Should The Church Apologise to Homosexuals?

There is a major difference when dealing with homosexual people who do follow the Church's Teaching and therefore lead chaste lives of great holiness. The Church should be welcoming to these heroic souls who fight on a daily basis to live the Virtues decreed by Christ and the prompting and Teachings of the Catholic Church.

What the Catholic Church cannot do is accept practicing homosexuals into communion when their lifestyles offend God and is against the Teachings of The Catholic Church.

Many Catholic leaders choose to quote the Catechism out of context by using this particular verse, "..They(homosexuals) must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided" (CCC-2358).

Unfortunately they dont quote the verse above the one just quoted which is, "..homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered." They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved." ( 2357).

I was shocked to read where many Christian Pastors, lay people and other religious leaders were being encouraged to join in the Gay Mardi Gras as an acceptance of the Gay lifestyle. Some Churches are also being encouraged to apologise to homosexuals who choose to live openly with same sex partners.

Sin should never be accepted or become acceptable simply because 'lots of people are doing it.' If this is the philosophy then pornographers are acceptable, thieves are also acceptable, adulterers etc. Where does it stop?

Sin should also not be camouflaged by using words such as 'brokenness', 'woundedness or 'healing towards liberation.' Sin is sin. It is a choice it is not a feeling.

We do a great disservice when we fail to speak God's Truth in fear of being seen as judgemental or too conservative. We also do a great disservice when Christians decide on the fate of homosexual people by screaming banners which are basically hate filled.

Let God Judge the individual person and not man.

Our commission is to proclaim God's Truth through the Teachings of the Catholic Church. What we are not to do is to water this Truth down so that we can be seen as progressive or liberating.

Are you courageous enough to speak the Truth as it is, to those who need to hear it?

Written by Marie

A SONG OF LOVE

LOVE reckons not by time–its May days of delight

Are swifter than the falling stars that pass beyond our sight.

Love reckons not by time–its moments of despair

Are years that march like prisoners, who drag the chains they wear.

Love counts not by the sun–it hath no night or day–

'Tis only light when love is near–'tis dark with love away.

Love hath no measurements of height, or depth, or space,

But yet within a little grave it oft hath found a place.

Love is its own best law–its wrongs seek no redress;

Love is forgiveness–and it only knoweth how to bless

Virna Sheard

Saint Faustina of Divine Mercy

Saint Faustina brought to the world a Divine Message of Epic proportion, one cannot underestimate the impact this one woman has had upon the twentieth century.

She was born into a poor Polish family and given the name Helena Kowalska. Noone could have then predicted how God would work in this womans soul, her family were very devout Catholics and they loved Helena as their favourite daughter, so it was with trepidation that they at first refused Helena her dearest wish to become a religious and devote her life in the service of God. So in an effort to please her parents and to try and ignore the 'inner calling' Helena through herself into her work as a nanny for a more wealthier family and also in society pursuits, dancing and socializing, etc.

But Gods call was much stronger and more insistant, and it was during a social event when their was a dance that Jesus appeared to her and said to her "How long will I put up with you, and how long will you keep putting me off?" Helena knew she could no longer resist this calling nor could she refuse her Lord who she loved above all others, and upon hearing our Lord say to her, "Go immediately to Warsaw; you will enter a convent there." Helena then made sure her affairs were in order and once this was done she confided to her sister her plans to enter the Convent, and with a last goodbye to her sister she embarked on a course that would not only change her life, but would impact and change the world.

Though Sister Faustina had a great love for her Religious Sisters in many cases it was not reciprocated, if anything the opposite was true as many ridiculed her because of her fragile health. Even though this pained her deeply she never lost focus on what was essential, Sister Faustina kept her eyes on our Lord and kept her note book in which she wrote down this most astounding and also most important message for the world.

Eventually Sister Faustina's health deteriorated but even when she was under so much pressure and intense suffering Sister Faustina trusted in her Lord and Savior and kept working on the note book which would become 'Divine Mercy in My Soul.' Sister Faustina died on October 5, 1938 a most Holy and devoted soul.

The task of spreading her message then fell to Father Sopocko, who worked tirelessly on this most Divine Message of Mercy to the World.

For those who have not yet read this book I hope you will do so as it carries a message that the world needs to hear today, before it is too late.

