Have you heard the one about ...

The comedian stood on the stage and shouted "12".

And the audience laughed in unison.

He then said "15" and they laughed even louder.

He cried out "23" and they stamped their feet with delight as they laughed and applauded.

He continued with his repertoire "24 ... 33 ... 39 ..." and the audience were in tears with laughter as he kept calling out various numbers.

After about fifteen minutes or so on stage I asked him afterwards in his room what all that was about.

He explained, "This is a very loyal audience who follow me everywhere wherever I do a show. Over the years they got to know all my jokes and they enjoy hearing them over and again. In order to make the show go faster, and so that I can pack in more jokes, I have printed them all out and numbered them. The audience have memorised all the jokes. Now all I have to do is call out the number, they remember the joke, and laugh at it!"

I was amazed at what he had just said. "Why ..." I asked hesitantly, "why did they not laugh when you said 42?"

"They had not heard that joke before!" he answered.

Over the passed few days we have heard the story of Christmas read out in church several times.

A pregnant Virgin and her husband go to Bethlehem on a donkey. There is no room in the inn. They go to the stable where a baby is born and placed in a manger. An Angel appears to shepherds and announces the Birth; and a star guides three Kings from the East to the stable.

We've all heard the story many times before and no doubt we will hear it again next Christmas and beyond.

Is it yet another old story from folklore which tradition repeats every twelve months and, like that comedian's audience, we remember once again and smile silently as we celebrate with family and friends?

Or is it perhaps something more important than that? In fact, the most important event that has ever happened in the history of the world.

God, the Creator of the whole Universe and what is in it and beyond it, loved us so much that He decided to make Himself flesh and visit us on earth as a human being.

I wonder how many people, as they celebrate the "12" days of Christmas from the 25th to the 6th, stop for a moment and really and seriously think about the awesomeness that this event really means?  

1? ... 3? ... 7? ... 100? ... More?

About the Author

Quick Bytes #43: Gloom

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Extreme weather.  Politics.  Bickering.  A difficult economy.

If the world seems gloomy now, imagine if the Gates of Heaven were shut and we had no chance of getting to Paradise.

THAT would be real gloom.


A blessed Christmas to you and yours as we celebrate God's selfless Gift to us.
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Homily from Father Francis Maple

Father Francis Maple

 

ADVENT – A TIME TO CELEBRATE

Luke 1:39-45

The Christmas season, more than any other time of the year, is an occasion for parties.  Families have parties.  Schools have parties.  Clubs have parties.  Businesses have parties.  I think this is good, but I’m sure we are not naïve enough to think that all of these parties reflect the true meaning of Christmas.  Nevertheless, it is good to know that Our Lord’s birth is the inspiration of more festivities than any other event in history.

Our Gospel reading for today reports what may have been the very first Christmas party.  It wasn’t big or elaborate.  The guest list was small.  Only two people attended this party and they were both women.  One was Elizabeth and very soon she would be giving birth to a boy who was to become John the Baptist.  The other was her cousin Mary, who had just learned that she would also have a Son, who would be the Saviour of the world.  Because of the coming events of the birth of their sons it was time to celebrate.  The account that we have of their time together is brief, but the tone of it is excitement and joy.  We are only told that they greeted each other but I am sure they hugged each other and even danced so great was their joy.  Elizabeth said, even her baby in her womb jumped for joy.  Of course, all healthy babies become active in the latter weeks of pregnancy, and their movements can be felt by their mothers.  Elizabeth was so happy herself, that she was sure her unborn baby was happy too.

What exactly were these two ladies celebrating?  They saw themselves as willing instruments in the hand of God.  He was at work in and through their lives to advance His purposes in the world.  Do we ever look upon ourselves in that light?  God didn’t just create us and tell us to get on with our life.  He created us for a purpose and that is why we should rejoice like Mary and Elizabeth.  Our old penny Catechism told us that the purpose God created us was to know, love and serve Him and be happy with Him forever in Heaven.  That thought alone is enough to make us want to rejoice.

There are some pessimists, and I am glad to say that they are in the minority in the world, who would say, “What is the point of celebrating because there are so many problems to face.”  If that were our way of thinking we would never celebrate.  When Mary and Elizabeth celebrated it did not mean that all their problems were solved and all their worries over.  You could say they were just beginning.  The path that lay ahead for both of them would bring indescribable pain.  Although I think I can say that Elizabeth never lived to see the death of her son, one day his head would be severed from his body and served on a platter to a drunken, decadent crowd.  Mary’s baby would live for thirty three years, then be nailed to a cross and left there to die.  Some might say that the celebration that took place that day in the Judean hills was very premature, but they celebrated nevertheless and that was an appropriate thing to do. 

