“Dear children! Today I am with you and bless you all with my motherly blessing of peace, and I urge you to live your life of faith even more, because you are still weak and are not humble. I urge you, little children, to speak less and to work more on your personal conversion so that your witness may be fruitful. And may your life be unceasing prayer. Thank you for having responded to my call.” The advice of a Mother!!
This spoke very powerfully to me. I was blessed to go to a St. Ignatius spiritual exercise retreat, brief, only 3 days, but very to the point. I came away with the same idea " speak less, work more". For me that means coming away from the fray, from the usual daily life and spending more time in prayer, even while working. This last week I recognized I was all crinkled up physically and went for a chiropractic adjustment, which was so helpful and he suggested some massage therapy. I had always thought of it as "massage luxury" but I was corrected. Anyway, the therapist saw my St. Benedict cross and miraculous medal and asked me if I knew Jesus....well of course we were off to the races. For an hour we chatted and shared stories but what I came to realize was that this Protestant knew Scripture backwards & forwards and how to apply it but she had not taken it to prayer. Her prayer life came right out of her mouth...it was negligible. There wasn't a peace in her, there wasn't that shine on her that comes from sitting in prayer with Our Lord. Not only do we ( read I here ) need more prayer but we need to mean what we say ( pray with all the heart ) and say what we mean. And to be fearless in sharing the most intimate places with Our God. These past two months have been an escalated time of learning for me, as you can well imagine... but I see that every moment has been sent as a gift from God and had I not jumped into prayer, as though it was the only thing that would tether me to Our Lord, I would have been lost. I cling to the rosary, even just to touch the beads brings me peace. Everything starts from prayer.
Sometimes I think of Protestantism as a religion of the head and Catholicsim as being of the heart. Of course this is a generalisation and not always true, but still...
No, I think you are right on the money. When you can't receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist it leaves you to your own devices. One of our greatest sources of pride is our mental acuity. You kind of make up your own way, gaining a sense of superiority, through knowledge of the Scriptures. How lost we can become with out the Holy Eucharist. This morning in prayer I was thanking Him for inviting me to His Church. I was an evangelical wondering when someone was going to turn the lights on. During the very first mass I attended, while in RCIA, "the Light went on".
Now there's an interesting combination: weak and not humble. If I am in the driver's seat then I am not humble, and the witness of God's love will be weak in my life. Also, Lee makes an excellent point about increasing her prayer time, for it echoes what Our Lady has said in Medjugorje back on July 4, 1983: Lee said: I came away with the same idea " speak less, work more". For me that means coming away from the fray, from the usual daily life and spending more time in prayer, even while working. Mary said: You have begun to pray three hours a day, but you look at your watch, preoccupied with your work. Be preoccupied with the essential. Let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit in depth, then your work will go well. Do not hurry. Let yourself be guided and you will see that everything will be accomplished well. Lee, I can tell your Mother has been working on you! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
Great post and just what I needed as due to the hectic pace of life I am feeling drained and burnt out at the moment - I would love a few days retreat to get the batteries re-charged as it is I may have to take a few days off work to rest and recover. I have been praying from the heart more in recent days as a result but more out of a sense of desperation for if God does not provide me additional graces then I won't be able to fulfil my state in life. It has come to the stage where one needs to be a saint to be a good father, husband, son, brother, friend, etc. No wonder there is so much family breakdown, divorce, depression, for without the grace of God modern living with its stresses and strains takes its toll. That is why our Lady goes back to basics for she continues to remind us that we can do nothing without God.
Bobby, I'm up visiting my husband's family in Oregon but I have great opportunities for prayer and I will lift you up at every chance. I remember how hard it was with young ones at home and all I wanted was a hotel room for a couple of days! :roll: I'll pray that Our Lady brings you the respite you need interiorly and that the angels and saints fly to your aid to help you at every turn. With prayer, our prayers and of course yours, you will find success. I'm off for a walk and will put you at the top of the Rosary. Tether yourself to Our Lady, she will not fail you....Remember oh most gracious Virgin.... Gail
At the feet of Mary;sometimes Godtests us to our very limits; but we have His promise; 'My grace will be sufficient unto you'.
Praise God for he alone can sustain us - I am feeling better today. And I really feel my guardian angel present to me and this has been a great comfort!
Garabandal, I told the Archangels this morning of your plight and begged for their assistance...think it's a good day to ask!
Angel sent by God to guide me. Be my light and walk beside me. Be my guardian and protect me. On the paths of life direct me. Garabandal, May God give you all the graces you need, especially in reaching out to your Father-in-law. Safe in the Father's Arms.
