It's so difficult walking the line between what Jesus said: Luke 5:32 > I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." ...and the verse some of our Protestant sisters and brothers speak so often off: < 2 Corinthians 6:17 Why come out from among them, and be you separate, said the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. ..also as Jesus cautioned the disciples when He first sent them out: Shake Off the Dust - Mark 6:6-11 Jesus was very surprised because those people did not have faith. Then Jesus went to other villages in that area and taught. Jesus called the twelve followers together. Jesus sent them out in groups of two. Jesus gave them power over evil spirits. This is what Jesus told his followers: "Take nothing for your trip. Take only a stick for walking. Take no bread, no bag, and no money in your pockets. Wear shoes, and take only the clothes you are wearing. When you enter a house, stay in that house until you leave that town. If any town refuses to accept you or refuses to listen to you, then leave that town. Shake their dust off your feet. This will be a warning to them." Padre Pio I always found inspiring. Some he welcomed with open arms, others he sent running if they did not show true repentance. I have never been much in the Evangelical line. The only way, really I know how to touch hearts is to pray. But I know sometimes the doors of peoples hearts are set so hard we realy have to walk away. We can still knock on the doors of their hearts thorugh prayer..but like the disciples sometimes we must walk or even run away.....some folks are even downright dangerous. I think the only thing to do is be led by the Holy Spirt on each occasion,its a case of horses for courses. But its true there is so much evil i nthe world today that there are some folks I would sail well clear of. Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
There are a few verses from the brief letter of Jude in the New Testament: 20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; 21 keep yourselves in the love of God; wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22 And convince some, who doubt; 23 save some, by snatching them out of the fire; on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. It mentions all three situations on which Padraig and Kathleen have commented: 1) the power of prayer, 2) reaching out to others with truth and love, and 3) caution with those deeply ensnared. Jesus himself points out that we should love our enemies, yet avoid casting pearls before swine. I believe the key is to pursue humility and seek the gift of discernment. Of course, in your situation, Kathleen, the Lord blest your boss with perception. The Lord desires an intimate, personal relationship with each of us, but when it comes to addressing the questions in our lives, He loves to have others involved! Hooray for the Body of Christ! Jesus, let not our desires and pride cloud our perception. Give us a discerning spirit and the company of wise companions! O Mary, Seat of Wisdom, pray for Kathleen and us all! Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on us! Safe in the Father's Arms!
Thanks- pray, pray, pray I'll try to let God make the phone calls to old friends and tell me not to hire people in what ever way he wants. In a way He has protected me from the wrath of this person and several others who want me to hire this person because I will not be the first one saying no to her hire. God , send me someone who is healthy to work with these kids. Pray, pray, pray Thanks for the advice.
Wow - I should be glad that I do not experience these things, but in a way it makes me think I am not as advanced yet in my faith as you all for Stan to concern himself with me...? Our house feels clean and safe, always has, even when it creaks - though I do know that the family we bought it from was troubled. The mother was odd (and took a lot of medication), and I heard she rarely was seen outside. She had trouble keeping jobs too, I guess. She had the brightest light bulbs possible in all the rooms, it was like a beacon in here. But then she had darkening film on some of the windows...? We changed that of course. A young baby of their teenage daughter's died here with the previous owners...of SIDS they said. Also, a boy from that same troubled family committed suicide a year or so after they moved out from here. They seemed to love the house itself though. They only were moving because the father took a better job in another town. This house was built by a Catholic Family we know however (the owners before the previous ones...this is a young house and we are only its third owners). When we moved in, I found a St. Joseph statue buried by the shed when I dug out a garden. I know it was put there by them to help sell the house. It is just a 7-8" plastic statue, but I have had it proudly exposed in the place I found it, in my garden, ever since. Now it is nestled among the blueberry bushes I just planted there. Also I have recently blessed the inside and outside with generous amounts of Holy Water and Salt...just for good measure. If/when my cats seem to be seeing things I do not, or seem to be playing with an unseen spirit, I have never felt it to be malicious in any way. I have either attributed it to perhaps the spirit of one of our deceased cats or dogs, or these days I think now it is Carroll, my angel, or some other angel who protects our family. I even "ask" the cats if that is who they are playing with. I have never seen a dark shadow or figure, or felt the hair on my neck raise up or anything like that, even when the kitties seem alarmed by something, or when I can't sleep. So I have a hard time relating to all your accounts of old Stan. I guess I should thank God and our angels for this, huh? Reading back on this thread from 2010, someone said that Mondays are busy days for Satan, as it is the day after Sunday. Sunday nights and Mondays are often insomnia nights for me. I could not sleep last night, it drove me nuts...I am having lots of sleepless nights these days, but nothing dark or scary, just stress-insomnia thinking about job and money woes and my kids' needs and etc, and I thought perhaps because of meds I take. For me, what often puts me out though is saying the rosary, though I really want to finish it! Normally though, it will put me to sleep. I suppose it is the peace in it, though when I wake up I am like, "Darn it, I didn't finish it again!" A glass of milk and a rosary do wonders...oh, and kindly asking Carroll to stop playing with the kitties for a while so they stop romping around! :lol:
Thanks for thnusual an interesting book in many wayse reference to the Book of Jude, Terry. Its an uusual an interesting book which a lot of folks don't get to. Isn't it there that there is the most interesting and usual reference to the good and bad angels fighting over the body of Moses? I must look it up. Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Whcih appears to me at least to suggest that the body of Moses was preserved incorrupt and a precussor to the Assumption: Just pure nosiness Connie, but why do people use darkening tape on windows?
