditions? Let us simplify a difficult answer by saying that the ability to receive this "sweet guest of the soul" exacts faith. It demands humility and repentance. Normally it requires a sacramental act. In the practice of a religious life, it requires silence, recollection, listening, and above all, invocation, prayer, as the apostles did with Mary in the Cenacle. It is important to wait and to cry out: "Come, Creator Spirit; come, Holy Spirit."
                               Pope Paul VI

God knows

God knows all hearts. He knows us better than we know ourselves. This thought used to bother me, but now it makes me laugh. Sometimes I am tempted to try to pull a fast one on Him that I know just won't fly, especially when I don't feel like doing something that I know He wants me to do. I can immediately feel my brain begin thinking up reasons to get my way. For a woman of average intelligence, I can be a genius when it comes to self-justification. It amazes me sometimes. The thing is:
It is a total waste of time because He knows every thought I have.  This is what makes me laugh. I usually just throw up my hands and say, "You win, Lord", with a big grin.  I am not saying that I always do His will. I'm just honest with Him to the best of my ability. I have come to realize that this total knowledge that He has is actually freeing. The nicest thing of all is that:
He loves us immensely and if we trust him, we get to focus on His perfection and not our imperfections. True freedom is in Him.

Beyond measure

We should never be afraid to approach the Throne Of Mercy, rather our fear should be in not appealing to God's mercy. Sinners who know they need mercy and forgiveness are always welcomed with open arms, no matter how great the sins. Those who should be afraid are those who refuse the healing of the Divine Physician or don't believe they need healing. This quote from St. Faustina's Diary helps show the depth and breadth of  Our Lord's mercy and I thought it might help those in grave sin who want to turn to God but are afraid:

"My mercy is greater than your sins and those of the entire world. Who can measure the extent of My goodness? For you I descended from heaven to earth; for you I allowed myself to be nailed to the cross; for you I let My Sacred Heart be pierced with a lance, thus opening wide the source of mercy for you. Come, then, with trust to draw graces from this fountain. I never reject a contrite heart. Your misery has disappeared in the depths of My mercy. Do not argue with me about your wretchedness. You will give me pleasure if you hand over to me all your troubles and griefs. I shall heap upon you the treasures of My grace."*

I pray for everyone who visits this site. I may not know who you are, but God does :)


* The Diary of St. M. Faustina Kowalska
   Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception
        used with permission

"I have given you the king you have requested."

" I have given you [America] the king you have requested." This word came upon me last month and almost daily since then. I kept ignoring it but the more that I ignored it, the more it would come to mind. Therefore, I am printing it so that I can move on to other things. That's the way it seems to work. What comes to mind when I have mulled over this word is 1 Samuel ch. 8. The people hounded Samuel for a king and God granted their request, with a warning attached. The Lord also told Samuel, " It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king."

Because we have free will, people often make choices that are not good for them and then we reap what we sow. There is a difference between God's permitting will and God's perfect will. What have we sown, America? And what will we reap from this harvest? Justice and mercy walk hand in hand. A world without justice would be utter chaos. The Lord is allowing us to see the consequences of our actions or so it seems. I have to say that I have yet to see positive "change" come to our country. Most of the change that I have seen lacks wisdom and some of it is downright evil and is harming millions physically and spiritually.

Please pray for our country and it's leaders. Pray that the Lord's wisdom may come upon them and that they may turn from the paths they are walking on. I am praying for America and our president and government officials that God may send them the light to be true leaders who serve us well, not self-serving leaders.

Mark Mallett

This post by Mark Mallett is a good one. I often receive words similar to his and when I read his writings, many times the Holy Spirit gives me a confirmation of his words: http://www.markmallett.com/blog/. For those who have not yet read his site - I highly recommend it and believe that his writings are of God. Personally, I think we are in a preparatory stage for a coming period of correction. I use the word correction because I believe, as children of God, that He disciplines us as any father would try to correct a child who has gone astray. We are already being purified,  the Lord is strengthening our faith and pouring His Spirit on those whose hearts are open to receiving His gifts. God is good :)

Thank you, Lord, for your patience and kindness !

Sabbath Moments

Thoughts on Grace: "Sabbath Moments Meme"
This Saturday, I am once again joining Colleen at Thoughts on Grace for her Sabbath Moments Meme:
A way of taking time to live in the present moment and just be. Sabbath Moments can be planned or may just come upon us. I try to plan these moments but have noticed that the ones that stick in my head most often tend to be unplanned.

Moments of grace can be found and noticed every day of our lives. Even during illness these moments can strike and catch you off guard. Some of these moments occurred this past week while Michaela was ill with the flu. She has been sick quite often lately; the viruses seem to be hitting one right after the other.

