This is just me thinking out loud in the wee small hours. So forgive me if I get it wrong. This beautiful video begins with addressing the belief that "Jesus is physically present in the bread and wine consecrated during the mass. " For me, after the consecration, there is no bread and wine. That which was bread and wine before the consecration is no longer bread and wine after the consecration. It makes no difference to my faith what chemistry or physics may assert. Only the appearance of bread and wine remains. What we see and taste is not bread and wine but the glorified body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus. To our senses He tastes like bread and wine. Jesus told us that we would eat and drink His body and blood and that what we would consume would be real food and drink. But it is food and drink unlike any other found on earth. This food and drink preserves us unto life everlasting. Without this communion we cannot have life eternal. As I have posted before I miss the old affirmation given to each communicant during reception: "Corpus Domini Nostri Jesu Christi custodiat animam tuam in vitam aeternam. Amen" Like St Peter, flesh and blood has not given us this revelation, this faith in the Real Presence, but Our Father in heaven. For me, to say Jesus is physically present in the consecrated species is not enough. Nothing can contain the Living God. The material that is present to us under the appearance of bread and wine in communion does not contain the presence of Jesus. It is Jesus. The adult human body contains about 100,000 miles of blood vessels. Blood takes about a minute to complete its circulation. 3,000,000 red blood cells are created every second of our lives. The ancient Jews quite rightly equated blood with life. The Body and Blood of Christ offered in the renewed sacrifice of the mass is the only source of nourishment that can sustain our passing through death to life everlasting. In communion our entire being is flooded with the life and love of Christ as it is broken down and absorbed by every cell in our body, all 37 trillion of them. Indeed we are fearfully and wonderfully made. And we have not even touched on the marvel of the human soul. God does not want this wonderful creation that is human life to go to waste. God wants us all to live with Him forever. He does not want to lose one soul. He wants us to help Him save souls. He wants our souls to be reunited with glorified bodies to live with Him forever in heaven. I think of my baby sister who faces the prospect of her only son going to war in Iraq in the near future. My sister would give her life for her son. God must look at us in a similar way. He wants us to live. He wants this with all His Sacred Heart. Of course you guys already know this, probably far better than me. I am just revising my faith. Not preaching. How I wish I could better live the faith I proclaim. It is not the one who says Lord Lord but the one who obeys the will of God who will be saved. Time for me to shut up and get going.
Now I know whom I am dealing with. I will have to be careful, Steph. I see they actually construct personailty typologies based on blodd types. I don;t know if they are scientifically more valid than reading tea leaves, but anyway they say type AB's are more spiritually inclined, which made me raise my eyes a litte.
In my Conversion I find that my heart is hard and my neck is stiff. But as God softens me I find that part of my problem is that it is hard to see Christ as both a God and a Man. In that Jesus has the same feelings and experiences we do. In fact Jesus experiences humanity more than we do because he is sinless. Before I used to feel that Jesus was this distant and impossible to relate to. So in my humanity I now find that I can relate to the life of Jesus. Its in that Relation to His Joy and Suffering I may have found something of the indwelling Jesus. In my experience it is a Relationship with Him. IE when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and He was praying all alone, suffering, and sweating blood. His best friends kept on falling asleep. Only the Angels were giving him support and strengthening him. It's so sad to know our Lord suffered through His agony like this, and when I reflect on it I genuinely feel remorse that my sins put Him in this situation. I also see the agony of his Disciples knowing that they could not be there for Him while He went through this, they probably were saddened every time they remembered it. I don't know if my words even make any sense in what I am trying to get across. They probably sound childish. Psalm 50 helps me with this. Psalm 50Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA) 50 Unto the end, a psalm of David, 2 When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bethsabee. 3 Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. 4 Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 5 For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. 6 To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words and mayst overcome when thou art judged. 7 For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me. 8 For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me. 9 Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. 10 To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice. 11 Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 12 Create a clean heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels. 13 Cast me not away from thy face; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 14 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit. 15 I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted to thee. 16 Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice. 17 O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise. 18 For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted. 19 A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 20 Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. 21 Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.
