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[prismaticbleed]

 

Absolute nervous wreck over fasting
Couldn't concentrate at all during Mass

Laundry day to busy self

Called Father because we were outright refusing to eat from the moral panic
We are officially FORBIDDEN FROM FASTING.
He said that, considering BOTH our health history AND spiritual state, fasting would NOT help us but rather HURT us-- it would feed "false humility" and it would add fuel to disordered mindsets. The example HE gave was jarringly unexpected but scarily possible: that we would effectively think, "see, I CAN do this severe as a fast, and I haven't relapsed yet! Let's see how much FURTHER I can push this!"


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Ttywpf = Evangelization is a COMMAND! We are seriously ordered to "share, bear, & declare" the Gospel-- to share our own faith experiences, bear witness to the Truth we have known firsthand, and declare the Message of Christ to the WHOLE WORLD as His ambassadors.
We CANNOT hesitate, make excuses, back down, cut corners, or put it off. We CANNOT act like it's optional or outdated. No. It is a PERPETUAL DUTY as long as our hearts are still beating.
EVERY SINGLE DAY we should be doing SOMETHING to evangelize, however small. That motive & intent-- to make Christ known everywhere-- must be at the forefront of our thoughts in every situation, coloring all our conversation. To be a Christian IS to be constantly witnessing to the Gospel, in word and deed, "in season and out of season," regardless of situation or convenience or effort or risk.
Burn this command into your brain. Seriously. We've got to be a steadfast soldier of God and that REQUIRES wearing our Lord's livery as unconditional uniform.
That's actually a good place to start. Witness must actually be both active and passive. We cannot rely on spoken language. We must preach Christ in action and demeanor, in environment and habit and association. Christ must be Lord of ALL in our life, and all of our life must serve Him. That is the heart of evangelization. We cannot declare or share His Kingdom if we aren't bearing His Cross. Our life must be completely dissolved into His. But I'm speaking ultimate ends now. That process is perfected only in Heaven, by Christ Himself; we mustn't be proud or panicky or perfectionistic over "achieving" it here, by our own efforts. Our focus must be as childlike as it is zealous: we must make Christ known to all.


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VOTD = Galatians 5:25.

"To "walk in step with the Spirit" is for our spirit to be aligned with the Holy Spirit: aligned to grow our love for others, aligned to be comforted in our pain, aligned to discern what is the wise thing to do. So life experience, it pulls, even jerks us out of alignment, so we need that daily realignment from the Spirit through solitude and silence, and in reflecting on God's Word."
1) I was stunned by the explicit reference to TWO spirits! For some reason I literally FORGOT that we humans have spirits of our own-- or more jarringly, I don't think I ever fully understood that we do in the first place. I just assumed there's the Holy Spirit, and that's it. Remember, I come from a very poor spiritual background; I never had any real spiritual conception of the body, or human nature in reference to it, whatsoever. I dehumanized my own existence even in my "faith" beliefs. So this opening sentence is huge.
2) The PURPOSE and RESULTS of the alignment, expressed by that other unique word word "TO."
3) Our daily life in this world WILL DISALIGN US. That is a vital warning.
4) We NEED realignment, but we need to RECEIVE IT. The last key word is "FROM"!!


The written reflection is stunning and beautiful=
"When we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we're given the gift of grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. To put it simply, the Holy Spirit is God. We are given God!"
This isn't exaggeration. WE ARE LITERALLY GIVEN GOD.
No other religion can claim this. Only Christianity has the Truth, which is God reaching down to earth to embrace us, not us exalting ourselves to heaven to supplant Him-- it is God becoming Man, not Man becoming God. It is God giving His Life to us through Love, not man striving to make his own life divine through pride. You get the idea. Other religions say man can become Deity, but Christianity says Deity wants to be with man. The Holy Spirit comes to us, to dwell in us, to lead us to heaven, and it is not by any merit or knowledge or power of ours-- it is by faith alone. The most harmlessly helpless child, the most wretchedly contrite criminal, they stand together before the Cross alongside kings and celebrities and priests and mystics, all of them on equal ground, all of them hoping, believing, and trusting in nothing but the Crucified Savior that they all desperately need and confess and love.
And that very Savior gives all of them His Spirit. You too, fellow Christian. If you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ has died to pay your debt of sin and risen to give you a living hope of salvation, and you confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of heaven and earth and you, then guess what? You have been given God. The Holy Spirit is there, within you, breathing His grace into your soul. He is a Gift, as God loves to do. Treasure Him.
Honestly, just sit with this for a while. Feel His Presence. Let ardent gratitude overflow in joyful tears. Give glory and praise to the merciful, generous, compassionate, personal God Who loves you so much He not only died to save you from death, but He also gave you His very Life so you could truly live-- with Him, with Living Love and Light Himself, for all Eternity.