When I Said

When I said to the Lord "I am so short of where you want me to be." He gently answered "That's okay. That's all the farther you and I can walk together."

When I said to the Lord "I don't know who I am." He gently answered "That's okay. I know who you are."

When I said to the Lord "I am so tired of fighting." He gently answered "That's okay. Satan is down for the count."

When I said to the Lord "My actions aren't reflecting my heart." He gently answered "That's okay. Mine did."

When I said to the Lord "My mind is corrupted." He gently answered "That's okay. Use mine for awhile."

When I said to the Lord "I don't know how to love." He gently answered "That's okay. I will give you free lessons"

Anon

A Lesson in Commitment

A hen and a pig strolled down the avenue. The hen looked up at a huge billboard advertising ham and eggs.

"Look at those magnificent fried eggs with the orange yellow yolks," said the hen.

"Look at the fried ham steaks," said the pig.

They thought for a moment, then the pig spoke, "For you, those eggs were a contribution, but for me the ham was a total commitment."

Some make contributions, others are totally committed.

Hope

Of all the apostles, I can associate most with Thomas, doubting Thomas. Maybe the fear the apostles shared in the upper room had more to do with the fear associated when something goes really wrong. Not only were they afraid of what could happen to them for being associated with Jesus, but their hearts were confused with doubt. Hope was gone. Jesus was their hope.

What would have been going through their minds? I fell asleep in the garden when he needed my support. I ran off in fear when they came and arrested Jesus. I did not accompany him on his walk to Calvary. I was not there at the Crucifixion. I abandoned Him. He is dead, the Messiah is dead. How could the Messiah allow himself to be killed? “And I will rise on the third day.” Would he? Could he? He has left us here, alone, abandoned. Was he going to come back as he said he would? What are we to do now? Jesus was to be their next king, the Messiah. All of their hopes and dreams had ended with his cruel death. Empty inside is how they must have felt.

Mary said that he had indeed risen from the dead. Could it be true? Jesus appears. “My beloved friends, peace be with you.” He really did not leave them. Jesus did not abandon them, he never would. This was going to take some time to sink in. Thomas not being there must have been puzzled to see and hear the other apostles so excited when he got back. They said Jesus had been there to eat with them. They saw His hands and His side where the soldiers had pierced Him, and He spoke to them. This was too hard for him to believe. How could He be alive? Finally he tells his friends, "Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I won’t believe it."

A week later Jesus comes back. “Peace be with you.” He turns to Thomas. “Thomas, come touch my hands, my feet, my side. Stop doubting, believe. You believe because you see, how happy are those who believe without seeing.” He did not rebuke him, instead he extended himself to him so that he could touch him and receive the forgiveness he so desperately needed. All was forgiven.

Love heals. God’s love is sure and certain and it lasts forever, once given it is never withdrawn, it is eternal. When we wallow in guilt and remorse over past sins, we demean God’s gift of grace. When we learn to gratefully and generously forgive ourselves, we will know joy and peace. A sad Christian is a fake Christian and a guilty Christian is no Christian at all. God writes straight with crooked lines.

Doubt seems to affect us most when we experience what we consider as God disappointing us. When we can’t understand why things happen, when nothing around makes any sort of sense, when we look for God and we experience his absence. We wonder why? I try to do what you ask, hard as it is and still you allow these things to happen. Why? Is it worth it all? Are you worth it? We start to doubt, we feel angry and abandoned.

Doubt and fear are a part of life. God gave us this brain that is very capable of having doubts. We all have a bit of Thomas in us, a strange mix of doubt and fear, pessimism and optimism, belief and unbelief. When my doubts and fears make me feel small, weak, powerless, I have the hope that Jesus will do for me, in HIS own time and way, (that’s the hard part), what he did for his friends in the upper room. Sure it does not seem so at the moment, but one day when I look back, I will see the weaving of God, God’s handiwork on it all and realize that he was indeed there… hidden and mysterious through it all and I will be eternally grateful. So I find comfort with my broken self, faults, failings and all and cling to the hope that if he can do it for Thomas, there may be hope for me yet.

Happy Easter

May the Joy of Easter,
The Promise of Easter
and the Peace of Easter
be with you now and Always

Easter Blessings to you!

