Private Vows in The Laity/Spirituality

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Turin Shroud a Fake? - Not so fast say expert

Excerpt:    "In comments to reporters, the study’s authors deny the authenticity of the relic and refer to it as an “artistic or didactic representation of the passion of Christ done around the 14th century.”

“Neither of the investigators have the scientific qualifications to speak on it,” since as an anthropologist and a physician, the pair does not “have experience in human bloodstains,” said Alfonso Sánchez Hermosilla, a doctor and forensic anthropologist of the research team of the Spanish Sindonology Centre.

“In their study they say that the bloodstains they observed don't match up to those they obtained in their experiment, but they don't have the necessary knowledge and so they did not adequately design the experiment, and that is why their conclusions lack any scientific value,” he said."

Read entire article (not lengthy at all) on above link

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19 hours ago, BarbaraTherese said:

 

We were making leaflets for a 
local church, and the client wanted 
a logo designed with Earth being shielded by the hand of God. I sent the client a proof. Shortly thereafter, 
I got a call.

Client: The hand looks too human. Please use a hand that looks more like God’s.

Reflecting on a potential artwork

I have been thinking about the above 'joke' I posted.   After posting, it did not sit right with me - it niggled at me as a potential artwork.

In the Incarnation, it is as if we asked God to tell us what He would be like if He were a human being like us -  and God does so.  Because in the Incarnation, The Second Person of The Blessed Trinity becomes "fully human in all things except sin" and Jesus retains that identity in Heaven for eternity.  Jesus is still truly God and truly man and for all eternity.  It is a great Mystery at the Heart of The Blessed Trinity.  It is also a startling revelation from the Heart of The Blessed Trinity marked by absolute humility See the book - THE HUMILITY OF GOD - based on the theology of St Bonaventure

Therefore, it seems to me that to make the "hand of God" look like a human hand is profound rather than incorrect or funny - Jesus was and is God and was and is fully human in every way except sin.  On another level what the client stated is also profound, because Jesus has two totally distinct natures: human and Divine.   The hand needs to show something human and also something artistic making the image somehow also distinct from the human, perhaps rays coming from the hand - something like that.

Some might muse that God does not have hands.  Jesus is God and indeed has hands.

It might seem like splitting hairs, but I thinkit is important at least to me as a reflection on an artwork.  I wasn't going to post the above because I was thinking at the keyboard - but then decided to hit "submit reply".

Edited July 25, 2018 by BarbaraTherese

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https://www.thecompassnews.org/2011/07/being-a-visible-sign-of-love-and-mercy/

 

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SCRIPTURE

Why did Jesus fold the linen cloth

that covered His Face

in the tomb?

HERE

Excerpt "Jesus had told them with his words that the Son of Man would return. That morning, he repeated the promise, with the seemingly inconsequential, but very symbolic, gesture of leaving his face cloth rolled to the side, assuring us that he’d not left for good.

"Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.

You heard me tell you, “I am going away and I will come back to you.” (John 14:27-28)

 

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BLOOM WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED

Word on Fire - Resource

 

Excerpt: " Jesus conquered the distorted mentality of “if only” once and for all in the Garden of Agony when he said, as he oscillated between present circumstances and the Father’s will, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.”"

Archbishop Sheen once said the devil’s mantra always inverts Christ’s — "Not now, but later. What if? If only."  Read full article on above link

Edited July 27, 2018 by BarbaraTherese

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My previous post and also our Doctrine of Divine Providence can speak to quite a few women I have come across that feel they have lost their true vocation to religious life and live constantly with regrets.  That would be to state that Divine Providence has abandoned them and contrary to Catholic Doctrine.  It is also an "if only" type of temptation from satan.   It is to live in the past, not in the Present Moment.  Their regrets are inflicted on themselves through giving in to a ruse of satan and most often without realising satan is the cause.  The person is adopting the concept that a vocation is a Divine Command; whereas Catholic Teaching is that vocation is an invitation not a Divine Command.  

One can base reality on how one feels about things.  That is not reality (in the subject under discussion) - reality is what The Church teaches and professes.

Compassion

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Josef Bolin - Consequences of failing to follow a Vocation

On the above link is an excellent and sound explanation by a priest and a licentiate in theology.  He is an assistant professor of dogmatic theology.

 

About Fr Josef Bolin: https://thomasaquinas.edu/alumni/rev-joseph-bolin

 

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Ignatian Sprituality

Ways to Choose God's Will

 

https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/making-good-decisions/an-approach-to-good-choices/how-ignatian-spirituality-gives-us-a-way-to-discern-gods-will

I think that one of the most important things after I have tried to discern the way forward in accord with God's Will and the promptings of The Holy Spirit, is to make a firm decision and then not to second guess myself, not to look back in doubt and regret due to problems and difficulties.  Not to start wondering if I chose wisely and was it God's Will for me - to trust in Divine Providence and keep moving forward with the decision made.  Difficulties and problems are part and parcel of any journey.

The above holds true for me; however, there are exceptions and exceptions prove the rule for sure.  It is all a matter of common sense and sound judgement............and spiritual direction especially if really in doubt for what one feels is or might be good reason(s).

 

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Sometimes, when the soul least thinks of it, and when it least desires it, God touches it divinely causing certain recollections of Himself.
    ... St. John of the Cross (1542-1591)

 

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EXCELLENT LINKS

There are excellent related links at the end of each article connected to the primary link I gave in my previous post: "Ignatian Spirituality - Ways to Choose God's Will". HERE

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AN IGNATIAN APPROACH FOR MAKING GOOD DECISIONS

 

 

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“Free your mind of anything that troubles you; God will take care of it.”
– St. Vincent de Paul