While I was sitting at adoration the other day. I was contemplating the Passion of Christ. I was thinking of Jesus laying Himself down on the Cross. I thought of how He willingly stretched His arms out for the soldiers to nail Him on the Sacred Cross. Can you imagine doing this? If that was me, I'm sure I couldn't willingly lie myself down. I couldn't see myself stretching my arms out either. I would have given a fight or held my arms in close to my body to resist. It is hard to fatham the love He has for us, isn't it? Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
THE SWEATING OF BLOOD I can only imagine. As the hour of death was approaching, He went into the Garden of Gethsemani... He began, then, to feel a great fear and weariness of death, and the pains which must accompany it. At that moment there were represented to His mind most vividly the scourges, the thorns, the nails, the Cross, which then, not one ater the other, but all together, came to afflict Him, and especially there stood before Him that desolate death which He must endure, abandoned by every comfort, human and Divine. Today, is Jesus left abandoned? Is He still feeling unappreciated? It is a reminder to me, not to leave Him alone too long. To focus on Him. Not to abandon Him again.
I always feel so useless when I think about The Passion. My heart should be on fire but its just as cold and hard as a stone. So this year I have been praying for the grace of a proper devotion..and true enough I am paying more attention. Everything is grace.
This is how I am feeling a lot lately Padraig. Cold and hard as a stone. Something is really troubling me right now. I think of the Passion...nothing. I try to make it come alive but nothing. It's just some event that happened many years ago. It's not real to me. Also, when it comes to reading scripture. I just find myself being bored. I only do it when I do it because I feel I HAVE to. But there is no fire for the word of God. The same goes for the rosary. I barely do it but when I do it is just empty and meaningless blah to me right now and has been for quite some time. I don't mean to sound disrespectful at all of these things but it just is that way with me and I am being blunt. It seems the only thing that gets me feeling alive or interested is reading the apparition stuff like Garabandal or Medjugorje or Saint Faustina's Divine Mercy or other apparitions or reading in this forum about end times stuff. It's exciting and interesting. I know I am way off course here but I am just being honest. I know my priorities are all screwed up in my faith life but it is what it is. I spend way more time here reading than I do looking at scripture or praying. Even the Mass. I just can't find any depth or interest to it. It's just something I HAVE to do again. The Eucharist...just seems like a piece of bread no matter how much I want to SEE. I guess that is why I am searching for these signs and wonders because I have no conversion or strong basic faith life. I am looking for something to rock me and bring a conversion. Anyway, I hope someone might have some words of wisdom here. I don't think it is any dark night or any of that either.
This makes me wonder how many others think like this? Padraig and Jimmyiz, thanks for your honesty. To tell you the truth, I have been wondering how others feel towards the words of Jesus. Because there is so much more interest in future events than the word of God in this forum. Jimmyiz, you know you need to be helped don't you? I do say this in a nice and a concerned way. I know I don't even need to tell you that Jesus is our faith. But this is the truth. Maybe you are trying to hard, or not hard enough or maybe the wrong way. I think if ones devotion to Garabandal and Medjugorje is their only way of feeling alive, well something is wrong. Now, I am not saying this because I don't believe it is the Virgin appearing there. I would say the same thing if you told me you only become alive through Fatima and Lourdes. Have you asked for help through your Parish Priest? All I can say at this stage, is to say how I have been transformed in the past 12 months. I do know, since I decided to get rid of every unapproved prophecy and just fill my head with Gospel and words of Jesus to the Saints, I have grown this love for Jesus. This love I never had before. I can tell you, I feel more at peace and don't have fear. I am not trying to pretend I am such a 'perfect' catholic. No, I'm not. But I can honestly say I am growing towards Jesus in such a way that I wish you and everyone can do too. Without having much thought on this matter. The first thing I would be doing is going to confession and spending some time alone with the Lord. Talk to Him like you'd be talking to your best mate. But be even more honest. You wouldn't tell your best mate 'I don't feel much for you'. But you can tell Jesus this. He knows your heart, and He wants you to tell Him how you are feeling. Just sit there and talk to Him about your concerns of religion and tell Him what annoys you in life. (You can tell Him Jane is the biggest pain you know) But finish by thanking Him for all the good things you have been given. You know. Every relationship needs constant work. A relationship with Jesus in no different, it needs work. But this is worth doing. I will offer you both up at the mass tomorrow morning. I trust Jesus so much. I know He will help you, if you want to be helped. I think this is the big secret. You have to want to find Jesus' love through His Passion. My mind will be in thought. God Bless.
It's funny you should be posting this Padraig because it was a post from you last year that helped me with this one. I'm such an emotional coward I have never been able to bring myself to watch The Passion film. But you posted a short YouTube video last year with the caption Ave Maria. It was a short film depicting Mary. I watched the film, on my own thank goodness, because I was a blubbering mess. And there it was, my handle to Jesus is through Mary. There was point where Jesus fell and Mary met him on the ground... This short film was made all the more effective by the small exerpts of Mary picking the small boy, Jesus, when he fell down, and them playing with water. This I can understand, my own small son holds my heart in his hands. I believe Christs passion is about love, the be and end all is about love. Use what you know about love to understand the passion, everything you understand about love try and relate to the passion. I'm not sure I have the answer but I do know what both you guys mean and this helps me.
Yes. Mary comes to us to bring us to Her son Jesus. She doesn't want us to put Her above Her son. Jesus is God. Thanks for reminding me Freedom to recommend watching The Passion of Christ preferably on Good Friday. I did this last year, and will do it again. I bought the dvd so I don't have to worry about having to hire it.
