tumblr faithposting: july + august 2021

"A joyful person sees God at work even in their trials." And Joy springs from gratitude! Always give thanks to God, especially for your trials, because He IS still at work and in control, and He knows what He is doing and allowing. He loves you, and He always has good plans for your soul. When you consciously recognize this and are thankful for this fact about God’s nature, even if you don’t understand a thing He’s doing, then joy will softly melt away your fears and give you a profound peace. Rest in faithful trust, rest in the love of God, and even in the most difficult days you will taste the deep and constant sweetness of joy.

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"When you put those two things side by side—the naked fact that “God is” and that “you are"—letting the two exist together in quiet contemplation, you have entered the deepest, simplest mystery of prayer. "Take the good, gracious God, just as he is, without qualification, and bind him, as you would a poultice, to your sick self, just as you are.”"

Belden C. Lane, The Solace of Fierce Landscapes: Exploring Desert and Mountain Spirituality

There is nothing more to add to this beautifully phrased & intimately profound truth, other than the sincere entreaty to pray like this as often as possible.

Just… be there, heart thrown wide and aching open, in that silent recognition. Hold yourself close and quiet to Him like a tired and teary-eyed child clinging to his loving father. Just be there. You will feel the cosmic depth of it, and the utter simplicity of it. And God will speak unspoken Truth to your small yet such-beloved heart.

And you must live there. There is all peace, there is all joy, there is all love.


 

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
(Isaiah‬ ‭43:18-19‬)
 

When your past feels utterly wrecked, and your present utterly desolate, remember this. God wants you to look to Him instead of over your bruised shoulders. He wants you to look in trust, in wonder, in hope so keen it aches. Yes, you are in great sorrow and pain, but look! There is an oasis in the desert. Look! There is life blooming amidst the frozen rocks. Look! God is kissing your wounds. He is recreating you in love. No matter what you were before, no matter what you did… now, God is doing a new thing– He is doing it in you, for you!

Where you see only desolation, God sees an opportunity to work a miracle. His power is made perfect in weakness. Give Him your wastelands, and look– He shall fill them with flowers.

 

"Whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone." (Galatians 6:10)

Keep your heart open to those opportunities, and you will see them everywhere– they are like glittering yet hidden diamonds waiting to be revealed and shared.

But be warned– if you grumble over the possibility of suffering to do good, over complaints of inconvenience and impatience and indignities, then you will miss thousands of priceless spiritual gems… your hardened heart will see everything, like itself, as a dulled rock.

Let love break that stone so you can shine. Start small, start sincerely. Even the tiniest jewel is inherently precious. Do good, always and everywhere, and watch the world around you begin to sparkle with the light of God.

Anonymous asked,

Hello, I am asking if you could please pray for me? I had a hallucination/waking dream last night or maybe a real spiritual event but I doubt it--in which a demon tried to attack me and I just want to know that people of God have my back. Thank you. God Bless

 

Dear sibling in Christ, as someone who also experiences such demonic torments, I will absolutely pray for you with empathetic sincerity.

Do not lose heart. Many saints have suffered at the hands of the devil. No matter what he or his minions do, however, Christ has your back. More than anyone else, He is there for you, even if He does not intervene directly. He has His holy purposes; all He allows is meant to help you grow in holiness and virtue, to conform your soul more closely to His. Satan hates our Lord– therefore he also hates His people. But he cannot and will not win, as long as you endure in faith. Take courage.

In any case, many prayers are being said for you, for mercy and deliverance, for strength and consolation. Saint Michael the Archangel, we particularly recommend this soul to your mighty care and protection. Saint Joseph, terror of demons, pray for them and stand by them. Mary, Queen of Angels, chase the fallen ones away! Stay with this soul as a mother who always defends and comforts her children. We ask all this in the name of Jesus Christ our sovereign Lord. Amen.

"Wherever I am, as soon as I raise the eyes of my heart in my affliction to God, the Lover of men immediately answers my faith and prayer, and the sorrow immediately departs. He is at every hour near me, only I do not see it, but I feel it vividly in my heart. Sorrow is the death of the heart and it is the falling away from God."

- St John of Kronstadt

 

Let suffering & sorrow bring you closer to Christ, by motivating heartfelt & fervent prayer– but pray with faith, and humble surrender nevertheless! Jesus longs to comfort you, even if the affliction does not abate. He will still bring His peace into your heart, true and unshakable, and that closeness to Him is what shall soothe all sorrow.

