apr 2020 faithposting
Apr. 1st, 2020 01:21 am
Guess who got special pastoral permission to attend FIRST FRIDAY MASS!! đâ€đâ€đ
Gosh my heart is so happy. I MISS CHURCH. đ„ș
the stripping of the altar gets to me every time.
we all sit silently, watching the communion elements, and the candles, and the cross, and the tablecloth, and the celebration, slowly get carried away out of the room. we watch until all thatâs left is a bare table. emptiness.
this always sends me right there, to the night of the last supper. the meal is over. jesus and the disciples go out to the garden, and jesus prays so intensely, âtake this cup from me.â
and then the authorities show up and arrest him.
jesus and his disciples have just shared this huge, warm, love-filled meal. maybe the most wonderful time theyâve ever had together, celebrating the holiday of the passover.
and now, so quickly, jesus has been taken. he is absent.
i wonder, did they all go back to the house where they ate? as mary, and mary, and all the unnamed others cleared the table and cleaned up after dinner, what was it like in the house? intensely and oppressively silent, i imagine, with desperate stares into one anotherâs faces. what do you do after your messiah is so quickly and easily arrested and taken away? itâs a shock.
we shared this meal, we shared communion. it was amazing and love-filled and everything we ever wanted. and now, just as quickly, itâs over. itâs done. they took jesus, and itâs done.
the table is empty.
we are empty.
the stripping of the altar gets to me every time.
I feel this is more relevant this year than ever before, for us.
We cannot even watch this happen, right now, at least not in person. But it is still happening, an eternal echo of that first empty evening, when no soul knew what was to come. But we have hope. We know the joy that will return on Sunday. And yet, we do not know what will happen in our lives nowâ except for that same guarantee of hope and joy in Christ, of His fullness after the emptiness is over.
The altars will be stripped, the churches will be empty, the double absence will be felt. It will ache. It must ache.
But Jesus has not left us, even now, even if for a time He seems to have been taken away. Do not despair. This is not the end.
We are in a time of massive isolation, so many people that canât leave their homes or see their friends. Here are some suggestions to bolster your faith and Christian strength.
- Read the Bible- as Catholics we should be more familiar with the Bible, we compiled the Bible together, all of our teachings come from it in some way, and they are words directly from Our Lord to us.
- Pray the Rosary- if you are stuck inside for hours or days, there is no excuse to not say a daily Rosary, spend time with Jesusâs mother! Ask her to pray for you, be in her presence, say the Rosary.
- Pray the Liturgy of the Hours- say the prayers of the Church with all the other people in isolation, monks in monasteries, and priests. Praying the LOTH allows your prayers to combine with others in community.
- Read the Catechism- learn about what the Catholic Church teaches, see what sets it apart from other Christian Churches, know what you should believe.
- Other spiritual reading- besides the Bible, there is a multitude of books written by Saints and Theologians. I highly suggest The Spiritual Combat
- Learn more about the lives of the saints. They have such incredible lives, learn about them, become amateur Church historian.
- Make a home altar- simply a table with a crucifix, candle, saint statues, and a Bible. Make a beautiful space to pray in.
- Find a new devotion- the Jesus Prayer, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
- Make some Rosaries- there is a constant need of donations
- Acts of charity- call your elderly relative who may be very scared right now, let them know you are thinking of them. Donate money to organizations helping to fight this virus. Anything else you can think of while also social distancing.
There are many more things Iâm sure, but these are some suggestions I would like to do and I want to share these suggestions to others.
Also, never feel overwhelmed. God does not demand obsession over works or checklistsâ He only tells us that we must love Him with wholehearted devotion. So yes, do these things, but do them with patient sincerity, as your means allow, yet always striving to love a little more each day.
Start small, like a mustard seed, if you must. But please still plant that seed! If you water it with faith, daily, it will grow in due time. God has given us much time indeed, now, so gratefully thank Him for this opportunity. Donât give up! Pray if you struggle or are afraid. He will hear you and help you.
