I think a good example of this owning God thing is in the life of Saint Bernadette. Saint Bernadette knew very, very well that she did not own God. On the other hand I think her Novice Mistress very much did think she owned God and had Him very firmly under control on her lap. It is curious thing then that if you regarded these two women in the course of everyday life you might very well have thought that the Novice Mistress was the saint and the little saint was more than a little bit lost.
It was the same with Jesus and the Pharisees and Sadducees ; these gentlemen certainly thought they owned God. In fact they thought they had bought him through their obeying the Laws.
You should hold onto and not set aside Ignacio's post, Peter. What God has led him through, can be what our Savior will lead you to. Similar struggles and the same Loving Father. Never give up! Romans 5:Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
May the Lord bless you greatly for posting this, Miker. I've been going through something all weekend and you've just shone His Light for me.
The present incumbent in the Vatican thinks he knows better than God and can downplay the ten commandments and bend the rules on adultery and sexual sin. He doesn't do absolutes. Unlike this scouser (a Liverpool fan) - sorry language a bit fruity but it's funny
Was listening to music after Mass this morning and this cane up…. Never heard of this artist. But know this wonderful spiritual from growing up. Given feeling a bit dark this past week… it was a gift. The light will shine - it will overcome darkness. Our little lights are all that is needed. Happy Sunday
How beautiful, the Good God must have created the Blues and Gospel for the Darkness. A suffering people expressing their tears in songs.
Luke 9:23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. This talk about the Dark Night takes me back to the time when I first went into it, when I think I was about 27 about 40 years ago now. It was to last round about 25 years. It was a really beautiful summer's evening and as I usually did at that I was praying in the lovely tiny little Chapel in the Monastery Infirmary. I heard the voice of the Lord telling me quite clearly, 'it is time for you to go out now'. I thought He meant for me to go out of the Chapel, which I suppose He did , but He was also telling me to leave the monastery , though I did not know it at the time. He was also telling me to get ready to go out into the Darkness of the Dark Noght; which I did not know either. The Abbott told me as I was leaving that he thought I was mentally ill and needed help because I prayed too much. It was not a happy leave taking. St Teresa of Avila comments that with the Dark Night comes temporal trouble. Everything inside falls apart but very often everything outside falls apart at the same time. So it was with myself. My dream to be a priest was gone. My religious life was gone. No money. No job. I would not go back to my family as I was so ashamed of failing. I had long since given up my former friends after my conversion. Worst by far no God. God suddenly completely and entirely winked out. Total God. This was worst of all. I wondered a thousand things. Was I mad? Was I imagining it? Had I done something terrible to offend Him? I had been through some terrible times in my life but nothing to compare with that loss , that Darkness. That emptiness. It seems to me that the Dark Night resembles the first time you pick up a very, very heavy haversack to climb the High Mountains. the first while is the first till you adjust to the lad. After a while it eases a bit as you get used to the weight. So it is with the Dark night. The first few years are the hardest, after this it gets a lot easier as you adjust. In fact for many people the Dark Night only lasts a few years....
Thank you for sharing this experience , Padraig. I suppose as with all sufferings, most of us don’t initially see the purpose …. But it seems to me that no matter how long the darkness or the suffering, those who keep walking with that weight seem to come our stronger… and some come our saints.
Thank you Agnes. You have great Faith yourself. For the trials shortly to come we are all going to need it.
This year I went into hospital on the feast of saint Gemma galgani (april 11) and left on the feast of saint dominic in August. I have a devotion to saint Gemma for a long time. Perhaps it is a sign she is helping me again.
St Gemma is a wonderful Patroness for what you are going through , Peter. She had the deepest of Dark Nights which included the Devil actually physically attacking and harassing her on a regular basis She was always very beautiful and very well groomed but there is one photo of her which would break the heart. She looks like she has been just tossed into a washing machine. She must have just gone through hell.
