tumblr faithposting: march 2021
Mar. 30th, 2021 11:31 pm“…what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?”— J.I. Packer
What other true and honorable knowledge is there, but that of God? What other knowledge lasts for all eternity, and is not reliant on faltering human thought to discover? What other knowledge is worth seeking above all other things? There is none. Truly, we need to prioritize our holy role as students of Our Lord, and spend dedicated, devoted time every day learning more about Him.
Pray, read your Bible, read the Catechism and other holy books, and go to Mass. There is no loftier, lovelier goal in this life. Know God as deeply as you can now– this will make the hope and joy of heaven’s knowledge all the sweeter.
Q: What hath God done for you?
A: God hath made me, He keepeth me, and He can save me.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.
God has, literally, done everything for me. I wouldn’t exist without Him. He knit me together in my mother’s womb, He knew my name before I could breathe, He had me in mind before the stars were formed. He created me and everything and everyone that I love and treasure in this life… but He is my truest love and treasure, because He loved and treasured me first. He put that love into my heart by loving me and by being Love and making me to share that love with Him. It’s all too magnificent for my little heart to comprehend, but I will think about it forever, and rejoice in it.
God made me, He keeps me made– He teaches and guides and disciplines and corrects me– He protects my body and soul, my mind and heart, He counts every eyelash and blood cell and breath. He loves me more than I can ever imagine… so how could I ever imagine I could be forgotten or lost? Never, never, not to the One Who Loves. I tremble that in my weakness I can get lost, but I find undying hope in knowing– knowing!– that my Good Shepherd will seek me out, this feeble frightened lamb, and carry me warmly home, safe on His shoulders, singing.
God can save me from anything. God can save me from everything. I need only trust in that Truth. I need only to believe in Him, in What and Who He Is. And when I remember that He Is Love– when I see His Love, proven forever on the Cross– oh, I do, I do believe. I can be saved, and by Love, by God– by grace, merciful grace– I will be.
"Thank You, Jesus, for never leaving my side no matter what I go through."
I think we all need to be regularly reminded of this. It’s such a simple yet staggering truth.
No matter what we go through– inside or outside, joy and sorrow, laughter and pain, beauty and terror– Jesus is with is. He Incarnated so that He could be with us, in all of the situations and circumstances of being human. There will never be a moment in your life in which Christ is not there with you. You are never alone, even when you feel you are, fear you are, or wish you were out of shame. Christ is there, steadfast and sincere, His Heart overflowing with love for you, no matter what. He is with you, always… and not even death can change that.
Thank You, Jesus, for staying with us. Thank You for loving us so much that You even want to stay, even when we’re at our worst. Thank You, Jesus, for You.
spacekrakens: I need some prayers today, ive cried like twice today even in math class and im scared im gonna break down in my next class
Oh sweetheart I am praying for you. God sees your tears and He cries with you; Christ shares your suffering and is holding your heart safe even if you cannot feel it through the pain. I pray that He continues to uphold you through whatever is causing you this great distress– and that He also blesses you with healing through both tears and joy at the right times. It’s all important. But cling to Him now, when you feel weak and fragile and scared. He will be your shelter, He will give you strength, He will help you breathe. Trust in His gentle and tender love for You. God bless you. 🙏💙
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Saint Dismas is arguably my most beloved Patron Saint. Everything about his story speaks so strongly to my heart, in the most powerfully bittersweet ways. He means a lot to me– as does the hope that Christ has given another poor sinner like me, through him. Lord, remember us! 🙏
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“To give life to someone is the greatest of all gifts. To save a life is the next. Who gave life to Jesus? It was Mary. Who saved his life? It was Joseph. Ask St. Paul who persecuted him. Saint Peter who denied him. Ask all the saints who put him to death. But if we ask, “Who saved his life?” Be silent, patriarchs, be silent, prophets, be silent, apostles, confessors and martyrs. Let St. Joseph speak, for this honor is his alone; he alone is the savior of his Savior.”
— Blessed William Joseph Chaminade
We tend to overlook this stunning fact because Saint Joseph never sought recognition or praise for his humbly heroic actions– He acted solely out of Holy obedience and love. But it is for that very reason that his actions truly do merit the highest praise and recognition! Saint Joseph, who gave your whole life in silent love for our Savior, may your name as his father be forever blessed!
