Thanks for all on the forum who have been praying for me over the last week. Thanks so very much , I have felt really uplifted in prayer. I know these are difficult times for the Church and I know as a consequence a few, perhaps many will wish to leave the forum This is to be expected. I do not see how it can be avoided. I love the Pope and the Church, but I do not thin kit right that certain issues be discussed and aired. Our Lady at her apparition of Vicka on November 9th in Italy asked for prayers the Church for the very first time. She said they are, 'Much needed'. Who am I to disagree with the Mother of God? Anyway thanks again for your much needed prayers.
Padraig, Thank you for all you do! I am a daily visitor to the site as this is a time of great confusion. The dialogue and posting by many has provided me with discernment and clarity on several issues. There are many individuals out there seeking understanding. Look at the questions posed either for or against: Garabandal, Synod, the pope, purgatory, homosexuality, what are the true teachings? ..... Who wouldn't be confused?
I got a very worrying message today concerning Catholic forums in general. Apparently there are dedicated groups of people determined to destroy the Church and pretending to be Catholics , using proxie addresses and attacking the Pope and encouraging schism. It seems they very,very good at pretending to be Catholics and are very knowledgeable about the Church. They are causing chaos. But what can you do but pray ? They are vry sophisticated. May God forgive them.
Padraig, as disturbing as this news is, I'm also in a strange way happy to hear it as it helps explain a sense I've had the past few weeks. It causes me to even greater prayer and reliance on Our Lady. Peace to you and thanks for your apostolate here.
evil is on the loose and good people are being led astray, I prayed a decade for everyone, all of us, today. No souls left behind!
One really needs to pray to have sound thinking in these day's. The one person I put most stock in right now has been Mark Mallett. Everything he has been posting is well thought out and I know when I read it that it is truth, as it brings me peace. When others are posting information that causes confusion, doubt, dispair, hopelessness........drop em like a hot potato, cause these are not the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
Padraig, These three come to mind: Galatians 5: 13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. Hebrews 12: 15 See to it that no one fail to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" spring up and cause trouble, and by it the many become defiled; Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. 6 Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Dearest Padraig, I can only add that those that follow the way of the cross with Jesus, also follow the path of the crucifixion of the church. Which is Our Lord's beloved bride. The life of our Most Holy Church follows closely the road of the cross of Jesus and those that are her true believers will also to varying degrees go through these most painful times to lessen the sufferings for others and to uphold the church on her journey. God bless you May St Joseph, the most pure spouse of Mary, the Holy mother of God, guide you and guard you in all yours ways and always. Blessed be the Holy Name of Jesus
Dear Josephite, I hope all is well with you. I have just noticed this post of yours tonight and am glad to see you on the forum again. Every blessing for you and your famiy.
The saving power of prayer, sacrifice and suffering will only be known to us when we are in heaven. These three gifts from God, have the greatest power to save many souls. As they are the offsprings and fruit of love. Therefore God shields us from the enormity and magnitude of their power least we become besotted with pride.
True. But He reminds me of the Irish weather in this. He usually lets the sun shine to escape from the clouds so we can get a nice look round us from time to time. What a pity if all we ever saw were grey mists. Sometimes He even lets us have a good summer!!
"God is By My Side" Beautiful! I sent it to my sister-in-law who is struggling with her husband of 58 years of age. She is suffering knowing that she has to commit him this weekend in a Alzheimer's/ Dementia home. He is very possessive of his belongings and is fighting her when she is trying to change or shower him, hitting and tackling her to the ground. She truly needs this peace that the song brings. He is not the same Mark that we all and in particular Julie has known through their married life time. We are traveling this weekend to help her through her & Mark's pain and suffering. Asking for prayers for them. Thanks Padraig for your post!
This also is true. In my case more so. The grey/black mists are for the great saints. Like mother Theresa and St John of the cross. As it was faith alone that kept them going through the dark night of the soul. I think God was doing more than just shielding them from the knowledge of the power of prayer, sacrifice and suffering. He was allowing them to partake of the bitterness of those, through no fault of their own who do not know God. He gave them a share of the pain that many thousands of souls throughout the world suffer. A hymn that Mother Theresa often sang which was unknown to me, until I heard it played many times during a two hour documentary where Mother was followed and filmed for about a year, it was made in approximately 1986 and I taped it and watched it many times. Some of the words of this hymn are as follows; ‘Lord take me, take all my liberty, my memory, my understanding; give me only your love and your grace’ Those words are so beautiful but imagine if the Lord took all our liberty, our memory and our understanding. It would surely seem like abandoment. However besides being a complete surrender on the part of the creature, it is an act of love by the creator. One of the reasons God may allow this to occur to the great saints might be to show the rest of us, that in many cases it is not the person’s fault that they do not know God and also that God still loves them and we should not judge. We are so lucky we have been given our faith and to have some knowledge of God. When my children were small and asked many questions about God trying to sort out in their minds, God's great love for everyone. I remember saying to them (and I used this analogy often) that somewhere in the world today there is a little four year old boy who is being brought up in a very poor family who lives miles from everyone in a poor country and the little boy doesn’t know God because his mum and dad don’t know God. He may never know God but it is not his fault. God loves that little four year old boy just as much as He loves you. God takes all this into consideration and even though the little boy may die tomorrow or when he is older God has not and will not abandon his child. Isn’t it great that God not only gives us the privilege of knowing Him but also the privilege to combine our prayers and desire to the little boys prayers and desire for love, and help Him to heaven and that’s what the communion of saints is. I would explain to them that if one of you were kidnapped the day you were born and raised as an atheist in some far off land I would still love you and want you returned and if ever you were returned to me, I would not ask why you hadn’t bothered calling me or tried to find me but I would embrace you and hold you close to my heart and all the unspoken words of love would be conveyed in that second and that is how it is with God. Everything is relative to God. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but through me. Why did Jesus tell us that He is the way, the truth and the life? I believe, Because He is God and God is Love and Love is the Way. Because He is God and God is Almighty, Immortal and Omnipotent and His Omnipotence is truth. Because he is God and God is Mercy and His Mercy is Life. Perhaps good people of many faiths get to heaven and perhaps all good people are in some way connected to the communion of saints: I once heard someone put it 'There may just be different seating arrangements in heaven'.
Josephite, Thanks for your reflection on the love and mercy of God. Your comment on seating arrangements reminds me of a dream I once received from the Lord with an embedded lesson on not judging others. There was a member of the prayer group I attended in the 1980s, Tom Tingley, who used to get under my skin. I fell in to the habit of being condescending toward him and avoiding him when possible. In my dream, I found myself in heaven praising God with the multitude of saints. We were in pews and after awhile I realized I was about fifty rows back from the Throne of God. It felt glorious in the dream and I was impressed to be up so close. I was also next to Ann Holland, a very saintly woman who later became my son, Benjamin's, godmother. At one point I opened my eyes and noticed that Tom Tingley was up in the second row! What was he doing up there?! Of course, Tom had to turn around and wink at me, pouring salt on my wounds of indignation. Well, at that instant I awoke. Obviously, it didn't take me long to figure out the lesson of that dream. God's love is generous toward all! Isaiah 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the Lord. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. Romans 12: 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
