Fear and the Holy Spirit

This is the last week of the Easter season, we are waiting for Pentecost this Sunday for the Holy Spirit to come upon us as He did the Apostles and the two Marys. We desire the gift Jesus spoke about for our own lives, our ministry.  We, as they, go out and become fishers of men everyday. Presently, it seems that as they did, we are forging through all the political, social customs,and  journeying far distances with a mission to spread the word of Jesus and His salvation.

Were they scared?  I don't know, but what I do know is that they trusted in God and had faith, they saw Jesus, they talked with Him.  We do not have the same relationship with Jesus that they did, but still we are asked to follow Him as they did. 

This week, I am doing what my priest suggested that the parish do by praying during these nine days between the Accension and Pentecost a novena to the Holy Spirit.  He said the prayer didn't have to be any one in particular, so I found about 5 or 6 in my little prayer book and have been praying them together at night.  Basically, I am needing guidance and the wisdom to know when this guidance is given.

Also, think I need to re-read "A Mother's Rule" to get more organized.  End of the year activities and my Avon business are been keeping me hopping and feeling like I am not getting anything done.

Book Review: Parenting a Grieving Child

February 2008, my father-in-law passed away which was very hard on my knight and our three kids.  I blogged about it as the process of his suffering and death impacted our lives so deeply.  One day I received a comment asking me if a book could be sent to me.  It was like having a heartfelt prayer reach out through the computer monitor to my children.  Mary DeTurris Poust, the author, and generous soul reached out to my children in her book, "Parenting a Grieving Child" signed and sent to my rescue immediately.  What a treasure trove of ideas and points on the griefing process of a child that is very different than that of an adult.  Mary has put together a book with seasoned parents and experts on the subject of grief in children.  "The experience of loss does not wait for children to grow into adulthood." Allen Wolfelt, Helping Children Cope with Grief shares in the 4th chapter of Mary's book.  Included in this book are sections on activities, and parenting to-do sections that help lead the grieving back to normalcy by engaging in favored hobbies, sports, and other activities that were common prior to the death.  Mary DeTurris Poust's book is a wonderful help to those of us adults with children in their care be it in childcare facilities, schools, and parishes.

Anyway, I have read my copy cover-to-cover appreciating all the advice and wisdom of it's contributors and now it is time for me to pass it on to a friend.

This past Sunday a family, and our neighborhood, suffered a dear loss.  I am passing this book on to my friend, a newly widowed mother of 5, 3 of which are still in their young teens.  Her husband, at age 53, fought long and hard the battle of cancer for the past year.  They were married 33 years and well loved in our community as the visitation proved with hundreds came to pay their last respects to the family.  All are devastated, including this pillarclimber.

A heartfelt thank-you goes out again to Mary DeTurris Poust for her gift and I want her to know that it is being passed on to another who needs it more than I at this time.

Tolerance vs.Verbal Engineering

This year with the election of a very VERY radical administration, tolerance and acceptance seems to be the politically correct way to live.  Now we are told that homosexuals with public opinions should be heard, homosexuality in the public should be seen and accepted. Now more than ever "Verbal engineering" is making free thinking, if-it-feels-good-do-it mentality, the new demoralization our society. The culture of death that Pope John Paul II talked about it getting darker and darker with God being covered up, swept under the carpet, or surrounded by astriks as optional....and people are buying it!

Years ago, parents wouldn't think of having their children lectured by a known adulterer, bank thief, sex offender, convicted felon, for fear they would teach their children something they don't want them to know.  They had a core of values that they held dear and desired that these values be passed down to the next generation.

Verbal engineering is what is skillfully happening in our media, government initiatives such as Planned Parenthood, the major news corporations, and organizations with influence in the next generation such as Girl Scouts.

Girl Scouts of America has now made God an option in the pledge, quotes influencial sayings from less than discrete notables, and teaches that alternative lifestyles just another way to see the world! 

