Ijournal Entry 091916 # 38. Rest in peace honey, yes Miriam, rest in peace! Happy Birthday Cathy. September, Month of Our Lady of Sorrows. Maxim by St. Therese of Lisieux. Quotes by Chromatius, Sr. Kathryn, and By Joy. "Baptism of Desire vs. Baptism of Indifference", By Howard Curtis. "In Praise of Spiritual Prudence in everything", by Vivien Stacey. MVideo presentation: Mark Nimo - Experience The Mercy Of God.
"The principal biblical references to Mary’s sorrows are in Luke 2:35 and John 19:26-27. The Lucan passage is Simeon’s prediction about a sword piercing Mary’s soul; the Johannine passage relates Jesus’ words from the cross to Mary and to the beloved disciple.
Many early Church writers interpret the sword as Mary’s sorrows, especially as she saw Jesus die on the cross. Thus, the two passages are brought together as prediction and fulfillment.
Saint Ambrose in particular sees Mary as a sorrowful yet powerful figure at the cross. Mary stood fearlessly at the cross while others fled. Mary looked on her Son’s wounds with pity, but saw in them the salvation of the world. As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary did not fear to be killed, but offered herself to her persecutors"
Info from this site:
www.franciscanmedia.org/our-lady-of-sorrows/
Many early Church writers interpret the sword as Mary’s sorrows, especially as she saw Jesus die on the cross. Thus, the two passages are brought together as prediction and fulfillment.
Saint Ambrose in particular sees Mary as a sorrowful yet powerful figure at the cross. Mary stood fearlessly at the cross while others fled. Mary looked on her Son’s wounds with pity, but saw in them the salvation of the world. As Jesus hung on the cross, Mary did not fear to be killed, but offered herself to her persecutors"
Info from this site:
www.franciscanmedia.org/our-lady-of-sorrows/
Rest in peace honey, yes Miriam, rest in peace!
Thanks be to God for the experience of meeting Miriam. So very engaging was she, spiritually charming, and wonderful to converse with. It seems like with her bags packed and departing for eternal life, she won't be skipping a beat. Her faithfulness to Eucharistic Adoration was admirable, and her frequent visits will surely be missed, truly leaving a big void. Owing to the fact that she was the first to encourage me to promote my apostolate, and because of her persistence, a website was born, gigapostolate. What a blessing it was to have her support to help me launch out into the deep. May The Lord now be her all in all, as she forever sings God's praises and enjoys all the good things things prepared for her. What a mansion there must be, for Jesus forgets not His own.
At the funeral Mass the priest mentioned her love for the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was like: Wow! She got it right and couldn't have prioritized any better. A first for me, to hear at a funeral someone loving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and not separating it from it's twin, the Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist. Good footsteps to follow for sure, gonna miss u girl. Sad, but joyful in the Lord that she is heir to the kingdom of God. Miriam, pray for me, please pray for us. If by chance you have crossed the seal, then it is St. Miriam, because you are in, please pray for me, please pray for us. So many loses of good spiritual people in my life. Lord God, are you going to send some super new spiritual people in my life, to inspire, encourage, and instruct? Stay tuned.
At the funeral Mass the priest mentioned her love for the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was like: Wow! She got it right and couldn't have prioritized any better. A first for me, to hear at a funeral someone loving the Sacrament of Reconciliation and not separating it from it's twin, the Sacrament of The Holy Eucharist. Good footsteps to follow for sure, gonna miss u girl. Sad, but joyful in the Lord that she is heir to the kingdom of God. Miriam, pray for me, please pray for us. If by chance you have crossed the seal, then it is St. Miriam, because you are in, please pray for me, please pray for us. So many loses of good spiritual people in my life. Lord God, are you going to send some super new spiritual people in my life, to inspire, encourage, and instruct? Stay tuned.
By St. Therese of Lisieux
"Do ordinary things with extraordinary love."
MTA=How easy it is to get it twisted. It's to color nicely, right inside the circle, and that will be enough.
"Do ordinary things with extraordinary love."
MTA=How easy it is to get it twisted. It's to color nicely, right inside the circle, and that will be enough.
