Sorry folks it has probably been one of the most busy weeks of my life this past week, so Ive only got a little to share tonight. Ill return to form this week some time after I recover, Im sure you have all been there.
Now even though Ill keep this short its going to be packed with some amazing stuff. Click the hyperlinks to read more about God reveals Himself through His people, us, in some incredible ways.
I had the great fortune to learn about an incredible soul named Audrey Santo this weekend. Please check out the link which contains more info about her life and amazing miracles that had happened around her.
http://littleaudreysanto.org/story.htm
Im not one to rely on the perceptable signs from God or miraculous happenings, but its great to kick back and say dang God, you can do some pretty sweet stuff!!! It makes you take a step back and think about the one who you follow and Im so thankful that Im following Him. Again, not because of the miracles but because of the love. God is not going to show you a miracle to make you a believer, there is no free choice in that, He wants your fiat, no not your car, your yes! He will show the believers the miracles, not to increase their love for Him, but to bolster their faith, kinda like a tetanus titer but your arm isnt sore when its over ;)
Here are some other links to miraculous happenings.
Bodies that havent decayed
http://www.catholicapologetics.info/library/gallery/incorrupt/incorrupt.htm
St. Clare of Montefalco is a must read, thanks for the tip, tipster!
Every time a priest celebrates mass a miracle occurs when he consecrates the bread wine and they become the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. But in His infinite wisdom and grace, God has given us many Eucharistic miracles where the hosts actually bleed or scab over or become bits of flesh. You can research these as there are some quite famous ones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqsRDD6kXWY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDp3nPQqL_o
http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/engl_mir.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6SH93arrIE
This is a video of a modern day saint, St. Padre Pio. He was an incredible human being who had the stigmata or the wounds of Christ, notice the gloves. He could bilocate, he was often found in his room shivering. Soldiers during WWII were said to have seen him on the wintery fields ministering to people all the while he was in Italy. His confession lines were blocks long as he would help the faithful confess all their sins. While participating in the sacrament of confession, he would withhold absolution because he was able to read the souls of the penitent and knew when and what they were holding back and could tell them when, how, and who they were with when committing the sin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqLxUExgZVQ&feature=fvw
Take them for what they are worth and pray about this. The Lord is not trying to convince us of anything we already know. He only wants us to see His great love for us. Everything in the Catholic Church flows to and from the Eucharist because it truly is Jesus Christ. Our daily bread takes on a whole new meaning.....
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Why are we here?
Thats the million dollar question. If you are like me and like everyone else in the world you have probably asked yourself that same question, multiple times, and its probably one of the best questions to ask. Depending on your philosophy or your beliefs you may say that we aren't even here or that we don't exist or that we are someones dream. Well, if you are one of those people thanks for reading my blog because I don't prescribe to any of that nonsense but it does make you think. In, then, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict's book "Introduction to Christianity," he begins by talking about doubt and disagreement. In this uncertainty is where believers, non believers, and people of other faiths meet. Without this doubt there would be no meeting point or intersection for people to come together and have a real discussion about God or any dichotomous viewpoints for that matter.
The point that we as believers must all agree upon is that we do exist, we are here, and we aren't someones dream. So now that you know you know that you know you are here we can begin thinking about what the H-E -double hockey sticks you and I are here for.
The Baltimore Catechism, which holds the basic tenets of the Catholic faith and was used by all Catholic schools in the late 1800's to mid 1900's, addresses this issue as the very beginning of the book. We are here to love and to serve God, to show his goodness and to enjoy everlasting life with him. Pretty simple, well......did you start, why are you still reading......go on, get goin...........are you still here. I thought I told you why you are here, so get to it.
Sounds simple, and at its core it is, but there is a deeper meaning behind it. God has created us because he loves us and he wants a relationship with us just as we want a relationship with our families, friends, and hopefully we discover it.with God. We all exist in relationship and we know that relationships take work, God is no different. Our relationship with him takes time, work, effort, flowers, and chocolate (well maybe not flowers). The same things that keep us from relationship with our neighbor, our least liked neighbor, are the same things that keep us from the deepest relationship with God. He loves the person that we like least just as much as He loves us, he made us to love like Him. Again, it takes a herculean effort, but we are given the grace to be herculean (Jesuslean doesnt sound as good). Just think how amazing the world would be if we all loved that way, it would be heavenly. Now Im not saying I love like this but Id like to say I try, when I want to.
