Sunday, April 30, 2017

Abortion ....how very very sad

Yesterday i supported a woman whose son of 15 was intimate with a young lady and she got pregnant.  This girl wanted her child and her parents were forcing her to abort.  Her family came to the parent of the father asking for money to pay for the abortion.  By the Grace of God she refused explaining that she would gladly take the child and raise him/her but would not participate in ending this life.  This Mother and her son even went to the clinic to try and save the child after much discussion prior......to try and speak with the young Mother and offer her the options that were available.  Even the holy people praying outside tried to guide and intervene.  In the end, this girl was forced to take the life of her own first child and the Father and his Mom were thrown out of the clinic.  And now there is a dead child, and a very troubled Mother and Father who will never....never be the same again.  i will ellaborate more at a later point because i know some of you are for abortion and i would like to share more deeply my opinion of it and the Church's stand.  But for now, here are St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta's words which explain my viewpoint better than i could....it is time to meditate....it is time to pray....it is time to grieve....and to lift up to God these people....my own grief, sorrow and righteous indignation limit my ability to put into words what i want to share...til next time....read Psalm 139:13-16

13You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
15My bones are not hidden from you,
When I was being made in secret,
fashioned in the depths of the earth.
16Your eyes saw me unformed;
in your book all are written down;
my days were shaped, before one came to be.


Mother Teresa's words:

"That special power of loving that belongs to a woman is seen most clearly when she becomes a mother. Motherhood is the gift of God to women. How grateful we must be to God for this wonderful gift that brings such joy to the whole world, women and men alike! Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion, but also by thinking that other things like jobs or positions are more important than loving, than giving oneself to others. No job, no plans, no possessions, no idea of "freedom" can take the place of love. So anything that destroys God's gift of motherhood destroys His most precious gift to women-- the ability to love as a woman."
~ Mother Theresa’s Letter to the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995 ~
"We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other."
~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta ~
"Once that living love is destroyed by contraception, abortion follows very easily."
~ Bl. Mother Teresa ~
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish."
~ Blessed Mother Teresa ~
"Abortion kills twice. It kills the body of the baby and it kills the conscience of the mother. Abortion is profoundly anti-women. Three quarters of its victims are women: Half the babies and all the mothers."
~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta ~
"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has shown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts ~ a child ~ as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being’s entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign."
~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta , "Notable and Quotable", Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94 , p. A14 ~
The greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion, which is war against the child. The mother doesn't learn to love, but kills to solve her own problems. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want."
"The way to plan the family is natural family planning, not contraception...This (use of contraceptives) turns the attention to self and so it destroys the gift of love in him or her. In loving, the husband and wife must turn the attention to each other as happens in natural family planning, and not to self, as happens in contraception. Once that living love is destroyed by contraception, abortion follows easily . . . And abortion, which often follows from contraception, brings a people to be spiritually poor, and that is the worst poverty and the most difficult to overcome."
Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion"
"Any country that accepts abortion is the poorest of the poor 
"Many people are concerned with children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is the greatest destroyer of peace today- abortion which brings people to such blindness."
We must remember that life begins at home and we must also remember that the future of humanity passes through the family"
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you live as you wish"
"Be humble like Mary so that you can be holy like Jesus"
I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself."
"And if we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?"
"By abortion the Mother does not learn to love, but kills her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibilty at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women to the same trouble. So abortion leads to more abortion."
All these are quotations by Blessed Mother Teresa

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Bienvenido, pueblo de Chile / Welcome people of Chile

Palabras especiales de bienvenida a mis nuevos amigos en Chile. Que Dios los bendiga y espero que continúen visitando nuestro blog. Deje que su familia y amigos sepan que son bienvenidos a visitar este sitio. ¡Dios te bendiga! Y Gracias por ser parte de nuestra familia. Hasta la próxima vez ... angie
Special words of welcome to my new friends in Chile.  May God bless you and i hope you continue to visit us on this blog.  Let your family and friends know they are most welcome to visit this site.  God bless you!  and Thanks for becoming a part of our family.  til next time...angie

