Faith versus "positive thinking"

One of the things I have learned over the years is that the disposition of the heart is extremely important when it comes to our spiritual lives. A few years ago, the Holy Spirit, in a very pointed manner, showed me how anything and everything (and everyone for that matter) can be used as stepping stone to Him. Even situations that seem to be quite awful in our eyes need not be a stumbling block and can actually be HUGE stepping stones to God. We know by faith that God brings good out of everything and I've seen this at work in my own life in remarkable ways. Illness, deaths, trials of every sort, attacks, little daily irritations - every single one of these things can be springboards into the arms of God.

It's very easy for us to see how the joys in life can bring us closer to God but at times it's a bit harder for us to see how the "not so good stuff" can do the same - at times in more powerful ways than the happier aspects of life can. The conversions of most of the people I know came about through what  people would consider a bad experience (or a series of them). I'm not saying that the wonderful things in life don't bring us closer to God, I'm simply stating that many people I know turned to God wholeheartedly after a series of painful events or circumstances. God transformed their pain into something good.

They "allowed" Him to.  We always have a choice in our response.

When it comes to suffering of any sort the disposition of the heart can be the difference between allowing bitterness to enter the heart or allowing the Lord to  transform our pain and suffering into something beautiful. We can wallow in bitterness (I spent years in this "spiritual state", unfortunately) or we can trust that God is not "picking on us" (obviously I thought this at one point...lol) but allowing certain events to happen knowing that He is going to use these events for our good. This isn't what I would call positive thinking but rather "trusting in the God of all truth and goodness".  The words "positive thinking" make me a bit wary in our days because they can be used as blinders or a refusal to see truth. They can even be used as a way to avoid correction or as a way to avoid responsibility. I'm not so sure the term  means the same thing as it used to. Jesus was a truthful thinker not a positive thinker. He was often very blunt in His manner of speech. When He cleansed the temple He didn't put a positive spin on it "Oh, everything is fine and dandy here in God's house so I'll just leave things be." No, He saw the "truth" of what was going on and did something about it.

Look at the Crucifixion of Our Lord. God changed the world for all time through His death and resurrection. All things were transformed through Jesus who suffered so painfully for our sake. 

Jesus never said we would not suffer here on earth. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke the "conditions for discipleship" are taking up the the cross and following Jesus. After each of these Gospel passages the next passage is about the Transfiguration of Christ. A coincidence? No way. 

Picking up our cross and carrying it transforms us because God made it so. 

Thoughts from St. Pio on Spiritual Warfare

I know spiritual warfare can be fierce at times and it's a consoling thought to know that everyone goes through them and we are not alone in our battles. I believe they build virtue, make us stronger and teach us to rely on God alone. Padre Pio fought many such battles; he could see the demonic world. Here are a few thoughts on this subject from St Pio:

"The field of battle between God and satan is the human soul. It is for the soul that the battle rages every moment of life. The soul must give free access to the Lord so that it can be fortified by Him in every respect and with all kinds of weapons; that His light may enlighten it to combat the darkness of error; that it be clothed with Jesus Christ, with His justice, truth, the shield of faith, the word of God, in order to conquer such powerful enemies. To be clothed with Jesus Christ it is necessary to die to oneself."

"Temptations, discouragement, and unrest are the wares offered by the enemy. Remember this: if the devil makes noise it is a sign that he is still outside and not yet within. That which must terrify us is his peace and concord with the human soul."

"Do not fear. Jesus is more powerful than all Hell. At the invocation of His Name every knee in heaven, on earth and in hell must bend before Jesus. This is the consolation of the good and terror of the evil ones."

No wonder St. Pio is a favorite of mine.

Sabbath Moments - Coincidence?

Sabbath Moments is a weekly meme hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. You can read more about this meme on Colleen's site - she has written beautifully on the meaning of the word Sabbath.

I am indebted to all my online friends for their recent outpouring of prayers and e-mails concerning both my pastor and Randy's cousin. Randy and I send our thanks to each and every one of you. This is the true meaning of unity in Christ and we have been deeply touched by your response. I could not think of a greater Sabbath Moment than this outpouring - there is none. Please know that I pray for each and every one of you, also.