Verbal engineering deals with sliding in issues to unsuspecting citizens under a veil of normalcy. For instance, unemployment and unable to pay bills, a same-sex couple looks worried over a stack of bills,  Ellen on a Revlon commercial with makeup making her look younger and prettier, Planned Parenthood's new program for middle to high school-aged students how to "Take Care Down There" in which they cover all issues from masterbation, gay relations, three-some activities, and sexual freedom...with protection.  Unbelievable!

Basically, that's how "Odrama" won the election last fall, by verbally engineering the thought that we are underpriviledged, poor, mislead by the previous administration, and he'll make it all better.  It's that same old lesson learned that if you tell little Johnny that he is a stupid person enough times, he begins to believe it.  

It's beginning to sink in, it's beginning to really work in the favor of those who's businesses depend on this way of thinking, more money will be realized by Planned Parenthood, taxes will be higher, gas prices are back on the climb, and homosexuality is becoming a household word of acceptance.

Where do the good people go?  When do we realize that there are rules, that there is a core of values that need to be protected; that there is a parameter standards that should remain solidly adhered to.

Fr. Edward, the comforter

Today, he brought comfort to a dying man and his family.  Tonight our dear neighbor has gone to be with Jesus and his wife and family are at peace.

Thank you, dear Fr. you made a big difference in some lives today.  You are a comforter.

Devoted to the Bitter End: A Marian thought

For such an amazingly brave, young, and special lady as our holy Mother was, there is very little mention of her personal life.  We know she was brave at the annunciation with her famous "yes' to the angel Gabriel.  Taking the words of Simeone at the Presentation of the Christ child to her heart, she spoke not a word, or so we think. We know she was deeply concerned for her holy son when they lost him for 3 days.  She worried Jesus as possibly crazy and tried to summon him to come home, and she knew what to say when the wedding wine ran out in Cana. Mary, at the crucifixion, was determined to stay at her son's side despite the horrorific things being done to him.  She was a brave, determined, and faithful lady, in deed.  Supportive to the bitter end, she remained.  

Of all the things we know about her, we don't know about her personal life with Joseph, raising the child Jesus,  or just how she handled ordinary daily life.  We know that Joseph was much older than she and that men didn't live quite as long as Moses' generation.   So he had to have died while Jesus was young, possibly dying even before Jesus' ministry started.  At the wedding in Cana, there is no mention of Joseph, or when she came to fetch him home. St. Joseph was a special man as well, taking in a women with child...that was not his own while being betrothed to him.  Showing blind faith as dreams guided him and his small family, Joseph brought them from danger in the dark of night with a baby in tow.  He taught his young son his trade of carpentry, spending hours showing Him how to use the tools of the trade.

We can only imagine during the time when Joseph's body was failing, how Mary took care of him. Taking his health situation deep in her heart.  What did she go through?  From what we know of Mary, she didn't leave his side for a moment, caring for his every need until the very end, then lovingly washed, perfumed and wrapped his body for burial.  Tears?  Anger?  What we know is that she took all these things in her heart and dealt with them as they came without complaint due to her faith in God.

She was her son's first follower and believer, she supported family like her cousin Elizabeth during her pregnancy and birth of St. John the Baptist.  Her husband would be no different when his time came.

Fast-film forward two-thousand years into the present and the wife 2 doors down is going through this very time.  Married to her husband for 33 years, both in their early 50's, they have struggled with the news and treatment of his cancer over the past year.  She has traveled with him hours to find the best facilities and doctors for her beloved.  Now the cancer has spread into his lungs and around his heart...there is little time.  He wants to be at home in his chair with her and their children.  Family and friends have been coming and going all week to show their love and support; and to say good-bye.  She won't leave him, the farthest she'll go is to sit in the front yard for a bit.  Looking at her, you see her husband in her eyes, the years, the babies, the good times and the bad.  But more importantly you see the pure devotion to her betrothed.

What better example for others are these two women.  My prayers, heart, and thoughts are with this family tonight.

Book Review: St. John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul

The Catholic Company's review program is a wonderful opportunity to read good books like St. John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul.