When the movie "Passion of the Christ" came out, I saw it in the theater with my friend who was 8 months pregnant at the time! We of course were sobbing so hard with everyone else in the theater and I was really concerned for my friend, who was in obvious distress! She wouldn't leave though and offered it up. I thought "Lord, since this was the price of my life, the least I can do is watch." I bought the DVD and try to watch it every Good Friday after the church services. Sometimes I'm sobbing on the floor so bad my Newfies are blubbering all over me trying to comfort me . Lord, if I had been there, I would have been right there with your Mother and John. At least I say that to Him.
St Teresa of Avila says that after Christ rose from the dead the very first thing Jesus did was call to see His mother and throw His arms around her because she was frozen with sorrow. I cheer myself up a little by reminding myself we can't always measure things by tears. I never cried for instance at my mother or fathers funeral. I suppose I am something of a hard case. Sometimes I think all we can do is just to be there. I have lost count of the amount of times I have attending wakes and stood around feeling like a spare tyre. But I comfort myself that I was there for whatever good it did. I would like to be more, cry more ,wail more but like the shepherds who came at Christmas I come with pretty empty hands but at least dry eyed and cold hearted I am there. ...and you know perhaps the bay Jesus appreciated the empty hands of the shepherds just as much as the costly gifts of the magi. Maybe the dying Jesus may appreciate my hard heart and dry eyes as much as rivers of tears and great wailing. I don't know. One day I must ask Him. But for now a big stone for a heart and eyes as dry as the desert are all the gifts I get to bring....but did the fact that my eyes were dry and my heart felt like stone at my parents funeral mean I loved them any less than the rest mean I loved them any the less than my sisters and brothers? I doubt it. Who knows really. But what I have I bring. But may the Ressurrected Christ come to me as He did once to His Mother and hug me unfreeze this stoney heart.
My point wasn't about the crying really, Padraig. My darling husband never cries, he didn't cry when his mother died either but he's one of the most sensitive men I know. In fact, his aloofness and intellect intimidate many, but there is a way in there beyond that wall he has built around his heart. This only makes reaching it all the more special
Jane , Once upon a time a mother eagle and her daughter flew side by side high in the sky and, looking down, saw all the Kingdom of the birds flying far away down below. As they did so , looking far below they saw a group of chickens grubbing in the earth for worms . The daughter laughed at the little fat chickens and said, 'Thank God, mother He has not made us like these other birds rooting , small in the earth for food but huge and beautiful high above them in the sky above'. The mother eagle looked fondly but sadly at her daughter and siad, 'Let us join them daughter.' The together from their great height they swooped to join their chicken sisters in the soil below. 'Observe daughter how the chickens are never hungry as we so often are, but by standing always on the soil have rich and succulent food to eat'. The daughter stared, puzzled at the little birds. and looked questionly at her mother. 'Now daughter', the mother bird went on, 'Do as they do and grub your food from Mother Earth'. The daughter tried to do as the sister chickens did but from her great size tumbled and fell over to the derisive laughter of the group of chickens. She rose angry and spluttering. But her mother kindly smiled. 'Now consider this my daughter. When the Father of Birds and all things made , He made each and every one of us different but with varied purpose. It was never His intent that any of us should be great or lesser that the other. Each of us has her own journey we must never in our hearts judge ourselves great or lesser than another because we seem to take a higher path' ..and with that they took of to the skies again.
Jane . I am very unhappy about the tone and content of your post. If it had been addressed simply to me I could have ignored it, but as it was also addressed to another member of the forum I can not. Our role her is to build each other up not to cast down. Be careful.
Well. I for one will miss Jane's posts. When I first joined this forum. One of the first things I asked was. "Is this a Catholic forum?" Because it didn't seem like it. She always spoke about the true faith. She showed the prophecies that didn't happen at Garabandal which made my decision on it final. And if I am correct. It wasn't Jane who was the one who said she had no love for Christ. Her reply did not have a bad tone, but a concerned tone. Padraig, you sound like a bully, and I for one will no longer read this forum.
Did Jane convince you against Garabandal??? Maybe that was part of the problem! You have Glenn devoting all his time to educate, I suggeseted on one thread Jane put her questions to Glenn, to which there was no reply. We are trying to seek truth ,...not force opinion,...sometimes we all need to take some time out to reflect...Jane will be in my prayers,..Padraig did't banish her for good,..
Of course you never said that. We all have times where we feel the Lord is far from us. It is at those times He is really closest. Sometimes He pulls away,..it is a sign that He is working with you in a different way to draw you closer. Somewhat like a mini dark,...if that makes any sense
I think it's cool that you thought to explain something you feel like this. I have felt things like this too at different times, and I think many others have. Didn't Mother Theresa even express some thoughts at one time? Maybe it actually is a period of time where you aren't supposed to receive consolations. Maybe sometimes we get to feel it, and sometimes we don't. I remember when I first started really understanding the truth of this Catholic faith that I was born into, thanks to people like Mother Angelica back in the 90's and Scott Hahn. I really felt things at the mass and with the Eucharist, and was brought to tears sometimes. But those consolations didn't stay constant. I read an excerpt from St. Gemma Galgani's diary where she was told by Jesus that He was going to take away all of the awesome, mystical, tangible things that she had the privelege to see and feel for most of her life. She actually got to see Jesus and talk to Him almost every day, and saw her angel and talked to him every day also. The Eucharist actually made her heart burn like fire. I remember reading that Jesus told her He was removing these consolations from her because it was something she needed to go through for a specific reason. I think I'll try to find that conversation and post here what Jesus' explanation was.