Ginny & Marie

Incurable Optimists

The resurrection of Jesus came out of nowhere. Jesus had told his disciples many times that he would rise from the dead. The disciples heard but never believed, each time he spoke of the Resurrection they would go into denial. So when it did indeed happen, they were so surprised that they went into shock.

When the two Mary’s arrived at the tomb at the crack of dawn on Easter morn, they were looking for a corpse. Instead they met an angel. The angel spoke to them and said “I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He has been raised. Go and tell his disciples. Tell them that he will go ahead of them and they will see him in Galilee.” And that’s exactly what they did. They were the first witnesses of the Resurrection.

The message of Easter has not changed. We must however connect the Resurrection to our everyday lives and connect our everyday lives to the Resurrection. Today the angel in the gospel speaks the same message he spoke to the two Marys. The angel points to the empty tomb and the Cross and says “Ginny, tell my disciples, tell your readers, I am alive. I will go before them and they will see me in the streets, wherever they go or wherever they are, I will be with them. They can count on me. They can trust me.”

Christians are people of the Resurrection. We are an Easter people. We are a people of hope. And because we believe Christ is with us on every step of the road of life, we are also incurable optimists.

Easter Quote

It is not Jesus' absence from an empty grave that convinces us, it is his presence in our empty lives.

~ Frederick Buechner

Follow Him

It is hard to watch as I see you walk in this parched heat. The ground is so rocky and your feet by the end of the day is blistered by the hours you spend walking from one place to another. Do the people see this, Son?

I follow you.

I see you touch this person, I see you speak to another and they are healed of their infirmities and that which had imprisoned their souls. Do they thank you Son?

I stand apart, yet, as one with your circle of friends. They love you, but not as I love you. Do they understand Love, Son?

I follow you.

Ah, I watch as your face alights when the little one's rush forward. Your laughter rings through the air, what a joy it is to hear. But Son, do you remember when I held you close to my own heart?

Once again I see you walk in your gentle manner towards the rocky ground as you seek silence to pray. My eyes follow you from a distance as you disappear from my sight. Do they understand prayer, Son?

I follow you.

You are surrounded by your friends as you speak words of Wisdom to them. Your face lights up as you speak about Heavenly things. But Son, am I the only one to see the shadow which passes across your face?

I hear your friends promise to do mighty things for love of you. They rely on their strength without fully understanding what real strength is. Yet there is one who unsettles my heart, he turns from you when you reach out to him. Do you see his rejection Son?

I follow you.

It is difficult when I see strangers in fine clothes criticize you. Yes, I hear the murmers which strike at my own heart. Do you hear them Son?

Ah, finally I see the crowds throw Palms before your feet. Their voices sing out Hosanna, such rejoicing. But, do they know who you are Son?

I follow you.

A terrible forboding fills my heart, I hear the murmers grow. The whispering grows stronger by the hour, despite all you have said and done they do not believe. Have they stopped listening to you Son?

I see you beloved of my heart as you kneel before your friends and wash their feet. My mind wonders back to the days when I bathed you and held you in my arms as you gurgled and smiled at me. I watch from a distance as you break bread, my head is bowed. Do they understand the significance Son?

I follow you.

One leaves early, my heart is deeply troubled. My body trembles as my ear catches more whispering. These are the same people who killed the Prophets. I hear your voice ring out strongly, I listen to you Son.

Can I come to you my Son? May I hold you in my arms? Will you be my son for just one more day? I have heard the Prophets of Old, I have listened to you Son, but when I close my eyes I see you, tiny, innocent, loving, holding out your arms to me. Can I be just another mother for one more day Son?

I follow you.

I can find no rest tonight. I pace the room and in the sanctum of my heart I cry out to God who strengthens me. I look out the window and though the world continues to turn as the night closes in, still my heart finds no rest this long and lonely night. Who is keeping watch with you Son?

While I kneel in prayer I hear hurried feet, I rise to face the news. They are like children, lost and forlon when the snow shuts out the sun. My heart fills with pity as I console them. We go in search of you. Will others go in search of you my Son?

I follow you.

There are crowds everywhere. Where are you Son? I must find you. I am jostled too and fro we stand in the courtyard as the news reaches us. You have been condemned, I must find you. Where are you my Son?

I feel the sobs of your friend who stands beside me, he is trying to be strong. I take his hands and look into his eyes, he looks away. Who can bear to look into my eyes? We hear from a distance 'Crucify him.' Where are your friends my Son?