Randy was at work the other day and while praying for Jonna's salvation he said, "O Lord, I pray her heart was right with you." While speaking with the Lord his diad accidentally brushed up against a rosebush and I'd like to share the picture he took right after. This petal resembles a heart and made us smile. He has been working for this company for 18 years and never has had anything stick to his diad except on this one occasion when he was praying that his cousin's heart was right with God when she passed. It is also interesting to note that we had started a Novena to the Sacred Heart for her the night before. Coincidence?

Perhaps. I prefer to see it as a God - incidence :)

Rest in peace, Jonnalee.





Love Uproots Hidden Things

"For there is nothing hidden that will not become visible, and nothing secret that will not be known and come to light."             Lk 8:17

The Holy Spirit never stops working. Day after day, night after night, grace presses onward. Bringing everything into the light of God. The more people hide their sin, the more grace is poured out by God, for God is love and has our best interests at heart. He wants to save each and every one of us and, sometimes, to save his children he must use drastic measures. At least to us it seems drastic - humans usually prefer to look upon the sins of others rather than look into their own hearts. But this doesn't help us, we always have to understand that what we see in others is often in our own hearts too. Sin in the heart cannot be healed until it is exposed to the light of Truth himself. We do not know how deep the roots of sin run in our own hearts much less that of others.

Love uproots hidden things. Not to harm but to heal. The Mystical Body of Christ is wounded and the Holy Spirit is surfacing these wounds so that our eyes open up, we turn to God, and He heals us. If we let Him.We have free will and He respects that, but He has sounded the alarm worldwide. This is our wake up call. We look around the earth and see these wounds festering everywhere. In the eyes of our teenagers crying out for love and purpose, in our elderly who are made to feel useless and unwanted in our society when they should be cherished, in our overflowing prisons, in the "little ones" who are tossed in the trash because they don't fit in with their parents "plans".

The more we run from God the more obvious this woundedness is becoming. Will we completely destroy the earth and ourselves before we wake up and realize the answer is staring us right in the face? All creation is crying out. No one can blame God for what we ourselves have wrought. He is simply allowing us bigger and bigger glimpses of the damage we have done through our hardness of heart.

Perhaps we could call these glimpses "shock therapy". We live in a jaded, apathetic, world and many of us need to be "shocked" out of our complacency before we can get up out of our easy chairs and engage in the spiritual battle for souls that is going on all around us.  It seems to take a lot to move us into action. In the meantime people are falling apart, families are falling apart, nations are falling apart. Blessed John Paul II once said, "As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live." We can see that this has happened, not only in the U.S. but throughout the world. Families are the basic unit upon which societies are built.

The truth is...people were made for love. God would loves us back to wholeness if we would allow Him to. Jesus took upon Himself our sins and by "His stripes we were healed". Can we look Jesus in the eye and say that this wasn't enough? He poured Himself out for us. Even during his painful crucifixion He thought of us.

 He pled, not for himself during these dying moments...but for us.

"Father forgive them, they know not what they do."

"Would you like to come home now?"

I was thinking about death today (my pastor passed away this morning) and it made me think about a near death experience that my father had a few years back. My father takes a number of medications for many medical problems. We are talking many pills per day. One day, and we can only guess this is how it happened, he must have forgotten he had already taken his morning meds and took them again. Within a short time my father started acting strangely and my mother called my sister (she's an RN ) who lives a couple of streets away. Good thing she called her before she called the ambulance, because, by the time my sister got there my Dad had stopped breathing. Julie resuscitated him before the EMT's came and then he was rushed to the hospital. While we were at the hospital, my father had another crisis. We were sent out of the room while the doctors and nurses worked on him. Thankfully, they revived him and a short while later we were allowed back in the room to see him. He quickly improved over the course of the day and after I left to go care for my family, he told my mom this story:
At a certain point while the doctors were working on him he was suddenly enveloped in a great peace that he had never before experienced. All pain left him. While in this peaceful state my father heard a beautiful male voice, filled with love, and this voice asked him one simple question, "Would you like to come home now, Sylvio?" My father instantly knew this was Jesus speaking to him and wanted to cry out with all his being, "Yes, Lord, please take me home!", but then he noticed my mom sobbing uncontrollably. He said to the Lord, "Ahh, Lord....look at her...I cannot leave her yet." After this my dad no longer heard the voice and was filled with pain again. What is so strange about this story is that my Dad could not possibly have "seen" my mother sobbing as we were not in the room when they were working on him and there was a wall between us and him...yet, "see" her he did. I can confirm what he saw and all I can think is that he had a near death experience. Jesus actually gave him a choice of whether to stay on this earth or "go home". For the sake of my Mom he chose to stay.