This is such a huge topic and Id like to address it more in later posts, but I think the thing to take away from this is that we exist because of love, because of Love, and because we need to love Love the way Love loves us so that we can love to be in love with Love because Love loves to be in love with us and Love would love for us to love like Love loves.
It makes sense, I promise, youll figure it out. love ya
Sunday, February 21, 2010
The hOLYMPICS
What is with all this Olympic stuff that is all over the news lately. Do you care about them, are they interesting, why do you like them or dislike them? After all, its just sports, and sports dont matter right.
This is the argument of some people and perhaps its easy to see why some are so turned off by sports. High salaries, games are played for a living, and lack of character are all reasons why some blacklist professional sports but I see it differently.
Pope Benedict XVI said, in regards to the Olympics, they are "a valued building block of peace and friendship between peoples and nations." Granted, we are not talking about the pro sports like the NFL, NBA, and MLB but you get the point. Where else can nations come together putting differences, beliefs, and even wars aside to cheer on their fellow Earth-mates as they perform super human feats.
Just think, these winter Olympians have trained every day for years to do what they do and what they do is so simple, they move on frozen water. Simple but they do it in so many different ways, on skates, on skis, snowboards, bobsleds, with sticks, with rocks, and all with near flawless grace and beauty. This is why we watch, perfection. Perfection is beautiful. We love to succeed, we love watching others succeed, we love watching perfection, we love to gaze upon beauty, we want to be perfect, we want to be beautiful. To accomplish this takes an incredible amount of work and it shows in the efforts of these men and women. Imagine training day in and day out to slide a rock down a large sheet of ice, that would be torture but we'll watch it for a couple days because we want to see perfection and beauty. Doing anything perfect looks beautiful and its most clear in the physical abilities of the human person.
The Olympics date back to the ancient Greeks who were leaders and trail blazers in education, philosophy and loved perfection and beauty. Philosophy means "the love of wisdom," so it is no small wonder that the high minded Greeks came up with such a spectacle as the Olympics.
We can also participate in the perfection and make our own lives a thing of beauty. St. Francis DeSales said "Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly." Each day we can strive for this as we participate in the (insert your name here) Olympics. Sounds pretty cheesy doesnt it? There is no gold medal after 4 years but there is a great reward after a lifetime of practicing to be your most perfect self.
We are told in scripture to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. The "perfect" scripture speaks of is not being a perfectionist or doing things better than everyone else. The real perfection is perfect love for one another and for God. As each day passes and we strive for this perfection people around us will recognize that beauty in us, the beauty that comes from God. Love in itself is perfection and we know God is love. This makes the living out of our faith naturally beautiful. Blessed Mother Theresa, the (pardon the description) wrinkly little old woman that everyone knows about, why? She was just a poor little woman who worked with the people who no one else would even look at. Maybe everyone knows about her for the same reason we tune in to the Olympics, we recognize beauty and we want our lives to be beautiful too. The funny thing is they already are......we just need a little practice.
This is the argument of some people and perhaps its easy to see why some are so turned off by sports. High salaries, games are played for a living, and lack of character are all reasons why some blacklist professional sports but I see it differently.
Pope Benedict XVI said, in regards to the Olympics, they are "a valued building block of peace and friendship between peoples and nations." Granted, we are not talking about the pro sports like the NFL, NBA, and MLB but you get the point. Where else can nations come together putting differences, beliefs, and even wars aside to cheer on their fellow Earth-mates as they perform super human feats.