Let us use this time of isolation as an âinner roomâ of real spiritual growth. Let our homes be as churches, as monasteries and cloisters if we must. But let us take full advantage of the hidden blessings we have now. These are truly beautiful suggestionsâ pick one to focus on today, and build from there!
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FROM PHONE:
A game-changing distinction that I, for one, tend to forget, is that the Cross HURTS. Carrying it is GOING TO HURT, even when we choose to carry it, because it's SUPPOSED TO HURT. Jesus Himself feared its pains BUT nevertheless abandoned Himself to it out of LOVE! We must pray for that same grace to not deny or ignore the agonies in life, but to FEEL them WITH Christ, and so embrace it. "Embrace" is the key word. Even though that Cross tore His flesh and drew terrible blood, Jesus embraced it with love. He ACTIVELY accepted it, without grudge or grumbling, because He knew it was God's Will, which is infinite compassion. It still hurt. But loving faith made it bearable.
How strange, yet how profound, of a blessing we have been given in this heavy cross of pandemic church closures-- and during Holy Week, no less! This may be the first time we can TRULY empathize with Christ's feelings of utter loneliness and abandonment, even of distance from God's tangible Presence amidst acute suffering. We must all embrace this opportunity to grow closer to Him wholeheartedly. God, give us the grace!
âFaith is not a panacea." Jesus never promised us a pain free life. Indeed, He commanded us TO take up our crosses! But He DID promise us peace, in Him, in God. So don't despair if the weight stays on your back. Instead, join Jesus in your suffering. Unite your heart to His.
Beauty in variety of our daily crosses: JEWELS!!
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I will never get over this eating disorder by hating food; it can ONLY be overcome by LOVE OF GOD!!!
The scourging: WORLDLY TOLERANCE. "You can beat Him, just don't kill Him" = STILL letting them HATE and ABUSE Him!!
KILLING TIME BREAKS THE 5TH COMMANDMENT!!!
My elements are still snow and flame, BUT!!!
It's SPIRITUAL FLAME and SNOW-PURE BODY!!
"May the heat of the flesh be COOLED, and the chill of the soul made WARM"
The OPPOSITE is HELL: a frozen soul, an enflamed self.
I am Fully Convinced that processed foods are possessed by demonic spirits, considering the massive notable psychospiritual effects I experience from both eating AND purging them.
IS THIS WHY FASTING IS IMPORTANT??? DO DEMONS GET INTO OUR BODIES THE MORE WE EAT??? (YES!!!!)
đMEAT, SUGAR, VINEGAR
JESUS IS THE TRUE FRUIT OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL!! John 16:22. People who praise Eve but reject Christ prove the EVIL in their hearts-- John 3:19+, ALSO John 3:14-15 with the serpent parallel!!
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No urge to steal: all things belong to Christ
Lucifer: self love and self hate have the SAME ROOT: rejection of God, and self idolatry as a result, IMPERFECTION, INABILITY TO LOVE
John 21:17 is TRUE LOVE.
So we see in this comparison that Love is either a mirror or a black hole (God or Satan, real love vs self 'love'-- reflecting God or devouring others)
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Crowning with thorns: HOW JESUS REIGNS AS KING IN A FALLEN WORLD THAT HATES HIM.
âHands bound, but still blessing-- that is His true power, not of force or violence
âscepter is the BRUISED REED (weak yet faithful ones through which His Power is manifest)
ârobed in scarlet, taken from an earthly king seen as godlike but now dead, given to a heavenly king seen as worthless but now to live forever
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Reasons why I have NOT squandered my life:
1. I have helped my grandma as much as possible with my time with her
2. I spend a ton of my money to help the family pay bills and buy groceries
3. I study the Bible and pray daily and go to mass as much as possible
4. I have been told by MANY people in church that I have helped their faith
5. I have been told by MANY people in the mental health community that I have given them hope and inspiration
6. I have written a lot of music
7. I have written a lot of journals and creative writing
8. I have done a good deal of good art
9. I have developed my talent of singing and I am a cantor at church
10. I do an online Bible study that reaches hundreds of people daily
11. I did that Gold Star project and restored the Fatima shrine at the Oblates!
12. I am so grateful for this life God has given me and I will leave it in joy