Have you ever felt lonely, so lonely that even God is too far away to hear your cries, much less your prayers?  Have you ever felt truly abandoned by God; left to your own resources?  Weren’t we promised that we would never be alone?  Weren’t we?  Believe this or not, this feeling is a good thing and no you are not alone, Our Heavenly Father has your back.

This feeling is called the dark night of the soul and it is as real as the morning sunlight through your bedroom window.  With the sunlight, you have two options to change the situation, close the curtains or leave them as they are and allow the rays to penetrate your soul.  Closing the curtains is the easy way to shut out the light so you can be lazy and go back to sleep, but not the perfect route.  The sunlight is there for you to get up, read a passage in the Bible, pray about it, and get closer to God.  For some it takes a process called purgation, but as noted in a poem of St. John of the Cross the fruits are very rewarding.

 

My soul is detached

From everything created,

And raised above itself

Into a life delicious,

Of God alone supported.

And therefore I will say,

That what I most esteem

Is that my soul is now

Without support, and with support.

 

The Dark Night of the Soul is divided into two books, Book 1, Of the Night of Sense and Book 11, Of the night of the Spirit.  In Book 1, St. John describes the soul entering the dark night of the sense as God leads them to a purgation that will bring them closer to God and farther away from worldly dependencies.  The process has three states; the beginners pass through the first night of sense, then become proficient and may go onto the next night or remain in the night of sense depending upon their strength and will. The proficient soul journeys through both processes successfully will come out spiritually perfect.  God gently moves these souls beyond selfishness and dependencies of worldly comforts, thus bringing about a state of dependency only on God and life eternal.  This is not any easy ‘night’ but necessary for perfection of spirituality and devotion to God.  There are pitfalls and temptations by Satan along the way, but this book shows where they are and to be watchful.  The first book covers fourteen chapters, full of love and care for the soul reading these words.

The second book takes one through a more defined dark time, or purgation, in which the soul experiences pain and torment, purifying and enlightening the soul for union with God in pure love.  This book goes through the dark night sufferings, the sense of being without God, of being abandoned.  The many pains of abandonment, past memories of happiness, the inability to fix the attention on God or divine things, loss of mental power are just a few purifying stages of this dark night.  A deeper, darker time indeed, but the outcome is serenity.  As I read this book, it became clear that I wanted to experience these things for to go through this dark abandonment is to get closer and wiser to God.  Truly, this book is not for beginners as the descriptions of these two nights are severe, various in purgations and hard to understand how necessary they are.  It is, however, a true testament to St. John of the Cross’ total surrender to perfect love for our Heavenly Father.  To be a rest is to be in perfect love and faith in God.

 

 

Prayer Request

The family two-doors down is experiencing the worse times with the impending death of their husband/father.  Please pray for them, each day their are so many vehicles in their driveway, the children are not going to school for fear of missing their father.

Prayers, please.

World Day of Prayer for vocations

 

A Prayer for Vocations
Through the intercession of St. John Vianney

O God our Father, You promised "I will appoint shepherds for My sheep

who will shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble:

and none shall be missing." (Jer. 23:4-5). Hear the prayers of Your flock.

Through the intercession of Your beloved priest, Saint John Vianney,

 we beg You to call to the sacramental priesthood generous men who

will desire nothing more than to serve You in imitation of Your Son,

 Our Lord Jesus Christ, our High Priest.

And after You call them, we pray that You sustain the doubtful,

 console the discouraged, and strengthen the weak as they start

the long and demanding preparation for the priesthood.

Mary, Mother of priests, and example of faithful, humble,

 and joyful acceptance of God's will, help all those who are

called to the priesthood to open their ears and hearts to the gentle call of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.
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Prayer for Vocations Gracious and loving God, help the men and women of  our diocese to hear the call to serve. Our needs are great and our people thirst for your presence. Open the hearts of many, raise up faithful servants of the Gospel, dedicated, holy priests, sisters, brothers, and deacons, who will spend themselves for your people and their needs. Bless those who are serving now with courage and perseverance. Grant that many will be inspired by their example and faith. We ask this though Christ our Lord. Amen.