Yoga and the Catholic Church

i received a note from a young lady i know regarding yoga and a discussion online....and how the Catholic Church stands on it.  This was my reply to her, and i thought it was something to share here on the blog....fyi...
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Thank you for reaching out to me regarding the topic of yoga and the Catholic Church.  Here are  three sites to review regarding this topic.   i think topics like this become possible places of anger and animosity among believers and there really is no reason for that.  We are all on journey with God and it takes a lifetime to evolve and grow into the saint we were created to be.   With that in mind we all must be kind and loving at all times in our discussions and sharing about topics of interest and our faith walks.  God has given free will to each of us and we must never try to take that from anyone....ever. The key in communicating as believers is we share Knowledge and Truth and discuss our own opinions always willing to listen to another and then take it all to prayer....this is the key....take everything to God in prayer...and then be open and pliable to do what He tells us!  If we sincerely are open to God's Perfect Will, Understanding, Way of Living, then He will not deny us that!  And so i suggest you share these sites with your friends and let them take this to God individually and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Who loves us more than anyone else ever could, will come and clarify as only He can in the minds and hearts of all those who sincerely seek Truth.  i know your sharing was out of concern for others to understand some dangers you have learned about but i think it is always good for us to apologize and ask forgiveness if we get too pushy or unkind or even arrogant in our sharing and that often happens when we fight for what we believe in.  i know you well and i know your heart....but maybe it is time to share with your online community that you suffer Traumatic Brain Injury and maybe you could not express things in the most loving way or the way you wanted to because of a Mental Handicap.  i think we all have to become more able to give the benefit of the doubt when dealing with each other especially in the written word....we need to have patience because even people who consider themselves, 'normal', suffer from imbalances...good days, and bad days and many in between which all affect our interactions with each other.  i also think if you share about your disability, you free others who suffer from any similar limitations to be open about their sufferings and  in this sharing you love on others who do not have a disability and do not understand by helping them to learn how to be more compassionate and kinder in their dealings with others.   Please note i continue to pray for you daily and even more consciously now, all those who have been a part of this yoga dialogue.  May Jesus, the Only One Who never leaves or forsakes us, continue to mold us into His Image so everyone we meet or are in anyway in contact with will want to know the Cause of Our Joy....To HIM ALONE be all Glory and Honor and Power forever and ever!  AMEN!  

til next time....let's read  1Corinthians 13.....slow and self reflective...

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Bem-vindo Portugal !! Welcome Portugal !!


O que uma surpresa maravilhosa para chegar em casa e descobrir muitos de Portugal se juntaram a nós no meu site de blog. Não há coincidências com Deus. Eu tenho lido os relatos das Aparições de Fátima de Nossa Senhora e dos três filhos, Lúcia, a Beata Jacinta e o Beato Francisco apenas esta semana. O milagre do sol, as dificuldades que as crianças e suas famílias experimentaram, os primeiros 5 sábados, etc. estou revisando tudo ..... e tenho estado pedindo a ajuda e orações desses visionários junto com Jesus, Nossa Senhora de Deus. Fátima, São José ... Nossa Senhora das Dores ... e Nossa Senhora do
Monte Carmelo Que foram todos vistos em uma das aparições de Fátima.. Eu tive o privilégio terrível de fazer uma peregrinação a Fátima quando eu estava estudando meu último semestre de faculdade em Sevilha, Espanha. Meus amigos queriam ir a Lisboa, a capital para ir aos clubes. Viajei com eles, mas tomei o ônibus para Fátima para orar. Foi a vida mudando para mim. Tive a sorte de me encontrar e conversar com a irmã de Lucia e um homem mais velho que tinha experimentado o Milagre do Sol.

O Beato Francisco e a Beata Jacinta serão canonizados em maio pelo Papa Francisco. Eles serão nomeados santos da Santa Igreja Católica Romana. É o 100º aniversário desta aparição. Vamos todos refrescar-nos ou aprender pelas primeiras vezes esta linda história milagrosa. Este Santuário listado abaixo está em Washington NJ ... eles têm um monte de informações sobre toda esta história ... dê uma olhada ... eu espero e rezo mais de Portugal vai se juntar a nós ... continuar a passar isso para outros. Se uma alma é movida, tocada, curada ou cresce a partir de meus blogs, valeu a pena todo o esforço. Louvado seja Jesus Cristo!