Most celebrations are premature.  A man and a woman stand in Church and pledge their mutual love for as long as they both shall live.  Families and friends rejoice, they kiss the bride and congratulate the groom, propose toasts and throw confetti.  The two of them drive away in a car with ‘just married’ written across the back window and a few tin cans trailing behind.  The crowd wave good-bye and wish them well.  They hope and pray for the happy couple.  They know that this marriage has a thirty per cent chance of ending in divorce.  They know the possibilities for unhappiness are just as great as the possibilities for wedded bliss.  Still they celebrate, and that’s how it should be.  If we waited until all problems were solved, and there were only happy endings, we might never celebrate at all.

Christmas is just around the corner and our real reason for celebrating is because our Heavenly Father gave us the best gift the world has ever received – His Son.  Let this thought lie behind all our celebrations.  Should you meet someone this Christmas who has run out of smiles, take time to give that person one of yours, and perhaps he or she will give it to another.

Christmas and Purgatory Connection

Source

Since Christmas is a few days away, here is a pertinent quote from St. Teresa of Avila.  She tells us that:

 "the most souls are released on Christmas Day, followed by the number of souls released at Easter and then the feast days dedicated to Our Lord and Our Lady." 

Let's start offering up prayers for the holy souls in purgatory for our beloved family members and especially for those who have no one to pray for them.

Praise be Jesus and Mary!

Now and forever!

Advent Blessings,
Noreen

Mary's Legacy

When Mary was visited by the Angel Gabriel all those years ago, times were very different.

It would have been a great scandal for an un-married woman to become pregnant. It was even more outrageous to claim He is the Son of God. That would have been blasphemy surely!

Yet despite her fears of shame, rejection and ridicule, not to mention fear for her own safety, Mary trusted God and said "Yes".

She agreed to be the Mother of Jesus.

So, what is her legacy to us?

Obedience and trust.

Obedience and trust in God despite what must have been a very dangerous situation for her, and her family.

Are we that obedient and trusting when God speaks to us?

Quick Bytes #42: Would You Come Here?

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Would you leave the warmth of your couch to go to Antarctica right now?

Would you leave the safety of your neighborhood and enter the strife in Syria or Afghanistan?

Would you leave the love and freedom of your church to go to anti-Christian areas of India or Nigeria?

Of course not.  The difference between your home and those places is unthinkable.

And yet God left Heaven to dwell among us here on Earth - a delta that I'm sure is a million times greater.

It's just one more example of how much He loves us.

P.S. You can read my companion post to this here.
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Quotes from Caryll Houselander

"All of us can literally imitate him in the wholeness of sacrifice, in offering all that we are - and that, stripped of our selfishness - to God, as an act of adoration to God and of love for one another". "If Christ is growing in you, you are growing towards sacrifice...in real sacrifice there is joy which surpasses all other joys, it is the crescendo and culmination of love...it means a whole attention, a whole concentration, a whole donation."

"Christ asks for a home in your soul, where he can be at rest with you, where he can talk easily to you, where you and he. Alone together, can laugh and be silent and be delighted with one another. ...Forget yourself, forget your soul, let him tell you how he loves you, show what he is like, prove to you that he is real... he asks only one thing, that you will let him tell you this, directly, simply; that you will treat him as someone real, not as someone who does not really exist...Christ is God's Word, saying to the world: "I love you...every moment has been a self-donation to you".

Bypassing Purgatory? - Updated

This might be perceived as a controversial post because some of us have been taught, rather without footnotes to Catechisms or scripture, what purgatory is and why most all have to pass through it, whatever it is---a place, a state of being, before entering heaven.

When I think back on what I was taught or heard, what stood out clearest prior to my current understanding was a teaching of Bishop Sheen's that is used to explain indulgences.  He was saying that when we sin it is like hammering nails into a board and when we go to Confession, the absolution is like getting the nails pulled out, but then the holes are still there.  Punishment is still necessary.

Of course this flies in the face of what the Protestant would tell you that Jesus once and for all paid the price of sin and no other price needs to be paid.  That would take a post longer than any post ever written and there are books out there explaining the meaning of suffering, why suffering can be offered in reparation of sin, why some saints, particularly in the Latin rite, viewed suffering as means of resembling Christ.  This post isn't about trying to suffer our way into heaven.  We only get to heaven through belief and trust in our Savior, "washing our robes" in the Precious Blood of the Lamb of God (Revelation 7:14).

