If you think that you are holy - be really worried!

A while back I wrote a post about being nice and what a problem it could be if the sweetness was simply a mask or surface quality that hides the truth about oneself. I am always amazed at how human nature likes to hide and protect itself from the unmasking which we all must go through to be healed by the Lord. This was a big problem for me because people often commented,"She's so nice" or "What a sweet girl you are." These are terms I've heard all my life because by nature I am basically a gentle person. Or was; I'm a bit more fiery now. The truth was:
For a long time, I was nice and sweet and filled with interior rot. The sweetness was a facade that hid a multitude of sins. Even worse, was my lack of awareness of how deep this ran. I moseyed along through life thinking I was doing pretty good and thinking I was at least average on the goodness scale. I'm sure you can guess what happened next. The Lord came along and quickly disabused me of this notion. Wham! Like getting hit with a ton of bricks. After my conversion I was in shock at the actual state of my soul. And the Lord was being gentle!
Why do I write about this? Because I believe there are many people out there who, like me, would be apalled at the true state of their soul. Trust me on this one, please. What? You think my name is Nicewarner for nothing? C'mon, the Lord has too great a sense of humor for that. [lol]
Seriously, though, what I am saying is true. We are not as good as we think we are. If you think you are holy- be really worried. Trust me on this one too, please. Most human beings are masters of self-deceit. This is why we are so in need of God's grace and love. Only He understands the depth of our fallen nature and He loves us anyway. But we must be honest with Him and ourselves so that He can do his healing work in us. He not only wants but deeply desires to do this for us if we will let Him. It's not always pleasant but it is freeing. There is one catch: to be forgiven and healed....we must first believe that we have sinned.

Sunday Snippets

This That and the Other Thing: Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is a weekly meme hosted by RAnn at this This That and the Other Thing where bloggers can share some of their favorite posts with other bloggers. I have found some wonderful blogs that I now follow through Sunday Snippets. Those who would like to join in can find more information at the link above.

As a pro-life blogger I occasionally write posts about why I am so set against abortion. This week I am posting a link to a short, 1 minute video which shows the greatest reason for my pro-life stance. It is one of the sweetest videos that I have ever seen: http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/11/beautiful-babies.html 
The second post I'd like to share is:http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/11/wicked-saints.html  These sinner-saints give hope to all the people of our times, although they lived long ago.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and a nice weekend!

Sabbath Moments

Thoughts on Grace: Sabbath Moments Meme:  Colleen has a lot of company, but I am going to have my Sabbath Moment ready just in case. Sabbath Moments is a weekly meme where you can share special God-moments with other bloggers. You can find out more about this meme at Colleens blog which is linked above. I planned my Sabbath moment this week. On Thanksgiving, I went to an early Mass by myself and then spent an extra hour praying. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of time to spend with Him and to thank Him on this special day. I knew the rest of the day would be fun, but busy, so I put aside a little extra time in the morning to spend with Him and I am glad I did. The Lord has truly blessed my family and I.

Thankgiving was especially nice this year because the entire family came, my brothers and sisters and their families were all there. We get together often throughout the year but usually someone can't make it. This time everyone made it. We gather at my parents' house and everyone brings something. Michaela had great fun playing with her cousin who is close to her age. Our next family get-together is Christmas, I'm already looking forward to it:)

Beautiful babies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcP2mdnYbcw   I don't think anyone could be pro-choice after watching this video :) The cutest, funniest, sweetest thing that I have ever seen!

Michaela's thanks!

Dear God,
Thank you that we are here today! Thank you for moms and dads! Thank you for holidays and thank you for kittens!     from Michaela

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thank you, Lord, for my wonderful family!
Thank you, Lord, for your infinite love and abundant blessings!
Thank you, Lord, for Jesus, without whom, there would be no salvation.
And thank you, O Lord, for the Holy Spirit who dwells within us!

I praise and thank you, Heavenly Father, for all things!