So many are experiencing the Gift of feeling the presence of God in our souls, which is almost impossible to explain in words. It is my belief that during our time, our dear Lord is giving to all who are disposed the Gift of the Indwelling, living in the Divine Will, becoming living Hosts - the "New and Divine holiness that Pope John Paul II spoke about. This Gift has been spoken of by many Saints, Blesseds and Servants of God - to name just a few: St Faustina, Bl. Dina Belanger, St. Maxililian Kolbe, servant of God Marthe Robin, Ven Conchita De Armida, Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, Servant of God Archbishop Luis Martinez, Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, Sr. Mildred Neuzil (Our Lady of America), and St. Hannibal Di Francia, and many, many recent Priests and lay people who have been given this Gift that our Lord wishes to give in these times. Let us be open to this Gift by being faithful and attentive. God loves us so much - do not reject what He wishes to give. Blessings.
I think Christ's promise of the indwelling..of the coming down of the Holy Spirit is for all the faithful, do you notice this passage is in two parts? John 14:23 Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Now notice this first part which is kind of the doorway through which the Holy Spirit/ Christ enters our hearts. "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. ' Ok , so this is kind of our own personal spiritual driving license, that we keep God's commandments. This is the doorway through which Christ enters and makes His home in our hearts. This is not for the special, it is for us all. View attachment 5226 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 that person, and they with me.
But don't start all that on this thread, I am trying to go onto spiritual/mystical stuff here exclusively. There is enough of that on other threads. I want to concentrate on the purely spiritual/mystical here. thaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnkkss
Do you notice how intensely Trinitarian this indwelling is? The Spirit of God comes upon us, leaving Jesus truly present in our hearts, making us ture sons of the Eternal Father. It rmeinds me of what one of the Fathers of the Church said:
No fear of that. It was just a friendly overture to Brian. He may have me on ignore. I was going to share my experiences of contemplation with Fr Matthew McGettrick but felt I was getting above my station again. So I just took myself down a few pegs and moved Brian up the table. That's all. Peace be with you Padraig.
Yes!!! It's important to emphasize the Trinitarian nature of God in practicing placing oneself in the presence of the Indwelling Trinity. It deepens your prayer life immensely to contemplate the Three Persons in the Blessed Trinity so that the attributes of one person are never neglected. It's the antidote to the charge that Catholics don't "know" Jesus, or they "forget" the Holy Spirit, or that the sum and summit of life is "a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" to the detriment of the Father and the Holy Spirit. In other words, to be Trinitarian in actual devotion is to be Catholic! The Orthodox call this "Theosis": In Eastern Orthodoxy deification (theosis) is a transformative process whose goal is likeness to or union with God. As a process of transformation, theosis is brought about by the effects of katharsis (purification of mind and body) and theoria ('illumination' with the 'vision' of God). This "union with God" can be accomplished in Catholicism by the practice of the presence of the Indwelling Blessed Trinity. When the soul realizes the Trinity is ALWAYS there, dwelling in our soul, we don't want to do or say anything impure or unholy to offend Him; it makes it that much easier to flee temptation and not be attached to the things or creatures of this life, but only to be attached to Him who is always with us, and in Whose Presence we will dwell forever in Heaven.
Thanks. And you're no longer on ignore because I know you're a good and zealous soul just trying to love and serve The Lord, as are most of us. I don't usually talk about the interior life in public, because it feels like it should be private. If I use "big" words or sound too "high falutin" that's just the way my mind works. It's not an attempt to "impress" anyone, it's just a desire for precision and to be properly understood, and to neither confuse nor deceive, or be deceived. And if still possible, to teach a bit. (And if I use the Edit button a lot, it's because spelling and grammar mistakes etc. drive me crazy in my own posts - not those of others - but I have a much harder time spotting them now, and keeping my thoughts together when first composing posts. I guess if I was OCD, that would be how it manifests.)
Brian I hope you dont mind me asking - did you write this or cut, and paste? It is excellent whoever wrote it.
Our priest this morning said that faith is an act of entrustment. I was once told that faith is believing someone can push a wheel barrow on a high wire over a canyon. Trust is getting in to the wheel barrow.
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity, One God I invite you to make your home in me today. By your presence in me please fill me with Your Power, Your Wisdom and Your Goodness: let me know Your Love. In Your Love for me please heal me, change me, strengthen me in body, soul and spirit. Help me to love you better this day and to love my neighbour as myself. Not my will but Thy will be done.
I agree it is for ALL the faithful - and He absolutely wants everyone to live in His Will (or the Indwelling), but there needs to be the proper disposition, the desire and the knowledge of His Will in order to live in It (the indwelling). God bless you.
