This is officially the longest amount of time I've gone between posts in almost two years. I thought maybe my time as a "blogger" had expired. The inspirations stopped coming. However, a friend asked me for my notes from a Day of Reflection that our Regnum Christi group hosted on January 18th. She spent the whole time in the kitchen, so she and (those working with her) fed others, but didn't get spiritually fed themselves. So, this is for them, for you, and a beautiful red-headed lady whose smile spans the miles between here and the Netherlands.
I apologize in advance, if my notes seem disjointed. I take them for myself, so I only write down things I haven't heard before, or things that resonate. However, there are enough single thoughts contained here to make it worth your while.
Day Of Reflection Notes, January 18, 2014
Fr. Michael Sullivan, L.C.: Heart to Heart With Jesus and His Emotions, Attractions (desires), and Difficulties:
*According to St. Thomas Aquinas, everything Jesus said, did, and suffered was for our instruction.
Christ's words instruct, change, and purify us.
*LOVE or get freed up to love - this is business of life.
*We carry two things in our hands when we go to Heaven:
1. What we've done for God.
2. What we've done for others.
*There are three stages in the spiritual life:
1. Self-denial
2. Growth in virtue
3. Union with God
*Addiction - any repeated behavior based on craving with more cost than benefit.
*A bird on a branch can't fly whether tethered by floss or a heavy chain.
*Ask yourself, "What if God likes me?" It changes everything. When you are all-powerful, you make stuff you like!
*The Our Father prayer tells us everything we're supposed to want, and in the order we're supposed to want it. It can be summed up in the Scripture, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you besides." Ultimately, we are to love God for His own sake, and our neighbor for God's sake.
*Faith and Hope are God's gifts to me. Love is my return to God. Love is the only thing that remains in Heaven.
*How we react to difficulties in life is WAY MORE important than what we're reacting to!
*Christ's Difficulties - His Agony in the Garden: After He sweat blood, Jesus neither sat, slept, was understood, nor consoled for 14 hours.
*Fear - We experience fear when we perceive future evil that we cannot overcome. The opposite of fear is courage. Read John 15 when you are afraid.
*Neurosis - Being afraid, but not knowing what of.
*We can understand ourselves and others better, if we take time to learn what we/they are avoiding.
*St. Thomas Aquinas says Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us what Jesus did. John tells us why.
*Sadness - resting in the presence of evil. Read John 14 when you are sad.
*Joy - resting in the presence of good.
*Love is always the beginning of hate.
Fr. Timothy Mulcahey, L.C.:
*To evangelize - follow the Holy Spirit's lead. God will put opportunities to serve in your path; just say "Yes".
*God is calling us to do something. Something fueled by charity. For love of God and neighbor. Other motives are vanity, pride, duty, guilt. These are not good motives.
*Matthew 25
*If I work on loving my brother and sister, my love for Christ increases.
*Goal of Apostolate (Works for God):
1. Salvation of souls
2. Affect the whole temporal order toward the Gospel. Help renew society.
3. Walk on two legs: prayer and work
*Read Forming Intentional Disciples by Weddell:
1. Personal encounter with the saving love of Jesus Christ - "What kind of love wouldn't need to speak of the beloved?"
2. We need to recognize the spiritual favor of being "a people". We're all in this together.
3. Cultivate a passion for Jesus and a passion for people.
*I am a "mission" in this world, and that is why I'm here. ~Pope Francis
*Christ triumphed. Let Him lead the way. When evangelizers rise from prayer, they are more open to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit.
Mary Mann, actress - Putting Our Heart Near Jesus' Sacred Heart
*Psalm 106:14-15, empty heart
*Proverbs 3:5-6
*Do what you do best and leave the consequences to God.
Questions for personal reflection:
1. What would be different about your life if you choose to meet the expectations of God, and how would you know what God expects?
2. Have you identified your gifts and talents? How would they make a difference? How are you using them for Christ? (If you would like to see a list of possible gifts, visit my post at http://asoulaidbare.blogspot.com/2012/05/unwrapping-your-spiritual-gifts.html).