I follow you.

We hurry to find you Son, I will not leave you. The crowd parts and at last I see your beloved face, my knees give way at the sight. Your friends hold me up as each fist strikes my own heart. My heart is faint as they scourge you, the face I once held to my breast is now beaten and bloody. Is that you my Son? Beneath the blood, the sweat and the mucus is that you my Son? My beloved Son? I will not leave you my Son.

We follow your broken and bloodied body as you try and carry that heavy Cross. You fall and I cover my face, what mother can bear it? If it were not for our friends I would be unable to walk, but I will not leave you Son. Our eyes meet. Agony is met with agony, I reach out to you. I am here my Son.

I follow you.

I look up and there you are before me. I hear the taunts from the crowds, were these not the same who sang Hosanna's to you my beloved Son? I hear you cry out as my own soul is rent asunder and my silent scream reaches the Heaven's. Will anyone understand such an agony? I fall to the ground as your blood drenches my own clothes and with words unspoken I plead in my heart, 'give me the body of my bloodied and ragged Son.' I hold you to my heart, though it beats my heart is broken. My tears fall onto your stiff and quiet face as I hold you to myself. I didn't leave you Son..I didn't leave You.

Later Peter comes to see me. My heart fills with pity he is a broken man. I take his hand, look into his eyes and say to him.....

Follow Him.

Written by Marie

To the Holy Archangel Who Strengthened Our Lord

I salute thee, holy Angel who didst comfort my Jesus in His agony, and with thee I praise the most holy Trinity for having chosen thee from among all the holy Angels to comfort and strengthen Him who is the comfort and strength of all that are in affliction. By the honor thou didst enjoy and by the obedience, humility and love wherewith thou didst assist the sacred Humanity of Jesus, my Savior, when He was fainting for very sorrow at seeing the sins of the world and especially my sins, I beseech thee to obtain for me perfect sorrow for my sins; deign to strengthen me In the afflictions that now overwhelm me, and in all the other trials, to which I shall be exposed henceforth and, in particular, when I find myself in my final agony.

Amen.

God in an Apron

Try to imagine this scene. You are sitting at the table with Jesus and his friends on the night before he died. A confusing sorrow overshadows you. Yet, a mysterious hope has settled in your heart. Suddenly Jesus is standing in front of you. He looks into your eyes and immediately you are filled with an awareness of your tremendous worth.

Supper was special that night.
There was both a heaviness and a holiness
hanging in the air.
We couldn't explain the mood.
It was sacred, yet sorrowful.
Gathered around that table
eating that solemn, holy meal
seemed to us the most important meal
we had ever sat down to eat.

We were dwelling in the heart of MYSTERY.
Though dark the night,
Hope felt right---
as if something evil
was about to be conquered.

And then suddenly
the One-Who-Loved startled us all.
He got up from the table
and put on an apron.
Can you imagine how we felt?

GOD IN AN APRON!

Tenderness encircled us
as He bowed before us.
He knelt and said,
"I choose to wash your feet
because I love you."

God in an apron, kneeling.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
I was embarrassed
until His eyes met mine.
I sensed my value then.
He touched my feet.
He held them in His strong, brown hands.
He washed them.
I can still feel the water.
I can still feel the touch of His hands.
I can still see the look in His eyes.

Then He handed me the towel
and said,
"As I have done,
so you must do."
Learn to bow.
Learn to kneel.

Let your tenderness encircle
everyone you meet.
Wash their feet--
not because you have to--
but because you want to.

It seems I've stood two thousand years
holding that towel in my hands.
"As I have done, so must you do,"
keeps echoing in my heart.

"There are so many feet to wash,"
I keep saying.
"No."
I hear God's voice
resounding through the years.
"There are only My feet.
What you do for them,
you do for Me."

Author Unknown

Bombshell

Wednesday’s Gospel records Jesus and his closest friends celebrating the Last Supper. In the midst of the meal Jesus drops a bombshell: “One of you will betray me.” The disciples are all stunned, they look at each other in disbelief, which one of them could Jesus be talking about? “Lord is it I?” No one points the finger, each one knows his capacity for failure. Jesus hit a nerve.

