Emergency 999 are you listening... I was having one of those days yesterday in fact I knew it was coming because the day before my spiritual feelings were becoming quite low. As I pondered yesterday I felt low very low as usual I did not know why I was feeling this way but no matter what I did I couldn’t shake this feeling. I suppose it may be God using me in some way for others as my spiritual life has always someone calling me, an example would be when I was at the novena, before I left my wife handed me precious life leaflets to hand out at the novena, I am not comfortable doing this I get kind of anxious and nervous being in the public eye, so even before I got to the novena I was uneasy this I suppose upset my night as I wanted to just sit quietly at the novena and listen, before I left the house I was looking for a holy object to place on my person for protection of mind body and soul and as usual I was in a hurry, I could only find a pair of wooden Fatima beads and I placed them round my neck I don’t normally do this. So with the novena over I made my way to outside the church grounds as we are not permitted to hand out leaflets inside or on the church property, I started to hand out the leaflets and generally people were responsive, as I stood I heard this little voice calling me it was an old friend that I hadn’t seen in a few years seeing the opportunity I asked her to help me give out the leaflets, she agreed and when all the leaflets were gone we were able to chat she opened her conversation with Oh John could you please ask people to pray for my son he has been issued with a death treat they are going to shoot him, now her son I know was no angel but I had heard that he had changed his ways and was going to mass but in some way satan just won’t let go of this boy, I immediately hugged her and told her to hug her son for me and that not to worry all will be well, as she left me I called her back taking the rosary beads of my neck I said give these to your son and tell him to use them, As I drove home I prayed for him and his mother. The next day at the novena I was sitting quietly and wanted to be alone, as I sat a familiar shape sat two seats in front of me, I say a familiar shape because this person is a huge man I grew up with this gentle giant a very loveable character, he would be a few years older than I but I instantly remembered him chasing all of us as kids, we use to run and shout in a terror of fun quick run big bear is coming, we called him bear because that’s what he looks like a very big bear, I was instantly saddened to see this giant of a man slowly hobble on a walking stick to his seat, oh dear Lord I thought age comes to us all and I prayed for him, as I was leaving the novena are paths crossed unintentionally I knew that I had to say hello, so I said my my big bear how are you doing he looked at me with a massive smile no one has called me that in years who are you, ack I said I was one of the kids you chased up and down the street in your younger days, jokingly I said chase me now you won’t catch me, he smiled and wanted to know my name, as I was explaining to him were I used to live and giving him names of all the family this giant of a man burst into tears in front of me, he took the feet from below me,Oh my I said what is going on with you he started to tell me his story it was coming out of his mouth so fast it wasn’t making sense, it was a very very sad story one of death and horror sadness and affliction the only sense I made of it was that this gentle giant was broken mentally and physically, I put my hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye, Bear I said you are too busy trying to fix things and people around you, how can bear fix things if he himself is broken, I am going to pray for you and I want you to start by fixing you, start with your head, you’ve already started well by being here at the novena when your head is fixed start healing your body, when all that’s done then you can start helping others because if your broken how do expect to help others, you need strength friend, He smiled and hugged me and asked my name again thank you he said as he walked away with a few tears. As I awoke yesterday as I said I was low and couldn’t shift it, my thoughts were on why is there so so many broken people and of course my mind started to shift with the usual Christian thoughts of why does God not listen, why does God not do anything, Is there a God?, Therese popped into my mind and of course with reasoning I recalled her dark night of the soul, Yeah yeah my head said I know I’ve heard you prompting me with that one before, as I thought this I got a very intense feeling as if someone was saying back yeah yeah but you do not understand, my dark night of the soul was about all the suffering I could see in the world it heaved my heart pulling it down to the point that I lost my sight of God,, I am still trying to work out what Therese meant by this comment but I do get the feeling she was telling me that God used her in this type of suffering to help others??? By the late afternoon I was still feeling low and decided to send a text to my wife asking her to say a wee prayer for me at the novena and told her why, because of family commitments she had to do an earlier novena than me,, the reply came “well pick yourself up I just got a text from your daughter an old woman stopped her in the street and asked her could she post a letter for her, and when your daughter said yes the woman burst into tears explaining that the letter she was posting was to nuns, asking them to pray for her daughter who has cancer, Your daughter told the old woman, well hey I can do better than post your letter my mum’s at the novena I’ll text her and she will put a petition in for you”. The old woman was flabbergasted, now this is where the day gets even more interesting as my wife was texting me my five year old son started to sing in the bath “someone’s is crying my Lord KUM BA YA ,someone’s praying my Lord” ,,well I near fell over as I did not teach him this song, I asked him that’s a beautiful song who taught you that was it school, no he replied it was on the tv before I got in the bath.???? At this time my wife had wrote her petition and was making her way to the box to place it, as she walked the Bishop was walking towards her, Hello how are you he said, she looked straight at him and knowing in her heart this is no coincidence told him about the petition and handed it to him, well the long and short is that the Bishop was also just happening to be reading the intercessory prayers yesterday and read the petition out,, now wow if that’s not 999 emergency calling to the Lord I don’t know what else is .My day ended up being a very good day I attended the novena at 9:30pm only to here a very strong and moving sermon from the Bishop,, but the line that struck me the most was “God is calling you did you hear him today” my reply is simple yes Lord yes I do. Amen
From the Song of Songs: O my dove, in the cleft of the rock, in the recess of the cliff, show me thy face, let your voice sound in my ears, for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely!