Até a próxima vez

https://wafusa.org/the-story-of-fatima/

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What a wonderful surprise to come home and find out many from Portugal have joined us at my blog site.  There are no coincidences with God.  i have been reading the accounts on the Fatima Apparitions of Our Lady and the three children, Lucia, Blessed Jacinta and Blessed Francisco just this week.  The miracle of the sun, the difficulties the children and their families experienced, the First 5 Saturdays, etc.  i am reviewing it all.....and have been asking the help and prayers of these visionaries along with Jesus, Our Lady of Fatima, St. Joseph....Our Lady of Sorrows...and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Who were all seen in one of the Fatima Apparitions.  i had the awesome privilege of making a pilgrimage to Fatima when i was studying my last semester of College in Sevilla, Spain.  My friends wanted to go to Lisbon, the capital to go to the clubs.  i traveled with them, but took the bus to Fatima to pray.  It was life changing for me.  i was fortunate to meet and talk to Lucia's sister and an older man who had experienced the Miracle of the Sun.

Blessed Francisco and Blessed Jacinta will be canonized in May by Pope Francis.  They will be named Saints of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.  It is the 100th Anniversary of this apparition.  Let's all refresh ourselves or learn for the first times this beautiful Miraculous story.  This Shrine listed below,  is in Washington NJ...they have alot of information on this whole story...take a look...i hope and pray more from Portugal will join us...continue to pass this on to others.  If one soul is moved, touched, healed or grows from my blogs, it was worth all the effort.  Praised be Jesus Christ!

Til next time....

https://wafusa.org/the-story-of-fatima/

Saturday, April 22, 2017

Divine Mercy Sunday

Tomoro is Divine Mercy Sunday, also called the Second Sunday of Easter.  It is a most extraordinary day and brings with it many very special blessings.  i will give you a link to go to so you can better understand.  Look for Mercy Sunday events in your local Catholic Churches and try to participate in them.

https://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/feast.htm

http://www.thedivinemercy.org/mercysunday/faq.php

til next time....Blessed Easter to all!  And Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Bienvenue aux habitants de la France! (welcome to people of France!)


Sensationnel!!! Je suis tellement content d'accueillir les gens de France sur mon blog. Je suis toujours émerveillé par le potentiel d'atteindre tellement sur cet ordinateur ... tant de ... C'est quelque chose que je crois que les premiers apôtres avaient rêvé de ... toucher le monde avec le message de Jésus et je n'ai pas De quitter ma maison pour le faire. La France a un grand héritage chez Dieu qui aime les gens ... Celui qui est un «mon ami», saint Jeanne d'Arc ... un de mes héros qui a donné sa vie pour le Christ et est un Martyr .... i Aime aussi saint Bernadette des miraculées apparitions de Lourdes! Elle a été trouvée incorrupt après 10 ans après sa mort et le reste depuis 130 ans. (Voir la vidéo ci-dessous) Comment j'aimerais pouvoir visiter ce sanctuaire où les miracles se produisent chaque jour. Merci pour votre visite. J'espère que vous visitez encore et invitez tous ceux que vous connaissez à visiter aussi. Permets-nous de nous garder mutuellement sur cette Très Sainte des Nuits lorsque nous entrons profondément dans la Résurrection de Jésus-Christ. Essayez d'aller à Mass ce soir ... c'est une expérience très céleste uniquement disponible sur la Vigile de Pâques chaque année. Loué soyez Jésus-Christ maintenant et pour toujours!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5711hI04mw


Wow!!! i am sooo happy to welcome the people of France to my blog.  i am always amazed at the potential of reaching so many on this computer....so so many....This is something i believe the early Apostles dreamed of ..touching the world with Jesus' Message and i don't have to leave my home to do it.  France has great legacy in God loving people....One who is a dear 'friend' of mine, St. Joan of Arc...one of my heros who gave her life for Christ and is a Martyr....  i also love St. Bernadette from the miraculous Lourdes apparitions!   She was found incorrupt after 10 years had passed from her death and remains so for the past 130 years. (see video below)  How i wish i could visit this shrine where miracles happen every day.  Thank you for visiting.  i hope you visit again and invite all those you know to visit as well.  Let us all keep each other in praye on this The Most Holiest of Nights as we enter deeply into the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Try to go to Mass tonight....it is a most Heavenly experience only available on the Easter Vigil each year.  Praised be Jesus Christ Now and Forever!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5711hI04mw

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Tonight....Holy Thursday...Just Marvelous!

