Private Vows in The Laity/Spirituality

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How Eucharistic Miracles are approved:

HERE

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14 hours ago, Marysheart said:

Barbara Therese, I just read your post. I will pray for you. It's nice that I met a friend on here. Let's pray for one another. I know what you mean by  I'm not letting things get the best of you, or something of that nature. I think life is wonderful in many aspects, we have God who is always with us. We are also human though.... So when things happen to us, especially when we have no control how others treat us... Let's think of Jesus and all he went through. It's hard at times, but mother Angelica once said it's either God's will or God permits things to happen, I don't always understand, but I'm sure not every one understands the " why" but if we keep our eyes and heart on Christ, it helps because our focus is more on him than the " trial" we are enduring". Easier said than done, but God gives us the grace to endure it. ( Praying all works out for you)

Hi again Marysheart.

Thank you very much for prayer and I will keep you also in prayer - and yes, always a real consolation to come across a friend.   I came across another friend many years ago now and on Catholic Answers Forums, long before I was a member of Phatmass.  She is in the USA and we still exchange regular emails.

I think things did get the better of me initially re the situation I wrote about -  and that is why I took myself out of the situation because I was no longer confident of how I would respond and chances were, I thought, that I could potentially make the situation even worse and me stuck in the middle of it all.

What Mother Angelica said is very true - it is what we call the Doctrine of Divine Providence.  You can read all about it in the Catholic Catechism here http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p4.htm  You will need to scroll down to #302 "God Carries Out His Plan: DIVINE PROVIDENCE"

I did reflect on the Sufferings of Jesus but in my poverty it was not sufficient to keep me from fear of potentially making the situation worse.  No way, could I stop my bipolar OCD mind from going round and round on the potential worst outcomes.  I knew that God's Grace would be with me no matter what happened and even if fear got the better of me, which it did, and I withdrew from the situation.  I did feel deeply ashamed of myself, but I knew that it was hurt pride that I was not as good as I thought I could be.  I then recognised that I was grieving because my self-image was shattered (yet again!) - and gave myself permission to grieve for how long it might take.  This morning I woke in a better frame of mind and ready to move on, closing the door on that situation.  It was not mortally sinful hence there is no absolute necessity to confess it, but I will anyway asking for the Actual Grace to be stronger hopefully in the future.  I also reminded myself that I was not totally evil to maintain some sort of balance -and brought to mind any good I might have done, thanking God for those times.  I no longer hear in Confession "May any evil you suffer and any good you do bring to you the reward of eternal life" ..... it was such a beautiful prayer and consolation to hear at the end of Confession.

You are spot on about keeping one's eyes on Christ!  I failed but do not intend to give in to any sort of despair or self loathing, rather to cast myself into The Infinite Love and Mercy of Jesus once again and move on in the journey.  In the Doctrine of Divine Providence, The Good Lord allowed me to fall because of my own weakness.  God's Grace is indeed made manifest in weakness - it reveals just how exquisite and all embracing is His Loving Mercy.  I have often reflected that it is in my sinfulness, all sinfulness everywhere, that Jesus reveals concretely how all embracing His Loving Mercy actually is.

I have not seen my spiritual director for quite some time now, but once my finances are back to normal, I will be going to see him.

When one has a mental illness (I suffer bipolar), one has to learn to try to achieve a balance between what I can do and what I cannot do.  It is very important to know oneself and doubly so with mental illness  - and my brand of bipolar reacts to stress.  St Mary of The Cross MacKillop said something totally beautiful and profound "Do what you can and leave the rest to God".  She did not say "do your best", but only what you can.  That cannot excuse me from failing to trust God totally and staying in the situation.  But I think that I did what I could in my weakness and poverty and Faith tells me that The Good God abandons no one, not even such as I.  Hence, I move on in freedom in the journey.

Great to hear from you again, Marysheart.  What a lovely User Name and I do suspect that your heart is very much in imitation of the heart of our mother.