From Tereses's Story of a Soul, John, Still full of joy, I returned to our cell on the evening of that happy day, and was quietly falling asleep, when my sweet Jesus gave me the same sign as on the previous night, of my speedy entrance to Eternal Life. I felt such a clear and lively Faith that the thought of Heaven was my sole delight. I could not believe it possible for men to be utterly devoid of Faith, and I was convinced that those who deny the existence of another world really lie in their hearts. But during the Paschal days, so full of light, our Lord made me understand that there really are in truth souls bereft of Faith and Hope, who, through abuse of grace, lose these precious treasures, the only source of pure and lasting joy. He allowed my soul to be overwhelmed with darkness, and the thought of Heaven, which had consoled me from my earliest childhood, now became a subject of conflict and torture. This trial did not last merely for days or weeks; I have been suffering for months, and I still await deliverance. I wish I could express what I feel, but it is beyond me. One must have passed through this dark tunnel to understand its blackness. However, I will try to explain it by means of a comparison. Let me suppose that I had been born in a land of thick fogs, and had never seen the beauties of nature, or a single ray of sunshine, although I had heard of these wonders from my early youth, and knew that the country wherein I dwelt was not my real home—there was another land, unto which I should always look forward. Now this is not a fable, invented by an inhabitant of the land of fogs, it is the solemn truth, for the King of that sunlit country dwelt for three and thirty years in the land of darkness, and alas!—the darkness did not understand that He was the Light of the World._[11] But, dear Lord, Thy child has understood Thou art the Light Divine; she asks Thy pardon for her unbelieving brethren, and is willing to eat the bread of sorrow as long as Thou mayest wish. For love of Thee she will sit at that table of bitterness where these poor sinners take their food, and she will not stir from it until Thou givest the sign. But may she not say in her own name, and the name of her guilty brethren: “O God, be merciful to us sinners!”[12] Send us away justified. May all those on whom Faith does not shine see the light at last! O my God, if that table which they profane can be purified by one that loves Thee, I am willing to remain there alone to eat the bread of tears, until it shall please Thee to bring me to Thy Kingdom of Light: the only favour I ask is, that I may never give Thee cause for offence. From the time of my childhood I felt that one day I should be set free from this land of darkness. I believed it, not only because I had been told so by others, but my heart’s most secret and deepest longings assured me that there was in store for me another and more beautiful country—an abiding dwelling-place. I was like Christopher Columbus, whose genius anticipated the discovery of the New World. And suddenly the mists about me have penetrated my very soul and have enveloped me so completely that I cannot even picture to myself this promised country . . . all has faded away. When my heart, weary of the surrounding darkness, tries to find some rest in the thought of a life to come, my anguish increases. It seems to me that out of the darkness I hear the mocking voice of the unbeliever: “You dream of a land of light and fragrance, you dream that the Creator of these wonders will be yours for ever, you think one day to escape from these mists where you now languish. Nay, rejoice in death, which will give you, not what you hope for, but a night darker still, the night of utter nothingness!” . . . Dear Mother, this description of what I suffer is as far removed from reality as the first rough outline is from the model, but I fear that to write more were to blaspheme . . . even now I may have said too much. May God forgive me! He knows that I try to live by Faith, though it does not afford me the least consolation. I have made more acts of Faith in this last year than during all the rest of my life. Each time that my enemy would provoke me to combat, I behave as a gallant soldier. I know that a duel is an act of cowardice, and so, without once looking him in the face, I turn my back on the foe, then I hasten to my Saviour, and vow that I am ready to shed my blood in witness of my belief in Heaven. I tell him, if only He will deign to open it to poor unbelievers, I am content to sacrifice all pleasure in the thought of it as long as I live. And in spite of this trial, which robs me of all comfort, I still can say: “Thou hast given me, O Lord, delight in all Thou dost.”