This experience has left my father with absolutely no fear of death. Actually, he's looking forward to that day when the Lord takes him "home" for good.

Deadly Silence

There are times when silence is good....and there are times when silence is deadly. The days we live in contain far too little of the "good" silence that quiets the spirit and gives rest to the soul. Instead, the silence we see most often today is the deadly type - that of people afraid to "step out of the crowd" and speak up against the widespread abuses of personal freedom and the shroud of sin which darkens our world today. The silence today reminds me of these words from the Bible, "And Pilate, wanting to please the crowd, released to them Barabbas...."  Mk 15:15

We all know what happened after that. Pilate, in his failure to use the authority given to him and in refusing to continue to speak up in defence of Jesus out of fear of the crowds, condemned an innocent man to death. One man's silence resulted in deicide. One might say, "But this had to happen. Even Jesus knew this."  True, but, would you want to be Pilate? Would you have wanted to be the one who would go down in history as the man who had the power to save the Christ and refused out of fear?

Before the first Pentecost, the apostles were a fearful bunch, also. Peter denied Jesus and they all abandoned him when He was arrested. John managed to scrape up enough courage to return but the others were nowhere to be found. It wasn't until they received the Holy Spirit that they became the great leaders of the early Church. The Spirit gave them the courage to spread the gospel despite great adversity and the persecution they came under.

I wonder at our silence today. Especially the silence of Christians. There are still billions of Christians in the world and it seems to me that if more of them spoke up and used their voices, both in prayer and spreading the Gospel, and also in speaking out against injustices and evils, our world would change. I'll leave you with the heart wrenching words of Pastor Niemoeller, a Christian imprisoned by the Nazis, who talks about  where this deadly kind of silence can lead to:

First, they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for me

...and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

The gift of fortitude (courage) is one of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit and we are in great need of this gift  living in the midst of the secular society that surrounds us today.

May the Holy Spirit pour upon all Christians the gift of courage and the wisdom to know when to speak up. May He also break the bondage of fear which is sealing the mouths of so many in our day.

Three Favorite Scripture Verses

Barb at Suffering with Joy started a blog tag called Three Favorite Scripture Verses. The rules are simple:

1.Write a post on your three favorite verses from the Bible and why you like them.
2. Link back to this post.
3. In your post tag three other bloggers to carry this theme forward, link to you and tag additional bloggers.

My three favorite verses are:

1. "But do you gird your loins; stand up and tell them all that I command you. Be not crushed on their 
     account, as though I would leave you crushed before them."         Jer. 1:17
 This is a verse that God laid on my heart years ago. I knew He was preparing me to do some work
 for Him that a lot of people wouldn't believe nor understand and I was afraid to do what the Lord was asking of me. This verse is like a fire that runs through my veins and even after many years I rely on it
for courage and strength knowing that it is a promise of his own strength to uphold me and I need not worry about my human weakness because He is in charge. I use this verse often on my blog when I am going to give a "word" from Him as in this post  for example (which is even more relevant than ever). Maybe after reading it you can understand why this verse means so much to me. It's not easy obeying the Lord sometimes, especially in these days of unbelief.

2. "He said to them, I AM."              John 18:5
This took place in the Garden of Gethsemane when the soldiers and guards from the chief priests and the Pharisees came to arrest Jesus. The power of this statement made them turn away and fall to the ground
and, to be honest, these words make me want to do the same.  I AM is an Old Testament self-designation  of Yahweh. The Divinity of Jesus is made very clear in this verse. No wonder they fell to the ground!

3. "It is finished"                John 19:30
Jesus' words from the Cross before He died. I meditate on these three words all the time. These words say so much! Jesus completed the task his Father had sent Him for and the salvific work of Christ was done. Here are some beautiful words from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
"It is love 'to the end' that confers on Christ's sacrifice its value as redemption and reparation, as atonement and satisfaction. He knew and loved us all when he offered his life. Now 'the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died.' No man, not even the holiest, was ever able to take on himself the sins of all men and offer himself as a sacrifice for all. The existence in Christ of the divine person of the Son, who at once surpasses and embraces all human persons and constitutes himself as the Head of all mankind, makes possible his redemptive sacrifice for all."

