Private Vows in The Laity/Spirituality

[Debra Little]

Dear Barbara Therese,

This is a beautiful meditation. Ty so much. I have copied and pasted it to my Facebook, minus your name. 

I am in the latter group.  

[Guest]

11 hours ago, Debra Little said:

Dear Barbara Therese,

This is a beautiful meditation. Ty so much. I have copied and pasted it to my Facebook, minus your name. 

I am in the latter group.  

I think probably the latter group can be quite common; unfortunately, perhaps even again many in this latter group (I am mainly there too) find themselves at times "murmuring" (as St Vincent called it) against God in some way and very often due to extreme suffering and difficulties - burdens that weigh them down into struggle and darkness in their journey.   I have been there and for me, the fact that God is Our Father is a consolation at a time when I am angry with Him.  Being Our Father, He understands more than we do our humanity and inbuilt as it were weaknesses, our fears and our reasons for being angry.  In other words, He understands more fully than we do and is compassionate, understanding and Merciful of our dispositions as we struggle in the difficulties in which we do.  If I cannot share my true feelings, my anger and my confusion, with my God Who Is Loving Father in all things, then with whom indeed can I share them.  If I try to hide my true dispositions, I know that God insights them anyway.

I think that if we forget that we are indeed weak and broken creatures and that God is Infinite in Compassion and Understanding, in Mercy, we loose touch both with ourselves and with God.  If we forget that our very real weaknesses and failures are transcended totally by the Loving Embrace of Our Loving Father, we are loosing touch and in loosing touch fail to give to God Great Glory for His Infinite (endless without beginning or end) Goodness.

It can be a work of the evil one with those who desire truly with all their mind and heart to be holy to discourage them (drive them to despair if it can) when they find themselves behaving in anything but a holy manner, i.e. behaving as we tend to think no holy and saintly person would.  At those times, I recall the great sinners who have become great saints.  And then I am reminded that "all things are possible to God" (Matthew Ch 19 "Jesus looked at them and said, "For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible."   It is very sad and a great loss indeed when the lives of the saints are whitewashed.

I am a broken and weak creature and what can I expect of such a creature?  For example, do I ask a cat to fly or to bark like a dog?  No, I do not because it is not their nature -  and hence I am not surprised or overcome when my weaknesses and brokenness (my nature) is evident in my behaviour - for I know in my will that God is Ever Constant and Ever Faithful and is Understanding, Compassionate and Forgiving always and everywhere. I only have to turn to Him and confess the reality of who I am at this point in my journey and ask Him for that Understanding, Compassion and Mercy........and even before I actually do this, at the moment I make up my mind to do it, He is embracing me with Love.

Parable of The Prodigal Son Luke Chapter 15 HERE: " Coming to his senses he (the prodigal son) thought, 'How many of my father's hired workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am I, dying from hunger. I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."' So he got up and went back to his father.

While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.

[Guest]

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Ready-to-halt, poor Fearing, and thou, Mrs. Despondency, and Much-afraid, go often there [the empty tomb]; let it be your favourite haunt, there build a tabernacle, there abide. And often say to your heart, when you are in distress and sorrow, “Come, see the place where the Lord lay.”

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

 

(Jesus is risen! Let yourself feel impact of this affirmation.)

http://shalomplace.com/seed/

 

 

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All the fruits of the Spirit which we are to lay weight upon as evidential of grace, are summed up in charity, or Christian love; because this is the sum of all grace. And the only way, therefore, in which any can know their good estate, is by discerning the exercises of this divine charity in their hearts; for without charity, let people have what gifts you please, they are nothing. 
- Jonathan Edwards

http://shalomplace.com/seed/

[Debra Little]

Try dear Barbara Therese for the beautiful post and link. I signed up and it's saved. Yeah. I've been in a weird place for awhile now. It can be tuff going when bipolar and ocd get in the mix and make it hard to figure out anything or make decisions. What I learned about decisions in these times is don't. 

Maybe I am a bit fearful. Didn't think of it. I know Jesus will catch me if I fall and He will help me get up. Moving is another thing. I feel stuck. Jesus is being silent right now so I wait and have faith that the sun (Son) will come out again. 

God Bless u!

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What does Alleluia Mean?

http://aleteia.org/2017/04/22/what-does-alleluia-mean/?utm_campaign=NL_en&utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=NL_en

 

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Daily Reflection - St Vincent de Paul Society

 

 

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Apr 22, 2017

 

“There is no state in the world that has not its bitterness and crosses -

and which therefore does not make us desire to embrace some other condition.”
– St. Vincent de Paul

 

 

 

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Apr 21, 2017

Remember that patience is as necessary to bear with ourselves

as charity is to bear with the neighbour.

May God be pleased to give us both (VII:291).

 

 

 

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“One of the biggest sicknesses this world has is expectation. We all expect other people to be a certain way or to do a certain thing. Most people, they spend their whole lives under the wants of other people.”
 Eric Shonkwiler

 

The proud man can learn humility, but he will be proud of it.

