Behold the Cross of the Lord!

 Behold the Cross of the Lord!

"Behold the Cross of the Lord, fly ye powers of darkness, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David has conquered, Hallelujah, Hallelujah  Hallelujah!" 

That is a famous ejaculation of St. Anthony of Padua well known as 'founder of lost articles' and if you are an Anthonian you would have asked him on many occasions to help you find a lost material.

However, I've recently started asking myself why we don't ask for recovery of spiritual graces that have been lost over the years: e.g. lost of the first Love for God and his Commandments, lost of zeal to witness, to pray. to read the Bible etc. Now we tend to boast of the past, how we used to pray, was a prayer warrior, was a leader of that group etc........ Come to think about it, we have simply become lukewarm, we are neither hot nor cold and what has the Scripture got to say about those who have become lukewarm? they shall be spit out for being neither hot nor cold. Without realizing it we have miserably and slowly moved on away from our first love and have wretchedly become pitiable, poor,  blind, deaf and naked. Deaf to hear and blind to see the truth. There is only one Truth and that is Jesus but because we don't want to change, we remain adamant glorying in the past which will not take us anywhere for He said He makes all things New!

Let us therefore ask for restoration of eyes that we may see our nakedness and return to our first Love that that our shameful nakedness may not be exposed; for open ears to hear his gentle knock for He stands at the door knocking and if only we would hear his voice and open the door then it'll be a great feast......He will enter his house and dine with him and he with me... ...Amen!!!

Reflection

Reflection 

Listen to the words of the "Immitation of Christ", and let them sink into your heart: 

"He who would keep the grace of God, let him be grateful for grace when it is given, and patient when it  is taken away. Let him pray that it may be given back to him, and be careful and humble, lest he lose it."

Ingratitude is a vice that grieves the God of love. Every sin of ingratitude wounds the Sacred Heart of Jesus as well aas the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

The Sacred Heart of Jesus depicts an ocean of love and a burning fire that does not consume, wounded for the love of humanity. In return we should be asking: Sweetest Jesus what else is there You could have done for us, which You have not done? And pray without ceasing that the fruit of His suffering be renewed in our soul by the faithful remembrance of His sorrowful Passion, and that may His unending love increase in our heart each day, until we see Him in eternity, AMEN!!!!!!

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - Memorial 9th August

Some Sayings of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.  

Whatever did not fit in with my plan did lie within the plan of God. 

I have an ever deeper and firmer belief that nothing is merely an accident when seen in the light of God, that my whole life down to  the smallest  details has been  marked out for me in  the plan of Divine Providence  and has a completely coherent meaning in God's all-seeing  eyes. 

And so I am  beginning to rejoice in the light of glory wherein this meaning will be unveiled to me.

O my God, fill my soul with holy  joy, courage and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me along t he next stretch of road before me. I do not see very far ahead, but when I have arrived where the horizon now closes, a new prospect will open before me, and I shall meet it with peace -

 St Teresa's Benedicta of the Cross

In the End

In the end, the truth will come out for our God is a God of light in whom there's no darkness, therefore the truth cannot forever remain hidden. This is what I strongly believe and therefore I submit all to Him alone.  I'm not obliged to explain things or defend myself, time will surely tell. 

Therefore let's wait patiently, not in anxiety, but in calmness; in the meantime keep your condemnation(s) for God has not finished molding me. We are all in the process of formation on this journey of life.  He is the Potter and I'm the clay in His gentle hands.

A Beautiful Prayer by Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

A Beautiful Prayer by Saint Aloysius Gonzaga: O Holy Mary! My Mother, into thy blessed trust and and special custody, and into the bosom of thy mercy, I this day and every day, and in the hour of my death, commend my soul and body. To thee I commit all my anxieties and sorrows, my life and the end of my life, that you through thy most Holy intercession, and by thy merits, all my actions may be directed and governed by thy will and that of thy Son. - Saint Aloysius Gonzaga

ying in stages 

This is a new phrase I picked from  talk I listened to recently and have made me pondering. If this statement is true why are we surprised when someone suddenly dies especially someone very close. 

Is there anything like unexpected or untimely death?. Accidents and natural disasters we cannot rule out therefore let's examine  life from the beginning. As a Christian we believe that God knew us before we came to be formed in the womb so human life is precious - God has a plan for each person and whether we know this and live according to God's will is another story

We all know that life begins with a conception a  blood clot of human embryo which undergoes stages of growth for a period of 36 to 38 weeks for the baby to be born naturally if all goes well. 

Life is a choice

Life is a choice
I was disappointed when I left a 'Nail Saloon' the other day because I could not stand the scent of the chemicals. Even wearing a mouth cap did not help. The attendant was very kind to let me go as I could not breath. The other side of the coin was when I asked her how she is able to work in that situation the answer she gave me set me thinking out loud the whole day. She said a.o. "I have no choice"......How often have we all been  forced to remain in situations which are not healthy.......... jobs we did not like but kept for years only to help us pay the bills because we had no choice or did not dare to take the risk to quit, becoming comfortable with the situation than to dare change? a bird in hand is better than the 10 out there? or the devil you know is better than the angel you know? ..... With hindsight we can see patterns in our own life and realize how far we have come......Of course life is a choice and every choice we make moves us on to the next level of the journey. It is true in the physical as well as the spiritual........
We read often in Scriptures to choose life..... I set before you life and death, choose life....... every day we make choices who to serve for we cannot serve both God and mammon. The choices we have made over the years have brought us to where we are right now, but we can learn the lessons and move on. Each new day is an opportunity to change and or begin anew!!

Seeing through tainted Glass
Entering the Chapel today, I found it dark, tried to put on the light only to realize that I have rather turned it off so I switched it on, yet the Chapel was still dark. Oops, I entered with my dark glasses on....... Hmm that set me thinking.....it can be easy to blame the other person due to wrong attitude, misjudge a person because of being biased, get into unnecessary argument due to impatience......... the list can be endless causing much harm. Need to work on self and not on the other..... removing the log in my own eye before trying to remove the splinter in my brother's eye?......... becoming more understanding, kind, loving, compassionate............? your guess will certainly be as good as mine for our small world will become a better place as we all strive to incorporate the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:-
Lord, make me a channel of your peace
where there is hatred, let me sow your love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is discord, union,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is darkness, light, 
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life!