Guest Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 (edited) Poem written by Edith on Good Friday 1938 Prayer of St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross Today I stood with you beneath the cross And felt more clearly than I ever did That you became our Mother only there. But those whom you have chosen for companions To stand with you around the eternal throne, They must stand with you beneath the Cross, And with the lifeblood of their bitter pains, Must purchase heavenly glory for those souls Whom God's own Son entrusted to their care. Prayer of St Edith Stein O my God, fill my soul with holy joy, courage and strength to serve you. Enkindle your love in me and then walk with me along the next stretch of road before me. I do not see very far ahead, but when I have arrived where the horizon now closes down, a new prospect will open before me and I shall meet with peace. Edited October 16, 2017 by BarbaraTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2017 Share Posted October 16, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 St Vincent de Paul Society Quote Daily Reflection – October 16 “Our Lord wants us to serve him with judgment; all the rest is indiscreet zeal.”– St. Vincent de Paul (Reflection: "It is hard, Lord, to make correct judgments. Be with me at those times when issues are serious and solutions hard to reach. Lord, you are my surety.") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 (edited) CHAT Buddie, my little dog, must have a vet visit today - he has a terrible cough. It will be the first time he has travelled by taxi and I am concerned how things will go with me more disabled now and with Buddie unfamiliar with taxi travel..........and me with funds really low. A quick prayer please can work wonders. I was drifting off to sleep last night thinking about how life can all of a sudden get messy, one is cruising along with all as it should be and all of a sudden....mess!..... - it might be small or it might be something major. Life now and then gets messy. It occurred to me that with the Incarnation, Jesus Son of God, becomes truly human in every single way except sin. He not only has an overwhelming ardent desire to open Heaven for us returning us to God's friendship as a very personal God, He desires ardently to effect all this by entering into the messiness that human life can be. Ultimately, He even embraced a shocking death to remain with us in cause and effect..........i.e. the human journey. Thus is our redemption effected. Love. He even comes to us in sin, small or major, not with reprimand but with an ardent desire to forgive and forget, and get on with our journey and with Him. It seems to me that God has an ardent desire to enter into the messiness of life with us - its little messes and its big ones and that the Incarnation 'speaks' this fact. He is here with us in all the ups and downs, trials and difficulties, highs and Joys.......whether I can only hold to it in Faith or whether I have a personal awareness of His Presence. We do tend to think it seems to me that a personal awareness of the Presence of Jesus in some way is a great blessing and it is. But "blessed are they who have not seen but believe" are the words of Jesus. That is, blessed are those who journey in Faith and only Faith without very special blessings to encourage them on the way. What a revelation Heaven will be! __________________ Some saint and I forget whom said that the special consolations in prayer and those mystical in nature are very often sent to strengthen one in weakness of Faith. Holy indeed are those who never experience such consolations and encouragement and yet journey on through the ups and downs, the causes and effects of life, and in dark Faith. I did think it was St Teresa of Avila who said or wrote it, but I have never been able to confirm that it was. Hence, where I read it remains a mystery. "Behold I am with you even to the consummation of the world" "If you love Me and keep my commandments, we shall come to you and make our abode with you" Faith and Love Edited October 17, 2017 by BarbaraTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 (edited) The other thought that just occurred to me is that Jesus remaining with us through The Incarnation in life's journey and its causes and effects, there just has to be something holy and sanctifying about it all - else Jesus would not be with us in it all. Of course, The Church teaches that every life has potential for holiness, but sometimes it can happen that a light shines and one knows on a newer level: "Of course, it just has to be that way and as The Church teaches". All things in life, the great and the small, the Joy and the sufferings all have potential to make great saints and it is through The Incarnation, the Life and Death of Jesus, that this is so. Taking things a bit further - and this is what the theology and spirituality, the insight and genius, of St Therese is all about and whether one lives a remarkably holy life in the public eye or whether one lives a hidden quite everyday and ordinary life - the very ordinary and everyday lived in an extraordinary way as St Therese lived it. It is not about an ordinary life per se or a quite extraordinary public life per se, it is all about the perspective and attitude concerning one's journey and whatever that journey might be - to journey in Love and in Faith that Jesus unfailingly is leading one to holiness through the events and situations of one's life..............intimately in the messiness of it all with us. Perspective and attitude. Edited October 17, 2017 by BarbaraTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 17, 2017 Share Posted October 17, 2017 Adversity is . . . God's most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adversity becomes easier to bear. - Charles Stanley, In Touch Ministry Shalom Place Dominican Sisters of Peace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 (edited) "When Reading the Bible . . ." "Advice to Help You Better Understand Sacred Scripture" Quote "Contrary to popular belief, you can understand the Bible and study it on your own. Reading and studying the Sacred Scriptures is the journey of a lifetime. Now, as with any journey, there are several different routes you can take to get to where you want to go. Some routes are faster but more difficult. Some routes take a little longer but offer a smoother ride. ..."