10. What insight about faith or hope can you share with your group after studying and reflecting on these stories from Exodus?
Our faith and hope are anchored in GOD'S SELF-REVELATION, through BOTH His WORDS and His WORKS. God TELLS us Who He IS, and then He ALWAYS DEMONSTRATES those attributes IN THE WORLD HE CREATED. So faith ENABLES us to hope; we BELIEVE in what we CAN'T see, because we TRUST that there is a GOOD GOD orchestrating EVERYTHING we CAN see... because we KNOW WHAT TO SEE, since GOD TOLD US. Even to those who DON'T know God, they can recognize His attributes "as they are" and be MOVED to HOPE in "something bigger" BEYOND and yet WITHIN that good they CAN see, a hope that LEADS to faith, by grace. "Our hearts are restless until they rest in You." There is ALWAYS hope because THIS IS REALITY. GOD IS REAL. Creation DOES reflect Who He Is, albeit dimly, "as in a mirror." But "hope does not disappoint," because God WANTS to be found & known & loved. And SCRIPTURE is our roadmap. Our faith finds its foundation in God's TRUE WORDS of hope. BUT IT'S ALL BASED IN LOVE. Without love, without relationship, nothing else can survive. Love IS life, because GOD IS LOVE!!!

"Then an exceptionally large crowd gathered and carpeted the road before Him with their cloaks and prayer shawls. Others cut down branches from trees to spread in His path." (Matthew 21:8 TPT)

 

This is how so many of us treat the anonymous poor & suffering stranger. They cry out for help, but never to us by name-- instead they plead for "somebody" to respond; they weep "God do something!"
So we stand by, separate and stone-hearted, and carelessly comment: "well, let’s see IF God does something."
Sometimes we even ridicule those who respond in His Name, acting as if this is a presumptuous show, an undeserved luxury, even a sinful enablement. "Don't give them any cash, who knows what they'll spend it on!" "I'm not going to waste my time serving them, they should know to feed themselves." "If you would just get a job, you wouldn't HAVE to ask for help!" Or worst of all, "serves you right, for the way you lived." "People like you don't deserve help. You brought this on yourself."
We stand and watch as they slowly bleed out on the cross. Let God save those wretches, we scoff, if they're even worth saving. I'm not going to get my hands dirty, lest they drag me right down with them.
Yet there are others, too, waiting on Elijah. There are those who avert their eyes at the cardboard signs, who covertly slip the donation forms into the trash, who always have something more pressing in their schedule, in their budget, in their hearts. They don't offer any wine, cheap as it is, solely because they might need it themselves one day, or because they don't want to be labeled as the "sponge guy" amongst joking friends, or because I'm really nervous in public, you know? I'm not worthy to do that for someone, you know? I'd probably make things worse, I'd look like a fool, I'd better not do anything if I can't do it perfectly. I have a sense of pride to uphold, you know?
Meanwhile Jesus is dying of thirst.
Stop handing off the burden of love to the saints. Stop excusing your responsibility on the grounds of difficulty, of doubt, of distance, of disgust.
When God appears to have abandoned someone, don't take that assumption as license to leave them that way.
Elijah was just a man like you, after all, before God called him to His service. What if that feeble cry from the Cross is your call, now? Will you end the drought of love in another's life?
Hurry now, for life is fragile, and time is short. Go as God sends you-- to bring even a drop of His oceanic Mercy to each thirsty soul, and so open the floodgates for His infinite grace to flow through you.
Who else are you waiting for?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There is nobody who hates his own body. Everyone feeds his body and he takes care of it. In the same way, the church is like Christ's body that he takes care of." (Ephesians 5:29 EASY)

 

"God said, “Let there be light!” and there was light." (Genesis 1:3 FBV)

 

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after Me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24 NABRE)

""We are being punished fairly. We are getting just what our actions call for. But this man hasn’t done anything wrong.”" (Luke 23:41 NIRV)

"The voice spoke to him a second time: “Stop treating as unclean what God has made clean.” (Acts 10:15 CJB)

"When I say these things, I am not trying to please people. No, it is God that I want to please. If I only wanted to make people happy, then I would not be a servant of Christ." (Galatians 1:10 EASY)

"If I only wanted to make people happy, I WOULD NOT BE A SERVANT OF CHRIST." That simple statement hits hard.
As a trauma survivor, I tend to instinctively default to "appeasement" behavior in a bid for survival, even in seemingly innocuous situations. I "say what they want to hear" so I won't be attacked; I mindlessly struggle to "entertain" others so they won't see me as a threat; I often judge my entire sense of self-worth based on whether or not others see me as "worth existing"-- if my presence in the room doesn't fill them with disgust, fear, annoyance, or loathing. Even if I'm just seen as a "toy" or a "punching bag," I've still made them "happy", so that means I'm allowed to live, right?
Except it means absolutely nothing in the big picture, and THANK GOD FOR THAT. My life's worth and purpose are NOT based on the opinions of mankind: my life BELONGS TO THE LORD GOD, WHO CREATED ME FOR HIS OWN HAPPINESS! And HIS happiness is HOLY, so it is WORTH striving to serve.
In order for me to adopt that worshipful way of living, to make God's enjoyment of me my ONLY priority, then I have to stop "trying to survive" in this world,in a shockingly real sense. Take up thy cross! If I seek to save my temporal life I shall lose my eternal one! I have died to this world and my true life is hidden with Christ in God! I trust in Him; what can mortal man do to me?
Do not worry about offending others WITH THE WORD AND WORSHIP OF GOD! As long as you live according to His Loving Will, you NEED NOT FEAR. Your actions will be inherently inoffensive when they adhere to God's Law of Righteousness and Truth. If someone takes offense at that Law, then your actual responsibility is to NOT FLAKE OUT ON FAITH BY CHANGING TO APPEASE THE WORLD!! Stand strong with courageous charity! Remember Who your TRUE "boss" is-- the LORD GOD! So don't let proud, finicky, world-serving people boss you around! Proclaim the Gospel by your actions, behavior, emotions, and thoughts. Let God be the focus and goal and motive and greatest love of your life, and everything you do will serve Him. Your humble devotion to His Covenant, against all odds and opposition, will not just please His Holy Heart-- it will make Him sing for joy (Zeph 3:17). And NOTHING ELSE MATTERS.

"Just like a deer that craves streams of water, my whole being craves you, God." (Psalm 42:1 CEB)

Key takeaways from this beautiful translation:
1. Our very faith, which allows us TO be saved, is itself a gift of grace! Yes, we have been saved, but how? Because we have faith in God's ability TO save. But how did we GET such faith? BY GRACE. Honestly that hits so hard; I can't emphasize it enough.
2. We can NEVER "earn" salvation. Putting that in a positive light: no matter how much good we do, it ALL pales in comparison to the immeasurable Good that is the gift of salvation through Christ's Death. It is SO Good that it cannot be cheapened enough TO be "bought" or "deserved". The sheer magnitude of it is ineffably gorgeous. Furthermore: our good works in and of themselves are enabled by grace! We don't "get more grace" BY doing good-- instead, we are GIVEN grace so we CAN do good in the first place. We don't get "spending power" here; if we don't act on grace, we "lose it." It cannot be used otherwise; the works we do BY it are a RESULT of the salvation that gives it TO us! So "earning" that very cause by means OF the cause is impossible.
3. The most moving part of this to me: that grace is a "LOVE-GIFT." It's not obligatory, it's not forced, it's not deserved, it's not owed, it's not even asked for. It is an incomprehensibly selfless and loving GIFT, lavished on us solely because God IS Love and He can't help BUT love us so extravagantly. Grace is priceless, so it's "freely  given" by its very nature, and as such it can only be given IN LOVE. Consider that! God loves us SO MUCH that He GAVE us the grace of faith to begin with, WHILE we were still degenerates lost in sin, completely "unworthy" of such a Divine present. And yet, there was Christ on the Cross, dying FOR US in order to show us exactly WHAT we were to have faith in: GOD'S LOVE, the very Love that enables faith through grace. THAT is what true faith IS, at its very core, the inevitable fruit of ALL grace... faith is believing in God because we love Him, and trusting in God because He loves us. THIS is childlike faith, with no doubt whatsoever: that innate, absolute assurance of and participation in mutual love. That grace-gift of loving faith will ALWAYS bring us to Christ, for He IS Love Incarnate, and our hearts WILL recognize that, and desire to enter into that sacredly requited relationship no matter what. His arms are always open to us.
4. We cannot boast because that is of pride, and pride virtually mandates a "blindness to one's flaws," making us feel "perfect" and therefore-- in this case ironically-- BARRING us FROM salvation, for we refuse to admit we NEED to be saved-- from ourselves!! To boast even that "yes I sinned, BUT I did SO much good after that God OWED salvation to me" is heinous. God DOES NOT owe us anything. We owe HIM; for ALL.we have is FROM Him, ESPECIALLY the ability TO do good. If we are boasting of our "holiness" and "charity," I would fearfully doubt the legitimacy of those virtues. Pride likes to wear splendid masks, to hide its own garish ugliness. And pride CANNOT LOVE!! If we "boast" of salvation, then we have missed the heart of it ENTIRELY. Sin is what costs us everything. Salvation is the total opposite.
5. On that note, to conclude... Salvation is NEVER a "REWARD." I honestly love that fact. THAT would cheapen it more than anything, AND it would exclude the souls who need it the most! Think about that. When we DO face our sins and grasp the terrible extent of our own corruption and depravity, it can be absolutely unbearable; it is existentially horrific. BUT consider this: that compunction... IS OF GRACE. And it is meant to lead us TO THE CROSS, where salvation is POURED OUT IN ABUNDANCE for the most unworthy of all, who come to Him IN that gracious faith and hope, trusting that, despite all odds, God STILL LOVES US. The Savior on the Cross is PROOF of that. And I repeat: ANY "striving" of ours TO "live better" and "make restitution" is a COOPERATION WITH THE CROSS. The Cross itself isn't a reward, it is the MEANS, and it is a GIFT. It is BEYOND us and yet it is BESTOWED on us. That is where its wonder comes from. It is of heaven! We could never gain or achieve or even imagine such a thing with earthly means! Yet God GIVES it. If He didn't, we would be lost forever. He refuses to lose us. THAT is how much He loves us: to BECOME one of us, and to live and die for love of us, so we could be healed and whole... and, in being so graciously restored, to love Him in return, forever. It's all a gift. It's priceless. And yet, it is ours.
Believe that God loves you, because your very faith is proof of it. Give thanks for that grace, and live your life in and for that love. Child of God! Salvation has been freely given to you! Rejoice! 

