Yes Paul, the little things, like looking at the sky. I also noticed years ago a trick you can play on the devil. It is rather like being a cat watching a mouse hole. Pay attention to your thoughts, not a close attention but rather a prayerful weather eye at what is going through your mind. If you do you may well catch the devil at work. For myself I am a very positive , happy upbeat person so when I catch the devil trying his voice is kind of like this, 'What you're doing iis pointless, no one cares, why do you bother, this is useless....' ..and so on. This inner voice is so unlike me I know it is alien. With practice I can even see it has a kind of foreign accent kind of harsh and gutteral, it trys to imitate my own inner voice but is recognisably foreign. Similiarly with my angels voice I may have kind of dark thoughts about ,say a colleague at work but suddenly insightful kind thoughts I have never had before, very insightful thoughts calm me like, 'Remember she has trouble at home...' or 'You know PAdraig he is under considerable work stress , make allowances...'. The old cartoons of the devil whispering into one ear and good angel into the other are not so fanciful as we think.
Whenever I have that little voice in my head that tells me there is no God or that He has abandoned me I look at the beautiful sky, and I thank Him for being in my life.
I was told not so long ago by a very very good priest that we are living in a time of great battle with satan, it has nothing left to fight with only the mind and it is intensifying its battle with us to convince all of us that God does not exist,this he said is satan's last and greatest trick..
I had a very real dream once.. I found myself in St Pauls chapel Belfast and I was making my way towards the confession box ,I remember thinking to myself it was strange and that I didn’t know there was a confession box at the right hand side of the chapel but I went into it and was greeted by an older priest, he had a lovely smile ,as he looked over the rim of his glasses he said there is a tin box on a shelf in the parish centre it was mine and the next time that I was in the parish centre could I give it to Fr Martin and tell him to use it well. I walked out of the confession and woke up..A few days passed and I mentioned the dream to my wife she said well go to the parish centre and look for a tin box so I did, I was friendly with the guy who looked after the centre and I told him of the dream and laughed, he looked at me a bit strange and said what did the priest look like in your dream as I was explaining he handed me a book on the front cover was a picture of the very priest in my dream it was A Father O’Kane,I had never met him as he died a long time before I joined the parish, My friend also told me that the position of the confessional box was true as it was were Fr O’kane would have held confessions but when the chapel was being renovated they decided to move the confessionals to the left hand side of the chapel..He immediately said let’s look for the tin we searched for quite a while and in the back of an old cupboard we found a small tin box, on opening it we found it contained a beautiful priests confessional stole I couldn’t wait to run and tell Fr Martin of my dream and what we found I believe he still wears Fr O Kane’s stole to this day..I kept the book on Fr O Kane he was indeed a great priest and what a great dream it was to receive..
Great advice - listening for the enemy's voice. Years ago, when I had just begun working as a hospice nurse, I was driving home from a call in the middle of the night. Fighting to stay awake, I must have looked grim, but on the inside I was dancing. "Thank you, Lord, for the chance to serve you in this way. I can't believe my good fortune - to comfort people for a living and actually get paid for it!" Just then, I heard that other voice. It said, "Drive off this bridge and all your problems will be over." It was the most shocking thing. The only suicidal thought I'd ever had, and my own thoughts were exactly opposite. It was an important lesson - the enemy can give me thoughts, but he can't read my thoughts!
Fr Malchi Martin, Kathy, Said when he was a young priest in Brooklyn his old Parish Priest warned him to be careful in a certain part of the district, where he said, the devil was powerful. Fr Amlachi being yuong ignored him; but he said one night he was driving through the area when the wheel was suddenly wrenched powerfully out of his hand by an unknown force and he crashed, happily without being hurt. He is out there, he is always out there.h
I love your story John about Fr O'Kane. My mother and father were married in St Paul's and I received my first communion and confirmation there. My father was buried from St Paul's a few years ago and had it in the Tridentine Rite as he requested. After the service several young people said how impressed they were with the Tridentine Rite , never having seen it before. Its wonderful how an old Church or statue or picture can become so much a part of our heart and memories lodging there forever. It reminds me of the song, 'The Three Bells', do you remember?
Just had a lump in my throat and a little tear Padraig St Pauls is a very very special place for me its were I felt close to God, after all its were I carried St Therese, baptised my children and spent many a long nite in adoration,The Sacred Heart statue and altar in St Pauls is something very very special, its funny after I moved away my heart actually pined for St Pauls even though I grew up in Andytown as you say it is wonderful how places can do that to you, funny when I also here songs and the violins from Medjugore I actually cry...Cheers padraig
I attended my first EF {Extra-ordinary Form - that tells it all: the form of the Mass which stood for a millenium+ of years now labelled like a warning ; approach with caution may be dangerous ...} Mass a few weeks ago on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. I was very impressed. We members of the church need all the help we can get to help us appreciate how awesome is the Sacrifice of the Mass. The EF form certainly helped me be mindful. Communion had to be received kneeling and on the tongue. Another outward sign that helped me remember what truly we were receiving.
I think as time goes by we will find the Church going back more and more to the old reverential form.
Great dream, indeed! I'm so glad you pursued it- such a blessing for Father Martin, too! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
I had a wonderful dream last night, It started of quite a normal dream I was standing in a church car park talking to my mum and brother there were two other young people sitting at the church doors they were dressed like rockers/gothic style one of them had a tattoo on their arm as I was standing talking Jesus arrived now when I say he arrived I mean wow he arrived This is exactly what I saw his face was totally lit with his eyes burning with rays of light, my mum and brother and I were crying with joy and embraced him, as he got of his horse his beauty was so stunning he had to put a veil over his face so our hearts would not burst,the two young people approached him in a casual way to say hi and went to hug him also, but he rebuked them he put his hand on the tattoo and it melted away in a bright light,then he embraced the two of them, it was a wonderful end to the dream I was bringing Jesus around and introducing him to other people and members of my family they were all overjoyed and asking oh my Jesus is it really you...
The part about the tattoo really jumped out at me. I wonder if this fad of tattoos and piercings is a tactic of the enemy so when the time comes for a tattoo or implanted device, "the mark of the beast", it will seem like no big deal. Think about it - without this preceeding fad, the vast majority of people would balk at such an idea...
It reminds me of the very Early Church when people thought Jesus would return at any moment. So there was a bubbling excitement as they always prayed, 'Marana tha', come Lord Jesus. However I think we can renew that excitement and joy when we pray because Jesus does come and we are excited that He keeps coming. I noticed also about the tattoos. The former English football Captain David Beckham is being shown in advertising at the moment with full body tatoo's...have you noticed? Apparently this is the new fashion and costs thousands. I also noticed another thing, guys have ear rings in both ears. It reminds me of the fashion amongst girls to often look like, well ..sluts. Modelled on ghetto fashions. It reminds me of how like sheep we all are.
Regarding tattoos Padraig, 40 years ago my mother always told me a catholic shouldnt get one.Seems of such little importance now , we seem to be dealing with bigger issues now like can atheists go to heaven, or should we judge gays? such confusing times.Very confusing, alas, I guess we were warned they were coming.