"It is finished".... three of the most beautiful words ever spoken to humankind.

I tag:
Anne at Imprisoned in my Bones
Karin at Daughter of the King
Colleen at Thoughts on Grace

Thanks for the tag Barb! I loved doing this meme!

Why I Love Jesus

Puff at New Toronto Catholic Blog has tagged me for a meme called Why I love Jesus. The rules for this meme are:
- Those tagged will share 5 things they "love" about Jesus
- Those tagged will tag 5 other bloggers
- Those tagged will provide a link in the comment section
   here with their names so that others can read them

1. Once upon a time, years ago, a broken world-weary young woman cried out to
    Him from the depths of her heart....and He answered immediately.
2. He healed a spiritually crippled woman in the Beautiful Gate of His Heart
    and I am ever so thankful.
3. He feeds me "Heavenly Food"
4. I have a tremendous desire for truth and He is the only place I have ever found
    truly found this.
5. What's not to love about pure love Himself? He poured himself out for me
    and for every one of us despite the great suffering it caused him.

 Thank you, Jesus.

I tag:

Maria at this crazy love
Kathryn at Heart for God
Victor at Time for Reflections
Barb at Suffering with Joy
Andie at Meandering Thru Life
Ros at Shadowlands

Okay...well, that's six not five but ...what can I say? I am a curious gal!

God speaks to us in various ways...

God speaks to all his children. I firmly believe this. Now, someone may say, "Oh no! You are wrong, Mary, God has never spoken to me." I beg to differ. He most certainly has. And often. I might even go so far as to say daily. Does anyone really believe that God speaks to only a few "special ones" and gives the rest of his people the cold shoulder? So maybe the question here shouldn't be whether God speaks, but rather...

Do we listen?

I think one of the problems is that people expect to "hear" Him with their earthly ears. An audible voice. And this happens at times but is not the most common way He speaks. He is God, after all, and doesn't need to communicate through a human voice, though He can do so if He chooses.

So what are the ways He speaks to us? Here are a few. None as important as the very last way I mention in this post though.

Divine impressions - these are often more clear than audible words because they go beyond the human language. Human language is limited but God's words impressed upon the spirit are not. I think this is a fairly common way that God speaks to us.

While we sleep - I really don't think sleep is only for the resting and healing the physical body. I think God speaks to us while we sleep. As a matter of fact...I've caught Him in the act numerous times. But only because He allowed it. He refreshes our soul as well as our body when we sleep. This only makes sense, right? We are spiritual beings, too. I'm sure that this aspect of our nature isn't neglected while we sleep. God wouldn't waste the perfect opportunity to work in a hidden manner without our interference, would He? Fat chance of that happening. God works nonstop and loves to work without hindrance.

Through intuition and signs - Spirit Daily has a good article about this today. Just click here to read it.

Infused knowledge- When God directly infuses knowledge previously unknown to a person there can be no doubt that He has spoken. Only God has this kind of direct access to a soul. He gives the person a "leg up" so to speak. 

These are just a few of the ways that God speaks. And for each and every human being who may doubt that God speaks....here is the greatest Word ever spoken:

                                               "IT IS FINISHED"                John 19:30

The Door of His Mercy

Today is the Feast Day of  St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, Apostle of the Divine Mercy.

Every human person was created in God's image. Satan, in his absolute hatred for God, will stop at nothing to deface this image. As God's children with this divine imprint upon our souls we not only must battle against our own proclivity to sin but we must also battle powers and principalities. God's grace, however, is more powerful than satan's antipathy. Not only does the Lord help us battle the forces of evil, He also provides remedies for our own sinfulness.

It can be discouraging in our day to look around and see a world mired in sin. Viewed through human eyes it can be downright overwhelming. Many people would like to pretend that everything is just fine on the earth. Truth, however, tells us that this is not so. God would much rather we walk in his light and face evil, including our own, than bury our faces in the sand and pretend that it doesn't exist. One of the ways God does this is to expose the sins of the world (and our own) to a greater and greater degree until we must acknowledge it. He makes them obvious to us. Not so that we will despair, but so that we can turn to Him and accept the mercy and healing He longs to pour upon us. What easier way to draw our attention to the condition of our world than to have us confront it on a daily basis. The wounds of sin have surfaced on our earth and God  is longing to pour the balm of his love and mercy upon us.