It might take time. I know; I have been there in the pit too. But keep praying. Keep trusting God’s timing and care, that He WILL vanquish the addiction at the proper time. Until then, keep your heart and mind grounded in hope. Prepare for His victory. It will come.

You have fallen, yes, but Christ fell under the Cross too. He understands; He knows exactly how it feels, and how to help you stand again.

Addiction is illness; it is not truth. You are not, and cannot, be defined by it. God will restore you; it is inevitable. He is the Divine Physician. Your wounded soul will be healed. Just keep asking Him. Persistence shows dogged faith, and such faith is powerful. It brings miracles from His Hand.

On those holy days, when trials and temptations increase, cry out to God! Run to Him and pray for His merciful grace-- for the armor of God! He will give it to you. He will dress you in it. Then fight with prayer, humility, and courage, trusting only in God, Who alone can deliver. Even if you stumble, God will catch you, and help you up. You may still bleed, and weep, and struggle bravely, but you will not be destroyed, for You belong to Him and He will save you.

Maybe you won't grasp just how much God has saved you from until the "war is over," and He calls you home. But He does give grace, in every battle until then, if you pray for it & open your heart to receive it. He will come to you and help you.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you-- not because of your resistance, for he could crush you in a moment-- but because now he sees Christ the Conqueror-- your victorious King-- standing beside his trusting child, and all hell is utterly powerless before Him.

petitefleuriste:

Thank You Lord, for not answering any of my ignorant prayers.

He does answer them, though.

Not a single prayer goes unheard or unanswered. God does not snub us, even in our ignorance. He loves us enough to always respond with compassion.

He says “No, my beloved child, I cannot give you that. You do not understand what you are asking. But I do. You beg for stones that sparkle but do not satisfy. Instead, I will give you bread. I will give you what is far better, far sweeter, far more beautiful than anything you are even able to ask for right now. Trust Me in this refusal. It is a redirection. I will give you exactly what your yearning soul needs.”

This is gorgeous.

I adore the position of her hands-- she is essentially exposing her heart to God. She has "removed the veil" for the Lord to enter her inmost sanctuary, and for Her to also enter into such intimacy with Him; God's Presence shall now dwell in Her as His Tabernacle, and take on His own "veil" of humanity there (Hebrews 10:20). Long before the Crucifixion occurred in time, the Body of Christ-- the "veil" through which we enter God's Presence-- opened that sacred door to and through Mary, His Mother, from whom His very Body and Blood would be born. She is the "Portal of the Sky"; the first gateway from heaven to earth.

And her face... what total trust, what peace, what ecstasy, what love for God! This is the moment she says 'YES' to the divine Incarnation, the moment that changed human history forever. There is something utterly timeless in her expression; something eternal in that serene bliss. That, too, is a glimpse of Heaven.

Her left foot is uncovered. I think of Exodus 3:5 and Isaiah 52:7-- where she kneels is holy ground, she who is to there become the Bringer of the Good News. It may also be a play on words... she has "bared her soul/sole" before God. Lastly, if I may be so symbolic... In Hebraic thought, the right represents the spiritual and the left represents the physical. In my thoughts here, for her left foot to be uncovered-- even unveiled-- speaks of humility and humanity, of what is spiritual becoming physical; of God Himself gaining feet so as to walk with us, to become so shockingly human. God Himself will trod the earth, will be the Good News, will take on our dust without becoming it-- will turn that dust to gold. And Mary's foot is there, pure and naked, crushing the serpent's head forever.

I have a lot of feelings about this artwork; it truly touches my heart. God bless the sculptor; may her soul rest in peace.

Mary, Mother of Christ, Handmaiden of God, pray for us your children, those your Son was born to save. We love you.

lauramakabresku:

Shelter

There are not only sparrows at His feet, but also a woodpecker, and both are tenderly touching His Wounded Feet with their tiny beaks. How they worship in their own small ways! How profound and pure is that worship! The bird that eats from holes it bores into trees, now finds food everlasting in the nail-holes from the Tree of the Cross. The bird that is deemed the least of all, offered as a poor man’s sacrifice, finds an understanding Heart through proof of Blood spilled to redeem the most impoverished and despised souls.

The Lamb embraces a lamb, innocent and unblemished, despite the single red stain on its hip joint– the sciatic nerve, which allows the body to stand upright; the place touched by an angel, a touch that both wounds the body and heals the soul. There, this little lamb is a testament to both the weakness of creation and the power of God– blessed by a curse, purified by what was thought to be impure, given life through death, and triumph through defeat. It carries blemish to the eyes of man but in the eyes of God it is faultless. So is the Lamb. And so are we, if, although we wrestle sorely with His Cross we refuse to let go, for God alone is victorious, and in surrendering to His glory in our defeat we are given a new name, a new purpose, a new life, yet carrying the scars as He did. Grace is given, not won, and it is only when we are humbled by the Lord that He can lift us up in truth. We are blessed with Blood, clothed in spotless white, yet always holding that salvific red, the holy humiliation that kills all perfect pride.

Christ holds us all in His caring embrace, and yet those very Hands and Feet speak of the suffering He endured through the same motive. It was for Love that He died; it was through Love that He rose again. His wounds sing of that Love always, and invite us into His very self– the Source of all Sweetness, the Tree of Eternal Life, the One Who kisses the fragile head of every sparrow. When they fall, He picks them up tenderly; when they die, He weeps. So He does with us. What holy pain unbearable, to see our sinful agony! How much more would He tend for our broken bodies if He so loves the sparrows– indeed, He was moved to destroy death itself. Thus it was that Christ died in our place… He let Himself be pierced through, falling to the ground, so that by the power of His healing grace, every tiny soul can fly again.

In His Wounds, the weary soul finds perfect rest. In His Heart, all find a home.

The animals recognize the Love in His Wounds and they adore. Through the Holy Spirit, the tiny bird singing in our hearts even now, let us do the same.

Don't leave me alone, a fugitive. I want your hands
To carry my heart. I long for the bread of your voice,
I long for everything. I long for myself... I long for you.

Mahmoud Darwish, Give Birth to Me Again That I May Know (tr. Abdullah al-Udhari)
 

 

 

Praying love poems to Jesus...

Just step outdoors, see the light on the hills, the stars at night-- that's enough.

-Anaïs Nin, from “The diary of Anaïs Nin, vol. 3: 1939-1944”

 

 

The fragile and grandiose beauty of this… it makes me weep.

Just… it’s enough. Lift up your eyes, lift up your hope. Breathe it in. Whatever wound is tormenting your poor heart tonight, it can be soothed, it can be hummed to sleep by the loving stars, by the light, by the gentle and ancient hills.

God is there in it all, the soul knows. We feel the brush of His fingertips in the night breeze. It is enough. It is, forever, enough.

“The black sky was underpinned with long silver streaks that looked like scaffolding and depth on depth behind it were thousands of stars that all seemed to be moving very slowly as if they were about some vast construction work that involved the whole order of the universe and would take all time to complete. No one was paying any attention to the sky.”

— Wise Blood Flannery O'Connor
 

Every life leaves an impression. We are God’s fingerprints.

-Noah benShea

 

Thinking deeply about this. “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands but yours…” God continues to tangibly touch our lives through other lives. We’re all His children; we all exist because of Him, for Him, through Him. So when we touch another life, God inevitably touches them through us, however faintly. But are you letting His fingerprints be felt? Or are your own hands too dirty? What impression are you leaving– the pure love of the Father, or the sin-stained fumbling of your own mortality? How much do your own hands get in the way of His? Reflect on this.

 

sunflorally: repeat after me: my body is not wrong, or ugly, or too thin, or too big, or too pale, or too dark. it is the vessel of a precious life and that is always more than enough.

 

The very words “my body” still feel ugly and sick and wrong. The very concept of “my” is still poisoned with a deeply hidden, lingering self-loathing, injected by the abusive nightmares that made the word “body” sound like a torture chamber. The two words together are still so terrifying they make my emotions shut right down, unable to cope with what would surface otherwise.

It shocks me that, despite all the healing I have done and am still actively doing, this ancient horror still hasn’t faded. The wound won’t close, let alone scab or scar. I know I still believe the trauma lies somewhere and until I don’t, I’ll keep bleeding. But it’s very hard. Nevertheless, I know it must be done.

…The other thing that struck me about this is the phrase, “a precious life.” Me? My life is precious? It sounds utterly impossible, incredible, ridiculous. I can’t take it seriously; the very concept is beyond respect. My life is not precious… except, I’m a Catholic. And if there’s one thing I find super hard to believe, it’s the FACT that Jesus Christ has declared my wretched stupid life to be so precious that He chose to DIE a bloody death in order to save it from destruction. That’s a FACT that I cannot dispute. I can only look at it in helpless sobbing confused frustrated wonder, my bitter self-hatred faltering in the shadow of the Cross. It’s the only place I can learn how to love. It’s the only place I can learn how to finally accept that my life is, bewilderingly, actually precious… that my cursed “body” is also something Christ wants to bless and save and heal… that the possibility of both those profound changes in mindset are not only possible but already achieved in Him.

Yes, I’m still mentally sick in a lot of ways. I will shamefully admit that. But Jesus came into this world to heal sick souls like me, and if I have faith in that truth with all my heart, then I have a hope that cannot fail. And I’ll hold on to that, and keep re-reading this little message, until I believe its simple but pure truth, too.