Cheers.........Barb  

 

Edited June 2, 2018 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, BarbaraTherese said:

I have often reflected that it is in my sinfulness, all sinfulness everywhere, that Jesus reveals concretely how all embracing His Loving Mercy actually is.

Another point that just occurred to me that it is probably only through the teachings of The Catholic Church that we and the whole world knows that absolutely nothing is beyond His Love and Mercy if we turn to Him.  That is an astounding reflection indeed and on that score I am very thankful for our theologians.  At times I can be critical of theologians, but only because what they write is sometimes too far above me for me to understand.

[Marysheart]

Barbara Therese, I just read your post. I will pray for you. It's nice that I met a friend on here. Let's pray for one another. I know what you mean by  I'm not letting things get the best of you, or something of that nature. I think life is wonderful in many aspects, we have God who is always with us. We are also human though.... So when things happen to us, especially when we have no control how others treat us... Let's think of Jesus and all he went through. It's hard at times, but mother Angelica once said it's either God's will or God permits things to happen, I don't always understand, but I'm sure not every one understands the " why" but if we keep our eyes and heart on Christ, it helps because our focus is more on him than the " trial" we are enduring". Easier said than done, but God gives us the grace to endure it. ( Praying all works out for you).        Very well put what saint mary said do what you can and God will take care of the rest. I am sorry you suffer from bipolar, that must not be easy ( and no one's fault of ones own) it is genetic. We all bear a cross or crosses, as mother Angelica said as well, she thanked God for her aches and pains... As she said it humbled her. I too, even though very difficult thank Jesus for my flaws, which are many because it makes me realize that there is a reason that I have chronic fatigue syndrome... It makes my brain foggy, and believe me its not pleasant, for me and honestly at my job... You know when people try to be polite, but are saying to themselves, what's wrong with her... Is she slow... Etc.. even though it's difficult, there's a reason I have chronic fatigue syndrome. Do I wish I had it.. absolutely not. But I know there is a reason beyond my understanding. One of the reasons is to humble me. Like saint Teresa of Avila said too  may God excuse us from silly nuns ( something of that nature she said) as we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously. ( Such a lesson for me,as I can be a perfectionist in certain aspects. ) And saint Bernadette was called lazy because she spent most of her time near the end of her life in the infirmary. Thank you for the compliment about Mary's heart, she is everything to me. I had a very special grace from Mary back several years ago. And really after living Jesus, the blessed mother is my favorite. I hope you are feeling better Barbara therese. Let's continue to pray for one another.  

[Guest]

I fell heaps better today, Marysheaert, I got some very good and welcome news.  And yes, let us continue to pray for each other.

Sorry to read that you suffer chronic fatigue syndrome - it is not easy cross for sure.  I knew a woman in my previous parish who suffered CFS.

The saints are a wonderful gift to us all - some at one time perhaps and others at another time.  I haven't had a serious episode of bipolar in over 12 years now, but I still have certain symptoms that indicate that I am still a sufferer.    When I am in good or even bad times, I say to myself "and this too shall pass" it is a question of taking things step by step and working through whatever.  I think it might have been St Teresa of Avila who said it, I am not sure.  Nothing, indeed in this life will last forever - all things pass.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Marysheart said:

Teresa of Avila said too  may God excuse us from silly nuns  ( something of that nature she said)

"God, deliver me from sullen saints"

I had to cut short my previous post as I had a visitor.  Is the above quotation the one you were looking for? 

Having a sense of humour is a real gift.  I lost it there for a while!   I was very taken aback at what happened to create the difficult situation, very taken aback indeed because of the persons involved.  I am very happy now that I have completely withdrawn out of it and very aware of the reason why I withdrew - self protection.  Faced with some sort of threat, the"flight or fight" principle sets in.  Ideally with human beings, there is a third ooption and that is communication and I was not sure about what I would say at all and so I opted for flight. 

I read the following in the autobiography of St Therese of Lisieux: "When I was violently tempted by the devil and if I could slip away without her seeing my inner struggle, I would flee like a soldier deserting the battlefield. "  When St Therese would run from a situation for some reason, she would all the more pray for the person involved.   That has been some consolation in it all as I continue to work through it step by step as well as to give thanks that I have something to endure.