Judas quietly leaves the room, he does not arouse any suspicion. He was above suspicion otherwise the rest of the disciples would have never allowed him to leave the room in one piece. Judas was so ordinary, just as ordinary as each of us. Judas was called and chosen as are we. Judas enjoyed the trust of his friends. At the table he sat in an honoured place close to Jesus. Judas?? How could he betray Jesus?

I think of Peter, under pressure in the courtyard, swearing “I do not know the man.” I think of the disciples running away in the Garden of Gethsemane, not showing up at Calvary and stubbornly refusing to believe reports of Jesus’ resurrection. Judas’ betrayal is different in degree, not in kind to our betrayals. Judas was not the first or the last to betray Jesus, he was simply the most famous.

What redeems the Passion and its most powerful message is that the love of Jesus never wavered especially towards the people who betrayed him. When Judas led the bloodthirsty mob into the Garden, Jesus addressed him as “Friend.” His own people condemned him to death, yet while hanging outstretched on the Cross, a symbol of ultimate disgrace and shame, his last prayer was for all of us, “Father, forgive them.” Never was Jesus more human. His humanity enters into and speaks to all that is good and noble in the human heart.

What makes us human like Jesus is not our mind but our heart, not our capacity to think but our capacity to love.

Still He Walked

He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"... He could hear the hatred in their voices, These were his chosen people. He loved them, And they were going to crucify him. He was beaten, bleeding and weakened... his heart was broken, But still He walked.

He could see the crowd as he came from the palace. He knew each of the faces so well. He had created them. He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear, But now they were contorted with rage and anger...his heart broke, But still He walked.

Was he scared? You and I would have been. So his humanness would have mandated that he was. He felt alone. His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him. He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few. Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered. And he knew that he would never be alone. He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting at him, throwing rocks at him and mocking him and he knew that because of him, they would never be alone. So for them, He walked.

The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd. The sounds of his cries echoed even louder, the cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow. Loudest of all was the still small voice inside his heart that whispered "I am with you, my son," And God's heart broke. He had let his son walk.

Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering, but instead he asked God to forgive. Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him. As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death, he looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd, but also, the face of every person yet to be, and his heart filled with love. As his body was dying, his heart was alive. Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us. That is why He walked.

When I forget how much My God loves me, I remember his walk.

When I wonder if I can be forgiven, I remember his walk.

When I need reminded of how to live like Christ, I think of his walk.

And to show him how much I love him, I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him, And I walk.

-- Author Unknown

Immortal Beloved

Bill O'Reilly on one of his shows decided to share some of his favourite movie scenes, I thought I would follow suit with one of my own.

In this movie Ludwig van Beethoven had two loves. One was his music the other his 'immortal beloved.'In this particular scene a student of his suspects he is deaf and so tricks Beethoven by hiding in another room with a peep hole as she watches Beethoven he can't resist the piano which stands there taunting him..He has to play it. Though he cannot hear, he finds a way at least to feel his music....Watch this scene you will be moved.

Good morning, on July 7

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, not and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can only live wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the lands of spirits - Yes unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V[ienna] is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - at my age I need a steady, quiet life - can that be so in out connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes everyday - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the l[etter] at once. - Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve out purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. -Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of you beloved.

ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

Ludwig

The Donkey

When fishes flew and forests walked

And figs grew upon thorn,

Some moment when the moon was blood

Then surely I was born.

With monstrous head and sickening cry

And ears like errant wings,

The devil's walking parody

On all four-footed things.

The tattered outlaw of the earth,

Of ancient crooked will;

Starve, scourge, deride me: I am dumb,

I keep my secret still.

Fools! For I also had my hour;

One far fierce hour and sweet:

There was a shout about my ears,

And palms before my feet.

G.K.Chesterton

Talents & Gifts

Sometimes we focus more on what we cannot do which then fills us with frustration. We look at those around us and can't understand why we also are not as gifted and talented as others.

When we do this we are saying in our hearts that God has not done a very good job, that in fact He has failed us. Many spend so much time in looking at the abilities of others that they fail to see their own uniqueness and individuality.

We all live in this wondrous universe not from Divine mistake but by Divine Design. We are all meant to bring something to the table, not to make sure that our own desires are met, or that we have our fill, but to give something of ourselves to benefit others.

God has given each one of us Gifts and Talents, He has done so not because He wants us to become puffed up with pride but in order to bring Glory to Himself.