Mignon McLaughlin
 

 

Vincent's Quote of the Day

 

Apr 23, 2017

Always tend toward lowliness, and love of your own abjection, and the desire for contempt and shame (VII:305).

Apr 23, 2017

“I do not think it expedient for you to relieve yourself by imparting your little annoyances to this one or that. A good stomach digests everything, while a delicate one ejects what it cannot endure. Oh, how good it is to keep our affairs between God and ourselves!”
– St. Vincent de Paul

[Guest]

OUR GOD IS A GOD OF JOY

OF LOVE

AND OF LAUGHTER

Genesis Chapter 18:  "One of them (The Lord) said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah will then have a son." Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, just behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years, and Sarah had stopped having her womanly periods.So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am so withered and my husband is so old, am I still to have sexual pleasure?" http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PK.HTM

 

[Guest]

 

Each woman who lives in the light of eternity can fulfill her vocation, no matter if it is in marriage,

in a religious order, or in a worldly profession.

Edith Stein "Spirituality of the Christian Woman"

Edited April 24, 2017 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

This friar’s soaring ‘Pater Noster’ will move and inspire     If you've never heard of Friar Alessandro, hold onto your socks

 

 

Edited April 24, 2017 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

A BIT OF CHATTER

When I first shifted into my previous parish and suburb, the teenagers used to shout at me and call me "crazy lady" firstly because to them my behaviour was strange underlined by the fact they later discovered that I suffered a mental illness.  I blissfully went about whatever ignoring them.  But then a situation developed over graffiti on my rubbish bin and I took them to task at the house that was their hang-out.  A couple of days later two teenage girls appeared at my front door to apologise for the graffiti they said.  I invited them in for coffee.  Not all that long after and it was nothing to have over 15 or more teenagers in Bethany.

By the time I shifted out of that parish and suburb, they no longer called me crazy lady - pas du tout!  I often reflect back on that time with a smile and gratitude, it does seem to me that The Lord permitted the situation with my rubbish bin because He was able to draw so much good out of a rather unlikely situation.

 

Amen

Edited April 24, 2017 by BarbaraTherese

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Vincent's Quote of the Day

St Vincent de Paul Society

 

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Apr 24, 2017

By binding yourself entirely to God, Our Lord will bind Himself to you more closely than ever

and will be your strength in weakness,

your joy in sorrow and your steadfastness in times of indecision (VII:310).

 

 

[Guest]

On ‎23‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 6:58 AM, Debra Little said:

Try dear Barbara Therese for the beautiful post and link. I signed up and it's saved. Yeah. I've been in a weird place for awhile now. It can be tuff going when bipolar and ocd get in the mix and make it hard to figure out anything or make decisions. What I learned about decisions in these times is don't. 

Maybe I am a bit fearful. Didn't think of it. I know Jesus will catch me if I fall and He will help me get up. Moving is another thing. I feel stuck. Jesus is being silent right now so I wait and have faith that the sun (Son) will come out again. 

God Bless u!

Hi again Debra  - I am overly long winded and I apologise for it.

I am told I have a touch of OCD as well as Bipolar Disorder, I am wondering if you have someone you are able to open up to without fear, someone you fully trust?

My other point is that even when Jesus SEEMS to be absent, He isn't at all.  He is only absent to our human senses.  The reality is that He is as close as ever and, in fact, closer than we are to our own selves, to anything our human senses can convey - far far more in fact.  ("Truly, You are a God who lies hidden" Isaiah Ch45).   All my thoughts are not of necessity felt, rather very simply believed.  Acts of Faith and trust.  Indeed Jesus will catch you if you fall or misstep so don't be afraid to make decisions if you are at all able - just small everyday decisions not major ones.  Make your decisions trusting that Jesus with The Holy Spirit and Grace are with you and all to the Glory of The Father.  For this is our Faith and it is so.

I know that stuck feeling too and now and then it can return.  All I do is invest in what Faith tells me and trust in that and move on simply going about my days offering them to Jesus.  Sometimes I can only make very small everyday decisions and I very much agree with you that problem times are not the times for major decisions.  "Feeling stuck" is one of those spiritual trials and a time to just stay with it, it seems to me, without anxiety if possible, offering the suffering involved to Jesus united to His Cross.  It's a time to go about your day and the duties of your state and vocation as best you can and try not to get worked up over "stuck" or whatever.  Trust that Jesus knows what He is about though it is hidden from you.  "Behold I am with you, even to the consummation of the world".    I've never had any great awakening out of such difficult times, I just go about my day and my duties as best I can and then one day hindsight tells me that somehow I am no longer stuck or whatever.  Then I give thanks to God for His Care and His Grace, though I do not feel that Care nor Grace - I simply believe in it and trust in it.