Every Catholic Church remains open tonight after Mass some til midnight and others overnight..with a side altar or different location in the church highly decorated with flowers which have not been part of our 40 days of Lent....the Blessed Bread,  which we believe becomes Jesus at Mass exactly as done at the Last Supper, is put in a special Tabernacle and we come and spend time with Jesus privately..in deep silence...loving and thanking Him for leaving us This Gift of Himself that fortifies us in ways we cannot even totally understand.  An old tradition was to go to 7 churches to visit Him late on Holy Thursday night...some still do this...taking in the various decor and reminders of Who and What this Mystery really is.  i love Holy Thursday...i love what happens after the Mass...i love the quiet encounter with the Living God....

If you can, try to stop in a Catholic Church...in many if you choose during this vigil that we stand watch with Him as we prepare to walk the steps of His Death and Resurrection.

The beauty and mysticism of our church is very conducive to deep prayer....tonight..."This is My Body...This is My Blood....He breathed on them....Do this in Remembrance.....be the servant of all"...candles, flowers, incense, side altar Tabernacle, deep silence, music, The Gloria sung by Angels at His Birth sung tonight after 40 days of not singing it, the Holy Oils (chrism) for Baptism, Confirmation and Anointing of the Sick processed into each Catholic Church blessed during the Mass of Chrism which was held this week in the Archdiocese Cathedral with all the priests and bishops...

"O Come let us Adore HIM...Christ The Lord!"

Luke 22:14-20
The Last Supper.14When the hour came, he took his place at table with the apostles.15He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer,16for, I tell you, I shall not eat it [again] until there is fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”17Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and said, “Take this and share it among yourselves;18for I tell you [that] from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”19Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.”20And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you.

THE EUCHARIST, THE LAST SUPPER
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap060500.htm

More information click below:
  • To present the biblical basis for the origin and development of the Roman Catholic Church.
  • To present the development of the canon of Scripture and evolution of biblical teaching in the Church.
  • To understand the role of paradosis/tradition in the oral transmission of revelation.
  • To study the Council of Jerusalem, described in the 15th chapter of The Acts of the Apostles and its role in the development of doctrine in the conciliar movement in the Church.
  • To understand the revelation, doctrinal development and practice of the sacramental life in the history of the Church.
  • To study the role of the Holy Spirit as teaching authority in the Church.
  • To study the revelation and development of hierarchical authority in the Church.
  • To understand the hierarchy of truths in the Church as well as the role of private devotion and personal growth in holiness.

http://www.catholicapologetics.org/

til next time...Blessed and Fruitful Holy Thursday....praying always for you!


Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Holy Week and the Catholic Church...

This is the Catholic Christian's Highest Holy Season.  This is called Holy Week....If you have never been to Holy Week Celebrations, please consider joining in even if you are not Catholic.  Holy Thursday we remember the Last Supper....when Jesus celebrated the Passover Meal with his Disciples, family and friends.  It is on this day that we Catholics celebrate three things:  The Gift of the Eucharist...Holy Communion....Jesus said," This is my Body..."....2.  The priesthood is given, "Do this in memory of me", and the Service Commission when Jesus washes their feet giving us example to be the servant of all....all masses on Holy Thursday the priest washes feet of parishioners....Good Friday we remember His Death to pay for our sins..we venerate the Cross in Thanksgiving for Jesus dying on it for us so that Heaven's Doors could be opened..we pray prayers of intentions for all peoples and all religions.....and we read the entire Passion....Easter Vigil is the day we celebrate His Resurrection....at this Mass a fire is blessed and the Pasquale Candle is lit from it and then everyone's candle is lit from the Candle....signifying Christ as Our Light...so powerful to see a black church light up with candles....at this Mass readings of the entire creation/salvation stories....new converts to Catholicism all over the world enter and join our church thru Baptism (the priest blessed the Holy Water on the Vigil), First Holy Communion and Confirmation...all at the vigil...these are adults who have decided that the Catholic Faith was calling them.....thousands....thousands each year...Here are the numbers...