"God will not numb your feelings or put you to sleep"-- how did I never realize that truth before?? When I am tempted by self-loathing to just give up and fall into that abyss, when I just want to rip my arms and legs and stomach wide open red, can I just... wait? Can I choose that terrifically difficult yet powerful virtue of faith instead? Can I choose hope? Can I choose patience, and gentleness, and longsuffering?

Can I rest in the knowledge that God is greater, that God is still Good, that He is forever victorious over every sin and struggle? Can I acknowledge that peace and rest in it? Can I surrender that totally? Can I beg for mercy from Mercy Himself instead of mercilessly attacking myself? Can I ignore the screaming rage of my head and instead sit in total silence before Him?

Yes, by His Grace, I can. And I must, or my poor soul will die.

Return to Christ. He will not abandon you. I need to remember that... I need to believe that. God is not like people. Jesus will not hurt me. Jesus will not suddenly decide that I'm not worth loving anymore. Jesus does not have a cold shoulder or a hard heart. Jesus loves me and forgives me and wants me to be healed and He is waiting for me. God is Love and that cannot change, no matter how evil I fear I am, no matter how badly I feel I deserve to die. God still wants to defeat those devils and bring me home.

Just wait for Him. Even if it takes time. God hears. God knows. God is working for you right now, and He is on His way. Wait for Him. He will be here, at the perfect time.

Choose your own adventure, they say. Yet I never felt I had a choice, in the way the pathway of my life progressed. Little did I realize there is always a choice, even if the options are miserable, even if hope is minimal, even if the choosing itself is uninformed and rushed and afraid and instinctive. There’s still choice.

And, well, now that I am aware of this, then I choose this. I choose recovery, I choose healing, I choose joy and light and life and hope and love. Wherever I find it, wherever I can follow its sunlit footsteps, I shall do so. I will make those tiny choices and they will add up into a march of blazing beauty that will utterly overcome every shadow that haunted my past.

The terror may be ancient, but it is still just a shade. This too shall pass, no exceptions. Love is the only truth and if it’s not love then it’s going to melt into dust and be forgotten in the waves of compassionate bliss that the universe itself radiates with every heartbeat, on and on and on. I will step into that sea of hope, I will wade into the depths of tenderness, I will walk into the very ocean with a smile on my face and let it wash away everything that held me shackled far from shore.

God’s got me in His hands. He’s calling me home. Our Lady has crushed the snake beneath her heel and Our Lord has proclaimed Himself to be the Omega as well as the Alpha and no matter what came before, this is the turning of the page, this is the renewal of my soul, this is unconditional love and eternal hope proclaiming “It Is Finished” to the sins of the past, and all the trauma and horror they brought. God hung all of those on a tree and opened the garden gate to a new life that we could never have imagined before.

"Do we not try to find good, tangible security in observances, in the reassuring feeling that, thanks to our fidelity, everything is in order in our relationship with the Lord? And when Jesus asks us one day to count on him alone, without telling us in advance what he is going to ask of us, and without explaining to us where he wants us to go, we tremble." (A Carthusian)

This hits hard. To rely so completely on the faithfulness of Christ that you no longer need "tangible proofs" to believe in His trustworthiness... that is walking by faith, not by sight-- that is the true road of the Cross. But it's a step into darkness, and that frightens us-- at least, unless we remember that we are following the Light Himself.

God is never obligated to reveal His ways or plans to us. He owes us no clarification, no explanation. Humility accepts this. Humility makes us recognize our unworthiness to know such divine things, let alone demand them. God doesn't have to tell us anything. But He does. He does comfort and guide and reassure us; He knows our weakness and He soothes us, leads us with the utmost tenderness, His little children. But children grow. And the day will come when He will suddenly step back, tell us to do something, and leave it at that. No explanation. No preparation. No understanding on our part. Will we still trust in Him, then? Will we remember how trustworthy and faithful He has always been, going forwards now with no immediate or tangible reminder of it? Will we surrender to our love for Him and walk with blindfold on, with road shrouded in fog, with shadows setting in? Will we step forward in faith alone, believing with all our heart that Our Savior will never lead us astray? That He will never abandon us, even if the new journey is long and cold and lonely? Will we hold on to faith?

It will happen. It will frighten us, as humans, as children. Deep down, we are afraid of the unknown. We are scared of the dark. But remember, dear hearts, remember that He is trustworthy and He knows where and why you are going. You can count on Him. You can count on Jesus even when, and especially when, there is no one and nothing else to rely on.

Have faith. Even if it's only a mustard seed. Plant it in love, and wait. It will grow in God's time, even if you can't see or sense anything until suddenly... it sprouts. It dies in the dark, to live in the light. So shall you.

Have faith in God, Who is real and trustworthy. Have hope in His faithfulness when we can't see it yet. Have love for God, Who IS Love, Who loves you endlessly, and Who will strengthen you for all that He leads you to... and through.

Plant faith, and trust Him, and do whatever He tells you.

godmechanic:

actually a little embarrassing how well the “omg surprise psalm today!” thing works

Oh man I have wept at how relevant the Compline psalms are some nights. It’s unreal.

I have the Universalis app, which I love, as it allows me to play the audio for each hour, which is indispensable when I have severe brain fog and/or poor cognition and cannot read. I always listen to Lauds & the Office of Readings as I start my day schedule, and the “surprise” at what Psalms I will hear then (and in the other variant places in the Office) is both a source of deeply interested joy, and of unfailingly edifying application to my life. God just… knows, man. Even though millions of folks are praying the exact same words, they are specially & specifically significant to each soul. It’s wonderful, even when it’s convicting. God loves us in all circumstances.

It’s not embarrassing, love; it’s genuinely heartwarming to hear that you have such experiences with it too.

godmechanic:

we like to forget how hard psalm 42 hits. but i am just here to remind everybody that it hits

fellas is your soul is athirst for God? athirst for the living God? have your tears have been your meat day and night? do you wonder why your soul is so full of heaviness and disquieted within you? boy do i have a psalm for you

Psalm 42 legitimately saved my life a decade ago. It’s been burned into the fibers of my heart since then. It is a beautiful, aching Psalm, a raw and sincere prayer wrenched from the very core. I love it dearly and pray it frequently; it never fails to bring tears to my eyes.

To justify my neighbor’s suffering is a scandal. “My neighbor’s suffering is beyond justification; it is, in a word, meaningless.” Referring to Levinas, Batnitzky writes, “The Jewish tradition often maintains a difficult balancing act when it affirms both the theological and ethical value of suffering for others, while denying the necessity of suffering itself.” One cannot justify suffering. Thus an end to all theodicy, and “to all attempts, theological or otherwise, to justify suffering.”

Michael Purcell, “When God Hides His Face: The Inexperience of God”, The Experience of God: A Postmodern Response, ed. Kevin Hart and Barbara E. Wall
 

(Disclaimer: I am a Catholic, and so my reflection on this is within that context. I give all grateful respect to the Jewish perspective here, as it is the notable inspiration for my response.)

This hits me where it hurts. I’ve been raised to always justify suffering, which ultimately hardens one’s heart and makes one’s hands cold– if you believe that suffering is “deserved,” you smother compassion, and do nothing to relieve that suffering. Instead you say, “it builds character,” or “you’ll learn and grow from this,” or “well you must’ve brought this on yourself,” or just “offer it up,” without making a move to comfort them or care for them or remove the suffering altogether. Yes, suffering can teach, it can help us grow in virtue, it can have redemptive merit, but not inherently. Suffering in and of itself is just suffering. It’s the result of a fallen human nature and the inevitable consequences of sin=death, but sin is unnatural and suffering is therefore unnecessary. Yet it persists, in this life. Yes, this life is not all there is, but that shouldn’t cause complacency!! We can either sit there and shrug at people’s pain, or we can stand up and refuse to let it have its way. We can fight it. We should fight it. I say this because God fights it too.

God mandates compassion. God insists we care for our fellow man and relieve their suffering. As a Christian, I think of how Jesus healed so many who were ill, how he told parables of radical love, how He never said “you get what you deserve” to a suffering soul. No. Christ came to us as a healer, as a lover, as an instrument of mercy, Who literally died on a Cross that He could never deserve in order to destroy ALL human judgment of anyone “deserving” suffering like that. He took it all. Yes, all have sinned, and so suffering exists through sin, but God alone judges, and if I may be so bold, I say that HE deems suffering as absolutely unnecessary too. Sin is unnatural, remember? He didn’t create it! He doesn’t want it! He “takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked man” (Ezekiel 18:33 & 23:11)! He wants us to have life, abundant life, in direct opposition to sin’s destructiveness (John 10:10). So Christ took every “deserved” pain onto Himself and now we must act on that grace of mercy. No one has to die or be destroyed. No one “deserves to die.” He sure didn’t. But He did die, taking the place of everyone who was ever judged as deserving it, so now we can never speak those words about anyone.

Take up your cross, yes, because suffering is inevitable in this life, but carry it knowing that through uniting it to Christ’s love, it now holds the weight of the sins of the world. When we bear our own crosses, we don’t abandon others to theirs! We’re not in this alone; Christ didn’t carry His “own” in the first place! He carried ours, so now we carry everyone’s crosses together. We are Simon and Veronica and Magdalene and Mary and Christ to each other. We live in hope of eternal life, where all pain ceases, and so until then, we reflect that hope to others as often as we can– we must manifest it. How can you hope for what you cannot comprehend? How can you yearn for relief if you don’t know it’s a possibility? We must give that hope and sustain it. We must make hope real, through real love, and real faith. Only then is suffering bearable– only then does our awareness of its meaninglessness become a strange sort of joy. Yes, it’s unnecessary. But therefore, it’s not forever, and until then, there are people acting as angels to make that truth absolutely tangible.

I hope this makes sense; it’s hard to put into proper words. But it struck me to the heart, that quote, especially as my life is saturated with suffering right now and my old ugly instinct is to just say “it’s deserved; let it be”. No. That is not God’s way. God hears the cry of the poor and lame and sick and sorrowful and hungry and frightened and lost, and when God hears HE ACTS. That is how we must live, or we are not His children. That is what we must do, or we are not disciples of Christ. We must bind up the broken, bandage the wounded, wipe away the blood and sweat and tears and spit and everything else. Compassionate works must be our only response to suffering. I don’t care what they’ve done. That’s not my concern. My job is to love.