🔴"The Lord clearly points out that he is the sower of good seeds. He does not cease to sow in this world as in a field. God’s word is like good seed in the hearts of people, so that each of us according to the seeds sown in us by God may bear spiritual and heavenly fruit." (Chromatius, died 406 A.D., excerpt from Tractate on Matthew 51.1)'
🔵 "Just as stained glass does not live until it lets itself be “vulnerable to the light,” we also need to be vulnerable to grace, even when it holds the possibility of transforming us in dazzling and unexpected ways'. By Sr. Kathryn
⚫️ "I strive to not let myself get caught up in all of the negativity of the world - the hopelessness - the fear of the future... I think when we focus too much on the circumstances of what is going on around us, we become like Peter when he was called by Jesus to get out of the boat and walk to Him. As long as he kept his gaze on Jesus he was fine, but when he glanced away at the sea and the storm and the salty waves all around, he started to sink with fear and despair. I must remind myself constantly to keep my eyes locked onto Jesus, knowing that He is in control, and not get flustered with the circumstances that I am living in and walking through. I have not quite mastered this and it is easier said than done, but it is my hope and prayer…” By Joy
🔵 "Just as stained glass does not live until it lets itself be “vulnerable to the light,” we also need to be vulnerable to grace, even when it holds the possibility of transforming us in dazzling and unexpected ways'. By Sr. Kathryn
⚫️ "I strive to not let myself get caught up in all of the negativity of the world - the hopelessness - the fear of the future... I think when we focus too much on the circumstances of what is going on around us, we become like Peter when he was called by Jesus to get out of the boat and walk to Him. As long as he kept his gaze on Jesus he was fine, but when he glanced away at the sea and the storm and the salty waves all around, he started to sink with fear and despair. I must remind myself constantly to keep my eyes locked onto Jesus, knowing that He is in control, and not get flustered with the circumstances that I am living in and walking through. I have not quite mastered this and it is easier said than done, but it is my hope and prayer…” By Joy
Upon awakening one morning after beginning my morning prayers, something came to mind referencing this scripture:
It's all about how we often pray for the cup to be removed, to overcome, and that we be able to get through the trials and tribulations of life. That is all well and good, but Jesus leaves us an excellent example. The problem at hand for some of us at times is often one of failing to complete the petition prayer. We fail to pray for strength and endurance, that we might persevere. In a complete way we say: Not my will, but thine be done. This is a statement that most likely might be crowded out by our petitions, petitions, petitions. That portion of the prayer serves to help us endure and persevere if it is deemed necessary and advantageous for us to drink of the bitter cup, as God so wills. All the prayers geared towards the cup passing and not for the Lord's will to be done, will leave us in want. Peace will be absent and the perfection that goes along with resignation will not be our lot. A spirit at rest in God will elude us. To be victorious in prayer, we must see that the bottom line is forever and always: "thy will be done, not mine", knowing that all things are working for a greater good than what the eyes can behold. This is evidenced by the following scripture:
It is to take heart, and rejoice in The Lord.
It is to know assuredly that we are truly loved beyond measure and have been chosen to be His beloved children and not passing strangers. Even if we were, we could still have confidence because:
Therefore, let us see the spun web that arounds us and remove each thread by the grace of God and enter into the freedom of Christ. For we must do our part, and The Lord our God will do the rest.
It's to let victorious thoughts occupy our mind. May visions of the future glory that will be ours cause us to rejoice and the praises we sing to God's ring in our ears as we give thanks taking heart in the truth.
All is well and all will forever be well, as we shall indeed overcome.
"Baptism of Desire vs. Baptism of Indifference", by Howard Curtis
Info from this site:
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=1196-curtis
"In 1981, I volunteered to assist at the small Monastery of Latroun in Israel. My duties there were determined in large part by the language barrier. As one of my jobs, where the language barrier was not a problem, I cooked on Fridays so the regular cook could attend to his spiritual duties on the Moslem holy day. Jihad, a Moslem high school boy who spoke English fairly well, was assigned to be my helper. Through this chance (or providential) work arrangement, I came to hear the story of Jihad’s father, Abu Nemer.
Abu Nemer was of a Druze family, but when he grew up he forsook his Druze background and became an orthodox Moslem. In the process he moved to a Palestinian village. At the time of his son’s birth, the Moslems were militant in proclaiming a Holy War against Israel, determined to drive the Jews into the sea. Abu Nemer expressed his Moslem enthusiasm by naming his son Jihad, the Arab word for “Holy War.”
Abu Nemer worked as a bus driver transporting Moslem workers from their homes on the West Bank to their jobs in Israel. His back was injured in a traffic accident, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. His condition seemed hopeless as he lay on his bed at home year after year.