There is value in our suffering when united to the suffering of Christ and that is scriptural too (Colossians 1:24), and it has been enlighted by the teachings of Blessed Pope John Paul II in Salvifici Doloris.

We have the wisdom that was given by God to the saints, and preserved for us through their writings to help us, that the Protestants have unfortunately been deprived of.  I am speaking of the teachings of St. Catherine of Genoa, and St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, and St. Faustina.

My understanding is not incompatible with the teaching of Bishop Sheen, but more along the lines that the holes left over indicate a tendency toward sin due to our not resembling the heart of Our Savior, the most tender, most merciful, most forgiving, most loving, most sensitive heart.

My belief/understanding is to the extent our heart resembles Christ's merciful heart of forgiveness and love, and the more perfect our trust in Jesus's Divine Mercy the higher the probability that we will bypass purgatory. When I hear people I love say something is unforgivable or say something disparaging, unloving, judgmental about someone or some group of people, this is when I worry for their spending time in purgatory. It shows their heart has not been formed into the mold of Jesus.

OK, yes, I am still very much one of those!  I have hope though that I have found the way, of course his name is Jesus, but it isn't just his name, or who he is (our Savior), but also, what he taught or rather what he commanded us:

John 13:34: "I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other like I loved you."

1 John 4:16: And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

1 John 4:8: Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

What these verses say to me (and this is illuminated by the writings of St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Therese) is that to the extent we do not love we are not following Jesus's command to love like he has loved us.  We cannot love the way he loves us unless we know and rely on the love God has for us.  Obviously, God is the judge and Jesus the gate, but my strong sense is we cannot know God in heaven unless we love as he has loved us, which is a symptom of being docile to the Holy Spirit's work of sanctifying grace.  My belief is if we don't learn what seems to be a very obvious teaching of Jesus in the Gospels, and echoed in the First letter of John, further illuminated by the writings and example of Saints, but rather persist in non-forgiveness, acts of commission and omission that show lack of love and mercy, actual prejudice toward groups of people, etc. then we will not be able to go from death straight into heaven.  We will instead learn what should have been the obvious and demanding, commanding lesson of love in Purgatory, whether that be a state or a place.  Some mystics (personal revelations only, not teachings of the church, or scriptural) did write that there is a place and real suffering in purgatory.

We will need to have our heart fixed first through either a very soul-filled spiritual purgation as we realize the magnitude of Christ's love and sacrifice (will come rather quickly when we are face to face with our beautiful Savior without the veil of this life), or perhaps through experiencing some real suffering in a state or place of purgatory.  It seems to me that the purity of heart and primary willingness to love and console our Precious Lord are brought about by following Christ's command, thus, "Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in him."  Even if we have failings instead of the holes in the board remaining after the nails are removed, they are filled in by the perfect way of trust in God's love and the confidence that his love and mercy are greater than any failing we could commit.
  

In case it seems I have left the reservation on this one, I would implore you to take some time and ponder the teaching on purgatory from St. Therese.  This post by Patricia is concise, versus re-reading Story of A Soul (which I just did), and then reading multiple commentaries on it, and due to including a commentary, thoroughly explains this teaching, and is well worth the time to read it.

I love the empty hands teaching of St. Therese also contained in her Offering to Merciful Love. It is along the lines of Marian consecration . . . we give any merit for anything we do to her to use as she wills. The effect of this is empty hands and the trust that the Father will look at us through the precious face of his Son and that his precious blood alone will merit our entrance into heaven....why else would we be longing to be one of the white robbed masses in Revelation 7 that washed their robes in the blood of the lamb?

I do think the more suffering one has (sometimes it starts spiritually when we are humbled by the mercy and love God shows to us so directly) and the more one submits to the transforming love (is that not also part of the teaching from St. Therese's Offering to Merciful Love?) of the Holy Spirit, and the grace and mercy streaming from Jesus's Sacred Heart, the more compassionate and loving one will become. It isn't just the one that has been forgiven much that loves much, but also the one like our beloved St. Therese has the Holy Spirit granted insight that it is all-about being loved by God, and loving others that way we have been loved and making that the focus of our spiritual and active life pursuits (John 13:34).

From EWTN's whitepaper on St. Catherine of Genoa's teaching on purgatory:

Suddenly, as she was kneeling down at the confessional, "her heart was wounded by a dart of God's immense love, and she had a clear vision of her own wretchedness and faults and the most high goodness of God. She fell to the ground, all but swooning", and from her heart rose the unuttered cry, "No more of the world for me! No more sin!" The confessor was at this moment called away, and when he came back she could speak again, and asked and obtained his leave to postpone her confession.

