BarbTherese Posted September 15, 2023 Author Share Posted September 15, 2023 About Me I am both the Profiles: BarbaraTherese and BarbTherese. I joined Pham on 18th September 2008. A few years back, Pham went down for quite a while. When it eventually came up again, my Profile was stated as BarbTherese. When I eventually checked, I also still had BarbaraTherese, meaning I had two profiles. BarbTherese states joining date as 2012, while BarbaraTherese, my correct User Name, stated 2008 and the original date I joined Pham. The statistics on my now current Barb Therese are therefore incorrect and despite a couple of attempts to correct things, the incorrect statistics remain so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted September 15, 2023 Author Share Posted September 15, 2023 What we are called to do, as Christians, is to completely condemn the sin but to love and embrace the sinner. Condemning the sin is a matter of words. Loving and embracing the sinner is the action. The homosexual person would experience the above as rejection and it is up to us to keep loving and embracing until they realise what it means to reject the sin but to love the sinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted September 15, 2023 Author Share Posted September 15, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted September 15, 2023 Author Share Posted September 15, 2023 Stay with this video, it has very interesting facts about the process for electing a new Pope by the College of Cardinals. Including about Pope Francis. I am confident the College knew what they were 'asking for' in electing a Jesuit pope with the simplicity of Pope Francis. As best we could with Unity (I think) in mind, it is a return to basics, to our foundations. "Simplicity, though not traditionally viewed as a virtue, is the greatest virtue of all because it makes practicing every other virtue that much easier. Balance can be struck, the truth becomes all we need, and our minds become decluttered in proportion to our environments..........more https://medium.com/better-advice/simplicity-is-the-greatest-virtue-it-amplifies-all-others-80476944596d#:~:text=Simplicity%2C though not traditionally viewed,in proportion to our environments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted September 16, 2023 Author Share Posted September 16, 2023 I am having a lot of trouble sleeping because of an itch driving me nutty. Obviously I am allergic to something and I need a doctor referral to a dermatologist to find out what exactly - and then it can be eliminated. The other problem I have is that the doctor here in this Home has me on fluid tablets and I am going to the bathroom every 2 hours through the night, around 2 hours anyway.............and of course that wakes me. This morning I woke at 4am and have been unable to go back to sleep. Lack of sleep is an absolute no no for a sufferer of bipolar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted September 26, 2023 Author Share Posted September 26, 2023 (edited) I am not in the best of health, although very thankfully it is physically. Much effort is poured into not letting things get me down. I wish I could say that I have more time for prayer. Well, of course I do, but I can't........pray I mean. What is happening is that I can no longer pray the same way to which I had become accustomed, and probably attached to as well. I don't know where my prayer life is going, only hold onto the blind belief that it is going somewhere. I miss The Mass terribly, but Homes where Mass is celebrated every so often are frightfully expensive - costs money to be Catholic..................🤐say no more, kid! I feel that God loves me fiercely above all others and at the same time that He loves me fiercely equal to all others. That is paradox and our spirituality is full of them. It is something that I, anyway, cannot explain........only am aware of. Paradoxes of our Faith: https://archives.nd.edu/episodes/visitors/rhb/bensonp.htm Quote Headings (links): Introductory Jesus Christ, God and Man The Catholic Church, Divine and Human Peace and War Wealth and Poverty Sanctity and Sin Joy and Sorrow Love of God and Love of Man Faith and Reason Authority and Liberty Corporateness and Individualism Meekness and Violence The Seven Words Life and Death Edited September 26, 2023 by BarbTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted September 29, 2023 Author Share Posted September 29, 2023 (edited) Still a struggle with health and went to the pain clinic again this morning. I wont have surgery nor is it advisable at my age - I am not keen on more pain killers either and am relying on what physio exercises I am able to do to get the best out of whatever remains of physical ability. Computer woes again and have lost all sound on my desk computer and also my mobile and TV. My brother does not know when he will be able to come in again. Father came in this afternoon and I was able to go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, He said he would come in monthly from now on for sure. ..........lost my emojis If I disappear, its due to IT woes. Edited September 29, 2023 by BarbTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted October 11, 2023 Author Share Posted October 11, 2023 I am now testing negative for COVID and will be out of isolation in 2 days. One of the staff was able to fix this computer for me about an hour ago. Please say a prayer for the elderly here in this Home who are still suffering with COVID, although very thankfully, we have none very ill and/or in hospital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted October 11, 2023 Author Share Posted October 11, 2023 THE SPIRITUALITY OF SUFFERING AND GRATITUDE Fierce storms of hardships hit me. The burden of life cruelly weighed down upon me. I felt my life caving in on itself. I sank into the despair of having lost everything. I lost the precious things to which I was clinging. I was misunderstood by people. I was criticized and even condemned by many. Finally I had to leave the community that I considered home. Like Jacob, I felt the need to flee under the moonlight. I had to leave everything behind. I felt ashamed of myself. A