The following was a consolation too from St Teresa of Avila "“To reach something good it is very useful to have gone astray, and thus acquire experience.”

I am, of course, picking and choosing my quotations from saints.  I know why I ran and it was self protection and that is not, in my case, a virtue.  Sometimes it is wisdom that asks self-protection and sometimes in weakness, wisdom clicks into place.  My spiritual director will sort me out I am sure and when I catch up with him.

Edited June 3, 2018 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

I researched the origin of the quotation "this, too, shall pass".  It has a fascinating origin (The Holy Spirit is all embracing)- St Teresa did write something similar (from her bookmark HERE ) "All things are passing away................Whoever has God has everything, God alone suffices":

 

What is the origin of the phrase, "this, too, shall pass"?

http://intelligenttree.blogspot.com/2007/10/poem-by-theodre-tilton-this-too-shall.html

 

Quote

 

This is a proverb from the medieval Levent (Persian, Hebrew and Turkey) around 1200AD. The proverb means that all material conditions, whether good or bad, are transient. This proverb has the ability to make the happy person sad and the sad person happy because of the realization that both the 'best and worst of times' will soon pass.

I love the quote and it is a prudent reminder for us all that regardless of how the serendipity of life has dealt with us, it will soon pass. It speaks to me that "Change is the one constant in the universe" and it aligns with what the poet Rudyard Kipling said in his poem "IF" ...
 

If you can meet with triumph and disaster 

And treat those two imposters just the same 

Looking around the web, what I have below is the best I can come up with in regard to its history ...

The legend of the quote finds its roots in the court of a powerful eastern Persian ruler who called his sages (wise men) to him, including the Sufi poet Attar of Nishapur, and asked them for one quote that would be accurate at all times and in all situations. The wise men consulted with one another, and threw themselves into deep contemplation, and finally came up with the answer ...
 

"this too, shall pass".

The ruler was so impressed by the quote that he had it inscribed in a ring.

The quote was popular in the first half of the 19th century particularly with the English poet Edward Fitzgerald and later being employed in a speech by Abraham Lincoln, in his address to the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society in 1859. He summed up the quote's impact so well by saying:
 

"How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction."

 

 

Here is the whole of the poem "IF" by Rudyard Kipling:

 

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

 

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

 

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

 

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Edited June 3, 2018 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

 

https://www.catholic.com/qa/do-we-have-pre-existing-souls

Full Question -

Do souls exist in heaven prior to human conception?

 

Answer - No, we do not have a pre-Earth existence.

If anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema (Second Council of Constantinople).

 

 

Catholic Catechism

Para 6 "Man" http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p1s2c1p6.htm

 

 

__________________

 

Weather forecaster

 

A film crew was on location deep in the desert. One day, an old Indian went up to the director and said, "Tomorrow storm." The next day there was a sandstorm.

Several days later, the Indian went up to the director and said, "Tomorrow rain." The next day it rained for the entire day.

"This Indian is amazing," said the director. He told his secretary to hire the Indian to predict the weather. However, after several successful predictions, the old Indian failed to show up for a couple of weeks.

Finally, the director sent for him. "I have a big scene to shoot tomorrow," the director said, "and I'm counting on you. What will the weather be like?"

"Not know," replied the Indian, shrugging his shoulders. "Radio broken!"

[Guest]

"Life of Christ" - Fulton Sheen Available on Kindle

                        

"For those seeking to better understand the message of Jesus Christ,

this vivid retelling of the greatest story ever lived

is a must read"

 

"Widely proclaimed a classic work of Christian faith, Life of Christ has been hailed as the most eloquent of Fulton J. Sheen’s many books. The fruit of many years of reflection, prayer, and research, it is a dramatic and moving recounting of the birth, life, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Christ, and a passionate portrait of the God-Man, the teacher, the healer, and most of all the Savior, whose promise has sustained humanity for two millennia.