In honor of St. Faustina's feast day, I have chosen a passage from her diary that reflects Jesus' yearning to show mercy to us all, if only we will accept it:

Let the greatest sinners place their trust in My mercy. They have the right before others to trust in the abyss of My mercy. My daughter, write about My mercy towards tormented souls. Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more mercy than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to my compassion, but on the contrary, I justify him in My unfathomable mercy. Write: before I come as a just Judge, I first open wide the door of My mercy. He who refuses to pass through the door of My mercy must pass through the door of My justice. *                             1146


* The Diary of Maria Faustina Kowalska
   The Marion Fathers of the Immaculate Conception
   used with permission (but I have no clue where the copyright mark is on this keyboard, lol)

"I will accept good works"

My parents recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. What a milestone! Life has not been easy for them and the two of them have overcome many obstacles in the course of their marriage.

My father has been ill since I was a child. He suffers from mental illness, diabetes, and polymyalgia. Though he worked when I was a young child, by the time I was a young teenager he was too ill to hold a job. This left my mother the sole breadwinner of a family with 5 children. She supported us by cleaning houses during the day and businesses during the evening. As you might imagine, this left her exhausted, and us kids pretty much fended for ourselves. My dad wasn't doing very well at this time and was usually in bed.

My mom grew very close to the Lord during this period in her life. With work, five children, and a household to run, she would virtually tumble into bed at night, totally exhausted. Her lack of prayer time concerned her. Well-meaning friends would tell her that she needed to pray more. One of her friends prayed for 6 hours a day (Yep! I'm serious!) and would tell my mom that she HAD to pray more if she wanted to progress spiritually. My mom would try but would doze off in the middle of them. She started fretting about her lack of a structured prayer life and worried that she was not doing God's will. One night, she went to bed and started apologizing to the Lord for praying so little. As she was apologizing, a perfectly clear vision of Jesus appeared in her head. In this vision, Jesus raised his right hand and gently said "I will accept good works."  My mom was instantly flooded with a sense of peace. When she related this incident to me years ago she stated that the expression on Jesus' face was kind but a bit pained, as if to say, "Do you think so little of me? Do you think I am not aware of your difficult circumstances?"

My mom learned to make her work a prayer. She would offer Jesus her cleaning, uniting it with Him, during the course of her day. She learned to give Him every area of her life and in this way she found the "sacred in the ordinary". Her children, in the meantime, grew up with a roof over their heads and food on the table. And her children are thankful. She made her life a "living prayer".

Sins of the past

My past, O Lord, to your mercy; my present, to your love; my future, to your Providence!

                                                                                         St. Padre Pio

Life is a series of present moments. The past is just a shadow of the present and the future has not arrived yet, so the "here and now" is all anyone can count on with any certainty. Sanctifying each of these present moments, by living in the Divine Will, is our job here on this earth. We may at times fail in this duty but we should not let this discourage us, nor should we dwell on it except to try and see what we can learn from our mistakes. It helps to look at the past as a teacher; we can reflect on what it has taught us without getting caught in its traps. The traps, whether it's focusing on sins you may have committed or on how others have sinned against you, can lead to despair if we dwell on them too much. For those who are discouraged by past sins, it's best to leave it in the hands of Jesus. I have learned this the hard way, of course! Hopefully, my words can help others not make the same mistake. By placing the past in the hands of Jesus, I do not mean to suggest that counseling is not helpful. Often, counseling can help those who have suffered traumas and can speed up the healing process. A third party can often put things into perspective better than we can on our own. It's okay to acknowledge our hurts as long as we don't make them our primary focus by constantly reliving them. In this post I'm talking more about sin in general , not about extremely traumatic experiences.

Satan exists, though he would prefer us to think that he doesn't. This makes his job much easier because he knows we won't gear up for battle if we don't believe there is an enemy. Satan has an army and this army will use any weapon it can to attack us at our weak points if we allow it. One tactic that he uses is to try to keep us living in a past that no longer exists. The Blood of Christ covers the past, to doubt this is to doubt the power of His saving blood. Wounds heal if left to God's mercy. We can see this in our physical bodies, and the physical is a reflection of the spiritual. If we constantly "pick" at a wound, it continues to bleed. It's better to leave it alone and to focus on the present battle while trusting the Divine Physician to take care of our wounds.

