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Manny
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Sep 08, 2019 01:01AM
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http://www.ncregister.com/blog/armstr...
I love this quote from the article:
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” —Saint Augustine
Pride is one of my greatest obstacles. I certainly need this.
Thank you. I saved to my bookmark bar so I read it often.
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Oh good Christine. Knowing that someone is really interested, I'll keep this in mind and try to post whenever I see something.
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“I sacrifice to Thee this cherished wish, this lust, this weakness, this scheme, this opinion: make me what Thou wouldest have me; I bargain for nothing; I make no terms; I seek for no previous information whither Thou art taking me; I will be what Thou wilt make me, and all that Thou wilt make me.”
I find that complete surrender to the Lord so beautiful.
A quote from Mother Angelica: “Holiness doesn’t consist of knowing much or doing much, but in loving much”.
If you haven't already found it, the "Laudate" app is filled with resources, especially in its daily readings, saint's calendar, its collections of prayers, novenas, rosaries and devotions, papal encyclicals and other reading matter. Links to other resources and podcasts. What I like is the section on "My Prayers" on which you can cut and paste it type in specific prayers and categorize them (e.g., "Morning" "Evening," or whatever). It has helped me cultivate better habits!
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“The shape of sadness is universal: Christ represents it in his affliction and shouldering of the world’s sin and pain… Each of your pains, however seemingly inconsequential to others, is part of a fractal pattern with Christ’s pain; you suffer in him, he suffers in you and with you. In prayer, your pains are raised from your shoulders. They rise to God and say: The world needs to be closer to you.”
—Sally Read
from Annunciation: A Call to Faith in a Broken World
Thank you, Manny. These lines evoke thoughts of Saint Paul.
I love that quote, Manny. That truth about our pain was etched into my heart one day during my daughter's critical illness--which I've gone into already in this group and won't again--two close friends, a deacon and his wife, were visiting her in the hospital, and she was obviously in some pain, but entubed and unable to speak to us except in her face. I asked our deacon friend to give her a blessing, and his beautiful words, which I can't remember exactly except for the part where he mentioned that her sufferings were united with Christ's. As soon as he said that, her face reflected peace and calm and something close to a brief smile. One of many signs during those awful months that kept us trusting and hoping when even some of the doctors were giving up. And we continue to hope and pray that more recovery is possible. A few years ago a member of our Bible study group lost one of her many battles with cancer. Her husband's eulogy at her funeral reminded us of her cheerful saintliness through the pain in her life: she always offered it up for those who were worse off than she was. And today's Mass reading reading from St. Paul "Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of His body, which is the Church." There you are, Frances. Colossians 1 :24.
I found a resource that I find very helpful saying the rosary and it is free on Barnes and Noble. 4 Scriptural Rosary e books by Jeff Klazura. Book 1 According to the Word, Book 2 Suffering, Book 3 The Narrow Path and Book 4 Judgement of God and Man. I find my mind wanders less when I use these little ebooks.
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https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/free...
I have a Nook somewhere but I haven't used it in a couple of years. Maybe I should dig it out and take advantage of these free books.
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One day someone will have to translate that to me. ;)
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Seriously, you have no idea how many posts I have totally revised before going public after I realized all the facts that intertwine in my head are not really well communicated if I don't pare it down a notch or two.
In a nutshell, if you don't have a Nook reader, how to do take advantage of the sale? You can download the app on PC or tablet.
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Kerstin, If it is any consolation, I understood you. I suspect it is because I also can over complicate things, so your thought process was perfectly clear to me.
Technology is changing so fast I don't know how anybody keeps up with it. I for one wish the techies would stop it with the constant upgrades, which usually do not result in improvements and generally just add another layer of complication.
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I'm with you there, Madeleine. My 80-year-old mother got a new iphone, and for the few things that she uses it for, phone calls, face time, texting, it works fine for her and everything else is just too much. Well, her granddaughter thought she "needed" all these apps which totally confused her. My sister then took the time to take all that extraneous stuff off.
Our consumerist society is driven by the new and improved. It is geared toward planned obsolescence, and the tech companies are certainly in the leading pack there. Drives me crazy, and I refuse to participate as much as it is possible.