Suffering is unnecessary, because we’ve been commanded to heal it.

"We will recognize that, whether we like it or not, what happens happens; to be upset about it is useless, and moreover deprives us of the crown of patience and shows us to be in revolt against the will of God."
- Saint Peter of Damaskos

This is a powerful truth. If we do not perpetually pray, "Thy Will be done," we will instead seek our own will, which is stunted by ignorance and corrupted by passions. Resistance to our God-given circumstances, because they don't match our plans or hopes or wants or dreams or expectations, is at its deepest root a rebellion-- however small, it is still ultimately fatal-- against God's authority and wisdom. Patience is a fruit of love, and love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. When we love God, we have the courage to say, "May it be done to me according to Your word," and whatever "it" is, we embrace it as coming from His heart out of love for us. To reject that ultimate divine motivation is to blind ourselves to the blessings He constantly showers upon us, especially in the paradox of the Cross: "The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God." (1 Corinthians 4:18) It is only through Christ's loving obedience in submitting patiently to the Cross that He was able to win our salvation; we must follow Him in that exact respect to obtain that new and eternal life. Such radical surrender to God's will in all circumstances-- that absolute relinquishment of control and even understanding-- is madness to those who live for this world alone. They have no hope of eternal joy with God, and therefore no reason to patiently endure suffering, let alone choose it for the sake of Christ. But we do, whether we "like it or not", because we're not motivated by "like", only love. And love counts it all as joy.

Some further illustrations from Scripture:

"We must not put Christ to the test... nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer... No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:9-10, 13)

"...We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)

"The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:6-8)

"I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead... [but] many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven." (Philippians 3:10-11, 18-20)

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you." (James 4:7-8)

"...You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”" (James 4:14-15)

"And He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." (Luke 9:23-24)

"For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me." (John 6:38)

"Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God... The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. " (1 Peter 4:1-3, 7)

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. " (Romans 8:28)

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit." (1 Corinthians 5:16-19)

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing... God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." (James 1:1-4, 12)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“…God shouts to [you] in [your] pain [as] it insists on being [heard and] attended to. [This is because pain is sanctified in the life of a faithful Christian, playing a great purpose: every instance of your suffering] fits into a pattern for good, [as God is using it to confirm you to the image of] His Son. [Therefore, take courage and know that] nothing [painful] can come into your life without your Heavenly Father’s permission, [and when] God uses [your] circumstances, their source makes no difference to Him; [their instigator, be it human or spirit,] is irrelevant. [In every distressing circumstance, without exception,] God [says,] "I will make it fit into My Plan for your life, to make you like [my Son,] Jesus Christ.” [Remember that] God used the challenges, conflicts, and circumstances of life to prepare His Son for His destiny, [so since you are a disciple of His Son, He will] do the same in [your life, towards the same blessed end. If you remember this in your fear, then] instead of trying to escape your circumstances, [you can courageously] learn from them and [so] grow stronger [in faith by more closely imitating Christ].“

Honestly this is a vital reminder, especially for Lent. Repentance is repeatedly mandated by Christ, yes, but it is no heavy burden-- rather, it removes those weights from our hearts! The idea of being "ordered to do something objectively beneficial" may seem totally foreign to many of us Catholics, who are used to the negative "Thou Shalt Not's" that are probably haunting us during these 40 days. But repentance is wholly good for us. It, and those commandments it encompasses, only sound scary because they sharply bring to mind all the ways in which we've failed to avoid sin. But at their very core, they are meant to heal and help us.

Nevertheless, yes, it might absolutely be terrifying to examine one's conscience, just like preparing to clean out a coal cellar for the first time in years-- the amount of filth facing you may be overwhelming. But here's the thing... you don't have to clean it. You just have to point out that dirt to Jesus, specifically and honestly, and He will immediately and absolutely purify even the most rotten corners of your soul. For free. As often as you need.

Can you imagine, calling a plumber to drain your flooded basement and unclog the festering pipes, but not an hour after he leaves, you stuff them full of garbage again? And you call him back in a panic in the middle of the night? And he comes right over and fixes it all again? With a genuine smile? And doesn't charge anything? And this happens at least once a week, if not every day?

That's the staggering magnitude of forgiveness God offers to every repentant soul. That's the Sacrament of Confession!

We forget that we can repent whenever. Literally whenever, wherever, whoever you are, whatever you've done. Yet we are afraid to call the plumber even though we already did 458 times and not once has He ever complained or hung up. We are afraid He's going to lose His temper and charge us a fortune or leave us helpless with dammed-up pipes and sewage up to our waist... we're terrified of hearing "why??" or "how??" because our shame would choke and drown us more than all the black water in the world ever could.

But it has never happened, and it will never happen, so why don't you pick up the phone and give Him a call?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

iscariotapologist:

i think god probably made dinosaurs because they were sick as hell. actually though i’m not really aware of any dinosaur….theology? theology about dinosaurs? although i would CERTAINLY like to be. i do think there are relationships between god and animals, although they are necessarily going to be different than ours.
 

I always like to think about how the first two kinds of creatures God created in Genesis are birds & fish. Birds are the avian descendants of dinosaurs, and they are technically reptiles. Genesis’s “birds” could very well be referring to dinosaurs, in that roundabout respect. Plus, jawless fish were the first vertebrates to evolve, period. So the timeframe is accurate! (Mammals showed up a day later, haha.)

I was actually just thinking today about God’s relationship to animals. While they do not have a “living soul” like a human does (Gen 1:26; 2:7), they still have life and consciousness, which are from God. I believe that, by simple virtue of existence, every created thing yearns for God and can feel Him on some level. Only humans can know God, but I hope it’s theologically legitimate to say that nevertheless animals can still sense Him.

Scripture itself references animals “sensing God” notably in Ezekiel 38:20, implies it in Psalm 145:21, and of course we have Balaam’s dear donkey in Numbers 22. If we want to stretch the interpretation, we have even the donkeys that carried Jesus Himself in Matthew 21, and the one(s?) that carried the Holy Family to and from Bethlehem when they were fleeing Herod in Matthew 2… Noah’s dove, Elijah’s ravens, Jonah’s whale, Daniel’s lions… God works through animals a lot, so they must be spiritually receptive to Him, if they are so readily responsive to His influence. (God help us to be so obedient, too!)

Furthermore, there are so many common stories of both little children and animals apparently perceiving and reacting to ‘presences’ unseen by adults, potentially angels, for all we know– plus we must include all the Christian folktales of donkeys and lambs and even spiders at the Manger, all recognizing and adoring the Christ Child. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich even speaks of “gladness throughout all nature,” with the animals being “joyfully agitated” at both Christ’s birth and Mary’s birth. We have Saint Roche’s dog, Saint Columba’s horse, Saint Jerome’s lion, Saint Ciaran’s boar, Saint Francis’s wolf… and my arguable favorite, Saint Anthony’s mule. Just as animals fear those with malicious hearts, they respect and befriend those with loving hearts– and since God is love, I think there’s definitely something to that, in its utter simplicity. I don’t know what exactly they feel, but… they do. They know, in their own way.

I apologize for the huge response but this is a topic that’s actually quite dear to my heart, and I was moved to offer my thoughts on it, may they glorify God.

But yes, I daresay dinosaurs are objectively super cool. God has the best imagination, after all!

lauramakabresku:

Birds listening to God’s pulse

The heartbeat of God is music so beautiful, so rapturous, that even the very songbirds cannot help but hear its sweetness in silent awe.

traumacatholic:

My favourite thing about the ‘Psalter and Rosary of the Virgin (from f. 27), in two versions, and other devotional texts, including a litany’ is that there’s just many pages dedicated to drops of blood. (x, x)

From the source:

“…The text begins with three pages, each painted black, on which large drops of blood trickle down. The third page has been thoroughly worn, which may be the result of kissing; part of it has been rubbed and smudged rather than merely kissed…”

That is the devotion that defines a Christian. Thanks be to God that this beautiful testament to such heartfelt adoration still exists for our edification. May the love proven through these prayerfully-kissed pages inflame our own hearts with ardor to do the same!

I pray that He does give you answers soon, and that until then, He comforts you in your pain, and alleviates as much of it as He wills. May He grant you deepest peace and healing! 🙏

We all have needs that can only be met by God. That is such a key truth of life that is frequently forgotten.

And those needs aren’t strictly spiritual, either! My life crises as of late have proven to me, quite strikingly, that I have an awful amount of physical needs that I cannot meet on my own– only God can. I am helpless; He is all-powerful. I am foolish and frightened; He is Wisdom and Peace Himself. I am wracked by misery; He soothes me with mercy. I feel abandoned and alone… He loves me to all eternity. Deep down, those are my truest needs; GOD Himself is What I need to thrive. My survival needs will be met as He sees fit, if I trust Him to meet them– because, again, I cannot, and desperately trying to do so anyway will (and does) only make me more distraught and drive me to despair. However, prayerfully placing all my hopes in God, surrendering my life into His hands, and doing what I can without worrying about MY success but HIS… that gets me through. God’s Love never fails.

God knows I need this body to survive in order to serve Him here, and He will ensure that. He’s not ignorant; He “knows I am but dust.” But I am His dust, destined for redemption by the grace of Christ, and that truth is enough refuge for any new crisis. Even if I do die, it’s on His timing; and– have mercy on me a sinner– after the storms of life are over, I have an eternity in His arms to look forward to. Until then, I must live with my entire life geared towards that. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” That’s what Jesus means. God will provide the needs of your journey to Him, but stay on the journey! The ultimate goal is of ultimate importance; no matter how short or difficult our journey is, it will end one day, and then it won’t matter how tough things were prior. So trust. Don’t worry. God’s got this; God’s got you.

If you are in need today, any need– poor health, emotional distress, financial fears, physical pain, future panic, anything– remember that you don’t have the ability to solve those massive problems and that is both okay and intentional. NO human can do so… because GOD CAN, and He loves us so much He wants you to ask Him for help. Like an adoring Father cares for His children, He must let us try & learn on our own in order to grow, but when we stumble and cry out, He is always there to pick us up and help us to do what we cannot do alone.

