Romans 8:15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 2 Timothy 1:7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Mario & Padraig The grace offered is equal to the evil now present. Unprecedented and beautiful as opposed to the ugly face of sin. I grew up in n. Ireland born 1970 no one in my area went to mass. No family or friends in church from my area of s/ Armagh. I am often surprised when people speak of sudden loss of faith. Im 52 it’s simply been my experience. The great falling away began prior to my birth. This year has been a time of pain and darkness but God fills me with light that can’t be described. Illumination that remains black… he is with me in my nothingness. I find today simply I am of Jesus. Nothing else. My all. Thy will be done. I pray for you all but now visit only rarely. I spend my time away from media when off from work. I want to be with God. Outside my duty five kids n all full time nurse all that remains is desire for God. My heart tells me Now. He is coming… watch and pray.
I hope God will have mercy on this present generation. If they have never truly been taught the Faith it is difficult to see how they could keep a Faith they never really knew. God is merciful and just. May God have mercy on us all. The Bridegroom comes at an hour that is unexpected, let us keep our lamps trimmed and ready. A funny thing happened to me today. I had two young men in changing my equipment for the Broad Band. I had gotten two large brass and glass oil lamps from a charity shop and polished them up and lit them. I am that used to them now I forget the are on. They give the most lovely smell and warm glow. I have them for the bad times and just because they are so beautiful and old. But the two young guys gave me the funniest looks when they saw them, as though I was mad. But I love them. Let us keep our lamps trimmed and ready.
Amen! Mature Faith In Jesus - Door to - and Word of - God the Father! When God dwells within us as He's asked of us? ... ... we become part of His Spiritual Church - the Mystical Body of Christ at the Head - THE Temple of God's Holy Spirit at the Heart! The Son of God JESUS Prayerfully Petitions God the Father ( John 17 ) --- Extreme Beautiful Depth! (Reader Slowly Read) "Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify thee, 2 since thou hast given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom thou hast given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. 4 I glorified thee on earth, having accomplished the work which thou gavest me to do; 5 and now, Father, glorify thou me in thy own presence with the glory which I had with thee before the world was made. 6 "I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them to me, and they have kept thy word. 7 Now they know that everything that thou hast given me is from thee; 8 for I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from thee; and they have believed that thou didst send me. 9 I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom thou hast given me, for they are thine; 10 all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to thee. ....................... Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in thy name, which thou hast given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not pray that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. 18 As thou didst send me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in truth. ............. 20 “I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory which thou hast given me in thy love for me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world has not known thee, but I have known thee; and these know that thou hast sent me. 26 I made known to them thy name, and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." +
Well to be positive; I think God would be better with just one person in Church whose heart was on fire with love, than one filled to the brim with a thousand who are there as a matter of routine; the lukewarm. The way things are at the moment , at Daily Mass at least, the souls that are there , I suspect are the remnant who really want to be there. The ones , the lamps of whose hearts are well lit. This gives Great Glory to God. As time moves onwards and those who go to Mass either in Church or in some new Catacomb face prison or death, the Good Lord will be given Great Glory and His CHurch be Glorified from it's present Filth.
The lovely picture of the priest at the Mass-rock above in Padraig's post inspires me to rant about the priest facing the people and turning his back on God. I don't think it was a coincidence that the introduction of versus populum coincided with the rise of the 'rock god' in concert. Certainly, many priests seem to imagine themselves as some kind of performers. We sometimes hear in its defense that it is offensive for a priest to turn his back on the congregation. Of course, the ad orientem priest is doing no such thing-he is simply, like the rest of us, facing towards his God. Indeed, the rest of the congregation, with the sole exception of those in the very back pew, are turning their backs on someone-what sort of absurd arrangement could eliminate such a happening? I even wonder is the whole thing, despite their claims to wish to elevate the laity, a form of self-aggrandising clericalism: "the rest of you can stay facing your Creator, but hey, I'm special and can do what I just feel like-now, never mind looking at God, have a look at me". Rant over-one facilitated by enforced idleness, due to a positive COVID test (I'm not too bad, thank God, and feel a bit of a fraud).