It takes guts to face Jesus, admit our sinfulness (or to forgive the sins of those who have harmed us) and then move on. To do this requires not only looking at oneself squarely in the face but also looking God in the eye and saying, "Yes, Lord, I was wrong and I'm sorry." Humans like to be right, after all (lol). To forgive others we must see that our own nature is as prone to sinfulness as theirs. The degree of sin may differ but the tendency to sin is the same since we all have fallen natures. When we refuse to forgive others we condemn ourselves. Forgiveness is not a feeling, it is a choice. We choose to forgive with our will, not our emotions. Emotions cannot always be trusted and can hold us back if we let them rule us. They are good but they are subject to us and we should should not be subject to them.

We may end up with some battle scars in life but at least we can say we had the courage to enter the battle arena. Our scars are our badges of honor and scar tissue is tougher than regular skin. Life's tests make us stronger if we let them. We take our memories, both good and bad, into the present with us. And while the past may be a nice place to visit on occasion...I wouldn't want to live there.

What does God see?

When God looks around this beautiful world He created what does He see? It saddens my heart to imagine what He must think of the false reality that we have made for ourselves.

 "Show me, Lord. Take off these worldly lens I am viewing the earth through and show me the truth."

There is not an area of our lives that has escaped corruption. Though there are pockets of goodness and beauty still, the majority of the human race has given themselves over to lies of every kind. May the Spirit of Truth pierce our hearts and lift the blinders off our eyes. If you think I am being overly harsh I ask you to pray and look around you with honesty. If someone from 100 years ago saw how we are living today I think they would be apalled. Instead of rejecting evil we have accepted it into our society and some have even embraced it. Our governments, banks, major corporations, schools, the film industry, our books - you'd be hard-pressed to find an area that hasn't suffered internal rot. It started slowly...but sin snowballs. The more a society gives in and accepts sin the more vulnerable they become. Abortion, pornography, rampant crime, disrespect , adultery,  corporate greed, dishonesty.... need I go on?

And so I ask an honest question:
If Jesus stood in front of us and gave his opinion on the shape of the world today, what do you think He would say?

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

What gift could be greater than the the gift of God Himself? The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus is the second person of the Trinity. He is fully God and fully man, not half God and half man. When we receive Communion we are partaking in the Divinity of Christ as well as his humanity because the two are inseparable. We consume Him and He consumes us. This is truth.

There are Catholics that do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. This brings to mind the Gospel of John when many walked away from Jesus because they could not accept his words. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" (Jn 6:52)  Jesus let them walk away rather than compromise the truth of his words.  "As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him."  (Jn 6:66)  What strikes me about this passage is "many of his disciples returned to their former way of life". In refusing to accept the truth they refused to be transformed and returned to their old ways. They didn't "walk with him" anymore.

We must walk with Jesus. He is "the way and the truth and the life" as he states in the Last Supper Discourses (see John chapter 14). Through the Eucharist we come to share in the life of Christ.  Throughout the Old Testament and the New we see prefigurations of the Eucharist. The "showbread" , the "manna" in the desert, the priest Melchizedek who brought out the bread and wine. Even the place and manner of Jesus' birth points to the Eucharist. Bethlehem means "house of bread" and Jesus was born in a manger (a feeding trough). Where is the difficulty with understanding the truth about the Eucharist?

I find it interesting that there were twelve baskets of bread left over after Jesus miraculously fed the crowds (Jn. 6:13). Twelve is usually a symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel which signifies the Church. I connect this with the passages about the showbread in Leviticus 24: 5-9, another foreshadowing of the Eucharist.  It points to Jesus feeding his church the "Bread of Life" in every age.

"How I hate this folly of not believing in the Eucharist, etc.! If the Gospel be true, if Jesus Christ be God, what difficulty is there?"                       Blaise Pascal

Amen!

" Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Luke 23:43

I think one reason why people are so seldom reformed in feeling is that many who have been reformed in faith do not make a wholehearted effort to grow in grace, or to lead better lives by means of earnest prayer and meditation, and by spiritual and bodily exercises. They think it sufficient to avoid mortal sins, and to continue to live in the same way. They say that it is enough for them to be saved, and they are content with the lowest place in heaven, wanting nothing higher.Walter Hilton

I had to laugh when I read this or I would have cried. How often have you heard these words? "But, I lead a decent life." Or: "Well, I may have to spend some time in purgatory but I'll eventually get to heaven." How about this one: "There is no such thing as hell."