And maturing in spirit isn’t about learning to do those things alone. Spiritally, we are always going to be God’s children. We’re little! We’re weak and ignorant and helpless, like a baby is… but babies are meant to be helped and loved and cherished and if we– if only through failed struggles– admit that we are just children, God will care for us as such… otherwise we’re trying too hard to be “grown up” in ways we cannot force, and we push our Father away through proud striving and/or shame. Don’t do that. Ask Him for help. Be simple and pure of heart.

There are things we will always need God’s help for, and when you put that in the proper perspective it is an absolute joy. God is our greatest need, our ultimate goal, our Protector in every trial, and our Provider in every situation. Even when we suffer, it’s under His watchful and compassionate Eye– “a Father disciplines those He loves.” Doesn’t suffering give you a unique opportunity to cling closer than ever to Him? Doesn’t it give you “strength training” for patience, trust, hope, perseverance, courage, surrender, faith? Doesn’t it give you a testing-fire to prove the power of grace in you? Yes it is hard to be gentle, kind, joyful, temperate, meek, and even loving when we are in the throes of suffering, but it’s only hard because we’re focusing so much on the suffering, and not on God, Who gives us the grace TO embody those virtues of His! I can attest to this firsthand. Fix your focus on God. Trust in His Power to save, against all odds, despite all confusion, especially if you can’t see or imagine a way out. He can, and He will. Look at your life! Hasn’t He already brought you safely in soul to this very moment? He has never once failed you. He is utterly faithful, worthy of all our trust, and that will never change.

Today, place your trust in your Father anew. Go to Him with all your aches of heart, and put them into His open hands. Ask Him for help… then rest. Rest, dear child. God will take care of you. You will never, ever have to struggle alone. He will meet your daily needs when you cannot; He doesn’t expect or want you to try otherwise. God will provide for you and the sparrows both.

Just remember… in Him, your deepest needs are already fulfilled. And that is how we thrive.

Anonymous asked,

I just sent [you a donation]
-an atheist who doesn’t want anyone to suffer the way it sounds like you’re suffering

 

I must still say “God bless you,” in my honest gratitude for your sincere charity. The sentiment holds true, even though our beliefs differ– I hope the highest good for you, in return for your interest in mine… and I firmly believe that my God can, will, and does do that for any compassionate soul, whether or not they share my religion. You’re human; by virtue of that fact alone, you are included in that divine care.

More generally: thank you for your generous kindness. Humanity is truly illuminated by our capacity to love; in this little testament to it, you have lit up my life a little more. 🙏

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, 
Through a belief in the Threeness, 
Through confession of the Oneness 
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today 
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism, 
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial, 
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension, 
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim, 
In obedience of angels, 
In service of archangels, 
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, 
In the prayers of patriarchs, 
In preachings of the apostles, 
In faiths of confessors, 
In innocence of virgins, 
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven; 
Light of the sun, 
Splendor of fire, 
Speed of lightning, 
Swiftness of the wind, 
Depth of the sea, 
Stability of the earth, 
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me; 
God's might to uphold me, 
God's wisdom to guide me, 
God's eye to look before me, 
God's ear to hear me, 
God's word to speak for me, 
God's hand to guard me, 
God's way to lie before me, 
God's shield to protect me, 
God's hosts to save me 
From snares of the devil, 
From temptations of vices, 
From every one who desires me ill, 
Afar and anear, 
Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and evil, 
Against every cruel merciless power that opposes my body and soul, 
Against incantations of false prophets, 
Against black laws of pagandom, 
Against false laws of heretics, 
Against craft of idolatry, 
Against spells of women and smiths and wizards, 
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. 
Christ shield me today 
Against poison, against burning, 
Against drowning, against wounding, 
So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, 
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, 
Christ on my right, Christ on my left, 
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, 
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, 
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me, 
Christ in the eye that sees me, 
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, 
Through a belief in the Threeness, 
Through a confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation

St. Patrick (ca. 377)

This is forever my favorite prayer. It strikes me to the heart every time I speak it, and moves me to tears without fail.

Thank God for Saint Patrick. Thank God for his beautiful faith, and for his devotion in bringing that same faith to the people of Ireland. May he intercede for us today and always, that we too may all share in the heartfelt confession of the Oneness of the Creator of Creation, and so, through Him, be brought fully into the oneness of His Church, by the powerful grace and love of Jesus Christ, Who Is King of all nations forever. Amen. 💚🙏✝️☘
 

...However. I'm reblogging this particular instance of this beloved prayer, not only for the cleareformatting, but also because it lacks a period in the last stanza. That actually touches me deeply, even if it was an accidental omission.

That lack of a closing mark, immediately after the proclamation of the Trinity, speaks silent volumes of the infinitude of that very Creator, omnipresent and eternal, with no beginning or end. We are left with a blessedly "unfinished" prayer, refusing to conclude itself, standing forever open and thus overflowing into time beyond itself.

We confess our faith in the Creator of Creation, and though the words leave our lips, they remain in our souls. Their sound lingers in the air like music, an unresolved yet perfect chord, inviting our perpetual participation in this prayer, the secret purpose for which it was spoken in the first place.

This prayer is our breastplate, affixed to our heart always, repeated in every breath, realized in every circumstance. Christ is in all of it. He is present everywhere, always, never ending, enduring forever, and every atom of the universe confesses Him.

Don't "finish" this prayer. Let it continue through the rest of your life.

Nonetheless, Philothea, you must not rest satisfied with general desires and aspirations, but rather turn them into special resolutions for your individual correction and amendment. For instance, when you meditate upon the first of our Saviour's words from the Cross, you will assuredly feel a desire to imitate Him, to forgive and love your enemies. But that desire is worth little unless you proceed to some practical resolution, such as "I will no longer be angry at the irritating words which such a one says to me or of me; nor at the annoyance caused me by another; on the contrary, I will do and say all I can to soothe and them" - and so forth. In this way you will soon correct your faults, whereas mere desires will have but few and tardy results.

- St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part 2: Counsels Concerning the Soul's Approach f God in Prayer and the Sacraments, Chapter 6: Third Part of Meditation - Affections and Resolutions

This is VERY edifying advice for Lent.

Desire alone will only produce dreams of possible results. Deciding on a specific goal-- something practical and achievable-- will guarantee results, with the grace of God helping you through prayer.

God wants you to be free of sin! He will assist you in doing so, but you must know and recognize where you are bound first, or your prayers will be vague and unfocused. Show Him a specific struggle you have with sin, determine your weakest spots, get a battle plan, and resolve to fight with Christian virtue!

Small steps of virtue are still significant steps. Our Lord could work miracles with but a word or a touch. You do not need to do grandiose acts for Lent in order to draw closer to Him. Resolve to let His Living Water wash away your iniquities, be it drop by drop... but direct those drops to hit your wounds. You will heal. God always gets results.

(Saint Francis de Sales words this perfectly succinctly, but my hearts was nevertheless moved to elaborate from personal experience, for I too desperately need this advice. All thanks be to God!)

"Today, I shall do an act of charity for a poor or suffering person, even if I have to go out of my way to do it."

This is a beautiful challenge of charity.

Let us all keep our eyes, ears, hearts, and hands open today-- and through all of Lent-- for opportunities to help those in need, whatever that need may be, whoever may need it. Let us pray for the grace & discernment to act in compassion when God leads us to such an opportunity, not out of moral obligation or self-righteousness, but out of tender mercy and genuine love for our fellow man. Let us act in charity because we cannot help but do so. May the love that Christ had-- and forever has-- for the poor & needy overflow from our hearts today and always!

Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Man of Sorrows (detail), 17th century

You can see the sorrow in His face, here– in the downturned humility of His gaze, in the slight but notable curve of His eyebrows, in the dark lines below His eyes… in His quiet mouth, like a Lamb led to slaughter.

A single thorn draws a bead of brilliant Blood from His forehead. The wretched crown wreathes His hair like a halo.

By His Wounds, we have been healed– but oh, so too by His sorrows, we have been comforted! What blessed, tragic paradox! What agonies our Lord endured for our sake!

God became a man, a man of sorrows, so that we, in our own miseries, would never suffer alone. We would, forever, have an Advocate of empathy, a Lord Who had bled and wept and feared just like us. Christ knows our pain.

Let your aching heart take refuge in Him.

 

akosuaa: I don’t want to be lukewarm loved

 slain-in-the-spirit: Imagine how God feels.

thatetherealgirl: This hit me.

363ci: Revelation 3:16 = So because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Yea this hits right now too.

 

Lukewarm “love” isn’t worthy of the name, when the heart of Love Himself is on fire.

God’s heart burns with love for us. When that hits us, it cannot help but spark a similar flame in our own hearts, however small it may start.

Feed that flame of love! Do not let it fizzle out or fade! Work it into a blazing ardor through acts of devotion and prayer. Start small, for your fire is yet a candle-light, but it will increase with every ounce of charity-fuel you put into it. Prayer gives you that fuel through grace. Without it, we’re helpless– we have no means to kindle a divine spark ourselves! But if God gives it, He will protect it. Pray for this!

During these 40 days of Lent, a spiritual desert whose nights bring terrible coldness & dark, set your eyes firmly on the heart of Christ, aflame with love for you– for you!!– and let that burning truth fill your own heart with zeal, pressing on towards the Cross, where that divine Love was proved… and is proven still.

Your cross, too, proves the heat of your love for God. Carry it! It us bringing you to Him!

Catholicism is inherently “weird & creepy” with “crazy ideas” according to the world; yes, we may affectionately and humorously use those terms for ourselves, but in truth we must also realize the bitter judgment behind them externally. It pains my heart to hear such comments because it implies the commenter only sees those qualities in our faith, not the beauty & mercy & love. We must pray sincerely for those people; their hearts are closed through misunderstanding, fear, or hatred, and Christ longs for their hearts to soften, repent, and return home to Him too.

