I have for quite a long time been wrestling, prayerfully with the Cross to come. I know from what I have read and understood in my own prayers known in my heart that very,very great changes are coming to the world and I have not found it easy to handle. For change in my life I have not ever found easy but changes ithat are so huge bring the greatest challenge. I live a very quiet prayerful life and as time goes by this life grows ever more quiet and prayerful. I like nothing better walking on my own with the good Lord praying and if it were possible I should like nothing better than to do so untill the good Lord called me home. My concern is not just for myself but for my brothers and sisters around me, one sister for instance is a widow with several small children and I realise I'll have to be particularly active to hepl her. But when I think abut things I realiesed that a lot of my worries are very selfish. Its not that I am so much concerned about others or the world around me, my number one concern has been about myself. I want to be on my own, praying and so long as I can do this the rest of the world can go to pot. I suppose this realisation of my own deep selfishness is par t of the grace the Good God gives me in this time to help me deal with it. The challenge of what is coming will force me to grow by forcing me to reach out to help others and this leads to growth. I suppose in a way the challenge of what is coming is a bit like a mather who faces the birth of her child. The mother is giving birth to something great and wonderful which will give joy to herself and all around her. But it is something which will give great joy and be a great gift so that the pain and anguish ,the danger and challenges seem very,very small in terms of the what it shall give. What is coming then, is less a challenge than a great gift. So I find myself in the very curious position of being carried in MAry's arms again , a very, very small squalling child held close in his Mother's arma , rushing towards a most uncertain future. For the last period of time I feel as if I am floating in the arms of a great, great joy and peace. So great in fact that it is often heart stopping and so huge that I have to stop and catch my breath. The littlest of bebies finds itself opening its eyes and crying out to its mother not to hug it so hard and with such great love!! The baby is afraid it is being hugged so hard and with such warmth it is afraid ir might die of the love it is being given!! Yes hard times come, fearsome times but Mary holds me in her arms and runs with me, how can I fear?/ I am held so hard and so close. More the love that God holds for me He holds for all men. So let Mary hold us all in her arms and run with us towards our blessed future. Something new and wonderful is being born in our poor broken world. A new child is being born. Let us greet its coming with joy! Mary Mary Queen of Peace carry us in Her arms as the Prince of Peace is born.
And let us pray this Christmas that whatever may happen to us or to the world in the next year and the years ahead, we may be given the grace to persevere in the name of our Faith. For some, like the house on sand, will fall in times of trial. That we may not be one of those who fall is our prayer, and that if we can, may we be guiding lights for anyone lost or confused as things begin to happen. May we also be found alive and well next Christmas, each one of us with ever more grace and faith in our hearts than we have now. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Padraig, Thanks for that sharing and I understand completely what you are saying. All around me I see such chaos and disorder and it scares me because I can see this but few others can! That is why I have enjoyed this forum as I used to think I was in a minority of one! The people I work with are thankfully good people and not far from the kingdom of God but many are asleep. And another problem I have is that I have a quiet personality and I am not too good at sharing the faith verbally although always strain to show it in the deeds that I do. So with many people I am not really myself. But put me on this forum or in a prayer group and I am completely different. The words seem to flow because I am comfortable with my audience and respond well to those open to faith. But put me in a room with unbelievers and I would not know where to start. Thank God I have a wonderful wife who knows and understands me!! We are all in this together - we need to support each other now and encourage one another to keep going and keep growing. When the really tough times come we need to act as Mary's army. I am sure we will be given the grace to do so. Garabandal
Well at least the Holy Father spoke out so strongly and well against sexual perversion. Its amazing that the consistant reaching of the Catholic Church for 2,000 years should cause SHOCK, HORROR, SHOCK amongst the media. But I see the Shadow of the Cross looming beyond this, persecution.
Padraig - you are right; the world no longer wants to hear the truth. The Pope too has mentioned that a dictatorship of relativism prevails in modern thought but this is nothing new: Pontius Pilate 'What is the truth'? Jesus Christ, 'the way, the truth and the light', save us from this perverse generation.
I think secular societies today are unable to distinguish between 'truth' and 'falsity'. Anything to do with a secular version of truth today is certain to involve notions as far away as possible from Catholic teaching, the real truth.
'Take up your cross each day and follow me'. There is a contradiction with the Gospel in that we know the love of God, which brings us pure joy, yet the Lord gives us this command to carry our cross each and every day. For some their crosses are too much to bear. I have only come to realise recently that a large portion of our population are on prescribed medication, tranquilizers and sedatives to get them through the day. Addictions are soaring as more and more people drug themselves into oblivion. Suicides have risen dramaticaly in my lifetime and the poor souls who take their own lives merely want to escape from their inner pain, in other words they want a different life. Our Lady once said to St. Berandette that she could not guarantee happiness in this life only in the next. And therein lies the truth, that this life is only a preparation for the next. We cannot escape the Cross - it has won our salvation. And we are called to imitate Christ, so we will all have crosses come our way [small and large]. But we are Blessed because God does not abandon us but gives us the necessary grace to cope with the burden. Each cross that we carry is different. I know there are some reading this struggling with the burden of their own particular cross but God is with you. He wants you to surrender yourself to Him, to abandon yourself to Him with an attitude of child-like trust. He will support you but trust is so important. Trust will bring down a flood of graces. Let us say you are in financial distress and you are worried that you may lose your home. Trust in God to look after you 'for he knows even the numbers of hairs on your head' and 'not one sparrow falls to the ground that he doesn't know about. Say to Jesus, 'Lord, my life is in your hands. I trust in you even though everything appears to be falling in around me BUT I trust in you, I believe in you, increase my faith. Hold onto that prayer of trust with confidence in the Lord and he will look after you. Sometimes faith means really trusting to the point where it hurts. Garabandal
Padraig, I read this on Christmas evening and it brought me to this passage: "Then he will say to those at his left hand, "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the evil devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, sick, and in prison and you did not visit me". I wonder if you and all of us are not called by Jesus to do more in this time and spiritual warfare. Is it the easy way out to close the door to the world and sin, giving up grace giving to save that one soul. By any means, I am not one to pat myself on the shoulder, I feel so guilty at times I could cry. My favorite priest called me this evening for Christmas wishes. He at 87, was at the 6PM, midnight, 07:45 AM Mass, and celebrate also the 2 PM Mass today at the veterans home. I ask him where and when he eat his Christmas meal. He said he stopped at a breakfast place during the day. Now he knows that he is welcome and usually does come to my house several times a month and we prepare food and deliver to him. However he knew that my twin grandsons and family were spending Christmas at my house so he did not come over - I told him this really upset me as he is family. On the other hand, I was so caught up in the Santa Clause issues with my grandsons, I forgot my best friend in this life. Christ Child blessing this day, Cecil