Just think, these winter Olympians have trained every day for years to do what they do and what they do is so simple, they move on frozen water. Simple but they do it in so many different ways, on skates, on skis, snowboards, bobsleds, with sticks, with rocks, and all with near flawless grace and beauty. This is why we watch, perfection. Perfection is beautiful. We love to succeed, we love watching others succeed, we love watching perfection, we love to gaze upon beauty, we want to be perfect, we want to be beautiful. To accomplish this takes an incredible amount of work and it shows in the efforts of these men and women. Imagine training day in and day out to slide a rock down a large sheet of ice, that would be torture but we'll watch it for a couple days because we want to see perfection and beauty. Doing anything perfect looks beautiful and its most clear in the physical abilities of the human person.
The Olympics date back to the ancient Greeks who were leaders and trail blazers in education, philosophy and loved perfection and beauty. Philosophy means "the love of wisdom," so it is no small wonder that the high minded Greeks came up with such a spectacle as the Olympics.
We can also participate in the perfection and make our own lives a thing of beauty. St. Francis DeSales said "Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly." Each day we can strive for this as we participate in the (insert your name here) Olympics. Sounds pretty cheesy doesnt it? There is no gold medal after 4 years but there is a great reward after a lifetime of practicing to be your most perfect self.
We are told in scripture to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. The "perfect" scripture speaks of is not being a perfectionist or doing things better than everyone else. The real perfection is perfect love for one another and for God. As each day passes and we strive for this perfection people around us will recognize that beauty in us, the beauty that comes from God. Love in itself is perfection and we know God is love. This makes the living out of our faith naturally beautiful. Blessed Mother Theresa, the (pardon the description) wrinkly little old woman that everyone knows about, why? She was just a poor little woman who worked with the people who no one else would even look at. Maybe everyone knows about her for the same reason we tune in to the Olympics, we recognize beauty and we want our lives to be beautiful too. The funny thing is they already are......we just need a little practice.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Nice Ash
Try saying that five times, fast. Anyway, happy?! Ash Wednesday to you. Today is the day that lent begins for most Christians (the eastern Orthodox have already begun, that filioque will get you everytime). Lent is a time to "turn back" or repoint and refocus ourselves on why we are here and where we are going.
Ashes are placed in the shape of a cross on the believers forehead to signify and help us remember that we have all come from dust and we will all return to dust one day, so I guess "happy" isnt a really good descriptor of the day. The placement of ashes really has its roots in the old testament and in Jewish culture. Ash is taken on during a time of mourning or repentance, again lets nix the"happy". Even though this isnt a happy time its not a sad time either. At its core, lent is about what really matters, LOVE.
Lent is about taking time to refocus on God's ubiquitous and incomprehensible love for us and return it through alms giving (being charitable), fasting (being penitent), and praying (praying). Quite often people give something up for lent in a spirit of penance. At a young age I heard a homily which has changed the way I have lived lent over the past 15 years. The priest proffered the idea to give up something that we could never get back, something that is so precious, so valuable, and so worthy. Right now you might be thinking just as I did about what is so important and right now thoughts of money, food, pant-suits, or handy-snacks - red plastic cheese spatula and all are floating through your head. Well my friend those are all good, but what's most precious is TIME.
We can give our time to so many things like work, which is good, school, which is good, TV, not so much, or the needy, lonely, and poor. We can give our time, which we will never get back, through extra prayer, volunteering, or possibly spending more time around those whom we love.
We are reminded that we exist in time through the ashes on our foreheads because it is a representation of where we came from and where we are going. Love is here with us in time but once we return to dust, we move to eternity where there is no time. The question this lent is how will we spend our time now so that we can ensure how we will spend our eternity.
I freakn love lent!!! God bless you all.
Ashes are placed in the shape of a cross on the believers forehead to signify and help us remember that we have all come from dust and we will all return to dust one day, so I guess "happy" isnt a really good descriptor of the day. The placement of ashes really has its roots in the old testament and in Jewish culture. Ash is taken on during a time of mourning or repentance, again lets nix the
Lent is about taking time to refocus on God's ubiquitous and incomprehensible love for us and return it through alms giving (being charitable), fasting (being penitent), and praying (praying). Quite often people give something up for lent in a spirit of penance. At a young age I heard a homily which has changed the way I have lived lent over the past 15 years. The priest proffered the idea to give up something that we could never get back, something that is so precious, so valuable, and so worthy. Right now you might be thinking just as I did about what is so important and right now thoughts of money, food, pant-suits, or handy-snacks - red plastic cheese spatula and all are floating through your head. Well my friend those are all good, but what's most precious is TIME.