Some Evangelical missionaries heard of him and came to pay him a visit. He permitted them to pray over him. After all, what did he have to lose? They gave him a Bible. Later they came again to pray over him and lay their hands on him, asking the Lord for a cure. Abu Nemer appreciated their visits, but his physical condition did not improve. Several months later when Abu Nemer was alone in his room, a beautiful lady appeared by his bed, smiled at him, and he was cured. He got out of bed, and was soon back to his bus driving. As he read his Bible over and over, he concluded that the lady who had stood by his bed and cured him was Mary, the mother of Jesus.
When the Evangelical missionaries returned and he told them what had happened, they rejoiced with him in his cure, but were skeptical of his Lady. Perhaps he had made a mistake. Perhaps he was dreaming. They wanted to baptize him, but he would not accept their baptism if they rejected his Lady. He started to look around for a Church in which to be baptized, one which would accept his Lady. He went first to a Greek Orthodox Church, which accepted his cure and the Lady but refused him baptism. He went to a Catholic church, with the same result. He spoke freely in his village of his cure and the Lady, and of Jesus. His friends were worried, for one could lose one’s life for even less in a Moslem village.
During this time he came to the Monastery and was befriended by one of the monks. Since monks are not pastors, they may not baptize except as delegates of a parish priest, with the baptized person becoming a member of the delegating pastor’s church. The Orthodox and the Catholics were afraid to baptize Abu Nemer, for it could have led to a church of theirs, full of worshipers, being bombed some Sunday morning. I was shocked when I heard of their refusal. Could there be any reason sufficient to deny a person the ordinary means of salvation? Later I realized that while the pastor should certainly not have feared for himself, he could hardly have made that fateful decision for his parishioners. How could he have consulted them and asked their permission in such a case as this? Abu Nemer’s monk friend pointed out several alternatives, one of which was to move to a Christian village far from where Abu Nemer was then living. This is an extreme measure, but it has been done. Because he had several children, this was an obstacle, for his wife and family showed no interest in becoming Christian. Another alternative Moslems sometimes use is to become secret Christians, being baptized secretly, but outwardly living as Moslems. This would mean being quiet about his faith. To this suggestion Abu Nemer replied that being quiet about his faith was impossible. He had tried it, but when he was quiet his faith became a burning fire inside him. When expressing this, Abu Nemer would put his hand over his heart. That is where I left the situation in 1984 when I returned to the United States.
When in January 1996 I returned to the Monastery of Latroun for a visit, I inquired about my former kitchen helper and his father. Abu Nemer had recently died. He had accepted his fate of having faith in Jesus, but being refused baptism. The tradition of the Church calls this the baptism of desire. His monk friend told me that the last time he saw Abu Nemer, he had said, “I do not know how much longer I will live, but before I die, I want to confess my sins.”
Just to hear this ending to the moving story of Abu Nemer made the 30 hours of wearisome, cramped air travel to Israel worthwhile. I had to ask myself why this detail of the turbulent Near East had touched me so. Why had I been captivated by this simple story of Abu Nemer’s tenacious fidelity to his vision, to his gift of faith, to his spirit of repentance, and this in spite of his frustrated effort to be baptized into a Christian community? Perhaps it’s because the story is such a contrast to much of what I’ve experienced in the U.S.: casualness toward and indifference to the Faith, a disinterestedness which could easily discard what Abu Nemer so loved and desired, as one might scrape the scraps from one’s plate into a trash can.
Info from this site:
http://www.newoxfordreview.org/article.jsp?did=1196-curtis
"In 1981, I volunteered to assist at the small Monastery of Latroun in Israel. My duties there were determined in large part by the language barrier. As one of my jobs, where the language barrier was not a problem, I cooked on Fridays so the regular cook could attend to his spiritual duties on the Moslem holy day. Jihad, a Moslem high school boy who spoke English fairly well, was assigned to be my helper. Through this chance (or providential) work arrangement, I came to hear the story of Jihad’s father, Abu Nemer.
Abu Nemer was of a Druze family, but when he grew up he forsook his Druze background and became an orthodox Moslem. In the process he moved to a Palestinian village. At the time of his son’s birth, the Moslems were militant in proclaiming a Holy War against Israel, determined to drive the Jews into the sea. Abu Nemer expressed his Moslem enthusiasm by naming his son Jihad, the Arab word for “Holy War.”
Abu Nemer worked as a bus driver transporting Moslem workers from their homes on the West Bank to their jobs in Israel. His back was injured in a traffic accident, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. His condition seemed hopeless as he lay on his bed at home year after year.