Rather than allow one's heart to become frustrated or anxious, instead learn to appreciate the Gifts and different qualities of others.

If you view a painting is your heart full of disappointment? Or do you look at the painting and appreciate the work that went into it and that through another's talent you are able to see this thing of exquisite beauty?

Let's face it, can you make a daffodil out of thin air? Can you make a butterfly with its translucent coloured gossamer wings? Can you bring anyone a sunset so ablaze with vibrant colour that one stands in Awe of such magnificence?

Once we realise that nothing is ours and all is Gift we also realise that to envy another is to envy God Himself.

You are unique, valuable, gifted, generous. There is noone on this planet who is like you. You are one of a kind. This is something to celebrate, so celebrate! Be joyous and realise that yes! It is good to be alive.

Learn to appreciate and be thankful for who you are and what God has given you.

Written by Marie

A Life Poem

Life can seem ungrateful and not always kind.

Life can pull at your heartstrings and play with your mind...

Life can be blissful and happy and free...

Life can put beauty in the things that you see...

Life can place challenges right at your feet...

Life can make good of the hardships we meet...

Life can overwhelm you and make your head spin...

Life can reward those determined to win...

Life can be hurtful and not always fair...

Life can surround you with people who care...

Life clearly does offer its Up and its Downs...

Life's days can bring you both smiles and frowns...

Life teaches us to take the good with the bad...

Life is a mixture of happy and sad...

So...

Take the Life that you have and give it your best...

Think positive, be happy let God do the rest...

Take the challenges that life has laid at your feet...

Take pride and be thankful for each one you meet...

To yourself give forgiveness if you stumble and fall...

Take each day that is dealt you and give it your all...

Take the love that you're given and return it with care...

Have faith that when needed it will always be there...

Take time to find the beauty in the things that you see...

Take life's simple pleasures let them set your heart free...

The idea here is simply to even the score...

As you are met and faced with Life's Tug of War

Anon

The Dark Night and Depression

Depression is a terrible thing it can hit us suddenly when oneday for no particular reason all that we once loved and all that once gave us pleasure no longer does so.

It can also creep up on us if we have suffered a loss or have become stressed by various situations. Depression can take many forms including post natal depression.

There are many aspects to depression one being melancholia another being the longing to escape one's own skin as if your very skin is crawling and you long to run, but how can one run from themselves?

A depressed person becomes introverted, their thoughts can swim in a sea of lostness as our feelings become a dictator. We begin to loathe ourselves and at times wish we had never existed. At other times the depressed person simply wishes to hide and never have to come out again.

With depresssion you feel as if you are drowning in a pit of thick molasses and though yoru soul longs to sing, your mind has forgotten the melody and so you sink further and further into that deep dark pit of despair.

Depression is a serious illness and needs medical supervision. Don't ever try and think you can heal yourself. Do we tell cancer patients to heal themselves? No! Seek help, quickly.

The dark night of the soul is very different though it may at times feel similiar it is not!

A soul that is undergoing this purgation of it's sense's is one that suffers immensely as God's all seeing Gaze fixes His Divine Eye into the very depths of your soul.

There you stand, exposed & naked in the searing heat of the desert as the sun beats down and sears your very flesh. You long for cover, for some place to conceal yourself, yet there is nothing as your soul dries up and gasps for the water of consolations which does not come.

Your senses suffer the exquisite touch of the Divine as you become aware of Natures Glory and see things as if for the first time. You weep at the magnificense of a burnished sunset as it's sweeping panorama opens before your awe struck eyes. You wonder at the beauty of a butterfly as it floats gently by and understand the dignity of the tree that was there before you were born and will remain there long after you have gone.

Your senses are so keenly alive that it becomes an exquisite torture as you realise your own unworthiness and littleness in the Presence of Majesty.

Though the soul is made vulnerable as God opens it's eye to see through a glass darkly. We receive no consolations as our prayers float towards...nothing. We weep and raise our hearts to a God who stands removed from us.

Then comes that insidious voice that tries to tell you that all you have believed is nonsense, 'isnt this lack of feeling a sign that God does not exist? If He exists then why does He not comfort you?' Doubts fill your mind and your heart once again cries out to God only to hear and feel...nothing.

Many who reach this stage cannot withstand the withering holocaust which negates it's senses and so head back to worldly consolations. God loves the soul no less who needs these spiritual elixir's, indeed He loves all equally.