We can give our time to so many things like work, which is good, school, which is good, TV, not so much, or the needy, lonely, and poor. We can give our time, which we will never get back, through extra prayer, volunteering, or possibly spending more time around those whom we love.
We are reminded that we exist in time through the ashes on our foreheads because it is a representation of where we came from and where we are going. Love is here with us in time but once we return to dust, we move to eternity where there is no time. The question this lent is how will we spend our time now so that we can ensure how we will spend our eternity.
I freakn love lent!!! God bless you all.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
What do you make?
Now this is an easy question to answer. When you have your number, which is a number not many of us forget, go to this website http://www.globalrichlist.com/ and enter the value. It will tell you where and in what percentile you are in compared to the rest of the world.
Quite humbling, isnt it? So why the need for more? Yes, money makes things easier but does it make us happier? Well, thats something I struggle with myself. Im right there at the top with the rest of you, plus or minus a fraction of a percentage. A fraction of a percentage is what separates a couple hundred million people. Those making 40k a year all the way to those making "a milli" plus. We get to a point where we are comfortable but what is it that drives us for more, Im still trying to answer this question. After all there are 5 billion other people out there livn, lovn, smiln, and making a pittance compared to the rest of us. Some sociologists suspect as we make more money the people, and the circles we run in change. This makes us want to get to the next level but when we get there, there is a new circle to run in. Hmmph, runnin in circles, interesting.
Regardless of what we make I think its necessary to have a spirit of thankfulness for whatever it is that we have. There will always be people with more and there will alway be people with less, we can do what we can to help out the less fortunate. But I think the most we can do is be thankful and spread the cheer that what we have, both material and not, has brought us.
All this is not to say that we shouldnt make money or strive to be our best. I only want to try to be more content with what I have and not want more money for the sake of status improvement. Its also understanding that dollar signs dont equal happiness considering all the people that make pennies on our dollar and are full of joy.
Lets take a philosophical look at this. Every person has the unlimited capacity to love and to know. Objects or material possessions provide avenues to express this capacity to know as we learn and enjoy the "thing". It also gives us an opportunity to love it as we learn more about it. As the objects features grow so does the avenue for us to enjoy it. Lets walk down that road first passing a fresh pair of Nikes, pretty sweet but as we walk they start getting dirty. On your left you see a new cell phone, quite nice but then the screen gets scratched and the new version comes out. On your right you see a used but nice car, awesome, many memories in that old hunk of junk. Further down the road there is a BMW with your name on it, man that is sweeeeeeeet, but wait, who is that at the corner? O its the 2 million other BMW owners that have sweet rides too. You know where Im goin with this, and I myself am on this road but Im tryn to take the ally over here if you want to come. That avenue leads to a dead end because the object is finite which means it has limitations and bounds. These objects also distract us from more important things, some people can be married to their computer or video game system. We need to apply our infinite capacity to know and love to things that are also infinite such as PEOPLE. This is where love comes in.
What better time to talk about love then on Valentines weekend. Now I know its NBA all star weekend and everyone is DVRing all the action like me but lets get past Lebron for a night, wink wink. I hope each one of you has someone to love this weekend, whether its a spouse, significant other, parent, child, or even a pet. If you dont, find someone to spend some time with and if you cant, go to hospital and share some time with someone who is longing for a visitor. This will bring joy beyond that million dollar salary and shiny new ride.
Ill leave you with this video, What do you make, its passionate and heart felt. Im not proping up teaching or poking fun at lawyers because I know both good and bad in both professions. I found it quite powerful and I think it can apply to many careers. Take a look then go get yo lovin on this weekend!!!