http://www.usccb.org/news/16-032.cfm

Many people think people only convert out of the Catholic Faith.  Often this happens when people who do not know Christ yet even though they come to church to go thru the motions...they  have an awakening experience elsewhere.  But those who return to the Roman Catholic Church research and make that decision in great knowledge and study.  Many are Pastors and Reverands from other denominations who finally are drawn to go deeper and find the answers in this Church which was the very first...filled with Mysticism, Truth, ties to Our Jewish Father Faith,....so close to the celebrations of the Early Church Fathers....no one just becomes Catholic....it is a journey ...takes years...it is a person who is being called back home...and these converts could defend the reason we Catholics do what we do better than us born into the faith young....because they learn it all and hunger for it in a way we who are born into it young take all of it for granted.  Two great books on this topic are, "Rome Sweet Home" by Scott Hahn...a Pastor and teacher of Seminary in the Baptist Faith who converted....and another gives many accounts of convert stories of people who joined us from all different backgrounds and religions..."Surprised by the Truth"I and II....

NO GREATER LOVE HATH ANY MAN THAN TO LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS....let us celebrate this week differently than all weeks...let us enter into holy events...celebrations...fast and pray..and give alms...let us watch things that draw us to God...this is Holy Week...Palm Sunday started the Lord's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem...let us not stop there...let us walk with Him...every step of the way until His Resurrection.  Anyone could have died, but the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is the Proof that He truly is the Son of God...and all He taught and lived was Truth.

Here are sights to go to to learn more about this week...these days...Jesus Christ and who we are...why we do what we do and what we believe and why in the Roman Catholic Church...

WELCOME TO ALL ENTERING OUR CHURCH THIS YEAR....YOU ARE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND WE WERE NOT THE SAME WITHOUT YOU!

For all Catholics who are not practicing, please come home...we miss you...and we are not the same without the entire body....if you do not fully understand our faith, please research all your questions and get the answers before having any opinion that would keep you from being with us.  Too often people do not come, or leave because they do not know or understand yet.  If you are not active or deciding to leave, please at least get all the answers from our perspective before going.  Make an informed decision.  Here are some links to search...


http://www.usccb.org

http://dynamiccatholic.com/

https://www.catholic.com/

http://www.scotthahn.com/

http://thereasonforourhope.org/

To everyone, be assured of my continued prayers....and with Passover, Easter and the Orthodox Easter all falling in the same week...let us rejoice, celebrate and pray for each other and for peace in our world!  This is surely a sign to us because often our feasts are on different weeks....Sincere Love is the key to all success which is only derived from the True and Living God...

til next time...

ps:  Easter is so important the Catholic Church celebrates Easter for a week long.  Every day next week is Easter...This comes from the our Jewish Roots of long celebratios....any man could have died...but the Resurrection is what makes all the difference in the world....BLESSED AND FRUITFUL HOLY WEEK, EASTER SUNDAY...MONDAY, TUESDAY, WED, THURS, FRI, SAT AND SUNDAY!!!!





Friday, April 7, 2017

Sadly we have to rearrange our priorities....

Earlier this week 2 men were found  dead in the Hudson River.  One of them i knew. While watching the news the reporter interviewed two young 'preppy' people from Hoboken near where the bodies were found,  they asked them to speak....and they said things like...'we thought this was a good neighborhood....or we never had anything like this happen before.'.....i became so grieved and angry at these type of comments because 2 lives were gone way too soon in a tragic way.  No matter how they passed away or why, this was the saddest thing in the world and yet human beings who appear all together, young, beautiful, have young children, affluent have nothing better to say regarding the situation ...and nothing to do with the human life that has value beyond compare.  These were our brothers, our uncles, our spouses, our friends....they are ours and sadly they did not get to finish their important work on this earth and suffered a very sad death.