Then she hurried home, to shut herself up in the most secluded room in the house, and for several days she stayed there absorbed by consciousness of her own wretchedness and of God's mercy in warning her. She had a vision of Our Lord, weighed down by His Cross and covered with blood, and she cried aloud, "O Lord, I will never sin again; if need be, I will make public confession of my sins." After a time, she was inspired with a desire for Holy Communion which she fulfilled on the feast of the Annunciation.

She now entered on a life of prayer and penance. She obtained from her husband a promise, which he kept, to live with her as a brother. She made strict rules for herself—to avert her eyes from sights of the world, to speak no useless words, to eat only what was necessary for life, to sleep as little as possible and on a bed in which she put briars and thistles, to wear a rough hair shirt. Every day she spent six hours in prayer. She rigorously mortified her affections and will.

 

The path of love bypassing purgatory does not help us to avoid taking up our cross and following Jesus (Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23) as you see by how St. Catherine chose to live after her experience, or if your read and understand the magnitude of the sufferings St. Therese endured without pain relief.  The other related insight from St. Therese, is that suffering for love of Jesus, knowing that the merits of her sacrifices did help further the Kingdom of God in other souls, became a great joy for her.  My own belief, perhaps subject of another post, is that there is heavenly reward correlated to the way we pick up our cross and follow Jesus (Revelation 22:12), that there is reward commensurate with our ability and willingness to do so with the pure intention of loving and consoling Jesus.  St. Therese and St. Faustina wrote on this, but again, too much for one post!

As far as St. Catherine's living like sibling with her husband, I wouldn't say that is the way for everyone that is married being transformed by the love of God either; it was her way, and there are other holy people who chose to live this way, in keeping with what St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 7:1-2.

And as for the bed of briars and thistles and the hair shirt, I still love Father Corapi's comment, "You are sitting next to your hair shirt," during one of his talks.  Further, an eastern father, Abba Pimen, said that we lay down our lives for our friends when we leave our self-absorption, pride, and self-indulgence aside, and essentially love each other and forgive each other, and do not judge each other.  Doesn't that sound very much like St. Therese's Little Way of Love?

John 15:13:  "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Please share your thoughts.  I don't mean this as a controversy because that isn't the mission of this blog, but if this really is the core teaching of Christ that we should be striving to understand and live, relying on God's love, it is important to discuss and help each other, and all those in contact with us learn it too, so as to spare them learning the lesson on the other side, when the suffering, as St. John of the Cross (mentioned in Patricia's post) indicated, will be far greater than that which can be experienced in this life.

After dying, wouldn't you want to pass straight into the arms of your loving Savior and into the incomprehensible love of the Father if possible?

Wouldn't you want your loved ones especially, and if we really get the lesson, all souls that we could persuade to this necessity, to do the same?

Sanctity Is for All

From Meditation #2 of Divine Intimacy Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD, gives us a little to think about for our Advent spiritual progress:

Sanctity is not reserved for a few; Jesus, by His Incarnation and by His death on the Cross, Merited the means of salvation and sanctification for all who believe in Him.  He, the All-holy, came to sanctify us, and has taught us, "Be ye therefore perfect, as also Your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt. 5:48).

Jesus did not give the precept to a chosen group of persons, nor did He reserve it for His Apostles and close friends; He proclaimed it to the multitude who were following Him.  St. Paul received His message and announced it to the Gentiles, "This is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thess. 4:3).  

And in our times the Church, speaking through the great Pope Pius XI, has repeated it strongly and on many occasions to the modern world: "Christ has called the whole human race to the lofty heights of sanctity….  There are some who say that sanctity is not everyone's vocation; on the contrary, it is everyone's vocation, and all are called to it….  Jesus Christ has given Himself as an example for all to imitate." 

And elsewhere: "Let no one believe that sanctity belongs to a few chosen people, while the rest of humanity can limit itself to a lesser degree of virtue.  Everyone is included in this law; no one is exempt from it."

Jesus comes not only to save me, but to sanctify me.  He is calling me to sanctity and has merited for me all the graces I need to attain it.

What confidence we should have in Jesus, that we do not have to perform this most arduous task by ourselves!  He is so generous with His graces.  We can only fail by our own refusal.

Pope John Paul II did the laity a great service when he canonized so many lay people.  Ordinary people like us seized the opportunity to practice extraordinary virtue.  In these days, can we do any less?