I rarely, if ever, feel anything at all re spiritual matters, I simply go on in Faith and trust.  I was once a very ill woman indeed, psychotic in fact most of the time.  It has been a very long journey of over 40years and I can't say how, when or why the severe psychotic side of my illness seemed to just vanish.  It simply did as I walked in blind Faith and trust.  I made lots of mistakes, missteps (and I still do) and all I do once I realise that I have gone astray is to tell Jesus I was sorry knowing that He knew it before I did and then simply push on in Faith and trust, blind Faith and trust.  As St Therese of Lisieux said that prayer is a simple Loving glance to Heaven.  Just as serving Jesus and being faithful to Him is going about our duties and lives as we are able.  These attitudes made a great saint and Doctor of The Church of St Therese.

Obviously, someone not suffering a mental illness nor labouring with some sort of difficult day in and day out will probably go about their day far more efficiently etc. than we who do suffer MI and at times labour with related difficulties.  Yet, in our own way, we can be just as efficient as the so called best - our best is probably not something that can be observed but just as best nonetheless.  We can be saints too, not despite our illnesses, but because of them.

If you are able to open up fully to someone you trust (including before you make any major or important decisions that you might have to make), this would be a great help to you I am very sure.

Failing the above, you can always make an appointment with your parish priest, or talk with him in Confession.  Sometimes convents and/or monasteries can be very welcoming to someone who needs to talk with another human being they can trust.

Failing everything, know that you are not alone and never are.  Jesus is with you in all things regardless.

Be gentle with yourself.

[Guest]

On ‎20‎/‎04‎/‎2017 at 1:44 PM, Debra Little said:

Dear Barbara Therese, 

Ty for your sweet reply and for keeping me in your prayers. I appreciate it.  I will continue to pray for u as well. 

Bipolar is a pain in the neck but also a gift from our loving Father. St. Therese said "everything is a grace." Sometimes it's hars to see it that way and we wish for life to be a little easier. If my life was easier I would think something was wrong. I wouldn't know my own life. Suffering is a privilege. 

Luv and Hugz

Dear Debra.......I don't know how I missed these posts of yours - my apologies.

Yep, mental illness is a regular pain in the butt to the human side of us and God made us human - in Faith on the spiritual side we know that all is gift or Grace as St Therese said.  Suffering is never easy save to some and to some of our saints, but I have often wondered if suffering is found to be a Joy, can it really be suffering.  Rather I think that our saints feel the suffering very deeply in their human side just as we would, while on the spiritual in Faith they rejoice Joyfully, knowing that all is indeed a gift and a Grace - and as you have said a great privilege and honour.  The greatest.

I had a big smile with this "I would think something was wrong (without suffering). I wouldn't know my own life".  I used to feel that way and after a long period of suffering it is conditioned into our psychology or it is just the way life is.  Once The Lord lifts the suffering, one can continue for a while, perhaps a long while, waiting for things to go wrong because one has become accustomed (conditioned) to things going wrong i.e. suffering.

Relieved of a long period of suffering, one can feel that something just isn't right with my life and with me.  That is only the result of conditioning or becoming accustomed to something i.e. suffering in this instance.

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Suffering is a privilege

Amen to the above, Debra, you have hit the nail right on the head - spot on!  Just as the Cross of Jesus, His Suffering and Death, was a stumbling block in the early days of The Church, so those asked to share in The Cross of Christ can be a stumbling block to many today.  They stumble because they cannot insight the dignity, privilege and honour of The Cross.

"Master, when did we see you naked or hungry?"  Jesus replies  "I tell you whatever you do to one of these, though they be of My least, then you have done it to Me."

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Edited April 25, 2017 by BarbaraTherese

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Daily Reflection

St Vincent de Paul Society

 

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Apr 26, 2017

 

“Look up: the highest there were the lowest here

and coveted most the poverty and humility which accompanied them

and our Master every step of his suffering life.”
– St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

 

 There will be many I believe seated high in Heaven who never were, nor never are, recognised here on earth.

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Revelations of Divine Love

Julian of Norwich 

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Thirteenth Revelation, Chapter 36

It is known that afore miracles come sorrow and anguish and tribulation ; and that is for that we should know our own feebleness and our mischiefs that we are fallen in by sin, to meeken us and make us to dread God and cry for help and grace. Miracles come after that, and they come of the high Might, Wisdom, and Goodness of God, shewing His virtue and the joys of Heaven so far as it may be in this passing life: and that to strengthen our faith and to increase our hope, in charity. Wherefore it pleaseth Him to be known and worshipped in miracles. Then signifieth He thus: He willeth that we be not borne over low for sorrow and tempests that fall to us: for it hath ever so been afore miracle-coming.

 

 

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Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380)

Dominican tertiary, Doctor of the Church
Dialogues 167, 2-3 (trans. ©Suzanne Noffke)
 

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http://dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=commentary&localdate=20170429&id=4874

"I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth"

Excerpt:........."Let my memory be great enough to hold your favors, and set my will ablaze in your charity’s fire. Let that fire burst the seed of my body and bring forth blood; then with that blood, given for love of your blood, and with the key of obedience, let me unlock heaven’s gate. I heartily ask the same of you for every reasoning creature, all and each of them, and for the mystic body of holy Church. I acknowledge, and do not deny, that you loved me before I existed, and that you love me unspeakably much, as one gone mad over your creature. "