3. If your intention is for the salvation of souls - How are you accomplishing that?
4. In what way would you like to reflect the heart of God (His love)?
Fr. Nathaniel Haslam, L.C.:
*Do you share Jesus with those you meet?
*Three Reasons Why We Were Baptised:
1. To be restored, because we were broken.
2. To be elevated. We have a dignity that pales all other beauty.
3. To receive a missionary heart.
*Evangelium=Gospel=Earth-shattering news. Read Evangelium Gaudium, Pope Francis.
*We come and go. We can be on a box of Wheaties today, and forgotten completely tomorrow.
*Being a missionary is not an obligation or imposition - it is love; sharing the beloved and fruits of the relationship with Him. A missionary heart does not retreat into its own comfort. Other's hearts are being prepared to meet ME because I have Jesus to share with them.
*Tomb psychology transforms Christians into mummies in a museum - Get out of your comfort zone!
We'll only know who we've helped in eternity.
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for warm houses on cold days. Thank you for days of reflection, and the ability to enter into Your Presence at any moment. Thank you for all of the people who feed us spiritually - who make the invisible, visible. Forgive us for our shortcomings, and all of the obstacles we place in Your Way, Truth, and Life. Please give us the grace to hear, understand, and respond to You. Let us experience Your Love, and carry it to others. Thank you for preparing hearts to meet ME, because they want to meet YOU. Make us love you more and more. Amen.
Showing posts with label planting seeds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label planting seeds. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Unencumbered
A couple of days ago, I was at the pool with my family. It was a little bit overcast and the pool was as empty as I've seen it, yet. But, I saw two people - a man and a boy who made an impact on me.
On one of the little snack breaks I was taking with my three year-old, we noticed a little boy standing outside the fence. Not watching the swimmers with envy, but performing for an unseen audience. He was holding a kid-sized electric guitar and proceeded to move his hands up and down the neck, spin around, and even "play" it behind his head. So, I watched him play, and play, and occasionally pause to smack a mosquito or brush off an ant. After a while, I thought he would be pleased if someone actually seemed to notice what he was expending so much energy to do, so I approached him at the fence and told him I'd love to hear him play something.
He repeated his performance, with great gusto, without ever producing a sound from his guitar. I told him he was very good and I learned in short time that he's going into the 4th grade, is going to be in a TX band one day (but far away from here), his next guitar, "Axe" is going to cost a million dollars, and he is going to play "A Slow Ride" on it. I believe him.
The man, I noticed for a different reason. He was lifted into the pool from his wheelchair. He was probably in his 20's and was there with his parents and a couple of brothers (from what I could tell). I had never seen someone enter the water from an electric wheelchair before, and I was eager to see who was going to be the one to carry him around or if they would take turns, and how it would go. What unfolded was astoundingly beautiful to me. He was totally independent in the water. He was able to move around and support his own weight. He didn't need anybody. This took my breath away and I couldn't stop watching him.
I wondered what the vast difference between being confined to a wheelchair and the weightlessness of being in the water felt like to him. We left before they did, but I wondered if he wished his family would just leave him there. I wondered if he pines for "water time".
As I reflect on the contrast and similarities between the two lives I was briefly privy to that day, I feel joy. I feel like there are times in our lives when we are totally unencumbered. In these cases, one when he has a guitar in hand, the other when he's in the water and wheelchair-free.
We all have people and things and circumstances that bring out the best in us. It is beautiful that we can do that for each other.
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the gift of swimming pools during a Texas summer. Thank you for the glimpses we get into other people's lives, that make us better people. Thank you for times in our lives when we are pleasantly surprised! Thank you for the opportunities to plant and harvest seeds of grace and joy. Thank you for "unencumbered" moments. Help us to live in such a way that other people are enriched, if they pause for a moment and take us in. Help us to love You and everyone You put into our lives, more! Amen.