...Continue Reading HERE (from "Word Among Us" website) Not a lengthy read by far - and a worthwhile read. Edited October 18, 2017 by BarbaraTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2017 Share Posted October 18, 2017 Dominican Sisters of Peace Quote Message of the Day "One who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life." - William Law Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 St Louise de Marillac St Vincent de Paul Society Daily Reflection – October 18 “Let us mistrust desires for change. Who are we who seek to choose our path? Let us abandon ourselves to Divine guidance.”– St. Louise de Marillac (Reflection: Lord, when I find myself envying others who are following what appears to be some other, more attractive path in life, remind me that your love will sustain me in my present situation which you have chosen for me. I place all my trust in you.") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 19, 2017 Share Posted October 19, 2017 "Why The Mass doesn’t need to be “new and improved”: https://aleteia.org/2017/10/18/i/?utm_campaign=NL_en&utm_source=daily_newsletter&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=NL_en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 Quote There are only three types of people; those who have found God and serve him; those who have not found God and seek him, and those who live not seeking, or finding him. The first are rational and happy the second unhappy and rational, and the third foolish and unhappy - Blaise Pascal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 20, 2017 Share Posted October 20, 2017 (edited) CHAT Not the best of days for me today. But like all things, there was a positive and a negative. The positive is that Buddie has antibiotics and another medication for his cough. He has had his arthritis shot - and he has had a thorough examination by the vet. Therefore, I know he is in very good health, aside from the cough and the medications will take care of that as in the past. The negative side is a challenge. Buddie, my little dog, had an accident in my carer's car. Buddie and I were in the front in the passenger seat, he was on the floor at my feet going to the vet and back to Bethany again. I didn't realise what had happened. My carer rang me a short time after she left and she was very upset about it and I can understand that for sure. Buddie has never done something like that while travelling in a car before or I would have put him on an old towel. My carer is Italian and I know that when she calls next Tuesday she is going to be very upset and will need to hang on to that upset state of mind and probably for the whole time she is here I will probably need to hear about it all repeatedly - it is just her way, her personality, the passionate Italian way. Tuesday will be a challenge for me. Hence, I am really tense and a quite anxious about her visit next Tuesday. St Francis of Assisi please pray for me and help me to preach The Gospel by my reaction to the situation on Tuesday. If I need to go to the vet again at some stage, I will be putting Buddie on an old towel to travel in a car. At this point, I am unable to walk him over to the vet and home again as had been my habit. I can't walk with him on a lead and me walking with the wheeler. I am finding it very difficult personally to have to rely on others so much - and others do not understand my difficulty which is psychological - I can understand their problem, but they don't seem to be able to grasp mine. I have always been very independent. I am still determined not to have surgery. I just cannot afford to be not fully operational for 4 - 6 weeks at the very least - for one thing only. Not living alone with a little dog and cat to care for, that is. If I have someone to help me it is going to cost and frankly, I am running out of money. I am very determined to learn to live as disabled as I now am. I know Grace is with me and hence I can do it, but it is the necessity to undo conditioning and form new conditionings, new understandings psychologically. Short of a miracle, that takes time in the normal course. I am not praying for a miracle as some understand a miracle - Grace in the normal course is a miracle. The Joy in it all and laughter is for the number of times I have read that private vows in the Laity is the easy way! Oh for a mother superior to make all the decisions, fellow sisters to help out and always sufficient funds for what has to happen. And yet, I know I am where I am called by God to be, here in Bethany, and do not regret my embracing this vocation one bit. Fiat Voluntas Est. Benedicamus Domino. Deo Gratius. Edited October 20, 2017 by BarbaraTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 (edited) Sister Cecilia Maria Roughly 17 min video A beautiful Carmelite nun with an incredible smile and eyes. She entered Carmel twice. She left the first time after 5 months thinking her desire for Carmel was illusory but could not shake thoughts of Carmel. If I recall rightly, the video was made as so many wanted to know more about her after her death - if memory does serve a commentator states this briefly in passing in the early minutes or so of the video. In the snippets of her writings is much spiritual value worth taking on board. What especially struck me was that she accepted her limitations and there she found Christ - also that in journeying with her humanity, her human nature, the supernatural unfolded for her. This to me is what holiness is all about i.e. becoming more human, not less human. For me, The Incarnation is a statement that human nature has great value and potential and is fulfilled in The God who Became Fully Human, Jesus. There can be no fully human without Jesus. Another thing that struck me was her comment on the death of Lazarus and what she termed as the shortest statement in the Gospels i.e. "Jesus wept". Her final days especially were of much suffering and pervasive through it all, that incredible smile and beautiful eyes. I almost cried but not quite, just very wet eyes ... still. Edited October 21, 2017 by BarbaraTherese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 I just had to post the above! I do like quotes that make something quite noble of human foibles and missteps. They make me feel better. And yet there just might be an element of truth it could seem. A psychiatrist once told me that madness walks in when one's nature will not compromise with a reality. Those who are sane have been able to compromise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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