Those souls who are able to persevere do so by standing on Faith alone. They feel no consolations and their souls are a barren landscape of scorched earth, craggy edges and thorny pathways.

It is these souls who through the dreadful night find themselves at the abyss and staring at it courageously they leave feelings behind and embrace..... the dark. They are then enfolded into it's velvety unkowingness and with Trust as it's only guide they walk the lonely pathway to Sainthood.

The difference between depression and the 'dark night' is that while one leads to a longing for negation with it's feelings of self loathing as if their birth were a mistake. A depressed person has a distorted view of itself and the surrounding world whereas a person who is undergoing the 'dark night' has its illusions stripped bare as it faces itself and understands that it is nothing without God.

The dark night instead illuminates the soul to it's nothingness and unworthiness. The soul becomes aware of it's inability to Love as God Loves and with this knowledge we understand that All is Gift..We are made aware tis a fearful thing to stand in the Presense of the Divine and realise we come before Him...empty.

A soul that has been through the dark night does not come out bragging of it's own wisdom or greatness, instead it realises its total unworthiness and how much the soul Owes God and God alone.

Written by Marie

*Note*

For those suffering depression please seek medical advice. For those suffering the 'dark night' please seek the advice of a good Spiritual Director.

God Made The Night

God Made The Night ...

But He could not have known about those of us

who waited for the dark

To feel the first moments of privacy we had known all day,

Or to use that black secrecy to mutter curses at the day's faults.

He Also Fashioned The Sun ...

And choreographed the ballet called sunset;

But He didn't anticipate the agony that spectacle would create

Among those of us who counted the day past a loss

For it brought them not one step nearer the goals sought.

When He Breathed Out The Worlds Music ...

He planned joy,

But again we fail Him when we wince,

And fight tears, and denounce the beauty of it

Only because there is no beauty in the music of our souls.

God Planted Love Here ...

And it grows

Where hate had flourished

Or where it is scarcely recognized.

He planned on using it like a band-aid on the hurts of the heart.

But it won't stick on some of us,

Or it washes with salt tears,

Or we claim not to need it's protection.

Isn't it a marvel He doesn't despair of us ?

Anon

Seasons of the Soul

When we watch Nature at work it is a marvelous thing to behold. We see in Spring how the flowers with great beauty and rapture unfold their fragile petals to the welcome rays of the sun. Suddenly the air is filled with their fragrant scent as we watch bee's busily flying from one to another.

Every now and again rain falls as flowers sway in the breeze as the life giving water drops down to their roots which then nourishes them. Just before the rain falls, ants scurry to and fro as they prepare for the flood which will soon arrive. What helps one may destroy another.

In summer the sun beats down on these fragile plants and their once blossoming petals now fry in the severity of the heat. We watch as our emerald fields turn to a golden yellow as the rain dries up and Nature becomes naked before us.

Our world is full of little wonders which we fail to see as we become blasé to the wondrous world we live in.

Our life also follow Seasons where Joy is followed by the bittersweet knowledge that this feeling of happiness wont last forever. Sorrow is lifted when we learn to let go with the painful realisation that we are not in control of our destinies or those whom we love. Exuberance fills our bodies as we enjoy the vitality of youth with no thought given to infirmity. Grief comes to us all as we learn the price of love and Wisdom is to know that All is Gift for the present moment. Nothing is meant to last forever, except..Love.

Love is worth everything. Love is the flow of life that binds us together in our fractured existence in this temporary place we call home.

In summer, the plants do not scream veangence at the sun as they wither under its penetrating rays. The green fields remain silent as their lush beauty fades to a burnt yellow and the ants continue to scurry here and there.

Nature understands that though it burns now, as it suffers the heat of the sun, soon will come the Spring where once again the miracle of life will bring to life that which appeared dead.

Love never dies for it is Eternal.

God is Love for only Love could Sacrifice His Beloved Son in our place.

Written by Marie

Roses and Thorns

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom and also the thorns. And he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?" Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose within others. This is the characteristic of love, to look at a person, and knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in his soul, and help him realize that he can overcome his faults. If we show him the rose, he will conquer the thorns. Then will he blossom, blooming forth thirty, sixty, a hundred-fold as it is given to him.