On one of the little snack breaks I was taking with my three year-old, we noticed a little boy standing outside the fence. Not watching the swimmers with envy, but performing for an unseen audience. He was holding a kid-sized electric guitar and proceeded to move his hands up and down the neck, spin around, and even "play" it behind his head. So, I watched him play, and play, and occasionally pause to smack a mosquito or brush off an ant. After a while, I thought he would be pleased if someone actually seemed to notice what he was expending so much energy to do, so I approached him at the fence and told him I'd love to hear him play something.
He repeated his performance, with great gusto, without ever producing a sound from his guitar. I told him he was very good and I learned in short time that he's going into the 4th grade, is going to be in a TX band one day (but far away from here), his next guitar, "Axe" is going to cost a million dollars, and he is going to play "A Slow Ride" on it. I believe him.
The man, I noticed for a different reason. He was lifted into the pool from his wheelchair. He was probably in his 20's and was there with his parents and a couple of brothers (from what I could tell). I had never seen someone enter the water from an electric wheelchair before, and I was eager to see who was going to be the one to carry him around or if they would take turns, and how it would go. What unfolded was astoundingly beautiful to me. He was totally independent in the water. He was able to move around and support his own weight. He didn't need anybody. This took my breath away and I couldn't stop watching him.
I wondered what the vast difference between being confined to a wheelchair and the weightlessness of being in the water felt like to him. We left before they did, but I wondered if he wished his family would just leave him there. I wondered if he pines for "water time".
As I reflect on the contrast and similarities between the two lives I was briefly privy to that day, I feel joy. I feel like there are times in our lives when we are totally unencumbered. In these cases, one when he has a guitar in hand, the other when he's in the water and wheelchair-free.
We all have people and things and circumstances that bring out the best in us. It is beautiful that we can do that for each other.
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for the gift of swimming pools during a Texas summer. Thank you for the glimpses we get into other people's lives, that make us better people. Thank you for times in our lives when we are pleasantly surprised! Thank you for the opportunities to plant and harvest seeds of grace and joy. Thank you for "unencumbered" moments. Help us to live in such a way that other people are enriched, if they pause for a moment and take us in. Help us to love You and everyone You put into our lives, more! Amen.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Voice for Jesus
March 6, 2012
I want to be a voice for Jesus. After speaking to my women's group about my experience at the foot of the Cross and emailing it far and wide, it is hard for me not to look for the harvest. I planted the seeds out of obedience and know God wanted me to, I know my intention is pure at the outset. But, then I get too eager to see how God is going to use it. Who is it really going to penetrate and change - bring closer to Him?
I know I need to leave the results to Jesus. He is the Divine Farmer - the harvest is His business. I only have to plant seeds. He will handle the rest. Jesus, please give me the grace to let go of the results.
I also feel like Jesus is asking me if I am willing to be "nobody" and do "nothing" for Him. Nothing, in that it will be seen nor heard by anyone and will be contained within the four walls of my home.
Yes! If that is what He wants. I feel called to be an apostle, but I can live in silent obscurity, as well. My will is God's will.
God be praised!
I want to be a voice for Jesus. After speaking to my women's group about my experience at the foot of the Cross and emailing it far and wide, it is hard for me not to look for the harvest. I planted the seeds out of obedience and know God wanted me to, I know my intention is pure at the outset. But, then I get too eager to see how God is going to use it. Who is it really going to penetrate and change - bring closer to Him?
I know I need to leave the results to Jesus. He is the Divine Farmer - the harvest is His business. I only have to plant seeds. He will handle the rest. Jesus, please give me the grace to let go of the results.
I also feel like Jesus is asking me if I am willing to be "nobody" and do "nothing" for Him. Nothing, in that it will be seen nor heard by anyone and will be contained within the four walls of my home.
Yes! If that is what He wants. I feel called to be an apostle, but I can live in silent obscurity, as well. My will is God's will.
God be praised!
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