With his customary insight and reverance, Sheen interprets the scripture and describes Christ, not only in historical perspective, but also in exciting and contemporary terms, seeing in Christ’s life both modern parallels and timeless lessons. His thoughtful, probing analysis provides new insight into well-known Gospel events.

An appealing blend of philosophy, history, and Biblical exegesis, from the best-known and most-loved American Catholic leader of the twentieth century, Life of Christ has long been a source of inspiration and guidance. For those seeking to better understand the message of Jesus Christ, this vivid retelling of the greatest story ever lived is a must read."

 

---o0o---

 

 

Full Question - I have a friend that was not raised with any religion; what is the best book or information I can give her?

Answer - A good number of people recommend G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man.

 

And if she likes that book, I would then highly recommend Archbishop Fulton Sheen's A Life of Christ.

For further formation, I’d encourage her reading the Bible in tandem with the Catechism of the Catholic Church and, to better both, informally sitting in on an RCIA classes and adult education classes at a good Catholic parish you can recommend to her.

Catholic Answers - Q&A

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The following is not available on Kindle

"Peace of Soul" - Fulton Sheen

Catholic Answers Apologist's Bookshelf - Recommended Reading

$19.79 plus shipping - Paperback Only

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen brilliantly examines the vast differences between the benefits of psychotherapy and true confession that leads to conversion. While one may help the patient gain some peace of mind, the Christian gains something far greater through the grace of Confession: peace of soul.

"The writing is clear and forceful, the logic frequently brilliant...This is a rewarding experience for any reader and those of other religions or of none will enjoy it even when in disagreement".....Catholic World.

 

Catholic Culture Library - "CONFESSION AND PSYCHIATRY"

An important read highlighting the difference between psychiatry and the confessional:  

Excerpt - "First, he clarifies the boundary line between the subject matter of psychoanalysis and the subject matter of confession. The Sacrament operates on sin, human activity which lacks the rightness it should have in conformity with divine law. Sin is the evil "men do," and men's actions are sinful only in so far as they are willed. But psychoanalysis pertains to the field of mental sickness, to the evil "men suffer." As a sickness, this evil is involuntary and usually quite contrary to the wish of the sufferer. Sin, therefore, is something that men do while psychoneurosis is something that happens to them. Confession presupposes the power to turn freely from sin, while psychoanalysis supposes a certain slavery to blind compulsions. In short, confession deals with willful misdeeds whereas psychoanalysis deals with involuntary misfortunes."

 

---o0o---

This did leap out at me from the above text "This is a special temptation at the present time when the Church in America is at the very pinnacle of her prestige".

  When I checked, the article is dated 1949.  Today the situation is radically different with our Church and lines from the Magnificat come to mind :

"He has shown strength with His arm;
    He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
He has brought down the mighty from their thrones'"

 

 

Edited June 4, 2018 by BarbaraTherese

[Guest]

 

Prophetic?

From Cardinal Ratzinger's book (Emeritus Pope Benedict) "Faith and The Future".  Original publication date 1969.  The text is from Catholic Education Resource Centre (CERC).

"Faith and The Future" is not a cheap book at $88.30 on Amazon, but it is available on Kindle for $11.07 HERE

Excerpt: "The church will become small and will have to start afresh more or less from the beginning.

She will no longer be able to inhabit many of the edifices she built in prosperity. As the number of her adherents diminishes . . . she will lose many of her social privileges. . . As a small society, [the Church] will make much bigger demands on the initiative of her individual members....

It will be hard-going for the Church, for the process of crystallization and clarification will cost her much valuable energy. It will make her poor and cause her to become the Church of the meek . . . The process will be long and wearisome as was the road from the false progressivism on the eve of the French Revolution — when a bishop might be thought smart if he made fun of dogmas and even insinuated that the existence of God was by no means certain .....But when the trial of this sifting is past, a great power will flow from a more spiritualized and simplified Church"..........Read entire text:  https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/spiritual-life/the-church-will-become-small.html 

 

[Guest]

Havenly Father, please grant me peace of mind
and calm my troubled heart. My soul is like
a turbulent sea. I can’t seem to find my balance
so I stumble and worry constantly.