Nevertheless, I am humbly grateful to be weird, creepy, & crazy, if that is how my relationship with Christ and His Church is perceived by the yet-unfaithful. It is a small yet significant joy & honor to see so many of us proclaiming the same.

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning.”
Joel 2:12 BSB

To "break down the barriers separating your heart from God"-- to truly rend your heart-- you must first identify those barriers, those places so hardened and stiff they must be rent asunder lest you perish. It's tragically easy to find those spots-- whenever you feel resistance to His presence & input in a situation, whenever you feel unwilling or unable to pray, whenever you cannot hear His Voice or even remember what it sounds like-- all these frightening instances are barriers between your heart and His. They need to be removed-- destroyed completely, reduced to dust & ashes, beyond rebuilding-- but we have no strength to do that alone! All we can do is beg for help; all we can do is seek Him out, with feeble fervor if we must, but seek Him we must. When you cannot "pray," you can still cry to Him without words. When you cannot hear, you can still read Scripture. And when you feel that awful resistance, that is your greatest opportunity-- you can then show God EXACTLY where that obstacle is, and with hopeful trust, plead Him to remove it by His merciful grace. Then you must let Him work. You need only stand with Him and watch Him.

Over and over, moment to moment, breath by breath, you must constantly refocus on God. You must let Him into your broken heart, so He can remake it in His liking. The demolition is a rebirth. We fast from the world to feed upon Him. We weep for our sins to be grateful for His mercy. We mourn for Him Who died for us, because of us, so that we may feel the joy of the salvation His Blood bought for us.

When you let Him remove the chains shackling your soul to the secular world, you become free to embrace Him. Even if your wrists are bloodied and bruised, His pains to free you were greater, and you can take comfort in knowing that no amount of damage your soul or body may bear will ever deter Him from pulling you close. He is the Divine Physician; when He sees your wounds, He will kiss them to healing. Thus you must admit you have them, uncover them, offer them up to the divine scalpel and sutures if need be. Yes, the process is painful, but it is essential for life. Pain does not mean death, not if it is acted upon; it is only an alert that something needs to be rectified... and as you progress in penance, you shall find that what was once seen as suffering to the flesh is now sweet to your soul.

The call to penance is not a call to separation. In the very midst of our mortification, we are drawing closer to Christ. We are returning to the One Who loves us. We are coming home.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

HAPPY FORGIVENESS SUNDAY!

I’m not Orthodox, but the entire concept & celebration of Forgiveness Sunday is both deeply humbling and deeply beautiful.

Ask for forgiveness from God, ask for forgiveness from your neighbor– and then offer forgiveness to your neighbor in return, as we have received forgiveness from God.

Lent is all about forgiveness, mercy, & repentance. It’s a time to grow closer to God and act more like Christ, by loving & serving God and His people, and turning away from all sin, which harms those relationships.

Let us all look forward in hope to this time of penitence, for it is a time of restoration, and at the end of this desert road– by the way of the Cross– new life awaits us; life in the Lord!

Happy Forgiveness Sunday indeed! 🙏❤

This statement is not wrong, but it is not completely right, either. It is a basic observation from a genuinely religious people, who are simply unaware of the transcendent nature of that other religion's building.

Let me begin by correctly affirming the implication here of divinity within nature:

"The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, His boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God... God has written a precious book, “whose letters are the multitude of created things present in the universe,” [and] no creature is excluded from this manifestation of God." (Pope Francis)

God absolutely speaks to all people through nature; the created world is our most direct and immediately universal revelation of the beauty of the Creator. "Natural religion" is called that for a reason; it is an instinctive response to the divinity we see reflected in the blessed earth around us. Some cultures stop there, and worship nature itself-- not realizing that nature is our sister, not our mother (as Saint Francis beautifully penned). Some cultures do imagine "gods" in control of nature, but they are not creators, not of the very hearts of things; nor do they satisfy the even deeper human desire for something greater-- something we can know and touch, here, to tell us vividly of God, of the Heart of beauty itself.

Honestly? I say we still miss the Garden. We still dream of Paradise, after being cast out from it. Our "wanting more" was misplaced, as we already had everything... everything except loss. So we lost everything, and now we ache to return, not because it was lovely, but because of why it was lovely... because of Who created it and us.

That is the deeper point. For the Christian-- and especially Catholic-- soul, there is a recognition and explanation of the innately longed-for depth beyond the surface sparkle:

"When we immerse ourselves in the beauty of nature and be attentive to what is going on in our soul, we find that we have a longing for even greater beauty. No one ever said, “That sunset was all I ever wanted to see.” We always want one that’s a little brighter, a little longer, a little more picturesque. The beauty in nature awakens in us the desire for Infinite Beauty, Jesus Christ Himself." (Christian Williams)

And THAT is where the "building" comes in. It is not 'necessary' for worship, or for prayer, or for talking and listening to God. Nature is, indeed, a wonderful place for all those things. But nature has not been specifically instituted by God as a memorial of His Saving Sacrifice, as a specific and sacred spot of spacetime where He can still be with us physically. God is there in nature, yes, but not literally so. You can only touch God through the hands of a priest, and such a staggering miracle both deserves and demands a particular place to occur, something "set apart" from even the beauty of the natural world, which-- although inherently good-- can easily get tangled up in pagan pantheism, and whose greatest beauty pales spectacularly in the Presence of Christ.

We go inside a building to talk to God because He is literally there. We built Him a house we can visit Him in, like a friend, like a lover-- a place uniquely His own, built by His family on earth, something tenderly human and beloved even in its flaws. A church is not a sunset, but oh, once you have met the Lord there, you would gladly give up ever seeing another sunset, if it meant you could stay with Him instead, and taste Heaven on earth.

You will never have to hunger for Paradise again.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

 

‘Eve After the Fall’. Auguste Rodin. 1886.

This is terribly powerful in its simplicity.

Consider: this is the first woman. The very first! She was created pure, joyful, as simple and guileless as a child. She had no shame, no guilt, no fear. She walked with God in Paradise, and the very concept of suffering– of sin & evil– was alien to her.

However… yes, she was pure, but she was not perfect. She was still fallible– she had free will, and the possibility of choosing wrongly was an inherent risk of that liberty.

Satan knew this.

One day, as Eve was admiring the one tree she was forbidden to eat from, a strange serpent slithered into her sight and hissed the first human temptation– mistrust in God.

“Did God really say that…?”

Eve’s faith was not perfect. Some key part of her heart was not fixed on her Lord. She doubted, she desired, she took the fruit that was not hers to take… and suddenly, she knew.

She knew she had sinned.

And look at her now! Look, at this first woman, this poor young child of God, once a stranger to death but now she has tasted it firsthand. Look at what that knowledge has done to her. Her legs are crossed in shameful self-awareness, one foot held back and hesitant, betraying her new inner instability. She has one arm wrapped tightly around her chest in a gesture of unquestionable distress, hiding not only her breasts but also her heart: two parts of her body once innocent, now tainted by the suggestions of sin. Her other arm speaks volumes. It is crossed over the other, closing her body language totally, but the hand is raised– feebly, not to shield from a blow but to deter all contact, all comfort. Don’t look at me, it says. Don’t touch me. Her guilt is too great. She turns her head away, but does not bury it completely; she has not fallen entirely into self-pity. Perhaps she is holding on to hope, to the only light she has left within reach– “her offspring will attack the serpent’s head.” Somewhere in the future, her now-miserable body will once again cooperate with God’s will, and then– oh, so soon, she prays– evil will be crushed. Perhaps then she could return to Paradise, to her Lord, and leave behind this terrible curse.

Until then, here she stands… fallen, but not forgotten.

I apologize for not posting anything specifically about Lent. I know it's tomorrow. I've been thinking about it constantly. But I've also been very sick, in and out of the ER, and that suffering is eating up my focus as well. I feel like a wreck of a Christian, struggling so much just with everyday living. I don't know what else I can give up, other than my fears and anxieties, so that is my goal. I will pray more, and panic less, and be merciful to myself and others, and hold tightly to my hope in God, and a life with Him after this. Lent means so much to me. I am grateful it is here, even if I am weaker and more pitiful spiritually than ever. God have mercy on me during this penitential season. I pray that this time heals my poor soul.

May Our Lord bless you all this Lent. May your devotion bring you ever closer to the Heart of Christ.

“The other day, a man, a journalist, asked me a strange question. He asked me, “Even you, do you have to go to confession?” I said, “Yes, I go to con­fession every week.” And he said, “Then God must be very demanding if you have to go to confession.” And I said, “Your own child sometimes does some­thing wrong. What happens when your child comes to you and says, ‘Daddy, I’m sorry’? What do you do? You put both of your arms around your child and kiss him. Why? Because that’s your way of telling him that you love him. God does the same thing. He loves you tenderly.” Even when we sin or make a mistake, let’s allow that to help us grow closer to God. Let’s tell Him humbly, “I know I shouldn’t have done this, but even this failure I offer to you.” If we have sinned or made a mistake, let us go to Him and say, “I’m sorry! I repent.” God is a forgiving Father. His mercy is greater than our sins. He will forgive us.”

— Saint Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997), founder of the Missionary Sisters of Charity
No Greater Love

“Even this failure I offer to you.” That struck my heart so strongly.

It is a gesture of radically surrendering love to offer even our humiliating weaknesses to our Father, hiding nothing, withholding nothing, giving Him literally everything we have, for Him to use as He will. If we do that, we will inevitably grow close to Him, for we are not letting anything come between us.

Always repent, and always confess, as swiftly and sincerely as possible. Always say you’re sorry, and run to your Father’s loving heart, where you will find both the mercy and forgiveness you desperately need, and the strength and compassion to keep trying to live even more lovingly in return.

“She saw the limitations of all her efforts. She remained small and very far off from the unfailing love that she would wish to practice. She understood then that it was on this very littleness that she must lean to ask God’s help.”

—St. Therese Church, Alhambra, CA Website

…I’m beginning to finally understand why Saint Therese is so beloved.