Quick Bytes #41: The Grinch

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And what happened, then? 
Well, in Whoville they say - 
that the Grinch's small heart 
grew three sizes that day.
          - Dr. Seuss


Wouldn't it be awesome if our 
love for God caused all of our hearts
to grow three sizes during Advent?
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Fishers of Men

In Matthew 4:18-22 we read that Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galillee when He met two brothers, Simon (Peter) and Andrew.

He said to them "Follow me and I will make you fish people."

They left their nets and everything else they had and followed Him.

Later on He met two other brothers, James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were mending their nets with their father. He asked them to follow Him.

They left the nets and their father and followed Jesus.

These were the first disciples of Christ.

They left everything behind and followed Jesus.

Jesus does not ask us today to leave everything, our families, friends, jobs and responsibilities to follow Him.

He asks us to trust Him, to love Him and to live life as His Father in Heaven would want us to.

He asks us to witness for Him as best we can. Through the way we live, through what we say and what we do.

Even writing the occasional Blog post is witnessing for Him.

Novena to the Immaculate Conception

Today starts the first day of the Novena to the Immaculate Conception.  It goes from November 30, 2012 to December 7, the Vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Pray this prayer once a day for nine days for your own personal intention.

Source

Immaculate Virgin! Mary, conceived without sin! Remember, thou were miraculously preserved from even the shadow of sin, because thou were destined to become not only the Mother of God, but also the mother, the refuge, and the advocate of man; penetrated therefore, with the most lively confidence in thy never-failing intercession, we most humbly implore thee to look with favor upon the intentions of this novena, and to obtain for us the graces and the favors we request of __________. Thou know, O Mary, how often our hearts are the sanctuaries of God, Who abhors iniquity. Obtain for us, then, than angelic purity which was thy favorite virtue, that purity of heart which will attach us to God alone, and that purity of intention which will consecrate every thought, word, and action to His greater glory. Obtain also for us a constant spirit of prayer and self-denial, that we many recover by penance that innocence which we have lost by sin, and at length attain safety to that blessed abode of the saints, where nothing defiled can enter.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.

V. Thou are all fair, O Mary.
R. Thou art all fair, O Mary.
V. And the original stain is not in thee.
R. And the original stain is not in thee.
V. Thou art the glory of Jerusalem.
R. Thou art the joy of Israel
V. Thou art the honor of our people.
R. Thou art the advocate of sinners.
V. O Mary.
R. O Mary.
V. Virgin, most prudent.
R. Mother, most tender.
V. Pray for us.
R. Intercede for us with Jesus our Lord.
V. In thy conception, Holy Virgin, thou wast immaculate.
R. Pray for us to the Father Whose Son thou didst bring forth.
V. O Lady! aid my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto thee.

Let us pray

Holy Mary, Queen of Heaven, Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and mistress of the world, who forsakes no one, and despises no one, look upon me, O Lady! with an eye of pity, and entreat for me of thy beloved Son the forgiveness of all my sins; that, as I now celebrate, with devout affection, thy holy and immaculate conception, so, hereafter I may receive the prize of eternal blessedness, by the grace of Him whom thou, in virginity, did bring forth, Jesus Christ Our Lord: Who, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, live and reign, in perfect Trinity, God, world without end. Amen.
This novena was found at Fisheaters.

Blessings,
Noreen

Quick Bytes #40: Thanksgiving in 2040

What if we opened the digital newspaper on November 22, 2040 and saw this ...

WASHINGTON DC  (AP)  Today, the President of the United States declared this would be the final Thanksgiving in United States' History.

"It is with mixed emotions that I bid farewell to a wonderful U.S. tradition," he told reporters.  "Over the past few years, Americans have finally learned to thank God every single day for what He has given them.  They do it with such passion, and dedication, that I really didn't see the need to force everyone to set aside a day in November anymore."

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Flower Petal Rosary

Monica from Equipping Catholic Families who is also the owner and creative force behind Arma Dei Shoppe, had asked me to review one of her Cathletics Craft Kits called Spiritual Bouquet of Prayer Petal Flowers.  This particular kit has 3 prayer crafts in 1.  You can use the provided templates to make either a Flower Petal Rosary, Rosary Garland or Divine Mercy Chaplet.  Once you purchase her kit, Monica will send you the file to download and print off of your own computer.  You can choose to print it on colored paper or white paper for coloring. I printed the templates first on white cardstock and then used them to make color copies.