Some Evangelical missionaries heard of him and came to pay him a visit. He permitted them to pray over him. After all, what did he have to lose? They gave him a Bible. Later they came again to pray over him and lay their hands on him, asking the Lord for a cure. Abu Nemer appreciated their visits, but his physical condition did not improve. Several months later when Abu Nemer was alone in his room, a beautiful lady appeared by his bed, smiled at him, and he was cured. He got out of bed, and was soon back to his bus driving. As he read his Bible over and over, he concluded that the lady who had stood by his bed and cured him was Mary, the mother of Jesus.
When the Evangelical missionaries returned and he told them what had happened, they rejoiced with him in his cure, but were skeptical of his Lady. Perhaps he had made a mistake. Perhaps he was dreaming. They wanted to baptize him, but he would not accept their baptism if they rejected his Lady. He started to look around for a Church in which to be baptized, one which would accept his Lady. He went first to a Greek Orthodox Church, which accepted his cure and the Lady but refused him baptism. He went to a Catholic church, with the same result. He spoke freely in his village of his cure and the Lady, and of Jesus. His friends were worried, for one could lose one’s life for even less in a Moslem village.
During this time he came to the Monastery and was befriended by one of the monks. Since monks are not pastors, they may not baptize except as delegates of a parish priest, with the baptized person becoming a member of the delegating pastor’s church. The Orthodox and the Catholics were afraid to baptize Abu Nemer, for it could have led to a church of theirs, full of worshipers, being bombed some Sunday morning. I was shocked when I heard of their refusal. Could there be any reason sufficient to deny a person the ordinary means of salvation? Later I realized that while the pastor should certainly not have feared for himself, he could hardly have made that fateful decision for his parishioners. How could he have consulted them and asked their permission in such a case as this? Abu Nemer’s monk friend pointed out several alternatives, one of which was to move to a Christian village far from where Abu Nemer was then living. This is an extreme measure, but it has been done. Because he had several children, this was an obstacle, for his wife and family showed no interest in becoming Christian. Another alternative Moslems sometimes use is to become secret Christians, being baptized secretly, but outwardly living as Moslems. This would mean being quiet about his faith. To this suggestion Abu Nemer replied that being quiet about his faith was impossible. He had tried it, but when he was quiet his faith became a burning fire inside him. When expressing this, Abu Nemer would put his hand over his heart. That is where I left the situation in 1984 when I returned to the United States.
When in January 1996 I returned to the Monastery of Latroun for a visit, I inquired about my former kitchen helper and his father. Abu Nemer had recently died. He had accepted his fate of having faith in Jesus, but being refused baptism. The tradition of the Church calls this the baptism of desire. His monk friend told me that the last time he saw Abu Nemer, he had said, “I do not know how much longer I will live, but before I die, I want to confess my sins.”
Just to hear this ending to the moving story of Abu Nemer made the 30 hours of wearisome, cramped air travel to Israel worthwhile. I had to ask myself why this detail of the turbulent Near East had touched me so. Why had I been captivated by this simple story of Abu Nemer’s tenacious fidelity to his vision, to his gift of faith, to his spirit of repentance, and this in spite of his frustrated effort to be baptized into a Christian community? Perhaps it’s because the story is such a contrast to much of what I’ve experienced in the U.S.: casualness toward and indifference to the Faith, a disinterestedness which could easily discard what Abu Nemer so loved and desired, as one might scrape the scraps from one’s plate into a trash can.
"In Praise of Spiritual Prudence in everything", by Vivien Stacey
Info from this site:
franciscodeosuna.blogspot.com/2013/10/in-praise-of-spiritual-prudence-in.html
"The mystical writings of FRANCISCO DE OSUNA , a Franciscan monk from Spain, are a treasure of wisdom for spiritual seekers that is being re - discovered after centuries of obscurity. Osuna passes on the wisdom of the Christian contemplative tradition through a sequence of pithy maxims - A SPIRITUAL ALPHABET . The purpose of these WISDOM SAYINGS is to remember them and live with them so they can constantly re-orientate the heart and mind towards the source of life within.
Of the Prudence you should have in everything, Osuna says:
' Examine, Become Experienced, and perfect all your works'.
in the Fifth Treatise of Spiritual Recollection. To learn spiritual prudence is to learn to examine everything in the forge of the conscience, to navigate the ship of the soul with a fearless carefulness, and to learn to extract the sweet wisdom and goodness of the soul like a bee-keeper extracts honey.
Live an examined life!
Know yourself not by last things but by first things.
Know yourself not by deeds but by their first rooting , the first stirrings of deedsbeginning in the heart.
Before the grasp of thought .
Before passion intensifies and acts become habits.
Keep watch with everything in the forge of conscience.
Keep watch with everything till the heart’s holy heat is fierce and a purer act, clearer sight will come.