This message spoke to me personally too, as they all seem to do nowadays. Garabandal, I will also pray for you to have the strength and resiliance to keep up the good fight. You can do it...Mary will help.
See there are GREAT reasons we are all on this forum, intercession is not the least of them...glad the prayers were answered. God is just so good!
I agree! I think its imperetive to take breaks, and I'm going to start too. I've noticed how God's day of rest is often taken up by hectic family obligations, little things that "need" to get done. I can't think when I pray some days because I'm so preoccupied by things that are not consequential in the God realm but I've let them take over. I took two days off work next week to recoup- one with my family and one without. I'm taking my own advice! The one without family- I'm spending with God. I'm going to go to church to confession and relax- I'm looking for the illusive contemplative moment with God. Wish me some Holy Spirit energy for that because I think this will take some effort and practice to learn. :lol:
Our priest just told a story about when he was in seminary, he would pass by another seminarian's room on Sundays and the fellow was always relaxed, reading a spiritual book as he was giving the day to God. Father asked him how he managed to spend his Sundays in peace not worrying about tests on Monday or papers due,no racing to get his laundry finished, and he said that he managed everything during the other 6 days, sometimes staying up late and burning the midnight oil but that he was refreshed by his obedience in giving the Lord's Day back to the Lord. Father was quite taken by this idea,keeping the Sabbath holy, and decided he would try as well. He said it took him about 2 months to coordinate and get everything to support it but that he too was blessed beyond measure by his obedience. Food for thought for us all perhaps.
Kathleen, I received some wonderful advice from a holy priest tonight. He said there are times to intercede before God for our needs and the needs of others. But, the prayer that releases the floodgates of grace best is to say "I love you and all I am and have is Yours." Speak to Him of His goodness and holiness, but especially tell Him of your love for Him. Then listen. Come Holy Spirit with the fire of your love to enflame Kathleen's heart with the treasure of your healing presence. Show me, O Thou whom my soul lovest, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest at midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of Thy companions. (Song 1) Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
I love this advice and example about Sunday, in future I will try harder to do this. Our Parish Priest a few years back preached a stern sermon about shopping on Sundays and I have always drunk this in, but this advice about clearing everything up before Sunday seems wonderful to me, so I will really try hard to carry it out. I have a feeling, like Kathleen that I am rushing about doing things all the time and accomplishing very little, I must make more time for God............ We are organising Eucharistic Adoration in our parish at the moment, 24 hours. I have put my name down for 6 am on Sunday morning and am really looking forward to this. I think it will bring us back to life. A French priest, who has founded his own religious Order to organise things like this in parishes came over to talk to us..at once my ears pricked up, because so many founders of Orders have been saints...as I suspect this one was. Anyone who spends long hours in front of the Blessed Sacrament as these priests do could not help being very holy/ They reminded me of the angels, great doers and organisers but great, great pray...ers too. It is true we must make time for prayer, otherwise how would we ever do it. My time is walking the dog. Everyone is different.
I never realized how hard it could be to just pray- taking a real moment to do it right (doing it right meaning emptying my brain and just being with God). Making Sunday a day for God does take some practice. I have been working on my family for awhile and was able to get the shopping done on other days with a lot of sticking to my guns. There is very little support in our culture for keeping a day of rest so thats an effort. They are finally letting go of that. My effort now focussed on how do I fill that day for them so that they aren't just reading trashy novels or watching Star Wars with that time. I have a compulsion to clean on that day! So I'm looking at nature outings and occasional videos on Saints to help focus the time. We are also inviting our priest to dinner again. He is very fun! I would love to engage in Eucharistic Adoration- I am recognizing that being more holy is a process- one step at a time- but that is something to shoot for in the future. My son asked when the next confession was- looking forward to it. It's exciting to watch the fruits of this effort grow in him. He has developed an adoration for St. Micheal, which makes me feel much comfort. I appreciate the prayer Mario (made me teary- it's so meaningful) and I will say them for you all also. God Bless and enjoy your Sunday this weekend! Kath
I like to tell my family and friends about what I saw on Sunday in Medjugorje. Early in the morning we had climbed Cross Mountain and when we looked out over the village EVERYONE was walking to church. Later that day I saw all the families, every age, walking and talking and just being with each other. They had picnics and games and were just so content to be with one another. But they couldn't do that if the shopping and laundry had not been done! I was to imitate that. It was inspirational. WE just put curtains up in the small chapel and are moving forward to Perpetual Adoration. Having this will change everything. Hearts can't resist the Presence Of Jesus.