[13] For what joy can be greater than to suffer for Thy Love? The more the suffering is and the less it appears before men, the more is it to Thy Honour and Glory. Even if—but I know it to be impossible—Thou shouldst not deign to heed my sufferings, I should still be happy to bear them, in the hope that by my tears I might perhaps prevent or atone for one sin against Faith. No doubt, dear Mother, you will think I exaggerate somewhat the night of my soul. If you judge by the poems I have composed this year, it must seem as though I have been flooded with consolations, like a child for whom the veil of Faith is almost rent asunder. And yet it is not a veil—it is a wall which rises to the very heavens and shuts out the starry sky. When I sing of the happiness of Heaven and the eternal possession of God, I do not feel any joy therein, for I sing only of what I wish to believe. Sometimes, I confess, a little ray of sunshine illumines my dark night, and I enjoy peace for an instant, but later, the remembrance of this ray of light, instead of consoling me, makes the blackness thicker still. And yet never have I felt so deeply how sweet and merciful is the Lord. He did not send me this heavy cross when it might have discouraged me, but at a time when I was able to bear it. Now it simply takes from me all natural satisfaction I might feel in my longing for Heaven. http://www.storyofasoul.com From pages http://www.storyofasoul.com/?page_id=18
Well John I will add to your story by saying I was at the 7am novena mass this morning and the first prayer of petition was from... ...wait for it... a lady whose son had received a death threat!! Job 37:5 God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. As to your family's chances to reach out to others it reminds me of the words of St Teresa of Avila. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582) Christ Has No Body Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, Yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
I wonder have you ever heard this,I heard it played on the radio one night and I never knew that this beautiful song existed ...I hope you enjoy...
Brother if you only knew my wife's story you would be amazed as I was at the spiritual connection in your above quote, for the line above that passage is my wife's most special and heart filled moment in her life.. "See where he stands behind our wall. He looks in at the window, he peers through the lattice. My Beloved lifts up his voice, he says to me, "Come then, my love, my lovely, come." She had an experience as a young child which I truly believe Jesus visited her for over a week when I get a mo I will post her story..
Here you go... Her beloved the Song of Songs… My wife was aged roughly six years old when her family had the opportunity to go on holiday to omeath, they were staying in an old disused convent, whilst she was staying there she started to ask her mother what time is it and then would disappear to the room where she was sleeping, her mother when she was alive gave testimony to this and her sister also said that when she went to her room she could hear her talking to someone..When my wife went to her room, she remembers it was daylight, but when she went to the lattice covered window which had a balcony and opened the lattice it was night time and the moon was huge and set as if level with the balcony, she said a figure of a man stood in the middle of the moon as if floating, he spoke with her and she said it was a beautiful voice and felt overwhelmed by his presence, she never remembered what he was saying to her but remembers the feeling was intense. These events continued whilst she stayed, on one of the days my wife went walking along the sea shore by herself and was walking along a small pier, she said that for some reason she walked straight of the pier and into deep water and started to drown, she remembers quite clearly that a man was on the pier but did nothing to help her he just stirred through the water at her, luckily her older brother had followed her from a distance and ran and jumped into the water and saved her she was very very lucky as she had swallowed a lot of water. Her ritual continued with asking what time is it and going to her room until she returned home, however when she got home she remembers that she saw another man standing outside her bedroom wall in the garden but she did not like this feeling and became afraid, after this event all of her special moments stopped,, A few years back we visited omeath and were fortunate to visit the old convent which was being restored, I could see that the place was special to her as her eyes lit up on seeing the room she stayed, we also found out that just a short distance away from where she was staying and in the direction of where her room overlooked was a shrine to St Jude which contained his holy relics.. When she asked Jesus a few years back of why and what was this experience was all about she opened the bible and was flabbergasted... Song of Songs 2:8-10.14.16; 8:6-7 I hear my beloved. See how he comes leaping on the mountains, bounding over the hills. My Beloved is like a gazelle, like a young stag. See where he stands behind our wall. He looks in at the window, he peers through the lattice. My Beloved lifts up his voice, he says to me, "Come then, my love, my lovely one, come" My dove, hiding in the clefts of the rock. In the coverts of the cliff, show me your face, let me hear your voice for your voice is sweet and you face is beautiful." My Beloved is mine and I am his. Set me like a seal on your heart like a seal on your arm. For love is strong as Death, jealousy relentless as Sheal. The flash of it is a flash of fire, a flame of the Lord Himself, Love no flood can quench, no torrents drown.