Quite humbling, isnt it? So why the need for more? Yes, money makes things easier but does it make us happier? Well, thats something I struggle with myself. Im right there at the top with the rest of you, plus or minus a fraction of a percentage. A fraction of a percentage is what separates a couple hundred million people. Those making 40k a year all the way to those making "a milli" plus. We get to a point where we are comfortable but what is it that drives us for more, Im still trying to answer this question. After all there are 5 billion other people out there livn, lovn, smiln, and making a pittance compared to the rest of us. Some sociologists suspect as we make more money the people, and the circles we run in change. This makes us want to get to the next level but when we get there, there is a new circle to run in. Hmmph, runnin in circles, interesting.
Regardless of what we make I think its necessary to have a spirit of thankfulness for whatever it is that we have. There will always be people with more and there will alway be people with less, we can do what we can to help out the less fortunate. But I think the most we can do is be thankful and spread the cheer that what we have, both material and not, has brought us.
All this is not to say that we shouldnt make money or strive to be our best. I only want to try to be more content with what I have and not want more money for the sake of status improvement. Its also understanding that dollar signs dont equal happiness considering all the people that make pennies on our dollar and are full of joy.
Lets take a philosophical look at this. Every person has the unlimited capacity to love and to know. Objects or material possessions provide avenues to express this capacity to know as we learn and enjoy the "thing". It also gives us an opportunity to love it as we learn more about it. As the objects features grow so does the avenue for us to enjoy it. Lets walk down that road first passing a fresh pair of Nikes, pretty sweet but as we walk they start getting dirty. On your left you see a new cell phone, quite nice but then the screen gets scratched and the new version comes out. On your right you see a used but nice car, awesome, many memories in that old hunk of junk. Further down the road there is a BMW with your name on it, man that is sweeeeeeeet, but wait, who is that at the corner? O its the 2 million other BMW owners that have sweet rides too. You know where Im goin with this, and I myself am on this road but Im tryn to take the ally over here if you want to come. That avenue leads to a dead end because the object is finite which means it has limitations and bounds. These objects also distract us from more important things, some people can be married to their computer or video game system. We need to apply our infinite capacity to know and love to things that are also infinite such as PEOPLE. This is where love comes in.
What better time to talk about love then on Valentines weekend. Now I know its NBA all star weekend and everyone is DVRing all the action like me but lets get past Lebron for a night, wink wink. I hope each one of you has someone to love this weekend, whether its a spouse, significant other, parent, child, or even a pet. If you dont, find someone to spend some time with and if you cant, go to hospital and share some time with someone who is longing for a visitor. This will bring joy beyond that million dollar salary and shiny new ride.
Ill leave you with this video, What do you make, its passionate and heart felt. Im not proping up teaching or poking fun at lawyers because I know both good and bad in both professions. I found it quite powerful and I think it can apply to many careers. Take a look then go get yo lovin on this weekend!!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Who Dat?
By now we all know the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl and that their tag line is who dat. As lent approaches and debauchery descends upon New Orleans during Mardi Gras we should take some time and ask who dat about the real saints.
The Catholic Church honors deceased individuals who have shown heroic virtue throughout their lives. We dont worship them, we dont think they are God, we dont buy them sneakers (wait....., what!?), just kidding, I just wanted your attention. These saints are guys named Drew, Marques, and Pierre. No, not Drew Brees, Marques Colston, and Pierre Thomas but St. Andrew, one of the apostles, St. Mark, one of the Gospel authors, and of little fame, St. Pierre-Francois Neron who was a 19th century French priest who went to Vietnam to preach the faith and was captured, tortured, and beheaded.
Saints are people just like you and I who lived their lives of heroic virtue in service to the faith. Everyone in heaven is considered a saint. However the Church only grants the title St. to those who have been studied and whom multiple miracles have been attributed to and have been proven. (find out about the process here) So what, good for them. Nope, wrong. Good for us. These people not only leave us their example but also their prayers. Since we know they are in heaven we can ask them to pray for us directly to God while we may be off doing something else like shoveling snow, taking a test, participating in a conference call, or eating fruit roll-ups. Seriously, dont we ask one another to pray for us in times of need even though we ask God ourselves. Its always good to have as many prayers as possible in times of need, so why not ask a saint whom we know is chilln with J right now.