Do not fall into self-pity or despair; they will choke your soul. Instead, like a child in pain seeking its mother, run immediately to The Lord, Who Loves you. In this, even your worst afflictions will become gates to holy joy– through love they will take you to the Cross, where your pains unite bittersweetly with His, with Life Himself Who will deliver you thus from spiritual death. Fear not!

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Thank God for EVERYTHING. Every single thing. No exceptions, as I always strive to emphasize. Look at the Bible– God’s greatest blessings often come disguised, wreathed in pain & suffering & sorrow– just like Christ.

We typically have no idea what God is doing, in those scary times. We’re frightened, confused, and hurting. But God is holding you in His Hands even then, especially then, when everything but Him is powerless and at a loss. God’s glory is made manifest all the more stunningly in weakness. We know this from Saint Paul, but do we believe this?

Begin by thanking God for everything. It’s radical trust, radical surrender, radical love. And it will bring you the most profound peace.

In trouble,– today especially– I pray like this:

“God, I’m scared and upset and I’m distressed by what is happening… but I trust You. I know that Your Will is Good, and I want to surrender to it despite my fears. Help me to do that by Your grace. Help me to rest in Your Love and care, especially when I cannot see it clearly at work. Strengthen my faith in You during this time. I unite my sufferings to those of Christ Your Son in reparation for my sins. I thank you for this grace. I thank you for Your purposes in allowing these things to happen, however difficult, for You have a plan. I thank You for keeping me safe in Your plan despite my wretchedness, and for loving me so much that nothing in this world can separate me from You, no matter how terrible it may be. I thank You for everything, because I love You too, feebly but sincerely, and I do not fear Your Good Will. I trust You. Thank you for all of this. Amen.”

Just… pour your heart out to God. Center on your love for Him, and on His Love for you, and gratitude will flow out from your soul like a river.

Thank You, God, for everything, everything. Thy Will Be Done.

semperreformanda:

God holds all things together.

Rest.

Everything is under His loving control. He’s got you covered.

Be at peace, like a child in his Father’s arms. Rest there by His Heart.

As He holds you, so He holds the universe.


 

kweza-deactivated20221020:

at some point, you have to realise that all you can do for a hardened soul is pray for them. you don’t have the power to transform heart but God does.

Arguably, that prayer also has great merit because it can only spring from genuine humility– recognizing that I am not God, I cannot change them, I have no control or power nor should I. You must surrender them, and yourself, entirely into God’s care and good will.

Furthermore, this shift from “I must save them!” to “only God can save them” MUST be motivated by love and mercy. You are not “abandoning” a loved one’s hardened heart to the Lord– how could that heart’s Creator ever abandon it?– rather, you are relinquishing your desperate grip on it, so that He can hold it to His own Heart and soften it in a way no human ever could. To admit this exclusive grace is to also hope for it. We cannot see Love without Love first being in us, too, by that same grace.

But I continue with a warning. If, when you stop trying to save someone and “put it in God’s hands,” you fail to pray for them, OR you are begrudging in your loss of attempted saviorship– then you are being motivated by pride and that will drag your soul down into hardness with nauseating speed. “Love your enemies” is a paradox because, when you love someone– love, not necessarily like; there is a difference– they are no longer an enemy, but a lost friend. If you are so offended by your inability to transform them as such with your own power, they will never be loved by you, not in any truth. But when you choose to love them anyway, even with no outward transformation or sign, then– by God’s grace in your soul– they are nevertheless, despite all hell, a friend that you want to meet in heaven.

That’s how we must pray for our ‘enemies’. In fact, no one is our enemy but Satan. Every human being that has ever hurt you is just a lost and stumbling sheep– just like you. Forgive them, beloved, as Christ forgave you– for their soul, too, is beloved to God. Be humble, be merciful, be hopeful, be loving. Put them in God’s care, and tell Him how much you love them and desire their salvation– not for your own sake, but for His, because they may never convert in this life until the last moment. You may never be on “friendly terms” with them until heaven. No matter. Love hopes all things, with no self-interest, and rejoices in the salvation of all, for the love of God Who Is Love.

Pray for those who persecute and insult and hate you. Pray for their hearts to be delivered from evil and brought to God. Pray for all souls to know His mercy, especially those who need it the most. God can soften even a heart of steel. Have faith in this, and pray.

Renunciation of Peter (Fragment), 1311, Duccio di Buoninsegna

He still has his halo, but it is obscured– even as his feet are stretched out towards the flame. There is a powerful sermon in those details alone.

catholic-persephone:

To my fellow Christians, do you guys think we should reply or talk back (not harshly, but just to state or correct) professors during classes? And also to participate in general presenting another point of view? Or should we remain as the others and just pretend we are also insane and agree with everything?? Lol

As G.K Chesterton wisely said: “You cannot love a thing without wanting to fight for it.” In other words, we must be willing to defend the honor of our beloved, or we have no honest right to call them beloved.