I have heard all the above and more. The first is halfhearted, the second is insulting (to aim for purgatory) and the third is downright foolish.

Our aim is Heaven. Jesus died on the cross to save us! St. Dismas (the good thief) abandoned himself completely to the Lord. He saw what he was and turned to Mercy and said,"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And Jesus did. " Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

For the but-I-lead-a-decent-lifers, I ask: In whose eyes? Your own? Or the Lord's? We have a fallen nature, we cannot judge our own holiness. Decency is great, but we are called to holiness. Only God can do this work in us.

Those who don't believe in hell.....well, I can assure you that it exists, but I doubt you would believe me. Look around you. Evil exists. Human beings are smart but the devil is smarter . If you don't believe he exists, then he has already won half the battle. (Read The Screwtape Letters by C.S Lewis.)

Tug of war

Imagine this:

A long chain. The devil and his onions (oops! I meant minions.... though, come to think about it, their odor is quite sulfurous) are at one end, satan is the canker. (Is that correct? I looked it up. Yep, an ulcerous sore, that sounds about right.) Now, on the other end are the saints and Jesus is the anchor. We are in the middle somewhere. Every time people lean on the Lord the chain goes His way and vice (pun intended) versa. Along comes a beautiful Lady. She whispers something in The Lord's ear. The Lord looks thunderous then gives her a nod. She stands behind the weaker ones and gives a mighty tug. The demons collapse in a heap on the other side. What do you think Our lady said to Jesus?

She simply said, " He (satan) cheats." And he does. He attacks us in all our weakest areas. Look around our broken world. But we have the Lord to lean on...... and this makes all the difference.

Pray the Rosary. I was one of those weaker ones and I have received many graces through her intercession. The Lord never refuses her requests because she never refused Him. Like a mother, she simply carries us and brings us to her son.


Thank you, Jesus , for giving us your mother.

"Jesus! Take the wheel! "

My family goes to the beach for a few weeks each summer, we love the ocean and my husband loves to go fishing. This year my huband and daughter left about an hour before me and I said that I would meet them at the cottage. I decided to pray the sorrowful mysteries on the way, I've always enjoyed praying in the car. Sometimes the Lord and I just chat, but I love meditating on the sorrowful mysteries. As I have spoken about in http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-suffering.html I unite everything with Jesus, even every breath I take. This day was no different and I was praying with my whole heart when suddenly the skies opened up and rain started coming down in buckets. I couldn't see more than than ten feet in front of me [I don't like driving in heavy rain and of course there was a huge truck in front of me to top it all off.] I kept praying and uniting the sufferings of the moment with His but the rain got so bad I said "Jesus! Take the wheel please." Immediately, the song "Be Not Afraid" started going through my head and a feeling of immense peace came over me and I actually started enjoying the ride. By the way, Jesus.... you drive quite well for somebody who never had lessons!

It's funny, I had just checked out a blog called " Be Not Afraid" just the day before so maybe that's why the song came into my head but what was really odd is that when I switched lanes to get out from behind the truck, the license plate in front of me read "xesus" with a few numbers following it [Xesus is the Galician form of Jesus.]

Jacob

My mother and I were cleaning the church center the other day when all of a sudden she said "Mary! Come quickly! There is a man lying outside the door and he's not moving!" We ran over and opened the door and I leaned down and saw that he was breathing so I sent my mother to get my cellphone. Another man came over and gently shook him. He woke up with a start and looked dazed and confused. I told him I was going to call an ambulance but he shook his head no.
I said " Sir, I'm very worried about you and if you don't speak to me I'm going to call them." He looked up at me with bleary eyes and said "Sorry, I just needed a minute to gather my wits." He then stuck out his hand and said "I'm Jacob, like in the bible." I shook it and replied "I'm Mary, like in the bible." Then he told us that he was homeless and had been for 7 years. While my mother went to get him some money for food he continued to tell me a little bit about himself. He said his fiance had died last August, that he missed her very, very much and when he spoke her name it was said so reverently that it deeply touched me. I told him that I would pray for him. He thanked me and said he would always remember me because he had a sister named Mary. My mother gave him some money and we said good-bye. I felt honored to have met him for I saw Jesus in his eyes. So... Jacob, wherever you are, you have a friend and I will not forget you.

By the way, I glanced at Jacob's watch while we were talking and the time was 11:11 [but this is another story in itself].