When my daughter was younger, I used to rock her every day in my favorite rocking chair, but these precious moments have become fewer and far between as she is growing older. She is still a cuddler, but we don't tend to sit in the rocking chair very much. This has changed the last couple of weeks. She has crawled on my lap and asked me to rock her almost daily. Some days we just chat, other days I read to her. I  have been looking forward to these moments because ....I am blessed to even have this child after so many years of infertility. In the summer of 2002, the Lord gave me [and my mom] a "word" that I would have a baby in one year. I knew that the word was good so I went out and bought a pair of baby socks and pinned the word to it. I still have that pair of socks :)  Whenever I look at them, I am reminded of the Lord's goodness and whenever I rock Michaela, I reflect on what a miracle and a blessing she is.

Thank you, Lord, for my beautiful Rose.

Can anger be our friend?

"Passions are morally good when they contribute to a good action, evil in the opposite case."
                                         Catechism of the Catholic Church  # 1768

All human beings get angry, it is part and parcel of being human. Anger, in itself, is not a sin, it is simply an emotion. Unfortunately, because of our fallen nature it often leads us into sin. We have all heard the expressions: blowing our tops, flying off the handle, or hot under the collar. Anger becomes sinful when we dwell on it and get carried away by it; we fail to bridle our tongue and scream ugly things, yell at our children and act in an unloving manner. Road rage, revenge, and murder....these are all things that begin with anger.

Does anger always have to lead to sin? Of course not. Anger can propel us into positive action, also. It can stir us into taking steps to correct an evil and with God's grace can even be turned into a great zeal for justice. Look at Saint Paul. There are situations where we must, as Christians, use our voices; especially when something or someone is causing physical or spiritual harm to others. This is where anger can turn into a powerful force for good in our lives; when it lifts us from apathy and moves us toward justice. By the grace of God, anger can be a useful tool for positive change. Tempered [lol] with love, it can stir us into speaking up firmly in the face of injustice.

" We ought to speak, shout out against injustices, with confidence and without fear. We proclaim the principles of the Church, the reign of love, without forgetting that it is also a reign of justice."
                                                        Blessed Miguel Pro, S.J.

A silent void

Truth is very important to me. By this statement, I mean the great truths of life. I have noticed in our days that truth has been replaced by grayness. Nothing is black and white anymore. If you speak the truth you are considered judgmental. Since when is speaking the truth judgmental? Aren't we all called to live in the truth?
If I call abortion, murder, I am judging or so I am told. Who am I judging may I ask? I am simply making a truthful statement: abortion kills a baby, therefore it is murder.

If a person robbed a bank and I said, "Wow! That person just robbed a bank!" Am I judging or just stating a fact? I am not judging the person, I am speaking the truth. Speaking up is not politically correct anymore. Well, since I am not politically correct I might as well take this one step further:

Abortion = murder. Jesus and his apostles were quick to speak up about injustices. When we don't speak out about injustices and evil [such as abortion], our silence speaks volumes about ourselves. The silence on the abortion issue is deafening and in this case :  Silence is deadly. 

"Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth."   Jn 17:17-19

O Author of Life, please heal our country and the world. Pour your light into all hearts that abortion may be seen for what it truly is. Grant the grace of repentance to all who have committed this sin that they may be forgiven and receive your healing touch. I cover them all with the Precious Blood Of Jesus and I ask this in His Name. Amen

Utterly Thine O Lord!

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. Sunday Snippets is a weekly meme where bloggers can share their favorite posts with other bloggers.This week I'd like to share a post on sin  http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/11/world-is-concerned-with-virus-h1n1.html . The second post I would like to share is about Our Lord's Agony in The Garden. I often meditate on His agony; it is a great reminder of a love that has no limits: http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/11/olive-press.html

Thank you,Jesus, for your infinite love and mercy!

Sabbath Moments

Thoughts on Grace: Sabbath Moments Meme: "Sabbath Moments Meme" hosted by Colleen is a weekly meme that reminds us to live in the present and just be, to live in God's grace and love. These moments can be planned or may just come upon us by surprise. Saturday is a great day for this meme, it prepares our hearts for Sunday and calls our attention to the beauty of life.