Good morning time to talk about Dad (St. Joseph) again
-is cool
-powerful
-he’s my dad now
I’m doing the 33-day consecration to Saint Joseph and it is honestly life-changing. He is such a holy, loving, powerful, blessed man! My love for him as a saint and as my spiritual father is deepening daily, and I am so grateful.
So yes– Saint Joseph is, indeed, the coolest dad. 💛
em>"When the Enemy of your souls whispers, “You have lost all, you cannot be saved,” answer him: “I do not despair of my salvation, for I have a compassionate and long-suffering God. And this conviction upholds me in my belief that He who commanded that we forgive our fellow man for his transgressions against us even seven times seventy - that He, by the same token, will forgive the sins of all who with their whole souls turn to Him.”"
-The Evergetinos
I forget this simple yet powerful truth so often: that Our Lord commanded us to forgive others so graciously, and that He also forgave those who crucified Him even as He died– and that in both cases, there was no apparent contrition or even awareness of wrongdoing. So why do we despair? Do we so easily and wrongly assume our God is as cruel as we are, so unwilling to pardon offenses, so unable to let go of grudges and old wounds? Do we, in hating ourselves for our weaknesses and failures, assume that God would inevitably hate us too? Do we so quickly forget that His Ways are infinitely more righteous and Holy than ours? And do we even more tragically forget that such righteousness and holiness includes compassion, gentleness, longsuffering, and mercy?
Do not despair. When you feel hopelessly crushed by the weight of your sins, look to the Cross– Christ carried that weight for you and still does, out of purest Love. Look to Him and find hope in the profound meaning of His Pierced Heart– that eternal spring of deepest mercy. As long as you sincerely lay your own heart bare before Him, confessing your sins, He will wash them away with the utmost loving care. Do not be afraid. No matter how lost you feel, Jesus waits to give you all the grace you need.
"A brother, possessed by sadness and melancholy, went to an Elder and asked him: “What am I to do? My thoughts present me with the idea that perhaps in vain I denied the world, and that I cannot be saved.” Pensively, the Elder answered him as follows: “My child, even if we do not succeed in reaching the promised land, it is better that we should give our carcasses to the desert than return to the Egypt of fearful enslavement” (Number 14:29-33)."
-Evergetinos, Volume I, Hypothesis I
God is in the desert; He is not in the hedonism and pagan idolatry of Egypt. The desert is brutal and frightening and harsh, true, but God is there in that golden suffering– purifying your heart, mind, and body to become holy! Yes, it is far better to die in the desert struggle than to rot in the corrupted city, for if we do not reach the Promised Land in this life, we shall still have the hope of reaching it in the afterlife, by the loving mercy of God, Who we have so striven to pursue and imitate here. It is tempting to return to the alleged comforts of the world, but remember– all that is ephemeral and subject to death. It is only through dying to this death that we will recieve true life and rest with God. Your sacrifice for Him is never in vain. Keep this truth in your heart when the trials are fierce; God is trustworthy, and there is always hope in Him.
"Another brother asked the same Elder: “Father, to what does the Prophet refer when he says, ‘there is no salvation for him in his God” (Psalm 3:3)?“ The elder gave the following response to the brother’s inquiry: “He is referring to thoughts of despair, which the demons place before the sinner, saying: ‘Neither now nor hereafter is it possible for God to save you.’ With such counsel they try to cast the sinner into despair. But a person must contrast these thoughts with the words of Holy Scripture: ‘Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the snare’ (Psalm 24:15).”
-The Evergetinos
Psalm 3 continues as the Elder says= “Many say to my soul: ‘There is no salvation for him in his God.’ But Thou, O Lord, art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head… Salvation is of the Lord: and Thy blessing is upon Thy people.”
The demons do indeed quote Scripture, but they never quote the truth of it. They leave out the wholeness, the context, the heart. Ironically, the best way to refute them is to prayerfully go straight TO Scripture and read the entirety of what they are misrepresenting. In any case, you are now safe in the Word of God, a sure and unfailing weapon against all falsehood and despair.
“Do not enter into dialogue with temptation. Allow me to repeat it: have the courage to run away and the moral strength not to dally with your weakness or wonder how far you can go. Break off, with no concessions!”
— St. Josemaría Escrivá: Furrow, n. 137
The serpent is smarter than you. Admit this with fearful humility; admit your weakness and crush your proud desire to test or try it. Flee immediately to Christ, like a child who knows that he has no strength of his own and needs his Father’s help! There is true courage in this– only a fool speaks to the snake, whose only goal is to poison him.