You got me! Sunlight haters, I guess! Or maybe there actually is something to the Vampire myth! 8) In the one bedroom, I think we remembered them mentioning that the Dad worked 2nd or 3rd shift, so perhaps he slept during the day and this helped keep the sun out. But they also had some on windows in the living room! I could only reason it was to subdue heat coming in from the sun on the southern-facing side of the house, but with all those 100watt light bulbs blazing in the house, they were probably spending twice as much on electricity with them than the air conditioner! As I said, this woman didn't like to go outside, so maybe it was her way of shutting out the outside. OR perhaps it was a privacy thing...if you put that film on the windows, it is harder for others to see in. They had lived here many years, but when I asked them about the various plants outside, and what flowers we might see in the spring, they couldn't tell us! Sad, to think that some people actually look away from God's creation like that. No wonder she was depressed and on medication, and then her poor son clearly was also troubled. His room was in the basement...even less light there. We NEED the SUN!!! Just like we also need the SON! Can't be happy without either of them! Why do people try? These days, I have flowers blooming for every season around this house, and saints guarding the beds!
I certainly think people leve and influence on the place they live , especially if they live there for a while. Its curious but some churches ,for instance appear holier than others. Which is why I especially like older Churches, the older the better. The strongest and most holy place I ever been is Medugorje, I am convinced Our Lady has chosen this for her throne room; angels, angels everywhere. Its true bad people seem to like the dark. John 12:36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
I dreamt last night I was back in the bed room of my old family home. But instead of being in bed I was sitting in an old wicker chair ,over by the corner looking over at my bed. I knew the devil was coming as I had a feeling of deep oppression just beofe I dozed of but was just too tired to get up and bless my room with holy water for protection. The old house was built in 1886, i Know this because there is a large plaque above the terraced houses ,large wonderful places with many rooms and nooks and crannies. I knew I was alone in the house and the room was not dark but inan errie kind of half light. I had been here many times before in these dreams fighting away with the one who at one time was known as the ,'Son of Morningefore he fell into hell'. I was so glad to be sitting in the old chair facing in the bed, rather than lying in the bed itself as was always the case previously as I felt it gave me a beeter chance to fight with prayer what was coming for I knew this was going to be a particularly bad attack. When he came it was simply as a deep darkness hovering over the bed, a darkness surrounding by a sickly minbus of white light. I prayed hard using the St Michael prayeyr against the devil: Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio; contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae Caelestis, satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute in infernum detrude. Amen. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray: and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. So it went on, the devil trying to come closer and me praying away holding him back. It certainly didn't seem like a dream and you know it wasn't a dream, not really. At one point I heard the front door open and foot steps come up the stairs and my father, who is dead just over a year now came into the room and talked to me for a while. He was excited and happy and talked to me for a while about some people he had met, old frineds. Then he left me and the devil and myself citinued the struggle. After it was over I found myslef in a dark church full of candles praying to Our Lady. It occurs to me that the devil follows his own logic. Of course his rebllion and all sin is the supreme illogic but stil lwithin his own false logic he follows his own plans and something or other had made himvery upset ineed. I think maybe the reason he was so upset was an email I got from an AMerican gentleman about an aopstolic work he had been inspired by Our Lady to do. I emailed back telling him to check it our by intense prayer to our Lady but that I thought it was off God. So as it turns out his inspiration DID come from God and I think the devil gave sign of this by being so fed up about it. I have to say meeting the like this is no joke. But then again he is always in a bad mood. ..and its a good thing that he is a very good sign of this new apostalate in the States. In a funny kind of way I wish others might meet him like this, it might make them pay a little more heed of the great spiritual battle going on all round us. :shock:
I agree- being one of those suckers that falls for his tricks and games when he bothers to play them on me. Having Satan's efforts be so obvious might help many. At least they could recognize the evil for what it was. He can't seem to trick you so he doesn't bother with the subterfuge and just hangs out and growls at you. Your efforts are obviously paying off if he bothers with you at all. It's really encouraging in a very wierd sort of way. I'm glad you had St. Micheal with you. What a nice gift to see your Dad- he must be enjoying heaven with his friends. Stay safe in Mary's arms Pray, pray,pray Kath
Padraig, Maybe you should get this for bedtime: http://www.deaconapparel.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=53&products_id=77 or this: http://www.bywayofthefamily.com/Divine-Mercy-Tapestry-Throw/productinfo/483508/ Douse it with holy water and salt...and be gone, Satan! I tried to find one with a crucifix on it but nothing came up...
