During prayer before Mass this morning, "obedience" struck me a a most beautiful word, because it can bring us into perfect harmony with God, leading us to perfect freedom.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
God's Justice & Mercy
God also made it clear to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich about his justice and mercy in this vision.
She said, "Great is God's justice, but still more inconceivable is his mercy. He damns only those who are determined not to be converted; they who have a spark of good will are saved. Those who grieve for their sins, confess them sincerely, and trust confidently in the merits of their Savior; they are saved and their sins will no longer be remembered. It's true that they go to purgatory, but not to remain long. On the other hand, many stay long in purgatory who, although not great sinners, have lived tepidly. Through pride they would take no admonition or instruction from their confessor. The time was when the thought of only one poor sinner's condemnation grieved me so that I could not get over it; but on the present occasion, though many were condemned, I was perfectly calm, for I saw that God's justice called for it."
(Those last lines really helped me.)
The Value of Prayer
Anne Catherine Emmerich had already been officially investigated by and declared Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich by the Church, but Catholics are in no obligation to believe in any private revelations. Nevertheless, this following vision of hers is instructive to me.
She was taken to a place to be shown how it is with our prayers before God. They seemed to be inscribed on large white tablets which were divided into four classes: some were written in magnificent golden letters; others in shining silver; some in darker characters; and still others in black streaked lines. The guide explained to her: "What's written in gold is the prayer of those who have united their good works to the merits of Jesus Christ and often renew this union; they aim at observing his precepts and imitating his example.
"What's written in silver is the prayer of those who think not of union with the merits of Jesus Christ; but who are, notwithstanding, pious and pray in the simplicity of their hearts.
"What's written in darker colors is the prayer of those who have no peace unless they frequently confess, communicate, and daily say certain prayers; but who are, however, tepid and perform their good works through habit.
"Lastly, what's written in black streaked characters is the prayer of those who place all their confidence in vocal prayers and pretended good works, but who do not keep God's Commandments nor curb their evil desires. Such prayer has no merit before God."
(Again, you see that union with the Lord is best for us.)
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Danger of Gratification
I continue reading The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich. Her charity, humility, obedience, and willingness to suffer are truly remarkable. She was favored with visions in her ecstasies. Here's a short one that's both meaningful and interesting.
Her angel led her across a narrow bridge safely and she saw on the bank a mousetrap around which a little mouse kept running and running, and at last slipped in to get the bait. Anne cried out, "You are sacrificing your liberty, your life for a mouthful!" ~ "Are men more reasonable," asked her angel, "when for a momentary gratification they endanger their soul's salvation?"
Think of God First
If you see someone sin against the Lord, think first how it must bring sorrow to him, then pray for that person.
To Counteract Sins
I have started reading The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich, a holy, German nun (1774-1824), who took sufferings upon herself to expiate the sins of the Church and her members. This picture comes to my mind. Visualize every sin as a filthy raindrop falling on the Lord. We have billions of people in the world with each of us committing numerous sins each day ~ now imagine how the Lord is being bombarded every single moment by us! This visualization should prompt us to perform as many acts of love as possible to shield some of the drops from hitting him, providing some comfort. It's most urgent and our duty to fulfill.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Motivation Purified
Yesterday I posted that I felt that I was ready to go to Christ. Today, I started examining my motivation during morning prayer. Yes, the yearning was there because I love the Lord, then I also detected that deep down there was the desire to escape from some of the things that were somewhat bothersome to me right now. So I realized that my motivation wasn't that pure. The yearning can continue, but Jesus wants me to deal with all problems head-on with his help and not to want to run away from any of them.
We Need to Know God
God already knew us thoroughly, having created us ~ the question is whether we know him. If we do, then how well? The more we know him, the more we understand ourselves and our place before him, and the more we are set free. Jesus, brighter than all the shining stars, has pointed the way to knowing him, who is God. To ignore him is to be lost in the universe.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Mary, Our Mother
Mary is God's great gift to us. From the cross, Jesus gave her to us as our Mother. This makes us brothers and sisters to Christ. Since the Lord gave her to us, then of course, we can communicate with her. That's why we talk to her, asking her in intercede for us before the Father.
I love Holy Mother for the following reasons: (1) She suffered greatly for the Lord's Passion. (2) She's a most special and dear gift given to us by God. (3) She always brings us closer to Jesus. (4) She's most holy, most beautiful, and most loving, a perfect model for us to imitate.
Ready to Go to God?
I've mentioned that sometimes I feel that I am ready to go to God. Today after I received the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I felt that way, then I heard the Lord asking me if I had already lived up to how I felt? What he wanted to tell me was that if I still had things in this world to cling to, then I wasn't really ready yet. A good question for me at this time to consider.
To Be Free for God
It came to my mind that we all have mementos, things of sentimental value, and, I should include, nostalgic memories. The Lord has shown to me that all such things are to be detached from us, since knowing him alone is all that matters. Again, his thoughts are not our thoughts and I know that he's right. To be free for him, let nothing of the world hold us back.
The Love of Jesus
At Communion time, I sensed the infinite love of Jesus for us. This is the most beautiful thing in the world ever, yet the world ignores it ~ how blind, deaf, and heartless can you be!
Accepting God's Ways
God's thoughts and ways are different from ours. For example, the Jewish people had expected a totally different kind of Messiah when Jesus came to us. Since we don't know God's ways for sure (otherwise, we'd be all-knowing like him), we are to pray, trust, and wait. A true disciple does not complain to God for any reason either because he knows that the Lord knows better.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Clear & Direct from Christ
After watching a program on Tibetan Buddhism on PBS, I came to appreciate my faith in Christ so much more because the message from Christ is totally clear with no ambiguity and we get to know God directly. Clear and direct as revelations from God should be. It's true that there are many mysteries about God that we don't understand yet, but what God has allowed us to know is sufficient for our salvation ~ this is all we need to know now. All the rest will be clear when we see the Lord face to face. All Christians are truly blessed.
What's Life All About?
This post is for those who are not yet believers in Christ or still in the early stages of their faith journey. I remember myself in those early days. Just like most others, my goal was to get ahead in life, preferably ahead of all those who knew me. The way to do it was to learn from friends or books on the subject; believe me, most friends were eager to impart their "wisdom" on survival or dealing with others, and the books were many out there, each touting its effective approaches to reach your goal or achieve happiness in life. Of course, almost none of these sources ever mentioned God ~ you were really on your own.
My question to you: if this is also your present thinking or goal, is this what life is all about? There is really so much more to it, after I have come to know Christ well. Concentrating on this life will never bring us true happiness ~ many nonbelievers have found out in time and believers know because they have tasted Christ, the source of true joy and peace. Basically, God made us this way out of love. Whether you believe what I've just said is true or not, believe in Christ to find out for yourself.
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