I had a chance to use the Flower Petal Rosary over the weekend with my first graders.  I decided to informally test them on their prayers using this craft.  My class size is small so I had each student take 2 Hail Mary petals and sit in a circle.  I placed down the stem with the mysteries of the rosary and explained we would pray the first decade from the Joyful Mysteries.  My instructions were that as a group, we would pray the Our Father together and then each student would lead 2 Hail Mary's as we went around the circle. They could choose whether they wanted to recite it by memory or read it off of the petal.  As each student started their prayer, they placed the petal around the Our Father circle.  Then we would all say the Glory Be and Fatima Prayer together at the end.

Here are a few photos of our prayer circle:



By using this prayer craft which also felt like a game to the children, I could easily identify in a non-threatening way, if the children knew their prayers or not.  My conclusion~ we need more practice.  It's much easier to recite them in a group than to say it out loud on your own!

This kit can be used at home, school or religious education program at any time of the year.  Even though Divine Mercy Sunday is in April every year, I think I will teach the children that prayer early now that I have a fun and hands on way of doing it.  Thank you Monica for this opportunity to review your Spiritual Bouquet of Prayer Petal Flowers! 

Blessings,
Noreen

Lighting Darkness

One candle lighting the Darkness

Two candles and then three

Many candles and then even more.

The Darkness is lit

And the Word is read.

One candle goes out in the Darkness

Sadly missed and not replaced.

More candles give up their brightness

Darkness steals the Word away.

Every Christian Blog must shine brightly.

What is yours doing now?

Quick Bytes #39: The Only Thing

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Everything good we have - and do - is because of God.

The only thing we can claim as our own is sin.
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Worry and Doubt. Peace and Certainty.

It was a lovely Spring evening, quite bright and warm for this time of year, when Steven Milliner, the Youth Club leader, decided to take the children to the park opposite St Vincent Catholic Church for some fresh air and exercise.

Most of the boys had gathered with two Club Leaders at the far end of the park to play football. The rest of the children stayed in the playground area and played on the swings, the slides, round-abouts and seesaws; supervised by a couple of Leaders and Father Ignatius who’d turned up to help.

The priest sat on a bench and kept a watchful eye when he was joined by Tony a young volunteer who helped at the Youth Club every now and then.

“Could I ask you something Father?” he said hesitantly as he sat down.

“Fire away …” replied the priest.

“How is it that you priests can be so strong and steadfast in your Faith. You and Father Donald are so saintly and you preach on Sunday so well … I mean, do you ever have doubts?”

Father Ignatius smiled. “If only you knew …” he thought silently.

After a moment or two Father Ignatius spoke gently.

“Well … Father Donald may well be saintly I suppose … as for me … hmmm … what makes you think I’m saintly?”

“You’re always so calm Father. Nothing seems to rattle you. And your Faith is so strong …”

“Well Tony …” Father Ignatius said after a short pause, “priests are human beings just like everyone else. Just because we wear a white collar, or have been ordained as priests, does not make us Saints. Of course we have doubts every now and then … perhaps not as much or as often as other people, but we are no less immune to the attacks and temptations of the devil.

“A person’s Faith depends on a lot of factors. We all have different levels of Faith … if I can put it this way. Some people have a strong Faith in the Good Lord and can withstand no end of suffering and hardship … others fold at the first stumble …”

“So, if you do have moments of doubts Father, how do you fight it?” asked Tony.

“Prayer … constant prayer,” the priest answered, “one of my favorite prayers is what the man in the Bible said to Jesus. ‘I believe Lord; help my unbelief’. Look it up in Mark 9:24.”

“Yes Father … I remember reading that …” Tony replied.

“Priests are no different to anyone else,” continued Father Ignatius, “some have strong Faith indeed, living Saints as you call them … whilst others do struggle sometime, just like anyone else.

“Anyway … why do you ask? Having any problems?”

Tony hesitated a little before replying.

“Well … sometimes I have doubts …” he said, “… and yet at other times I feel totally certain about my Faith. I believe and totally trust in God, especially when all is going well in my life.

“I suppose the problem is that I don’t trust myself to believe enough. It’s as if I should believe and trust more … yet it does not seem or feel enough. I doubt myself in what I believe. Do you understand what I mean?”

Father Ignatius said nothing for a while as he cleaned his glasses.

“Look at that seesaw over there …” he said finally, “Do you see how one child at one end is up in the air one moment and then down again the next, whilst the other child in turn is up in the air? And then the first child is up again … and down again …

“Life is a bit like that sometimes. You have at one end of the seesaw Worry and Doubt; and at the other end Peace and Certainty.