Chances are that there is a saint or two who shares your name. Find out about that person and ask them to pray for you. Here is a good link to check this out. Being a saint takes work and hopefully we will all be one one day but until then we need to continue to try to "keep it real" and ask for help to do so
"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." - Oscar Wilde
The Catholic Church honors deceased individuals who have shown heroic virtue throughout their lives. We dont worship them, we dont think they are God, we dont buy them sneakers (wait....., what!?), just kidding, I just wanted your attention. These saints are guys named Drew, Marques, and Pierre. No, not Drew Brees, Marques Colston, and Pierre Thomas but St. Andrew, one of the apostles, St. Mark, one of the Gospel authors, and of little fame, St. Pierre-Francois Neron who was a 19th century French priest who went to Vietnam to preach the faith and was captured, tortured, and beheaded.
Saints are people just like you and I who lived their lives of heroic virtue in service to the faith. Everyone in heaven is considered a saint. However the Church only grants the title St. to those who have been studied and whom multiple miracles have been attributed to and have been proven. (find out about the process here) So what, good for them. Nope, wrong. Good for us. These people not only leave us their example but also their prayers. Since we know they are in heaven we can ask them to pray for us directly to God while we may be off doing something else like shoveling snow, taking a test, participating in a conference call, or eating fruit roll-ups. Seriously, dont we ask one another to pray for us in times of need even though we ask God ourselves. Its always good to have as many prayers as possible in times of need, so why not ask a saint whom we know is chilln with J right now.
Chances are that there is a saint or two who shares your name. Find out about that person and ask them to pray for you. Here is a good link to check this out. Being a saint takes work and hopefully we will all be one one day but until then we need to continue to try to "keep it real" and ask for help to do so
"Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future." - Oscar Wilde
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Pure as the driven snow
Gone away is the blue bird, here to stay is the new bird, he sings a love song, as we go along, walking in a winter wonderland. Strange to hear these kind of songs even though Christmas is over. Winter starts on December 22nd and Christmas is three days later but for the remaining 95% of winter we dont hear the winter songs because they are associated with Christmas. What most people dont know is that Christmas just ended this week on February 2nd, also known as Candlemas which is 40 days after December 25th. Candlemas celebrates the "presentation" which was Mary's presentation of the Christ child in the temple.
In Mosaic law if a woman had a male child she was believed to be unclean until and offering was made in the temple after 40 days. It was an early prefigurement of Christ being offered for all of us because of our unclenliness due to sin.
Can't we all agree that a freshly fallen snow is beautiful. Its always so eerily quiet when snow is falling, wouldn't you agree. The whitest of whites can be seen on everything and anything. The snow blankets the world and makes it look clean and fresh. But after a few days of salt, plows, cars, and warmer temperatures the snow looks dirty and everything starts to look a bit tarnished.
Our souls are like the snow when it has freshly fallen but as time goes on and we sin, we darken our hearts as sin separates us from God. Fortunately our God is a gracious and forgiving God who has mercy beyond comprehension. As this snow melts and gets dirty lets try to stay clean and pure of heart and blanket the world with the brilliance beyond compare.
In Mosaic law if a woman had a male child she was believed to be unclean until and offering was made in the temple after 40 days. It was an early prefigurement of Christ being offered for all of us because of our unclenliness due to sin.
Can't we all agree that a freshly fallen snow is beautiful. Its always so eerily quiet when snow is falling, wouldn't you agree. The whitest of whites can be seen on everything and anything. The snow blankets the world and makes it look clean and fresh. But after a few days of salt, plows, cars, and warmer temperatures the snow looks dirty and everything starts to look a bit tarnished.
Our souls are like the snow when it has freshly fallen but as time goes on and we sin, we darken our hearts as sin separates us from God. Fortunately our God is a gracious and forgiving God who has mercy beyond comprehension. As this snow melts and gets dirty lets try to stay clean and pure of heart and blanket the world with the brilliance beyond compare.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Ah, that hurts
Why do we have to suffer and experience pain. We all have experienced pain in one form or another, whether it be while mourning the loss of a loved one or battling a nasty cold. Some people experience chronic pain, both mental and physical, and my hat goes off while my heart goes out to those people. Most of our pains go away in time but chronic pain is something other-worldy which takes an indominable will and the grace of God to overcome. (See my man Tron's blog on suffering which echoes many of the same words I share tonight.)