Wishing all a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving :)

Wicked saints

I love reading books about the saints. The more wicked they were before their conversions the more they interest me. That is why some of my favorite saints are St. Mary Magdalene, St. Paul, and St. Augustine. St. Augustine was really rotten, even when he knew God was calling him, he still held back. St. Paul needed a hard knock on the head before his conversion; it reminded me of my own experience. These saints give me the greatest hope for my own salvation. The wicked ones who were forgiven the most were the ones most passionately in love with the Lord. They became full of zeal. I often ask for the intercession of these sinner-saints. I can relate more to the sinner-saints than the ones who never fell very far.
Suffering-saints are another favorite of mine. Whose heart wouldn't be moved by the intense sufferings of St. Padre Pio? Actually, most saints fall into these two categories. There were a couple of saints who were practically perfect from birth but don't ask me who they are; I've already forgotten their names :)

Living your faith

   Michaela is still very young but I am trying to teach her the difference between simply going to Church and mouthing prayers, and living your faith. I wasn't certain how well this was getting through to her until the other week at Mass. She brought her religious education book to church with her and during Mass I felt a tug on my sleeve and she pointed to the corner of a page in her book. She whispered to me, "Mommy, you do this." I looked down to where she was pointing and read the words,"Living my Faith." I smiled at her and inside thanked the Lord  that she is beginning to understand the difference between being a lukewarm Christian and true Christian.
  Children love action. Rather than give money to the local food pantry, I brought her to the grocery store and let her help put together a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need. I explained to her how blessed we were and that we needed to share our blessings with others so that they too may have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Michaela had fun browsing through the aisles, finding the foods, and crossing them off the list she was holding. She picked out the pie for the family and helped me remember everything that was needed. It was a good lesson for her and she had fun doing it. She wants to do it again for Christmas :)

  Please remember all those in need this holiday season by helping out your local food banks, soup kitchens, and charities, it is a very tough year for many. Those who can't afford to help out can always volunteer their time.When my daughter is a little older I hope to get her to do some mother-daughter volunteering at the local soup kitchen.

  Thank you, O Lord for all your gifts and blessings!

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is a weekly meme hosted by RAnn at This That and the Other Thing. You can find out more about this meme at the link above. Sunday Snippets gives bloggers the chance to share some of their favorite posts with others. This week I would like to share these two posts:

1. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/11/god-knows.html
2. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/11/beyond-measure.html

The first post is on the omniscience of God and how freeing this knowledge can be. The second is about the Infinite Mercy of God. Come and take a peek at RAnn's site and read some great posts by other bloggers!

Sabbath Moments

Thoughts on Grace: "Sabbath Moments Meme"

Sabbath Moments is a meme hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace. Those who would like to learn more, or join us in this meme can find more information at the link above. Sabbath Moments are moments we rest in God, when we take time to be with God and absorb His love for us:

The power of prayer is unimaginable. Because we don't always see it's immediate effects, many people don't understand this gift from the Lord. The Lord hears every prayer, even the merest whisper of prayer - vocal prayer, wordless prayer, contemplative prayer, community prayer and  the silent prayers inside us that we are not even aware of; even the Holy Spirit within us prays. Prayer pierces heaven and we should have complete confidence that our prayers are heard and answered....every single one. I came across this quote that really made me think of the power of prayer:

   "Prayer is the one thing that can conquer God. Christ has willed that it should work no evil, and has given it all power over good.
   Its only art is to call back the souls of the dead from the very journey into death, to give strength to the weak, to heal the sick, to exorcise the possessed, to open prison cells, to free the innocent from their chains. Prayer cleanses from sin, drives away temptations, stamps out persecutions, comforts the fainthearted, gives new strength to the courageous, bring travelers safely home, calms the waves, confounds robbers, feeds the poor, over-rules the rich, lifts up the fallen, supports those who are falling, sustains those who stand firm.
  All the angels pray. Every creature prays. Cattle and wild beasts pray and bend the knee...The birds rise and lift themselves up to heaven...
   What more need be said on the duty of prayer? Even the Lord himself prayed. To Him be honor and power for ever and ever. Amen."
                                        From the treatise On Prayer by Tertullian (d. 259)

Amazing, isn't it? Meditating on the power of prayer was one of my Sabbath Moments this week :)

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.