I, too, decry the use of harshness and similar rudeness in our responses to others, especially those in authority. Like Christ, we must speak firmly but gently, respectfully but with integrity. We must not bend to spiritual cowardice or laxity.

If we feel our conscience prickling in response to a professor’s statement– or anyone’s statement, regardless of professional context– we have a moral duty TO act upon that and speak up– again, not for our own sake, but for the sake of our Christian faith. Likewise, participation in the general “sharing of viewpoints” is arguably critical in this confused and relativistic age, when your voice may be the only one willing or able to contribute a Christian viewpoint.

Pretense is a form of dishonesty, and an insidiously corruptive one at that. All dishonesty comes from the evil one. The world is mournfully insane enough; to surrender yourself even to the appearance of it is arguably a sin of omission with gravely dampening effects on the Spirit’s fire in your soul. Enough pretense and you will forget the truth of who you are, which is ultimately anchored in Christ. So too does an admittedly spineless “agreeing with everything” attitude cloud your moral compass and rot your sense of fortitude and religious honor– I repeat, “we must fight for what we love,” if we truly love it, for all love will suffer from the cruel forces of hell… and what lover can bear to see his beloved so oppressed, attacked, mocked, wronged, and ignored? The one in love does not think of himself; he has no fear of ridicule, nor is he intimidated into hiding or diminishing his loyalty. He humbly yet faithfully rises to the challenge, and the purity of his heart will lead him to victory.

This may seem an overzealous response to such an everyday question, but that is in fact why I risk the appearance of excess. This is an everyday battlefield. This is one of those unassuming crossroads of character that we encounter regularly yet ignorantly, not discerning the ever-present stakes, the constant tug-of-war between God and Self in our lives, between the militant devotion of faith and the insouciance of the lukewarm soul. We must be vigilant, for evil never ceases to hunt us. We must be ever ready and willing to face the world and its liar Prince with swords drawn and hearts afire, saying with our Savior that “It is written and forever remains written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE ONLY HIM.’” (Luke 4:8)

“…For whoever denies and disowns Me for fear of men, I shall also deny before My Father and His angels in Heaven!” (Matthew 10:33; Luke 12:9)

“How can we understand forgiveness if we haven’t recognized the depth of our sin?”
- John Henry Newman

Truly, forgiveness means very little to one who feels he has no need of it– such a one may even feel offended at the implication that they have done something that needs to be forgiven.

Unless we are humbled– even crushed– enough to both see and admit our great sinfulness and need of forgiveness– unless we realize that we absolutely deserve to be crucified for our evil deeds, we will not, and cannot, understand the staggering mercy and love of God through Christ’s saving death in our place.

Our faith is a terribly beautiful paradox in this: that the greatest of all miseries– our contrite cognizance of how we have offended God– leads to the greatest of all joys… hearing our Savior say from the bloody Cross, “I forgive you.”

filmnoirsbian:

I love how quick people are to band together. Strangers waiting in line, strangers in an elevator, strangers at a concert, strangers in a public restroom, strangers in an airport, strangers on a bus…literally all it takes is one shared glance and we develop a sense of comraderie 🫂

Human hearts are made for relationship, and it’s beautiful to see them bloom so swiftly and sincerely. Even if you never meet again in this world, your souls have spoken, and that touch lasts forever.

Human connections, however brief, are golden sweet things. Beloved, make some today, in that very motivation of love. Smile, say hello, wave to a child, even talk about the weather. Just reach out and touch their heart, genuinely, even for a moment. Treasure that person. Glimpse their full life and potential in that heartbeat of time. Love them, and then let them go on too. Life is all about that shared camaraderie, and it will enrich your days like endless flowers. Give a stranger a bouquet today.

#we are made for love by Love

koinohnia:

Don’t worry about money or provision just keep God first and seek Him always.

Believe me, He will provide– if not financially, then with grace and spiritual support nevertheless. Eternal life is more important, and God will prioritize that– thanks be to Him– as we also must. So trust His judgment. Seek Him first, seek Him only, and He will take care of the details.

llleighsmith:

i’m so thankful we’re alive to smell flowers and touch saltwater and get chilled in the breeze and take deep breaths and make foods warm with love and dance and laugh and move and wake up and dig our hands in dirt and eat strawberries and draw mindlessly and remember and sing and joke and walk down the same street again and again and make meaning. we are so lucky we get to be and feel and keep going

God has created a truly beautiful world, yet it is only a pale glimpse of the undiluted blissful purity of heaven. May we treasure our short time on this fragile and precious earth, living our equally fragile and precious lives with charity and compassion and mercy for both it and each other, seeking always to preserve and protect and promote beauty in every action, in every moment.