monster called ‘shame’ harassed me. I was ashamed that I had disappointed the people who trusted me. I didn’t want to meet anyone at all. I felt like people would point their fingers at me as the failure. So I stayed home most of the time. On the outside, I appeared to be fine. But my emotions rocked heavily inside like a wild wave. Quiet anger and silent disparity permeated through my wounds deep within. Almost every night I had nightmares that I was being incessantly harassed by those who hated me. In my head, I heard the mocking voices of those who ridiculed me. I worried a lot because I didn’t know how to respond to those painful trials. It was during those times that God encouraged me to respond with gratitude to the trials. It was a very special grace. Gratitude as a Means of Grace The gratitude that God introduced to me was paradoxical grace. Words like pain, tears, descending, wounds, sufferings, loss, darkness, separation, depression, vulnerability, shadow, isolation and brokenness visited my thoughts. So I wrote one essay every week for a year on those topics. The paradoxical spiritual attitude called gratitude healed my wounded heart as I was writing. God touched me as I was writing about gratitude. Writing about gratitude cleansed the window of my soul that had been darkened by blame, resentment, and disappointment. The spirituality of gratitude is the highest peak of Christian spirituality. Jesus’s spirituality was the spirituality of gratitude. Jesus, just before his crucifixion, shared with his disciples the last supper. He spoke a prayer of thanksgiving as he shared the bread and wine with his disciples. He faced the crucifixion with thanksgiving. He spoke a prayer of thanksgiving before performing miracles. He gave thanks and distributed the loaves and fish (John 6:11). Jesus thanked his Joshua Choonmin KangFather before he called Lazarus back into life (John 11:41). Gratitude heals the sick and is God’s instrument that ushers in His miracles. (Joshua Choonmin Kang) here A Prayer for the Lost: Dear God, I pray for a world that doesn’t know you. I pray for those who are lost. God show yourself to those who don’t believe. Allow me to be a source of your light to those who need you. Help me to lead people to you. Help me tell others about you and have the words they need to hear. I pray for the loss that if not by me, something or someone else will intervene in their life and direct them to you. I pray for divine appointments all across the world today. God, I pray for the world to know you. In Jesus' name, Amen. (Read: 1 Timothy 2:1–7) A Prayer for Physical Illness: Dear God, I pray for the sickness in our world. I pray for those suffering from COVID-19. I pray for those suffering from cancer. I pray for those suffering from heart disease. I pray for those suffering from any form of sickness or ailment. If it is your will, I pray that you heal them, Lord. I ask that you be with them, comfort them, and provide them with peace. Be with their families that are struggling as they watch their loved ones suffer. Provide them with love and a sense of hope. God, I pray you heal our world. In Jesus' name, Amen. (Read: James 5:13–15) A Prayer for Broken Families: Dear God, There is so much brokenness in this world. Please be with each family that is suffering. I pray you keep families united, loving and seeking you. I pray for reconciliation. I pray for each individual whose family has been torn apart by divorce, abuse, abandonment, drugs, alcohol, death, and any other circumstance. I pray that they are able to find hope in you. I pray for the families that are on the verge of being torn apart; I pray that you heal them. I pray for those who don’t have a family. Let them find a loving, kind, and supportive family. Allow them to find a family within the kingdom of God. Provide them with comfort only you can supply. In Jesus' name, Amen. (Read: Psalms 15–18) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted October 11, 2023 Author Share Posted October 11, 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted October 11, 2023 Author Share Posted October 11, 2023 Hamas has launched a massive barrage of intense rocket fire in a bid to attack the Israeli coastal city of Ashkelon. It has been reported most of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system. People have been frantically trying to get to shelter as rockets continue to be fired and alarms sound across the city. Lord, we raise Israel and Gaza to you, and pray for those suffering. We ask that you provide peace in this crisis, and protection and comfort for all those who have been impacted. We lift our prayer to you, Lord, hear us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted October 11, 2023 Author Share Posted October 11, 2023 Quote “Beyond the destruction of human lives, which we have witnessed in a horrifying way ... the fragile hopes for peace that seemed to be emerging a little bit on the horizon are going completely up in smoke,” the cardinal said. The above article stated that 700 have been killed and dozens more kidnapped. Lord have Mercy Christ have Mercy Lord have Mercy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted October 11, 2023 Author Share Posted October 11, 2023 In our world marked today by violence, fear, anger, destruction and loss, there are still good things happening. Lord, please remind me of that and let my heart be glad and rejoice also giving thanks to You. Grant to Your Church unity and trustful Hope with a spirit of constant and grateful prayer rising like incense to Your throne from joyful hearts. Please come to the rescue of Israel. Amen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarbTherese Posted October 13, 2023 Author Share Posted October 13, 2023 I bet Jesus is crying: "Jesus wept: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." Matthew Ch23 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=++++7%3A22+%2F+25%3A42++•+Lt+Col+Jonathan+Conricus+from+the+Israel+Defence+Force+LIVE+interview+++War+between+Israel+and+Hamas%3A+Full+Coverage+Day+4+|+7+News+Australia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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