prismaticbleed | sep 2020 faithposting (Reply)

True sorrow REQUIRES LOVE. Honestly I think ANYTHING true requires love. And true LOVE is directed to GOD!!! Because it comes FROM Him, the Truth Who IS Love.

VIRTUES ARE NOT NEGATIVE!!!
Rebellion is NOT A VIRTUE because it implies ALLEGIANCE BETRAYED. We do not "rebel against" sin: we simply OBEY GOD!!!
THIS IS THE EASY YOKE.

"Nothing is more unsettling than talkativeness and more pernicious than an unbridled tongue, disruptive as it is of the soul’s proper state. For the soul’s chatter destroys what we build each day and scatters what we have laboriously gathered together. What is more disastrous than this ‘uncontrollable evil’ (Jas. 3:8)? The tongue has to be restrained, checked by force and muzzled, so to speak, and made to serve only what is needful. Who can describe all the damage that the tongue does to the soul?"

-St. Philotheos of Sinai

I can confirm this, with great remorse. Talkativeness is one of my biggest vices, and it absolutely wreaks havoc on my soul. Learning to restrain it is difficult and arduous, but the consequences of neglecting this effort are too destructive to bear. It is only by grace that I can grow in the virtues of silence and meekness.

In all cases, hold your tongue with meek humility. It is far better to listen and learn than to speak from pride and defensiveness. You are neither judge nor authority. Let silence and contemplation teach you. God shall say what truly needs to be said.

"In order not to lose heart when we fall sick we are to think about and mentally “kiss the sufferings of our Saviour just as though we were with Him while He suffers abuses, wounds, humiliations…shame, the pain of the nails, the piercing with the lance, the flow of water and blood. From this we will receive consolation in our sickness. Our Lord will not let these efforts go unrewarded."
- St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

As someone who has been “blessed” with chronic illness, this moves my heart to tears. I adore our Savior and the thought of uniting my suffering to His, with Him, gives me such joy– but I never thought that, through this aching empathy, I could console and comfort Him. Truly, if my sickness can bring me to share in His Passion, however minutely, I am practically obligated by love to use that intimacy to kiss His wounds, to offer humble reparation for the injuries He so innocently endured, and which my small pains can then allow me to feel!
Christ can and does sanctify everything in our lives, possibly especially our suffering. Let us rejoice in this truth, and courageously face all the hardships it pleases Our Lord to send us, allowing them to teach us to love Him– and comfort Him– more each day!

"Just as the intellect of a hungry man imagines bread and that of a thirsty man water, so the intellect of a glutton imagines a profusion of foods, that of a sensualist the forms of women, that of a vain man worldly honor, that of an avaricious man financial gain, that of a rancorous man revenge on whoever has offended him, that of an envious man how to harm the object of his envy, and so on with all the other passions. For an intellect agitated by passions is beset by impassioned conceptual images whether the body is awake or asleep."
- St. Maximos the Confessor

This is a good way to check the state of our souls– where does our imagination wander? What are our thoughts preoccupied with? What fills our dreams at night? Our unconscious and subconscious mind are honest about our “dark places” and hidden vices, for we tend to deny them consciously, and hide or suppress them out of pride & fear.

But we must pay careful attention to this phenomenon. We must face these frightening truths directly, if we are to identify our sinful passions and therefore take them to God in humble contrition. Christ cannot heal our wounds if we do not bare them before Him. Shame over our ugly wounds of sin should move us to seek forgiveness and healing of them as soon and as completely as possible, for hiding them will only exacerbate the damage and make our souls even sicker.

Lastly, when you do catch yourself imagining impassioned things, take righteous action: Confess the sinful distractions to God immediately, repent and ask forgiveness, and then consciously redirect your mind to prayer and holy thoughts. Do this as often as you must. Do no give the devil any opportunity. God will see your efforts and He will give you the grace you need– and, in proper time, you shall root out those passions through faithful perseverance.

“When you are alone in your room, take your crucifix, kiss its five wounds reverently, tell it to preach to you a little sermon, and then listen to the words of eternal life that it speaks to your heart; listen to the pleading of the thorns, the nails, the precious Blood. Oh, what an eloquent sermon!"
- St. Paul of the Cross

This is one of my all-time most loved quotes from the saints. It is so sweet, so beautiful, so true, so vital to our souls!

Look upon your beloved Savior, there on the Cross– and here, with His most sacred Wounds– and let the sight of Him so afflicted for love of you burn into your very heart, to impress His Holy Face upon it forever. See His Blood and Tears, shed to save you from your sins, the very same sins that inflicted such torturous pains upon Him, and tremble at the depth of the compassionate mercy He has shown you– you whose just sentence He has borne upon His shoulders!

The Crucifixion is, truly, the most eloquent sermon that could ever be given. Listen to it daily, and love it most ardently!

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I often worry that, in order to truly love God, I must sacrifice/ abandon everything except religion in my life. | am slowly realizing this is ultimately untrue. God must be loved ABOVE all else, but that doesn't mean hating everything EXCEPT Him. He created everything after all.

l AM allowed to play music, exercise, do creative work, love other people, etc. as long as those things do not hinder or diminish my love for God. In truth they can ENHANCE it, and DO-- God is glorified in my life through them, as I love Him more completely as I love Him in His works too. But I am always TERRIFIED that if I don't amputate everything that's not explicitly religious from my life, I will fall away from God. Yet every time I attempt to do this, it leaves me dry and hollow. It makes me feel like God CANNOT be loved outside of religious practice alone. Catholicism is indeed the truest and most direct path to experiencing God and His love-- indeed, without it, I wouldn't know Him at all-- but as long as I DO have it, I can still live in this world as my state in life requires, without "losing God" just because I'm not in church.

I know this is old news but I still struggle very much with this. I WANT to abandon the world and immerse myself entirely in worship and study of my Lord. But God has placed me in different circumstances, and I must remember that HE is Who placed me here, and I CAN love Him here. I CAN worship Him in everything I do, even if I'm not in a cloister. I CAN worship and love God in the demands of daily life, AND in my interests and relationships. “Everyday life” is not incompatible with religion. In truth it is perfected and sanctified through religion alone.

God doesn't live in temples made by human hands [Acts 17:24]. He CAN be met in churches and temples, yes. But He LIVES in our hearts [1 Cor. 3:16]. I must remember this. It is the only way to heal this confusion. God is with me always; thus I can love Him in every circumstance.