What is the will of God?

By Robert Batch

Sint Jerome Meditating byJan Cornelisz Vermeyen

 
We continually hear this question all day and everyday: "What is the will of God?"  See the Lord does not want us to become a "secondary version of our self."  Nor does He want us to become a secondary version of our parents. The answer is one that we must look for deep down inside ourselves. The answer relies on a fundamental principle: That we become the best version of ourselves.

We must find purpose in our lives, marriage, relationships, friendships and all of these should contribute and factor into becoming the best version of ourselves. This answers the question: "How do I become Holy?"  Become the best version of yourself!


Continue reading at Robert's blog Love is Calling.

I am not in control

By Beryl Baterina

 

 

 

 

The Eve of the Deluge by John Martin (Wikimedia Commons)

 

 

 

"So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin."

 

The passage from the letter of Saint James tells us that it is not correct to state our future doings making it like we are in control of what will happen to us.  It shows arrogance and depicts evil.  Knowing that it is evil and still doing it makes us sinners.

 

We all started from zero when we were born.  We knew nothing and we were educated through family, friends, schools, and other experiences.  When we were younger, adults decided for our well-being.  As we grow older, we begin to learn to decide for ourselves.  We are able to choose things which we think are good for us.   We have this "to do" list for our lives.  We have lots of plans for our future.  But do we include God in it?  

 

Sometimes (or most of the time) we neglect to remember that there is God who has control to what can happen to us.  When we want to do something in the future, like go shopping, we must say, "We will go shopping on Friday, God willing."  It is a sign that we acknowledge our God and not rely on our own as if we are already sure that we will go shopping on Friday.  

 

 

Continue reading at Beryl's blog Beryl Baterina: Daily Dose.

What is my mission?

 By Beryle Baterina

An Allegory of Man (Wikipedia)

God sends all of us to mission.  A mission to share my faith especially to those who do not know Christ. Although the thought of that really scares me.  I am afraid of what may happen.  But I must remember that God is always with me.  He gives me knowledge and confidence that I may fulfill His plan.  My prayer would be to have a strong heart to do the will of God.  I have felt what I needed to do.  And I also wanted it.  I am just afraid,  I have to be strong in my prayers to overcome the fear to move forward and to go where God wants me to be.

"Send me Lord and I will go to the place you have prepared
send me Lord and I will speak with the power of your word
send me Lord and I will seek your awesome love and majesty
Lord send me, Lord send me, I will go..." - taken from the song, Send Me

I am a sinful person, but Jesus died on the cross to save me, to save us.  Now, I have to fulfill my mission - to grow in my faith and share it with others.  I am not so sure if there is already a growth in my faith but I am already accepting that I did became better (even just a teeny, tiny bit) these past few months.   The truth is, I cannot really tell if there was change in me.  I can never be perfect and I am always a work in progress.  I have faith that I am making progress.


Beryl originally posted this at her blog Beryl Baterina.

Abandon yourself to God

By Lora Goulet

Contemporary trends bombard us relentlessly. We are encouraged to demand unrealistic outcomes from painstaking plans. This often leads to frustration. Failure, by the world's standards, is the most likely result.

Abandonment to Divine Providence offers the reader a clear view of the supernatural rewards of complete surrender to the perfect and holy will of God. Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade's classic work presents us with the option to free ourselves of the burden to acquire wealth, popularity and status.

Quietly living within God's will fills our every day with the joys of holy simplicity. We are strengthened to bear our trials with constancy and hope.

This is an excellent book for a spiritual journal.


Read Abandonment to Divine Providence on line at Catholic Treasury or puchase a copy at TAN Books

Lora originally posted this on her blog, Mommy Novenas. 

Praying for acceptance

By Mallory Hoffman

The Incredulity of St. Thomas by Caravaggio
(Wikimedia Commons)

I recently read an article about a young couple whose  young son had been diagnosed with a life threatening, degenerative disease.  As his parents prayed for his healing, a priest advised them not to pray for healing.  He suggested that they pray for acceptance first.  He counseled the young couple that if healing was God’s Will for their son, then the healing would happen.  However, by praying for acceptance, they would find peace. 