“Sometimes Worry and Doubt are in the ascendant and together what powerful adversaries they make! We start questioning our Faith. We ask ourselves ‘What if I got it all wrong? What if there is no God at all!’. We worry about our family, our friends, our finances and worldly goods. I’m sure you can imagine what it’s like.”

Tony nodded silently.

“But at other times, especially after prayers or Bible readings, the seesaw tips the other way and Peace and Certainty are up in the air. We remember the many times God was there for us when we needed Him. And the many situations He saved us from and helped us through.

“It’s at these times that we know for certain that He exists alright, despite what others might lead us to believe.”

“That’s a good analogy,” said Tony quietly.

“I suppose we can’t control the up and down movement of the seesaw,” continued Father Ignatius in his calm voice, “that’s what it was designed to do. But with constant prayers we can ensure that Peace and Certainty are there high up for all to see in our lives for as long as possible.”

More Father Ignatius stories HERE.

More priests

Here are some more priests with something important to say.

IMAGINE

Please take time to listen to these two priests  

Father Jeffrey Mickler

  

Father Francis Maple

The Sign of the Cross

 

When I was in hospital I saw something I'd not seen since I was a child.

They have a chapel in hospital. The door to the chapel is an ordinary door, like all the others in a long hospital corridor. It says on it "Chapel" as opposed to "X Ray" or "Pharmacy" or whatever else is posted on the other doors.

I noticed that several people whilst passing by this door did the Sign of the Cross. A few opened the door and looked in for 5 or 10 seconds, did the Sign of the Cross, and then continued on their way.

Now this is something I've not seen for many years when, as a child, we were taught to do the Sign of the Cross whenever we passed a Church. I certainly did not expect to see it in secular Britain.

So ... what is the Sign of the Cross?

It is first and foremost a Prayer.

When we Cross ourselves and say "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost", we acknowledge God as our only living God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge a fundamental mystery of our Faith. God is three persons in one. We pray that in His name we will be loved and protected by Him.

The Sign of the Cross is also an acknowledgement that God's only Son, Jesus, suffered and died for us on the Cross.

The Sign of the Cross is our protection, our shield against all evil. When we Cross ourselves we acknowledge that no evil can pass through the Cross and harm us.

The Sign of the Cross is our sign of respect and love to Our Creator and Saviour.

The Sign of the Cross is our witness to everyone that we are Christians and we believe in God, three in one, living today here and now; as He has always been in the past and will be in future. When those people made the Sign of the Cross as they passed the hospital Chapel door they made more than a sign of respect. They witnessed to everyone watching about God.

The Sign of the Cross. 

More than just a Sign of the Cross.

Blogging for God

 

Luke 12:8-12

Jesus said to the disciples, "And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God."

... And ... that's what Christian Blogging is all about. Once we've started Blogging we should continue to witness for the Lord.

Quick Bytes #38: Choices

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"Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor 
and you will have treasure in Heaven; 
then come, follow me."

Notice how Jesus did not make that rich man
sell his belongings.

Nor did Our Savior force the man to follow Him.

He gave him the choice.

Just as God gives us a choice every day.

To do something good.  Or not.

To help the poor.  Or not.

To do something ... anything ... to promote the Word.  Or not.

To break out of the rut we all get in ... the one where we spend too much
time focusing on the insignificance of this world.  Or not.

To follow Him.  Or not.

Yes, God has laid out the plan.  But the choice is ours.

Every minute of every day.
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Lone Voice Syndrome

John the Baptist preached in the desert and ate locusts and honey.

I wonder how many people listened to what he had to say in the hot desert. Let's face it, it's not exactly the center of the universe with crowds from all over the world mingling and shopping and gathering to hear a man dressed in camel hair. Apart from the odd geko, snake or scorpion who was there to listen to John?

He would have done much better at the city mall or the town center or church than wander in a hot desert with no umbrella or ice cream to keep him cool.

But yet ... he did have his successes paving the way for the arrival of Christ, and he did baptise quite a few people too.

How about us Bloggers?

Some of us Blog every day or so, others Blog less often and perhaps eagerly we check whether any one has commented, or we look at the statistics to see how popular, or not, our posts are.

We may well feel that each of our Blogs is a lone voice in the vast expanse which is the World Wide Web.

And perhaps this is so ...

But yet ... we never know who might be visiting us on this World Wide Web and to them, perhaps, our post is the first time they have read about Christ. Despite our advanced technology in the 21st Century there are still plenty of people who have not heard or learnt about God, and His only Son. Even in the so-called civilised world there are many who view God as a myth, a human invention, or someone in whom it is fashionable not to believe.