There are flowers and oceans and gentle breezes, dirt and strawberries and sunlit streets, music and memories and much much more. There are people. There is you. Life is so wonderfully rich in loveliness and we must live in constant recognition and gratitude for it, while never losing hope and direction towards what further love awaits our tender souls after death. This is how Christ Himself lived– God Who became human in order to laugh and breathe and eat and cry and pray– who built furniture and broke bread and hugged children and healed lepers and died to take away our sins, so we could live our lives today with a fuller and brighter joy, with a stronger and truer hope, with steadfast faith and ardent love. Christ loved being human, and He loves humans, and He wants us to be fully human, and so we should imitate His heartfelt and holy life. That includes dirt and flowers and strawberries. That includes singing and sleeping and feeling. Do not worry, child. There is more loveliness to be found in His footsteps than you can ever imagine.

How lucky we are to have this life, this time, this world. How blessed we are to have a Savior Who made it all and shares in it with us as our friend… and how joyous we are to have the constant hope and promise of heaven with Him in the end. That is true life– here, and hereafter. God loves you all.

Everything that is, is because of God’s Will. He orchestrates the universe’s heart. Let that touch yours, as you look at the cosmos around you. It’s all God’s choice. You are, too.
 

“God is love, and all his operations proceed from love.”

— St. Lawrence of Brindisi

All means all. Remember this in your darkest days– God is still in control, and everything He orders and allows will and does serve His purposes of Love. It is His nature, His essence; it cannot be otherwise! So fear not. God is Love, forever and always and in all ways.

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This prayer has me honestly weeping. It is heart-achingly beautiful.

Dear Saint Mary Madalene, pray for us, your poor sinful siblings, by the grace of the One Who you love so much! Remind our wounded souls that, as He healed you, so shall He heal us, who also seek Him in our sorrows. Help us to always remember the tenderness of His mercy and love, and to never despair, even when we too stand at the tomb. There is always an Easter morning. May God bless us with the grace to meet you, and Him, there.

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Steel pilgrimage amulet/souvenir depicting Mary Magdalene, Mary of Egypt, and the Virgin Mary found in the River Thames in London, England, c. 1400-1700. [2832x3969]

My three Marys!! Oh wow. Found in a river, too… almost lost, but never forgotten by God. That’s the hope that Mary Magdalene & Mary of Egypt both exemplify for me– no matter how deep and turbulent and persistent a sin may be, its rough and choking waters will be forever stilled by Christ, Who calms every storm, Whose Heart is the purest ocean of Mercy. And Mary Our Mother, Star of the Sea, leads us to Him out of our muddy mires, never abandoning her children, but guiding them with tender care.

That all just pierces my heart with such aching tender love. I am so glad this was recovered and shared with the faithful.

Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Mary of Egypt, Our Blessed Mother Mary– pray for us poor sinners still drowning here, and seeking the shores of heaven! Continue to intercede for us until the day we stand safely alongside you in heaven, in the warmth of Our Savior’s Love!

ashstfu:

people are so lovely‼️ they do these ordinary and mundane things like someone is walking hand in hand with their lover and someone is helping a blind old lady cross the road and someone is dancing in the rain with their best friend and someone is helping a little girl find her mother on a crowded playground and someone’s cat is lying next to them on the couch snoring loudly and it’s adorable and someone is dancing to music alone in their room and someone just went into a bakery and is deeply inhaling the sweet smell of freshly baked bread and a little kid is waiting for his grandpa to pick him up and someone is making dinner for their family while singing their favorite song and someone just confessed their love to someone and someone is talking about something they love with a sparkle in their eyes and you’re reading this and you are alive and you are loved, everything will be fine, you’ll be okay and you’ll be happy

There is such sweet tenderness to just being human.

Treasure people. Really see them, and be grateful for them, and love them. That's what the heart of life sings about. God created us to love-- to love Him and to love the planet and to love people-- and really, that's the most beautiful truth. We're all included. We're all wrapped up in that beloved cosmic embrace, forever. In the end, there's only love. Take comfort in that. It will carry you, so you can carry others too-- gently, joyfully.

We will all be okay, held so closely to each others hearts.

Be human. Be loving.