I feel this same way, dearest sister, unbearably so. Pray for me, that I too may surrender my fear of uselessness and instead run to God Our Father, leaning on Him, letting Him use my littleness as littleness for His Great Purposes. It is only through Him that I can achieve anything at all, and if He so uses me, then even the most seemingly insignificant action becomes profoundly blessed through His Power.

Dear Saint Therese, little flower, pray for us, your fellow tiny blooms in God’s garden, that we may learn from you how to love and trust and serve God ever more deeply, no matter how useless we may feel, for God always has a beautifully perfect use for everything.

mysticismmess: Having a plague during lent is so medieval I love

celtic-pyro: Now EVERYONE is making sacrifices.
 

“Come back to me with all your heart, fasting, weeping, mourning. Let your hearts be broken, not your garments torn, turn to the Lord your God again, for he is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, and ready to relent.” (Joel 2:12-13)

Honestly I see God’s terrible and wonderful Hand in even this, as an act of both chastisement and mercy. Penance and repentance are desperately needed in our fallen world, for the good of our souls, and this virus scare is a powerful impetus to bring about both.

If we accept this time as such, with unshakable faith in Him, then no matter what happens, He will use it all for the good of our souls. All glory and gratitude be to our Sovereign Loving Lord.

smol-catholic-bean: Dioceses shouldn’t be canceling Masses. If anything they should be creating more Mass times so people have more options and are more spread out. Anyone else agree?

Absolutely. A church IS an essential service in society– arguably THE essential service, at the heart of things. Yes, our bodies need food, but so do our souls, and we Must remember this, Especially in such times of mortal crisis.

I heard that some churches are indeed celebrating multiple masses per day, in order to keep attendance low (10-15 folks or so, I’d assume) without depriving anyone. I would love to see this nationwide. Priests should be profoundly grateful for this opportunity to offer an extra, deeply sanctifying sacrifice of time and effort for such a vital cause. And people should follow suit, realizing in the face of threatened deprivation, just how indispensable the Mass is in their lives, and making the effort to devotedly attend not just now, but forever after.

Nevertheless, even if we cannot attend a Mass right now, they ARE occurring and we must attend them spiritually. We must pray, we must do penance, we must act with charity, we must LIVE the essence of the Mass– because we ARE the Body of Christ, through Him and with Him and in Him, even if we cannot currently receive the Most Holy Eucharist to literally manifest that mysterious truth. We must let our hunger for God during this time of notable fasting, both physical and spiritual, motivate us to seek and pursue and adore Him all the more in His immediate ‘absence,’ driven by indefatigable hope, so that when He does return to us– in whatever sense– we will not take Him for granted, but run to embrace Him with tearful ardor and gratitude, relief and joy, living our restored lives with a new and driving sense of faith and love.

The short answer, though? Yes, more masses. We need them now more than ever.

“There’s one thing we need above everything else; It’s something we don’t talk about these days. We need a mighty avalanche of conviction of sin.”
-Leonard Ravenhill
 

It’s the first solid step in truly surrendering one’s life to Christ, and as such it is VITAL. Without a genuine conviction of sin, you cannot genuinely accept a Savior. And without Christ, we are lost!

Christ is our greatest need– therefore, the humbling heartbreak of contrition that drives us TO Him in earnest is, just as much, a need.

“You shouldn’t want to do things to gain merit, nor out of fear of the punishments of Purgatory. From now on, and always, you should make the effort to do everything, even the smallest things, to please Jesus.”

— St. Josemaria Escriva

Our hearts and motives are only pure when they are anchored and focused solely on serving God out of love, as simply and joyously as a child doting on a beloved parent. Any motives of fear, gain, loss, reward, or selfishness in any sense are impure as they are not oriented towards God. And this does sadden Him! Please, always examine your heart about this and pray for the grace to surrender all self-interest and give everything to God out of love. Trust Him; He will take care of the details. ❤

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31 KJV)

“Anything that does not lead you to God is a hindrance. Root it out and throw it far from you.”

— St. Josemaria Escriva

No exceptions, no excuses. We’re the Church Militant– this is a war against sin, and we cannot afford to be so hindered! Indeed, the more we grow to love God, the more unbearable such hindrances will become, as they are keeping us away from our Beloved.

If you are scared, hesitant, or unsure, ask the Holy Spirit for help in both discernment and courage. He will help you; He wants to throw out those obstacles even more than you do!

“Love for the Roman Pontiff must be in us a delightful passion, for in him we see Christ.”

— Josemaria Escriva, In Love with the Church, 13

We must love all people for this same reason, but yes, the Pope does have a sacred inheritance directly from the hands of Christ, and therefore his mirroring of Our Lord must be at the forefront of our hearts when obeying and respecting him. The Pope is not Christ, nor are we, but every Christian worth his salt should still love him with a special enthusiasm, seeing Jesus echoed in him in a unique and powerful way.

Describing our love of Christ in others as a “delightful passion” is really beautiful and moving in any case. After all, it is only through loving them that we can love Christ directly in this physical world. Remember that, and live it ardently.

“Purgatory shows God’s great mercy and washes away the defects of those who long to become one with Him.”

— St. Josemaria Escriva

The revelation of Purgatory has always been such a huge source of gratitude and hope for my soul. As a struggling sinner, I know my soul desperately needs purification in a literal sense before I can step into heaven. I want this. And Purgatory accomplishes this. It is, indeed, a showing of deepest mercy by our loving God.

Pray for those souls always!

“A task which presents no difficulties lacks human appeal - and supernatural appeal too. If you find no resistance when hammering a nail into a wall, what can you expect to hang on it?”

— St. Josemaría Escrivá

If you ever find a “nail” in your life too difficult to hammer home, just ask The Carpenter Himself– our dear Jesus Christ. Believe me, no one ever had to deal with nails more difficult than He did.

“God is here, This truth should fill our lives, and every Christmas should be for us a new and special meeting with God, when we allow His light and grace to enter deep into our soul.”

— St. Josemaria Escriva, Christ is Passing By

Christmas is such a deeply sacred and jubilant holiday for this very reason– a reason which surpasses all others. God is here! We cannot imagine anything more glorious, life-changing, or all-encompassing. God is with us now, and every celebration of His nativity should indeed bring fresh joy, hope, wonder, inspiration, and grace.

But it should never cease after Christmas, nor should it only begin there! The manger continues to exist in our hearts, awaiting His blessed birth daily, allowing us to meet Him brand-new and beautiful in every moment, every encounter, every prayer. Christmas is absolutely the time to let special snowdrift-deep grace and light and truth fill our souls, but don’t forget that the little Child in the cold continued to live and grow into the warmth of summer and beyond. But we don’t see His childhood, do we, even in the Bible. It’s a mystery, something hidden yet believed, a fact that nevertheless gives no details. But He is here, still, learning and laughing and loving us just the same.

And so, even if the Child stays a secret as the weather warms, the triumphant truth of Christmas should still fill our lives with His Presence year-round, sustaining us with its gorgeous reality of generous grace… until the snow returns with its pure white promise and we can once again meet Him and see Him and touch Him who our hearts have long and lovingly held in hope.

"Your job is not to judge. Your job is not to figure out if someone deserves something. Your job is to lift the fallen, to restore the broken, and to heal the hurting."

God is the only Judge, for He alone is just, righteous, wise, and pure. His Love will be the final say in all things. But this judgment is moral, and spiritual. Here on earth, living our mortal lives, God forbids us from judging as it is not, and never can be, our job.

Our job is to love. Our job is to minister to others, ALL others, without exception or prejudice. “Deserve” is a dirty word that mocks charity and mercy. Love counts no cost, nor does it even calculate one. Love simply gives, boundlessly and with sincere dedication, driven by courage and enthusiasm and zealous compassion, its only motive and goal being love itself– love of God and love of neighbor, at any cost, with any sacrifice. Love never stops; Love never runs; Love never ends.

If your neighbor trips, stumbles, falls, or collapses, help them up with a strong hand and loving heart, and if they need further help to stand or walk, continue to help them with utmost gentleness.

If your neighbor is damaged, cracked, bruised, fragile, or broken to pieces, help them mend with patience, tenderness and an open heart, remembering that broken pieces may both bleed and cut, handling each fragment with care and sincere compassion.

If your neighbor is hurting in any way– physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, financially, morally, creatively, et cetera– help them heal by soothing that ache however you can, even if you can only offer a bandage, a hug, a prayer, a listening ear, a dollar bill, a gentle correction, a word of inspiration… whatever you can give, whatever you have, give it. If all you have is a song, then sing with all the love in your heart. Put your hands to mending and holding and carrying and guiding and reaching out. Put your feet to rescuing and delivering and pursuing and working for the benefit of all. Put your mind to good thoughts to motivate and move you, put your mouth to good words to motivate and move others. In all things, love without limit. In all things, find the pain and kiss it better. In every human encounter, ask what they need and give all you can supply. Do it all with love.

This is the call of every Christian. This is what it means to imitate Christ. He, the Divine Physician, came to not only call sinners, but also to forgive and heal them. He came to minister to the sick and feeble, He came to cure our ills and infirmities, He was born to deliver us from death. He IS Love, and if we are in Him, then we will bring His Love to the world. We, too, will become healers and helpers to all peoples. We, too, will– indeed, we must– become Love in action.

There are infinite ways to serve others in every moment, and Love is just as infinite, for it is never diminished by the smallness of an action. You can help someone right now. You can love someone right now. You can help heal someone right now. This is the blessed reality of life, the silver lining of suffering– in the face of darkness, light shines all the more triumphantly, and its power is felt all the more strongly. You can be a candle of Love’s fire, a mirror of divine Light right now… even just with a sincere smile, a kind hello, or a loving thought. It all matters. It all makes a difference.

Rejoice, and do it!

Genesis 27:3 =
"The fact that the prophet asks Esau for food by giving him an order signifies the call that the Word addresses to the first people when he asks them for the fruit of the works of justice, that justice which was considered to be a nourishment for the Father. In fact, the words “go out to the field, and hunt game for me” signify worldly life." (Hippolytus of Rome)

"...The people, inflated with their personal glory, would not be justified by their faith but by being proud of their wars would ask for a tyrant as their king." (Hippolytus of Rome)

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21)
Today I challenge you to pray that God reveals His plan for your life to you.