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their roses and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love we should feel for each other; only then can we bloom in our own garden.

Anon

Blog Bouquet Award-Thankyou

How lovely to find on such a hot day that two lovely ladies have given me a beautiful bouquet. Thankyou to Jean and Esther for their kindness in thinking of me, it is greatly appreciated.

God's abundant love to you both.

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I now continue this kindness by spreading this award to:

Kathy from Daily Grotto

Easter from Mostly Prayers

Grandmak at A Bit of the Blarney

Lisa at Episcopollyanna

Tracy at Tracy's Simply Life

Love your blogs ladies, keep up the good work. Pass it forward.

God bless you all:)

Marie xoxoxoox

Prayer Request for Melissa

Kathy has requested urgent prayers be said for Melissa Hackeny who is struggling with cancer. Please join in this prayer movement by visiting The Daily Grotto.

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Watch, O Lord,

with those who wake,

or watch,

or weep tonight,

and give Your angels charge over those who sleep.

Tend Your sick ones, O Lord Christ.

Rest Your weary ones.

Bless Your dying ones.

Soothe Your suffering ones.

Pity Your afflicted ones.

Shield Your joyous ones.

And for all Your love's sake.

Amen.

Letting Go

An old Buddhist monk accompanied by a young monk, traveled along the bank of a river. The river was swollen from the waters that came down the mountains after the winter snows. They met an old woman sitting on the bank weeping uncontrollably. The monks stopped. She told them that she had received word that her only daughter who lived on the other side of the river was dying. She was afraid her daughter would die before she could cross the river. The older monk consoled her as best he could, but it was forbidden for a Buddhist monk to touch a woman so he decided they must resume the journey. The younger monk filled with compassion, looked at the raging waters and thought to himself, “I’m strong, I can probably carry her across the river.” He picked her up and carried her safely to the other side. When he returned the old monk was apoplectic with anger. He screamed, “have you no appreciation for your religious vows- not only did you touch the woman, you actually carried he. That is a sacrilege.”

He continued his lecture on the evils of touching women for the rest of the day. When they arrived at the campsite, the young monk went into the forest to collect firewood but as he returned the lecture began again. This time he could take no more. He put his hand up and said, “Stop! There is one thing I do not understand. I put the woman down on the riverbank that morning. Why are you still carrying her?”

How many of us ruin our chances of happiness today because we refuse to put the woman down. We refuse to let go of our sins, our hang-ups, our desires for revenge and the memories of what others have done to us. We refuse to let go of our regrets, our dreams, our waistlines, our youth, vigour and our if only- if only I hadn’t said that….. if only he had done……if only I had done…… if only I had thought about it…… if only, if only, if only. We waste all that energy wanting to change a past that cannot be changed instead of letting go of whatever it is that is dragging us down and getting on with our lives and letting God be God.

Feelings

God is real no matter what we feel. It is very easy to love God when things are going great in our live, when he has provided companionship, friends, family, health and strength, food, good times and a glass of wine to cap it all off.

It is not easy to love God when circumstances are not so pleasant, when things are not going our way, when we have lost control, when our life seems to be going down the tubes. How can we love God when God seems a hundred miles away?

Friendships are often tested by distance, separation and silence – we feel lost because there is no contact, no communication. In our relationship with God, there are times when we don’t feel particularly close. God at times seems uncaring, distant and detached. It could be that we are waiting for God to come to us. Or maybe it is that God is so close to us in those times that we just can't see him. Its like if you flash light in your eyes, the closer you get to the light the less you can see, in fact you can’t see anything at all.

God is a perfect gentleman. He never imposes himself on anyone. He desires a personal relationship but won’t force the issue. It has to be voluntary. It has to be mutual. God comes to us by way of invitation, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and we will share supper together.” Supper is the most intimate of meals!

God never promised – you will always feel my presence. He promised I will be with you always. It is utterly inconceivable that God would make a promise and not keep it. One of the mistakes we make is to seek an experience of God rather than seek God. But God is more than a feeling, infinitely more. Our feelings come and go. We blow hot and cold depending on our mood. We are more than our feelings.

Love is not fickle. Love is constant. The God who loves is always there. “I call you friends.” whether or not we feel God’s presence is beside the point. We are the friends he lived, love and died for. Nothing on earth can ever change that glorious truth.

Inspired by A purpose driven life.