Acceptance leads to peace.  Peace leads to surrender.  Surrender leads to Trust.  Trust leads to being immersed in God’s Holy Will which is Love.

Continue reading at Mallory's blog His UnEnding Love.

Insights on Divine Providence

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

Portrait of a Young Man at Prayerby Memling
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

This morning I was reading Father Romano Guardini’s The Art of Praying and found these passages that seem connected in a way with Archbishop Chaput’s address to the Baptist University of Houston on March 1, 2010 where he spoke on the vocation of the Christian in American public life:

The future of Christian life depends, among other things, on whether prayer can establish an active link with life as it is and with the stream of history.  Here, again, the idea of Providence is the starting point…

The will, the Divine Providence, of God is our salvation as St. Paul says (1 Thess. 4: 3), and we laity must work it out in the world, no matter how much some of us would like to flee to the cloister.The evil perpetrated by man against man and against creation cannot be lessened without each of us doing the job he has been given by God.  Yet sometimes life seems to be too much to bear and we want to give up and run away.  If we arrive at that point, it must be because we are depending too much on ourselves and not enough on God.  We are seeking our own will and not His Providential Will.  We are not praying the Our Father with an understanding of “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

Continue reading at Barb's blog  Suffering With Joy.

The "yes" God wants from us

By Nancy Ward

The Annunciation by Tanner (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

What God wants is for us to say “yes” to him and “no” to everything else. Of the millions of good things available to us, he wants us to have the best. That’s because he loves us so much. He loved us, even while we were yet sinners.

Every one of us doubts that we are loved. After all, each one of us knows who “we” are. It surprises us when someone loves us completely and thoroughly. But the Lord is after us to believe it. He wants us to know that he loves us inside and out.

We can begin by saying “yes” to believing that we are worthy of God’s love. We can say “yes” to believing deep within our being, that God, our Creator and Savior, loves us. We belong to him. He loves and cherishes us. He wants to protect us with his gift of faith and trust in him. Before we can serve him and love him fully we must first say “yes”’ to letting him love us.

How does he convince us that he loves us? That’s up to us. He’ll do whatever it takes to convince us, but not against our free will. When we can believe it, then we can try it on. Act like he loves us by loving others the same way he love us. By sharing his love we prove to ourselves and to them how much he loves us.


Continue reading at Nancy's blog  JOY Alive in our hearts.

Sort of saints?

By Nancy Shuman

Bible Studay by Guerard (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

 


I used to sew, or at least to make attempts at it.  Some of my projects didn't turn out too badly... until you looked at them closely.  The thing was:  I had no patience.  So I cut corners.  Darts in dresses were "sort of" marked, patterns were "sort of" followed, the edges of pillows were "sort of" measured.

Things often looked okay at first glance, but I produced more than a few examples of poor craftsmanship.  Uneven hemlines, puckered zippers, a dress that was discovered (while I was wearing it at Mass) to have a panel of printed scenes sewn in upside down.  There were even a few seams that suddenly split open. Not so bad on a pillow; problematic when they're holding together one's skirt.

I am not a talented seamstress, but neither am I a total loss at such endeavors.  When I've made the effort and followed patterns, I have actually produced serviceable items.

If I lived in a physical monastery and was assigned the task of habit-making, I would be a challenge.  There, however, I'd have to learn to follow the instructions... no corner cutting, no choosing my own way of doing things.  After all, we wouldn't want Sister Mary Jane's wimple falling off in the middle of Mass.


Continue reading at Nancy's blog The Cloistered Heart.

To follow God wherever His will leads us

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

Portrait of John Henry Newman
by John Everett Millais, 1881 via Wikipedia

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th’encircling gloom,
Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

 I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on!

I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on. O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

This profound poem by Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) was written in 1833, a plea for docility to God’s will at a time when he was frustrated by not being able to get back to England and to his work after a sojourn in Italy. Its original title was “Pillar of the Cloud” with a fourth verse added by someone else later.


Continue reading Barb's reflection at Suffering with Joy.