i desperately wished i could find a reporter and speak this Truth.  Few thought of their souls....i took the time, by inspiration from God Alone, to go down to where they were recovered and knelt in prayer saying a Divine Mercy Chaplet which we Catholics say often when someone is dying or has died...i did one for each ignoring the looks and attitudes of those passing by...ignoring the thoughts of many in my life who would label this showing off or too religious or weird...i was kneeling to plead with God in respect and grief  for these two beautiful men....With opinions like the ones on the news...and the lack of Love in our world...with the tragedy of how they passed....i felt their souls could be grieving and wanted to help bring the Breathe of God to lift the wings of their souls and help send them Home to Heaven to be with Their Maker.  i cried as if they were my sons...i have been grieving for days praying, crying and thinking of them and their families who will have to live with this the rest of their lives.  Oh the pain....and yet our world worries about a good neighborhood....soooo sad....This is the condition of our world...we are so selfish and self absorbed that we don't even see the person standing right in front of us....

Let's start to ask people we meet sincerely how they are...listen with Love...giving hope and kindness to all we meet....let's start looking at life differently...starting with a seed of a flower...to a bug...to a whale...to a lion...to a child in the womb...to all human life....to elderly and disabled....ALL LIFE IS VALUABLE SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY WERE MADE BY THE LIVING GOD!!!!

May God have mercy on our indifference...our arrogance...our pride...May He fill us with His Unconditional Love so we may pour It out on a world that is starving for Him!!!  STARVING!

'ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO THEM O LORD AND MAY PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.  MAY THEY REST IN PEACE.  MAY THEIR SOULS AND ALL THE SOULS OF THE FAITHFULLY DEPARTED THROUGH THE DIVINE MERCY OF GOD, REST IN PEACE.  AMEN'

Praised be Jesus Christ now and forever!  til next time....Read 2 Maccabees 12:38-46...This book is not in every Bible, ...it was removed in the 1500s by Luther and those from the reformation.  Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and the Church of the East all have Maccabees in their Bibles... because their Bibles were compiled long before the 1500s and they consider them inspired by God Himself!

Expiation for the Dead.
38Judas rallied his army and went to the city of Adullam. As the seventh day was approaching, they purified themselves according to custom and kept the sabbath there.39On the following day, since the task had now become urgent, Judas and his companions went to gather up the bodies of the fallen and bury them with their kindred in their ancestral tombs.40But under the tunic of each of the dead they found amulets sacred to the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids the Jews to wear. So it was clear to all that this was why these men had fallen.41They all therefore praised the ways of the Lord, the just judge who brings to light the things that are hidden.42Turning to supplication, they prayed that the sinful deed might be fully blotted out. The noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, for they had seen with their own eyes what had happened because of the sin of those who had fallen.43He then took up a collection among all his soldiers, amounting to two thousand silver drachmas, which he sent to Jerusalem to provide for an expiatory sacrifice. In doing this he acted in a very excellent and noble way, inasmuch as he had the resurrection in mind;44for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead.45But if he did this with a view to the splendid reward that awaits those who had gone to rest in godliness, it was a holy and pious thought.46Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be absolved from their sin.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

PIETY IS SANITY!!! Silence those other voices!

i have learned in my life that one can never know what God may use to touch us.  i have seen music, art, movies, books that i would never want any person/child to participate in and watch, yet saw God use it for their good....a spiritual message in spite of the dark content.  Ideally we wont need those things that promote much of the world's darker side, but still Our God "meets people where they are"...as we should also...a quote a young priest shared with me in Confession.

My son loves comic books.  One day he came to me quoting a line from a Batman Azrael comic book and i was pleasantly surprised.  The quote was Truth and Powerful.  Then the deep dialogue began.  This has happened many times before with comic books, movie quotes and themes, music etc. God used a comic book to reinforce something we often don't think of.  It said,

'People think the greatest achievement for satan is to trick humans into thinking he does not exist, but his real trick is making people think Piety is insanity'

Wow!  what a word!  The first part is still true.  Our world does not realize the forces we fight day in and day out.  The Scriptures are so clear on this Ephesians 6:12
12"For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens."