Why did God allow the people of Haiti so much suffering, why did he allow Katrina, why did he allow 9/11. Was he punishing us? Some would answer with an emphatic yes! I say, on the contrary, He is loving us. After all, He allowed is one and only, most beloved son to suffer a most extreme and horrific death. Did He do that because He was mad at Jesus, insert an emphatic NO here! God allows suffering and pain so that a greater good may come from it.
I have had the unfortunate experience of throwing my back out, again, last night, and man does it hurt. Do I complain, yes, should I, no. Im a baby when it comes to pain and suffering, I cant handle it. Everyone needs to know when Mark isnt feeling good, I cant bear it graciously. Those of you who know me, tell me to zip it next time I complain please. Back to my back, what good can come from this? Well tonight I have some time to post again, I had some time to rest, I had some time to read, and I did my part to help my chiropractor get a little more ching-a-ling in his pocket. Hey, everyones got to make a living. But most of all I can offer it to God and turn it in to a joy-filled blessing. Joyful suffering, oxymoron if I ever heard of one, but hey, God dying on a cross turned the world on its head too.
Back to Jesus. How can we make our suffering meaningful and joyful when it makes us feel so crappy. Blessed Mother Theresa called suffering a kiss from Jesus. He allows us to share in His most deepest love while sharing in His suffering. St. Paul tells us in Collosians 1:24 "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church." What does this mean, how was Christ's suffering lacking. He suffered once and for all on our behalf but we can still participate in His suffering with our own, and we are what its lacking. St. Paul speaks of the body of Christ, which is us, the Church. Our suffering doesnt have to be in vain, even the smallest paper cut can mean something with the right intention. Its only God's great love for us that allows us, even in our pain, to share in His glory and offer something to the people of God in all we do. Quoting a virtuous woman named Nennolina, "Pain is like fabric, the stronger it is the more its worth."
Next time you slam your finger in the door dont say God d*** it, say God thank you!!
Why did God allow the people of Haiti so much suffering, why did he allow Katrina, why did he allow 9/11. Was he punishing us? Some would answer with an emphatic yes! I say, on the contrary, He is loving us. After all, He allowed is one and only, most beloved son to suffer a most extreme and horrific death. Did He do that because He was mad at Jesus, insert an emphatic NO here! God allows suffering and pain so that a greater good may come from it.
I have had the unfortunate experience of throwing my back out, again, last night, and man does it hurt. Do I complain, yes, should I, no. Im a baby when it comes to pain and suffering, I cant handle it. Everyone needs to know when Mark isnt feeling good, I cant bear it graciously. Those of you who know me, tell me to zip it next time I complain please. Back to my back, what good can come from this? Well tonight I have some time to post again, I had some time to rest, I had some time to read, and I did my part to help my chiropractor get a little more ching-a-ling in his pocket. Hey, everyones got to make a living. But most of all I can offer it to God and turn it in to a joy-filled blessing. Joyful suffering, oxymoron if I ever heard of one, but hey, God dying on a cross turned the world on its head too.
Back to Jesus. How can we make our suffering meaningful and joyful when it makes us feel so crappy. Blessed Mother Theresa called suffering a kiss from Jesus. He allows us to share in His most deepest love while sharing in His suffering. St. Paul tells us in Collosians 1:24 "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church." What does this mean, how was Christ's suffering lacking. He suffered once and for all on our behalf but we can still participate in His suffering with our own, and we are what its lacking. St. Paul speaks of the body of Christ, which is us, the Church. Our suffering doesnt have to be in vain, even the smallest paper cut can mean something with the right intention. Its only God's great love for us that allows us, even in our pain, to share in His glory and offer something to the people of God in all we do. Quoting a virtuous woman named Nennolina, "Pain is like fabric, the stronger it is the more its worth."
Next time you slam your finger in the door dont say God d*** it, say God thank you!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)