One time when we had a car repair we were told that part of the problem was some doohickey that used to be out of metal is now made of plastic. They were told it was to keep the weight down of the car for better fuel efficiency. Really??? The guy was rolling his eyes and so were we.
Kerstin, I had the same experience when my 20-year old washing machine died. I just wanted one like I had, but trying to find one that doesn't have electronic unnecessarily like lights, and confusing settings (like wrinkle control which resulted in more, not less wrinkles) and other bells and whistles, was impossible and we paid ten times what the old one cost. And they left the door opening the wrong way. Hindsight, we should have just found a repairman who could or would fix the old one!
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"In every contemplation, this double movement occurs: the longing for God is fulfilled and at the same time enlarged to more consuming longing. Any word of the Lord is sufficient to kindle in us this fire. And this fire is the form in which human contemplation hands itself over to the Lord’s contemplation; the small vision pours itself out into the ocean of God’s infinite vision."
—Adrienne von Speyr
from Water and Spirit
If anyone is interested in an online retreat for Adventhttps://praymoreretreats.org
I have prayed several novenas with them and one other retreat which was great.
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No need to answer. I found the answer. It is! That should be good then. Thank you!
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Why does the Christmas crèche arouse such wonder and move us so deeply? First, because it shows God’s tender love: the Creator of the universe lowered himself to take up our littleness. The gift of life, in all its mystery, becomes all the more wondrous as we realize that the Son of Mary is the source and sustenance of all life. In Jesus, the Father has given us a brother who comes to seek us out whenever we are confused or lost, a loyal friend ever at our side. He gave us his Son who forgives us and frees us from our sins.
I do see how important this is, both as a tradition and a means of evangelizing. The entire letter is worth reading.
https://www.catholicculture.org/cultu...
Thanks so much, Manny. It is as beautiful as you described it.Today I happened upon this, called “The Thomas Merton Prayer”:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.”
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Today I happened upon this, called “The Thomas Merton Prayer”:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ..."
I'm quite familiar with that prayer Frances. Kate Campbell, who is a sort southern folk singer, made it into a song. Very pretty, here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QO2h...
Frances, I love the Thomas Merton prayer! I know I've heard it before but did not know the source. I will add it to my prayer group.! Thank you!
Madeleine, Kate Campbell’s You Tube video is lovely, as Manny pointed out above. Since Manny told us about it, I searched a bit and learned that the prayer is from the 1958 book by Thomas Merton called Thoughts in Solitude. A You Tube video has been made of Dan Horan, OFM, saying “The Thomas Merton Prayer,” also. I think you’d like it, too.
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If I Ever Get to Heaven
Without Him
Be Thou My Vision
Prayer of Thomas Merton
God of Grace and God of Glory
Dark Night of the Soul
When I Let Jesus Take My Hand
Would They Love Him Down in Shreveport
There's a Wildness in God's Mercy
Miracle of the Rosary
Jesus and Tomatoes
Who Will Pray for Junior
Ave Maria Grotto
Would You Be a Parson
If you go to youtube and search Kate Campbell and one of these song names, I'm sure it will come up.
I don't remember hearing of Kate Campbell but I recognize one of the songs: "There's a Wildness in God's Mercy." I'm pretty sure I heard it at Mass at least once. I just listened to some of the others. Will have to put her on my Pandora playlist!
And I have read Thoughts on Solitude so that's where I remember the prayer from.
Have you read Seeds of Contemplation, Madeleine?
I don't think so, and not sure if I have it because my books are still not unpacked from our house restoration. Sorry I missed this. We have had the flu here, first hubby and then me. I saw the doctor today and am almost over it, but lots to catch up on. It's gone epidemic here!
There is a retreat on youtube called Ascending with Ignatius by Fr Mark Thibodeoux. It is excellent. He started it for his parishioners thinking that he might get 100 people watching and everyday there is a thousands of people watching.
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Christine wrote: "There is a retreat on youtube called Ascending with Ignatius by Fr Mark Thibodeoux. It is excellent. He started it for his parishioners thinking that he might get 100 people watching and everyday t..."I watched Day One of the retreat. I am very excited about this series. I love his story about jogging and stopping to pet the dogs. It was a beautiful story. I plan to watch a video everyday until the last day of the retreat. Thank you for sharing this Christine!
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