"The seditious mob [at the U.S. Capital] was motivated... by an unholy amalgamation of white supremacy and Christianity."

Humility demands that we actively and constantly acknowledge this. Our emotions, guesses, reasonings, perceptions, and imaginations are constantly falling short of truth, inevitably so. We are wrong and mistaken in our judgements so often it’s honestly laughable– and yet, we stubbornly (and fearfully) insist that “we know what we’re doing.” We really don’t, though. Only God does. And that’s the biggest relief, the most profound reassurance, the deepest peace– the fact that God cannot make mistakes.

So loosen your tight grip on life. Stop hypermanaging the details, stop insisting on your way or the highway. Stop being afraid of failure, and instead surrender every choice to your Father in heaven, who will never fail. Lean on Him like a trusting child, and He will carry you through it all.

Advertising tries to stimulate our sensuous desires, converting luxuries into necessities, but it only intensifies man’s inner misery. The business world is bent on creating hungers which its wares never satisfy, and thus it adds to the frustrations and broken minds of our times.

Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Lift Up Your Heart

The only way out of the beartrap of sensuality is to make up our minds, solemnly and honorably, to desire God alone. If we constantly check our cravings with this pledge, being brutally honest in our motives, then the Spirit will give us the grace to break the chains of luxury– sometimes link by link, but breaking free nevertheless.

Inner misery comes from one thing: seeking happiness in anything other than Christ. Once we humbly realize and admit this– and it does take serious humility to endure that shock of acknowledging our own corrupted desires and decisions– we can turn our hungering hearts to Him at last, all the more fully day by day, and finally experience the true and real joy in God that He’s wanted us to have all along.

Take a hard look at your life right now. Are you feeling hungry, miserable, unsatisfied, unfulfilled? When you feel that pang of luxury and want, turn to God. Remember that this life is temporary and only God is eternal. Look to the roots of your desperate clinging and ask yourself: what is it you truly want? It’s not things, it’s a feeling– the feeling of finally being happy, satisfied, fulfilled, at peace. But you haven’t yet truly acknowledged the fact that this world, being ruled by death, cannot ever give you those things. It’s a scary truth, yes… but only until you remember that God IS those Good Things, and will give them to the heart of those that turn to Him alone as the Source and Giver of them.

No matter what you may be desiring in life right now, God is greater, better, and more beautiful. God is ultimate fulfillment. Turn to Him!

“The crisis of nothingness is a summons to the everything which is God.”

— Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Three to Get Married

The raw experience of nothingness– of a sudden collapse into poverty, a scourge of disease, a loss of property, a death of a loved one– such a brutal and absolute encounter with emptiness and the utter inability of this world to satisfy the soul, let alone survive for long in its inevitable ephemerality… this awakens us to the truth. It’s a hard, sudden, shocking awakening, flinging us headlong into the abrupt acknowledgment of Light, only fully knowable now because we have been dragged from such depths of darkness. When we have honestly found ourselves at rock bottom, scrabbling at the dusty walls of a coal cellar, desperate to breathe now that the air is so thin– our tolerance of terror has been exhausted; we can no longer bear the awful weight of nothingness, the paradoxically crushing burden of now knowing, firsthand, that the way of the world is ultimately naught– then we helplessly turn our eyes upwards, desperate for a glimmer of something real, something untarnishable, something other than the fleeting pleasures and phenomena of the physical world. And of course Satan will do his darndest to lie to us in the most grandiose ways during this time, offering floodlights and banquets and golden decorations for our tomb, but none of it ever relieves that hollow feeling, that starvation for something more in a cosmic sense.

God is everything. God is the only “something,” the only real and beautiful and eternal thing. And no matter how long we may have been drowning in “nothing,” crushed under its terrible gravity, the moment we sincerely reach up to God He will take our hand and lift us higher. But how can we reach something– Someone– we do not acknowledge, let alone even know is there? Well, that’s the ironic beauty of it all. Falling into the debasing gutter of emptiness can slingshot us into the yearning for God’s boundless heavens better than anything else. God allows it for that very reason.

Are you currently in a crisis of nothingness? Are you experiencing, right now, the jarring and absolute revelation of just how fleeting the things of this world are? Are your finances failing, is your health declining, are your friends and family leaving, is your life falling apart? Then run to God, the only True and Lasting One, an impregnable stronghold, the very Source of all the peace and hope and light and life that your heart so desperately seeks and needs.

It is only through understanding what nothingness is, that we are able to know What nothingness isn’t.

“The Church is not a continuous phenomenon through history, rather, it is something that has been through a thousand Resurrections after a thousand crucifixions. The bell is always sounding for its execution which, by some great power of God, is everlastingly postponed.”

— Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Three to Get Married

I feel that, as God exists outside of time and therefore the Crucifixion and Resurrection are always occurring in a very real sense… it is only fitting that, as Christ’s Body, the Church in time would share in that perpetual dying and rising, always growing closer to God despite all odds, always both hanging on the Cross and rising from the tomb.

It’s something to meditate upon for sure.

heartcrymissionary:

My only resolution for this New Year - God is my first priority. I’ve run after people and I desired things. I’ve given importance to each and everything except God. And I’ve learned my lessons. Nothing is permanent and even though I got what I wanted, I’m not happy and there’s always a void or dissatisfaction. I can feel it in my heart that only God can satisfy my soul but I was pretty reluctant to obey him. But, God works in mysterious ways. He let me wander so that I personally experience the difference and now I’m the Prodigal Son who came back to his father. My God didn’t push me and he accepted me just the way I am. His Love is True. His Grace is so Deep. If you’re going through this phase, now is the time to start over. Come to Jesus. Start a New Life. Be Blessed. #ToNewBeginnings

I can echo this prayer so exactly it hurts… but what a paradoxically blissful pain it is, to now realize– quite powerfully– the truth that God is all I ever needed or will need.

No one is guaranteed tomorrow; every moment alive comes from God’s tender mercies. Therefore let us use every one of those moments for His glory, without procrastination, excuse, or timidity!

Let 2020 be the year that you, too, come fully home to God, that you begin to choose Him and His Truth over all else, that you seek Him first with no exceptions or excuses. Let 2020 be the first year of your new life in Christ, living in the unshakable joy of His Presence and spurning the empty entertainment of this fleeting world.

It’s never too late, as long as we are breathing, to return to God. He is always waiting for us with open arms and loving heart.
 

"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions." (2 Timothy 4:3)

That time is now.

Furthermore, it’s disturbing how thoroughly those false teachers and itching ears can utterly blind a soul to the fact that they’re living in a “comfortable hell”– lounging in front of the TV while the world burns around them, as it were.

The pain of “enduring sound teaching” is a divine ache, a growing pain, an indication of pruning and healing and breaking out of chains. It’s like a child avoiding a vaccination because they’re afraid of the needle & pinch– understandable, true, but ultimately foolish and dangerous, for without that brief pain, they are at serious risk of suffering far greater pain, perhaps even death, as a result of disease.

Either you endure the blessed ache of conversion, or you numb yourself to the demands of holiness and end up burning later.

Do you want heaven, even if it hurts to get there, or would you rather just have your comfy chair and happy lies in hell?

Sweet Jesus, talking
   his melancholy madness,
     stood up in the boat
       and the sea lay down,

silky and sorry.
   So everybody was saved
      that night.
         But you know how it is

when something
    different crosses
       the threshold -- the uncles
          mutter together,

the women walk away,
   the young brother begins
      to sharpen his knife.
         Nobody knows what the soul is.

It comes and goes
   like the wind over the water --
      sometimes, for days,
        you don't think of it.

 Maybe, after the sermon,
   after the multitude was fed,
     one or two of them felt
       the soul slip forth

like a tremor of pure sunlight
   before exhaustion,
      that wants to swallow everything,
         gripped their bones and left them

miserable and sleepy,
    as they are now, forgetting
       how the wind tore at the sails
          before he rose and talked to it --

tender and luminous and demanding
   as he always was --
      a thousand times more frightening
         than the killer storm.

The fear of God is wrapped up in the realization of Who and What God IS. To have seen that ageless and irresistible power manifest in Jesus– to see the wild terror of nature utterly collapse in obedience to Him– would have made any witness acutely aware of not only His divinity, but also of their own frailty, and the greater reality that encompassed them both.

Remembering Jesus makes it impossible to forget one’s soul– makes it impossible to ignore the truth of sin and mercy and judgment and life after death. Such a recollection can be honestly frightening, to a soul that has been asleep… and so the very reality of Jesus is indeed frightening as well.

The utter majesty of God is a thousand times more frightening than anything. And maybe no human ever can or will know what the soul is. But when we look at Jesus, we become so powerfully aware of both these things. And perhaps, the fact that such a being loves us, is frightening only in its initial incomprehensibility.

It’s this gorgeously dramatic paradox. The very God who both stirs up and silences the hurricanes and tidal waves of our lives, is the same God who yearns to wrap us in His arms with boundless love, even if it takes a typhoon to get us there.

But fear of God is rooted in reverence, and that reverence blooms into love, when we listen to Jesus tell us that this unfathomably great God is Our Father, through Him. This, too, carries a hugely fearful responsibility at first… which, like all else, melts away into love as we humbly admit our childlike helplessness before Him, and run to Him as such.

Devotion to Mary is simply giving her permission to form us into an image of Christ.

The simplicity of this profundity just floored me.

Mary, as our mother, then becomes to us who she literally only was to Jesus Christ. Calling her “mother” then puts us in the position OF her beloved Son, our Savior… and so she will joyfully raise us AS such.

It’s a staggering, humbling honor, a huge responsibility, and an unfathomable grace, to be able to not only grow closer to Christ in this way, but also to have such an opportunity of special intimacy with Him, under His mother’s care, her eyes recognizing Him in us and lovingly forming us into an ever-truer likeness of Him.

Mary was, and is, the mother of Christ. If we love Him, then devotion to her should follow suit.