My heart is like a stone

You expressed my sentiments so well. Yes, Protestants are missing so much by not giving the so deserved honor to Our Dear Mother in heaven.Thank you dear mother for your life of sacrifice and intercession for us today.

 

Oh Our Lady did have that grace....without it, the human heart could hardly stand that kind of pain....especially of her innocent child. We must pray for the grace of detachment in all things. It competes with our human nature and only God’s grace can overcome our hearts desires.

 

Spiritual Detachment is such a strange thing, humanly speaking. It cuts so much against the culture around us. It seems inhuman at this level. Making us seem like Spock in Star Trek

I think St John of the Cross likens us to little birds that must sever all ties, even if we are tied to Earth by so much as a single hair, we are still tied to this Earth and cannot fly away. We notice this so much in the death process for instance as more and more people start to turn their backs on the things of this world as they realise that they are leaving things behind. Jesus spoke about this:

Luke 12

The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

 

Our Lady never failed to surrender everything to God even as her heart was breaking; a perfect submission of her will in loving trust. Surrender everything to God and He will give His Everything in return.

Luke 6: 38 "...give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

 

Gosh this is what we all need reminded of.....
If we knew we were going to die tomorrow, what would we be spending our precious time on today....? Not counting our silver I think.

No uhaul is attached to a hearse. Why do we struggle so much with this...fear I suspect.

 

That's one big bonus about getting older yo get to see how brief life is. I feel ashamed sometimes looking back on it how much of it I wasted on nonsense, like worrying.

I read an article from a priest the other day about the death of his very holy mother. All her life she'd prayed that at her death she would be allowed to die a little like Jesus, to share His sufferings for the Salvation of souls. Sure enough when the time came the poor woman was totally terrified at the thought of dying!! He said this was so untypical of her he thought she had been allowed to share Christ's own Fear at Death....'Father if it be possible let this up pass from me'

The Father comments that in his own experience some very holy souls fear death , some do not. ...and even often souls not really religious do not fear death at all.

 

Praying, Garabandal. Hang in there.

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Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have You present so that I do not forget You. You know how easily I abandon You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without fervor.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light, and without You, I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You very much, and always be in Your company.

Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes; death, judgment, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You.

It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows.
O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers. I need You.

Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness,
the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You, if not by communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but the gift of Your Presence, oh yes, I ask this of You!

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart,
Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.

With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth
and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.

 

Poetry is a favorite uplift of mine; writing or reading.

Poems in celebration of nature especially.

 

Always recall that love has little enough to do with emotions but giving.##

The Devil makes a playground of our poor emotions.