Our individual Blogs are important as lone voices in the wilderness witnessing for Him. One light, shining in the darkness created by the evil one in order to lead us astray.

One Blog is important. Many Blogs, working together, shine brighter throughout the world.

Every Christian Blog started should continue to shine for as long as possible.

Each post can spread more light if reflected elsewhere. Either here on this Community, or linked with/to other Christian Blogs or websites.

If, in our travels, we read a good Blog we can reflect it further by linking the post on our own Blogs. That way the readers of the original Blog and our own readers will have benefitted from the message on the post.

On a day when we have nothing to say on our Blog, and are not inspired to write; why not link to someone else's Blog post instead? That way, we have kept our Blog fresh and up-dated and we have aimed a mirror on someone else's light to shine brighter in the darkness.

John the Baptist did what he did without the aid of Blogger, Facebook or other modern technologies at our disposal.

So how much easier should it be for us to spread the Word with all the fancy contraptions we have today?

And you don't have to eat locusts to do it!

What about their rights?

Our "Witness to Life" activities are multiplying at my daughter's high school.  This is the group that I ended up being a regular driver and chaperone by chance (definition 7:  Holy Spirit's orchestration).  Instead of just the one Saturday trip to the Planned Parenthood in Aurora, Illinois - which was the largest abortion facility opened in the United States, when it opened.  Since then this evil organization has opened larger facilities.

Please link over to my blog to read the rest of this post.

Live for today

Difficult as it might be; living one day at a time is a wholesome self-control mechanism which teaches us patience and genuine reliance on our Lord.

Of course, we all like to plan ahead, to be in control of our future, and to prepare for all eventualities. There’s nothing wrong in that, and it would be foolhardy to leave all to chance and do nothing.

Yet, at the same time, we should balance our every plan with the reality of what is now. We should live each day in gratitude for what God has given us today, rather than look ahead to what is yet to come.

They say “You never know what’s round the next corner”. How true. All it takes is a sudden event, an illness, an accident, something out of our control, to put all our plans into disarray.

Thank you Lord for another today.

 

Father Francis Maple

The Gift of Knowledge

With the continual advancement of technology we have evermore ways of worldly things and ideas intruding on our spirit and knocking God out of our consciousness.  Today's meditation from Divine Intimacy tells us what we need to transform our earthly vision into a heavenly vision: the gift of knowledge.

This paragraph shows us how important the sacrament of Confirmation is because through it we receive this and six other gifts of the Holy Spirit that aid us in keeping God in the forefront of our daily lives as Colleen wrote about a few days ago.  It's another good argument for moving the sacrament of Confirmation up to around seven years of age as it was when I was young.  Get the kids started in good spiritual habits early.

When a soul is profoundly enlightened by the gift of knowledge, creatures no longer hinder its ascent to God, for whether considering their nothingness or the beauty with which God has endowed them, whether in giving them up or in using them through necessity, they always urge the soul on to God, inspiring it to seek Him and love Him, the one infinitely beautiful Being.

I am guessing that the people lined up at 1:00 a.m. the other day to be the first to get the new iPhone5,  whatever that is versus earlier versions, need the gift of knowledge.  And those of us who have it need to ask for the grace to put it into action all day every day.

Where?

Where have all the authors gone?

They are resting. Or possibly praying. Or waiting for inspiration. Anyway ... when is the last time you posted here Victor? 

Ooops ... sorry !!!!

Finding God

Having a bad day?  Want to reach out and slap someone?  Take several deep breaths and and consider this from Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D., from meditation #298 in Divine Intimacy:

God does not let Himself be found nor does He show Himself in the midst of disturbance and excitement, but only in interior peace and calm.

We often want to change others. What we really need to do is change ourselves, peacefully, calmly, and with the grace of God.

What is Trust?

Do you have people in your lives who you don't trust?  Have you ever thought much about trust or do you take it for granted?  A conversation with a close friend this past week got me examining my beliefs on the nature of trust.  I wrote a post on the subject because I think trust is one of the most important aspects of relationships between people, nations, and God.  If you'd like to read it, rather than my re-posting it here and incurring the wrath of Google-bots, click on this link: What is Trust?

God bless all.

Quick Bytes #37: Birth and Death

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A good name is better than precious ointment,

    and the day of death than the day of birth.
                            (Eccles 7:1)


We celebrate when a life comes into this world of sin, 
and cry when one departs for the beauty of Heaven.

I wonder if we've got this thing all backwards?
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