Follow this work through into a lifetime of perfecting the heart’s manner of knowing from first things not last things like the wise man who lifts precious metal from the flames and with utmost patience polishes till the sheen of gold shines through.
……………………………………………………
Learn to fear wisely and well!
Every sailing in the ship of recollection rouses fear of deep waters and storms with only a plank beneath you and the ocean floor.
So captain your own ship of spiritual exercise with prudent fear – use a plumb -line to measure depth study the sea chart, carry many sails, find the north star and take care of your craft.
But equally … captain your ship with prudent fearlessness not fearing when there is no reason to fear.
Before accusing voices saying – demented! deceived! demon! be prudently fearless.
Let your soul not shrink from anxious advice and imaginings of every error and conceivable mishap.
Stay the full course - prudently fearless!
……………………………………………..
Perfect the art of inner tasting !
The wise man contemplates to open the mouth of his soul.
He need not understand what grace is being placed direct on his tongue, he need not see what nourishes to learn the manner of savouring to recognise the flavour of wisdom and experience for himself the vivifying effect .
The wise man continues his work to educate his palette for spiritual tasting .
He savours at leisure what he does not recognise at first making fine distinctions in his soul comparing this subtle flavour with that.
So the conversion of heart proceeds through delightful knowing.
But most of all, the wise man contemplates to be strengthened in hope.
Like a lover being fed honey his Beloved invites him into a fearless relishing of a mere token drop from the honeycomb of beatitude - feeding his longing for more feeding desire for nothing less feeding a sacred ambition that causes him to cry out in hope in hope for the fullness that this sweet dripping foretaste promised from the beginning."
Info from this site:
franciscodeosuna.blogspot.com/2013/10/in-praise-of-spiritual-prudence-in.html
"The mystical writings of FRANCISCO DE OSUNA , a Franciscan monk from Spain, are a treasure of wisdom for spiritual seekers that is being re - discovered after centuries of obscurity. Osuna passes on the wisdom of the Christian contemplative tradition through a sequence of pithy maxims - A SPIRITUAL ALPHABET . The purpose of these WISDOM SAYINGS is to remember them and live with them so they can constantly re-orientate the heart and mind towards the source of life within.
Of the Prudence you should have in everything, Osuna says:
' Examine, Become Experienced, and perfect all your works'.
in the Fifth Treatise of Spiritual Recollection. To learn spiritual prudence is to learn to examine everything in the forge of the conscience, to navigate the ship of the soul with a fearless carefulness, and to learn to extract the sweet wisdom and goodness of the soul like a bee-keeper extracts honey.
Live an examined life!
Know yourself not by last things but by first things.
Know yourself not by deeds but by their first rooting , the first stirrings of deedsbeginning in the heart.
Before the grasp of thought .
Before passion intensifies and acts become habits.
Keep watch with everything in the forge of conscience.
Keep watch with everything till the heart’s holy heat is fierce and a purer act, clearer sight will come.
Follow this work through into a lifetime of perfecting the heart’s manner of knowing from first things not last things like the wise man who lifts precious metal from the flames and with utmost patience polishes till the sheen of gold shines through.
……………………………………………………
Learn to fear wisely and well!
Every sailing in the ship of recollection rouses fear of deep waters and storms with only a plank beneath you and the ocean floor.
So captain your own ship of spiritual exercise with prudent fear – use a plumb -line to measure depth study the sea chart, carry many sails, find the north star and take care of your craft.
But equally … captain your ship with prudent fearlessness not fearing when there is no reason to fear.
Before accusing voices saying – demented! deceived! demon! be prudently fearless.
Let your soul not shrink from anxious advice and imaginings of every error and conceivable mishap.
Stay the full course - prudently fearless!
……………………………………………..
Perfect the art of inner tasting !
The wise man contemplates to open the mouth of his soul.
He need not understand what grace is being placed direct on his tongue, he need not see what nourishes to learn the manner of savouring to recognise the flavour of wisdom and experience for himself the vivifying effect .
The wise man continues his work to educate his palette for spiritual tasting .
He savours at leisure what he does not recognise at first making fine distinctions in his soul comparing this subtle flavour with that.
So the conversion of heart proceeds through delightful knowing.
But most of all, the wise man contemplates to be strengthened in hope.
Like a lover being fed honey his Beloved invites him into a fearless relishing of a mere token drop from the honeycomb of beatitude - feeding his longing for more feeding desire for nothing less feeding a sacred ambition that causes him to cry out in hope in hope for the fullness that this sweet dripping foretaste promised from the beginning."