I was walking along the road today trying to pray but God seemed a hundred miles away. Suddenly I was reminded of when I was very young and just had learnt to walk. I used to try to follow my mother about the house and the garden, but she was so busy and skooted about so quickly I could just not keep up. One minute she was there, the next she was gone. It was especially hard when she went off cleaning up the stairs. I had to get down on my knees and crawl after her, very very slowly. But really it did not matter if I could keep up with her or not. She loved my anyway. But It's natural enough when not getting a warm interior glow in prayer to think we have somehow failed. But success in prayer like success in life is not to be measured by happy feelings. Toddling after a God who seems to have run off and left us is just as much prayer as when He holds us on His knees and hugs us. https://www.catholiceducation.org/e...rese-of-lisieux-the-last-eighteen-months.html "Dear Mother," Thérèse continued; "does it sound as if I were exaggerating my symptoms? Of course, to judge by the sentiments I express in all the little poems I've made up during the last year, you might imagine that my soul was as full of consolations as it could hold; that, for me, the veil which hides the unseen scarcely existed. And all the time it isn't just a veil; it's a great wall, which reaches up to the sky and blocks out the stars! No, when I write poems about the happiness of heaven and the eternal possession of God, it strikes no chord of happiness in my own heart I'm simply talking about what I'm determined to believe. Sometimes, it's true, a tiny ray of light pierces through the darkness, and then, just for a moment, the ordeal is over; but immediately afterward the memory of it brings me no happiness, it seems to make the darkness thicker than ever."
I saw an unusual thing at Traditional Mass tonight I have never seen or heard of before and was wondering if anyone else knows of such a custom. There was a girl there, I would say in her twenties, beautiful , very pious and really well dressed. But she wore something I had never seen before. It was this huge Hand Made Embroidered Scapular. It was a really lovely decoration, I would say about the size of a hand bag and with the band I would say about six inches across. It is maybe a new religious fashion; I hope it catches on. Many, many new people at mass I had never seen before. Such a great joy to be there; especially since I had been to confession a few days ago. Given my night shift work it is hard to get every day, but I enjoy it all the more when I can find the time.
One thing I do notice about the Traditional Catholic folk and that is there great love for all kinds of Sacramentals. They leave all their stuff to be blessed outside the Sacristy and it is amazing all the different kinds of Holy Wares, oils candles, statues, beads, pictures, you name it. Like an Encylopedia.
A lovely web-site. I wonder if Our Lady and Our Blessed Lord will grant us new Devotions and Protections for what lies just before us? Something to look forward to. http://carmelite-seremban.org./our-presence
It is a rare sight to see these days. Years ago, I recall a family from our parish who wore these large ceremonial scapulars. I always admired them. The Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is coming up next Saturday, the 16th. We are looking forward to attending Mass at a neighboring parish where they will bless and distribute brown scapulars.
It was the first time I ever saw one, I did not know what it was! Wonderful! I love the Old Mass for many, many reasons one of which is it brings me back to the Faith of my childhood. But I must admit some of the customs and practices I simply do not recall.
Sometimes walking through really beautiful places when I camping I find myself annoyed that I have walked miles and miles without even noticing were I am , being so wrapped up in my own thoughts or day dreams. Such a waste. It s the same thing with prayer and God. Like a very strong elastic band , love and prayer pulls the thoughts and desires more and more to God and the things of God as the years roll onwards. But at some point in the day I offend find myself annoyed that I have allowed myself to drift too much onto other useless things. It is particularly annoying if some of these useless things are concerned with worries..and all worries are needless and useless. I was listening to a wonderful young Dominican priest talk about this, just this afternoon. About all of ourself should be given to God , including our thoughts.
I was praying to the Lord last night and asked Him for a one to one conversation , by which I mean that I got to ask a lot of questions and He got to give a lot of answers. But the Lord pointed to an image of Him dying on the Cross and said that all His answers were there. But of course there are a lot of specific questions all of us what like to ask the Lord. In face most of us could make up pages and pages of questions. A for instance might be, 'When am I going to die?' But would it be a good thing to know or a bad thing to know? My guess is that in most cases it would be a very bad thing as it would distract us from simply getting on with life as we were intended to. Very often the saints and others are told the day and hour of their death perhaps a few months or weeks before their death. This in order to help them prepare for it. But this is different from being nosey and wanting to know something that is not needful for us to know. One thing I might like to ask Jesus is of I am growing closer to Him or further away from Him as the years grow onwards. I hope, I trust I am getting closer. I don't think there is such a thing as treading water in the spiritual life, of standing still. Especially the way things are in the World at the moment. Either forward or backward, no in betweens. Another thing I would like to ask is when might be a good time for me to retire? But I think the Good Lord wants us to stand on our own two feet. He wants us to be adults and not to be spoon fed too much. He likes us to work out things for ourselves. But the Lord does give good advice all the time. It may very,very often not be what I want to hear, but He does give it. We just have to make the time to ask and make the time to listen.
I recall Reading an interview with Scott Hahn and he said the above verse was what ultimately led to his conversion to Catholicism. He said this spoke to him of the Eucharist and the true and real presence of Christ. “ I will come into him” was very meaningful and deeply resonated with Dr. Hahn. He meditated on this verse for a long time and the Holy Spirit finally led him to understand that Jesus through reception of Holy Communion was coming into him to feed him and be in full communion. I’ve always loved this reflection and catechisis of Dr. Hahn.