My Sabbath Moment came upon me unexpectedly. Wednesday was a grace-filled day for me. I felt the Lord's presence in a powerful way from the moment I woke up until I went to bed. I started my day as always with my morning offering. I have a statue of The Sacred Heart and in front of it I put a little sign:
"It is not the intensity of the trial itself that expiates sin; rather it is the intensity of the love for God with which the trial is accepted . Love is what matters most." This is part of a quotation that I read on one of the blogs I follow, Elena Maria Vidal's site http://fountainofelias.blogspot.com/2009/11/all-souls.html. [Thank you, Elena] I put up the sign to remind me to do all things for love alone and that early morning reminder has helped me immensely. I washed dishes with the Lord, cleaned with Him, joined my fellow parishioners in the Rosary, went to Confession and then to Mass. The entire day I felt the Lord's finger on my soul. The Holy Spirit drew me into intense prayer at various times throughout the day and I tried to perform all my actions with love. I ended my day with the Bible and my evening prayers. It was a glorious day :)  I would like to say that every day is like this but, unfortunately, this is not true. Reading that little sign in the morning has been a great blessing though; I find it coming to my mind often throughout the week.

Thank you, Lord, for each and every day. May we all grow ever closer to you and learn to live for love alone. Amen!

The Olive press

At the base of The Mount of Olives lies Gethsemane, the garden where Jesus suffered in agony. An intense spiritual agony beyond human comprehension. The word Gethsemane means "olive press" and it was in this garden that Mercy was pressed to the fullest limits. An interior crushing so severe that Our Lord "fell to the ground and prayed if it were possible the hour might pass by him". And so begins the ultimate struggle with darkness as the weight of humanity's sins fell upon Him. A seemingly endless parade of human sin and corruption closing in upon Him. Pressing. Crushing. What did He see in this dark hour? Did He see the very depths to which human nature could sink? The pit of depravity, perversion and vice upon vice? Likely He saw this and worse, for the pressure grew so great that He sweat blood. Hematohidrosis.

Jesus suffered in his humanity, because it was human nature that needed redemption. And yet, despite the intensity of suffering He still prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done." And Our Lord drank the cup of staggering to its very dregs, knowing that by the acceptance of this chalice even greater suffering would come upon him . Then, strengthened by an angel, He stood up  and went to meet his betrayer.

In my eyes, the two greatest sufferings of Jesus were His Agony in the Garden and on the Cross when He felt completely forsaken by the Father and endured what one might call, "a living hell", for love of us. He became sin and took on all the sins of the world for our sake. That is why it is so horrifying when someone refuses the salvation that He gained for them; it's like a slap in the face of Pure Mercy.

Most merciful Jesus, I thank you for everything you suffered for us all. May all souls open their hearts to receive the mercy you long to pour on them. May your sufferings in Gethsemane obtain the grace of repentance for all souls caught in the grip of mortal sin. Amen.

Prayer request

I cut my last post short because Michaela came home sick from school. We received a note from the school last week saying the H1N1 flu has been going around. Today, Michaela is running a fever, has body aches and the chills so it is likely that she has contracted this virus. Please say a prayer for her quick recovery, she has been sick a lot lately and is pretty run down. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated :)

The Two Gardens

The fall began in the Garden of Eden; our redemption began in the Garden of Gethsemane. Adam and Eve fell through the sin of pride, "...you will be like gods". They went against God's will. In  the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, in his humanity completely surrendered his will to the Father, bitter though this cup was. After Adam and Eve sinned, they hid from God. When the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, he did not hide. Rather, he handed himself over in complete conformity with God's will. Both gardens contained betrayals. In  Eden, Satan tempted Adam and Eve and they betrayed God. In Gethsemane, Judas betrayed Jesus [God] with a kiss. It is in  Eden that Jesus and Mary are mentioned for the first time in Gen. ch.3:15.
"I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
He will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel."

In both gardens was a rejection of God by humans, but in the second garden was also the ultimate acceptance and abandonment to the will of the Father - the beginning of the atonement that ends on the cross, where Jesus, the new Adam,  returns the fruit stolen [an act of pride and rebellion] from the tree by giving his  human will to the Father in the greatest act of humility ever seen on this earth. It is  under the cross where Mary [the new Eve] unites herself intimately in this act of humility by giving the beloved Fruit of her womb to the Father, never asking why....just suffering with her Son.

To be continued...

Walk the walk

Some call this world a burden
Some call this world a curse
But I call it a blessed place
For trust me - there's far worse

I'll walk this earth anyday
No matter what the cost
I'll pray each and every day
That not one soul be lost

I'll walk the path of Jesus
With help I'll walk it well
For His way leads to heaven
The wide road leads to hell

So, if you see me walking
With grace I will not tarry
For Jesus is my light and guide
My cross He helps me carry

And if I see you on this path
Which every day grows steeper
I'll help you if you fall, my friend
.... I am my brother's keeper