Come with Your Spirit and Give me the
strength and clarity of mind to find my purpose
and walk the path you’ve laid out for me. I trust
your Love Father, and know that you will heal this stress.
Just as the sun rises each day against the dark of
night.

Please bring me clarity with Your Light and Grace.

In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.

[Guest]

Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), Dominican tertiary, Doctor of the Church, co-patron of Europe
Dialogues, chapter 13
 

“Whose image is this?” In becoming man, God restored in us the image of the Trinity

 

Eternal Love…, I ask this grace of you: have mercy on your people in the name of the eternal love, which pushed you to create the human being in your image and likeness (Gen 1:26)… You only did that, o eternal Trinity, because you yourself wanted to let the human being participate in everything. That is why you gave him memory, so that he might remember your kindnesses and thus participate in your power, o eternal Father. That is why you gave him intelligence, so that he might understand your goodness and thus participate in the wisdom of your only Son. That is why you gave him will, so that he might love what he sees and know your truth, and thus participate in the love of your Holy Spirit. Who pushed you to give such dignity to the human being? The inexhaustible love with which you looked at your creature in yourself…

[But] because of sin, your creature lost this dignity… Pushed by that same fire with which you had created us, you then… gave us the Word, your only Son… He fulfilled your will, eternal Father, when you clothed him with our humanity, in the image and likeness of our nature. O abyss of love! Which heart could defend itself for not giving in to your love when seeing the Most High joining the lowliness of our humanity? We are your image and you are ours through the union that you consummated in man by covering your divinity with Adam’s clay (Gen 2:7)… What pushed you to do that? Love! You, God, became man, and man became God. By that unspeakable love I beg you, have mercy on your creatures.

From Daily Gospel.org

 

[Guest]

 

Re the thread I started in Open Mic as above.  There are more comments about the subject "Prophetic" in that thread. 

______________

(I first posted the subject into this thread in "Private Vows & Spirituality"  HERE)

[Guest]

Father Mike again..........

 

A MOST important video!...8.47mins

"SANCTIFIED IN THE MIDST OF WOUNDEDNESS"

 

 

 Some time in primary school, Sister told us that martyrs go immediately to Heaven - no Purgatory  and certainly no Hell.

That impressed me no end at that very young age and so I decided I would ;be a martyr.  However!  I had to arrange it very carefully, and so I told The Lord I would die willingly for Him but only under these circumstances; that I was shot in the back of the head by a communist.

My reasoning: In those days of paranoia about communism, I would certainly be a martyr if killed by a communist.  If I was shot in the back of the head, I would not see death coming and I would die instantly and not feel a thing.  And I was really truly very happy about my arrangement with The Lord.

All my fears about Judgement Day and me being perhaps the first one up with all my sins and failures on show vanished.  I would go immediately to Heaven without Purgatory nor Hell.

But then many years later indeed, I read in a work by Thomas Merton that you cannot make superstitious deals with God.  I was shattered, truly shattered - so many of my negotiations with Jesus fell to the floor and shattered into endless pieces beyond resuscitation.

It was more years before I learnt the theology of All Embracing Grace, our Doctrine of Divine Providence and the theology of the Confessional.

Ahhhh.....childhhood......and the journey........

______________

To add to the above and sometime while my childhood and connected religious delusions were still functioning. 

It was very hot indeed and Mum asked me to go to the shops for her.  It was quite a walk and on the way home, I was terribly thirsty.  I had to go through the Protestant end of our street and some public school children were out the front playing with a hose.  I asked them for water but they refused unless I denied I was Catholic.  I protested for a bit but faced with the long walk still to get home, I finally said "I am not a Catholic".  They all thought that hilarious and I got my drink of water.

That Saturday I went to Confession in tears telling Father I had denied my Faith for a drink of water.  I was terribly distressed and no way could Father console me, not even after a good confession.

Edited June 6, 2018 by BarbaraTherese