If we don't believe there is an enemy, we cannot fight him and therefore evil presides.

But the second part is what shot off the page for me.  This affects the lives of all believers who take seriously the Gospel.  Anyone who lives, eats and breathes for God is mocked by family and friends alike.  For me this started from childhood. Some abandon us because of our convictions.  Many run to us mostly in times of need for our prayer and encouraging help often never asking how we are, but behind our backs, the gossip and jokes they make cut deeply and sadly often derail a person from their calling.  St. Augustine has a famous quote,

"“You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in You.”   

This quote is so very true.  i often share a story of a children's music/Christian teaching program called "The Donut Repair Shop".  The man's name is The Donut Man....and they use a donut to easily explain to (children and adults alike) "life without Jesus is like a donut...there's a hole in the middle of your heart!"  These are the words of the cute song he uses for every show. This is the video from when he first started.  enjoy...it is cute and brings us to days past.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSN90GLg6ag

 Without God there is a void in our heart/soul nothing can fill.....only HIM!  We try to fill it with many worldly things...relationships, alcohol, noise, drugs, all types of sexual involvement that opposes God's Way which teaches sex in marriage between a man and woman and being open to children is His Way, all types of  things, ...the list is endless...Yet with all we search and buy and involve ourselves in, we never become fulfilled or happy or satisfied because all of the best life has to offer put together can NEVER fill what is meant for God!  

And so the evil one just has to have the majority of people in our lives mock us for our prayer time, our choices, our devotion, our being different and that will cause many to walk away from their true selves for at least a time and most of them sadly for good.  i remember the deep interior struggles i had thinking i was wrong, or off, or confused, when in reality those trying to pull me away from a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ are the one's who need Him the most!  It is very hard when we are different than most in our family circle.....when our families don't understand and cannot accept and nurture what they do not have themselves,  i just thank God He continues to knock at the door of our hearts....waiting and hoping we will open the door and let Him in!  Here is the traditional picture of Jesus knocking at the door of our hearts...and notice there is no doorknob for Him to open it...we must open it from the inside...it is our choice and free will to do so, or not.  Praise Him for His Grace supplied so we can, like a football player pushing thru the line, we can push thru all the unacceptance, ridicule and mockery from people.  Just because people are older than we are does not mean they are wiser.  

www.matthewfsheehan.net/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/500x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/j/o/john-brandi_art-work_A44_200-2402_34.jpg 

Let's start with ourselves....let's continue to chase God...and not change for any person...only for what God leads us to grow and evolve so we can become the saint we were created to be.  Let's be true to our consciences...and the Voice of the Living God.....Let's watch how we treat all people especially children when they have a calling in them...not to snuff it out...Let's stop ridiculing those who are aiming to be more and more like Jesus in all they do....unconditional Love sadly can only be given by those who experience it daily from the God Who made us,  so don't expect those far from God to support you and surely do NOT even entertain their thoughts and opinions .  We are God's and we have to talk to God  and discern things one on One with Him alone.  He then will show us if we will need someone to support our calling/ministry/life and will give us the one/ones meant to do that.  We can always consider someone's suggestion nomatter who they are, but it must be taken to God to see if it is Truth or the world's lie.

And let's forgive all those who have injured us....mocked us....those who continue to look down on us and treat us inappropriately because we are God Loving Obedient People willing to do all and give all for Our Savior Jesus Christ!  To Him Alone be the Glory and Honor and Praise for the Grace He has given us to always know deep down that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that our calling, conviction and fervor is Real and coincides with all those Saints who walked before us. :
13You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
14I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works! PSALM 139:13-14...  

Let's remember, it takes a lifetime to grow into our best....a lifetime...and so we must have patience with others and others should also be patient with us and the same love and kindness and acceptance we should expect and desire from others, we should always give the same.  For our calling at this moment makes us no better than anyone else...it is just our time...and our prayer is that everyone will eventually experience all the Love and Mercy and Acceptance and Growth in God as we have and more.....

Praised be Jesus Christ Now and Forever!    til next time....