How to behave in these end times

St. John the Evangelist’s Vision of Heaven by Alonso Cano
(Wikimedia Commons). No matter what times we live in,
our basic duty as Christians remains the same.

Another friend on Facebook this weekend was bemoaning all the struggles in the world right now. I say another, because this happens often. Something is wrong with the world and many of us sense it.

The other night I watched an interview with the journalist who introduced Edward Snowdon to the world. When she spoke of how the government was watching her every move, trying to force her to reveal her sources, I was eerily reminded of the fight for religious liberty. Priests are being subpoenaed to break the seal of Confession. Pastors in Houston have had their sermons subpoenaed. The Bill of Rights is crumbling.

Isis is beheading Christians in the Middle East. The last week saw terrorist attacks in the US and Canada. There’s an Ebola epidemic, great moral decay, and the scandal over the relatio from the Synod on the Family.

Are we living in the end times?

Are these the end times?

This answer is unequivocally yes.

Since the Ascension God’s plan has entered into its fulfillment. We are already at ‘the last hour.’ ‘Already the final age of the world is with us, and the renewal of the world is irrevocably under way; it is even now anticipated in a certain real way, for the Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real but imperfect.'” (CCC 670)

The end times began 2000 years ago.

Continue reading at Contemplative Homeschool.

7 Advantageous reasons to wait upon the Lord

By Elizabeth Reardon

First, let’s admit that very few of us, including myself, ever truly want to wait for anything. We search desperately for the shortest line at the store, GPS the quickest route to our destination, and watch with noses pressed against the oven for the cupcakes to be ready. Oh, who am I kidding , we drive by the nearest bakery or donut shop and wha-la it’s ready! While our patience for waiting has various limits, there is usually a point to where we cry out, (paraphrasing here), “You have got to be kidding me!” Yet, God has given us so many numerous, and advantageous reasons why we should do just that…wait…and trust upon the Lord.  

Here are my top 7 that highlighted the week!

1. “The LORD is good to those who trust in him, to the one that seeks him” Lamentations 3:25

 While my mornings begin in seeking God through prayer, and reflection..there are ample detours and the need to trust God throughout the day. Not the least of which are in actuality, real roadblocks, that this summer lead me away from the way home through a busy touristy area. This adds an unpredictability to the completion of my errands and, as I was discovering, a heaping tablespoon of frustration. Prompting me to ask myself, what could I be doing instead? TRUST. Be aware that God is there too, in my impatience, in this busy world around me. Now, as I close my eyes I can see the smile given by the young couple in beaconing them across the street, and feel the breeze off the ocean. I can hear the questioning voices of the kids on summer vacation with their parents..and God telling me that this too is a part of the day He has for me.

Read the other six at Elizabeth's blog Theologyisaverb.

Jesus, I trust in You

By Nancy Shuman

The rays of His Light have broken through.  Pierced aridity, shattered a hardening heart, put darkness to flight... and all with a single aspiration uttered again and again. 

"Jesus, I trust in You." 

It is, perhaps, my favorite aspiration; its every word is filled with power.  I said I would let you know how my distracted attempts at prayer were going, and I'm happy to report that I have, in some ways, been praying unaware.  This morning I realized how automatically my heart turns to Our Lord in the midst of everyday life, often without a conscious decision on my part.  I don't think it's a coincidence that this awareness broke through on Mercy Sunday.
 

Continue reading at Nancy' Blog The Cloistered Heart.

Jesus, I trust in you

By Nancy Shuman

Painting by Kazimirowski
(Wikipedia)

The rays of His Light have broken through.  Pierced aridity, shattered a hardening heart, put darkness to flight... and all with a single aspiration uttered again and again. 

"Jesus, I trust in You." 

It is, perhaps, my favorite aspiration; its every word is filled with power.  I said I would let you know how my distracted attempts at prayer were going, and I'm happy to report that I have, in some ways, been praying unaware.  This morning I realized how automatically my heart turns to Our Lord in the midst of everyday life, often without a conscious decision on my part.  I don't think it's a coincidence that this awareness broke through on Mercy Sunday.

I used to have a wristwatch with an hourly alarm.  Each time it chimed, I'd pray inwardly: "Jesus, I trust in You."  No matter where I was or what I was doing, this little beep served as a monastery bell.  It was good training.

Is there value in simple, quick prayer that's so "automatic?"  I would say that indeed there is.  I have formed the habit of aspiration(s) by an act of my will, and Jesus (in His mercy) meets me much more than half way.  


Continue reading at Nancy's blog The Cloistered Heart.

A sad anniversary and a free chapter of Trusting God with St. Therese

By Connie Rossini

This is my family (plus two friends) on June 10, 1974.
I’m the one with the braids in the front.
Terri is behind me next to our mom.

Here is how our car looked thirty minutes later.

Today is the fortieth anniversary of one of the saddest events in my life so far. On June 10, 1974, our family was driving to the annual Catholic Charismatic Conference at the University of Notre Dame. We began our journey in Spokane, Washington, where we had spent a weekend on retreat. Just outside Missoula, Montana, the car rolled over three times, landing in the median of the freeway. I was in the back with the seat down and no seat belt. So were two of my siblings and two friends.

I ended up with stitches in my leg and a bump on my head. My sister Terri, who had been sitting next to me, was thrown from the car and died. She was ten years old.

Why did God let this happen? Didn’t He know where we had come from and where we were going? Hadn’t He heard Terri’s voice, when she had volunteered that morning to pray for a safe trip?


Continue to Connie's blog to receive your free chapter of Trusting God with St. Therese.

The scandal of Christ's wounds

By Pat Knight

Doubting Thomas by Caravaggio (Wikimedia Commons)

Last weekend during his sermon at the canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II, Pope Francis talked about Christ in His resurrected form. “The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith.”

These words have echoed in my head since Divine Mercy  +Sunday, as they strike so true. Christ’s wounds do cause doubt in me; how could God Himself have been injured? How could He have allowed Himself to die? Does He have limitations? Having doubt is unfortunately inevitable for a Catholic.

Even the apostles who walked, saw, and knew Jesus felt doubt. St. Thomas refused to believe in the resurrection unless he saw it for himself, Peter denied Christ three times. Losing faith doesn’t have to be an extreme. We don’t have to wake up every morning and question the existence of God to have doubt.

We have doubt whenever we worry, whenever we forget to rely completely on His will. Peter doubted when he lost trust in Jesus and fell into the water, instead of continuing to walk. It’s hard a lot of the time not to worry, but we can’t. God loves us so much that He died for us.


Pat Knight is a contributing blogger to Love is Calling.

Trust in God or fake it till you make it

By Mallory Hoffman

The Sacrifice of Abraham by Isaac
(Wikimedia Commons)

 


Life is out of our control.  We have no control over the weather.  We have no control over other drivers.  We have no control over what someone else will do to us.  We have no control over world leaders who threaten war.  We have no control over earthquakes.  We have no control over terrorists.  We have no control over illness.

Life happens, and it can be frightening.  Our anxieties rise.  We fall to our knees and pray and pray and pray hoping to  affect the outcome.  We bargain with God.  “If you do this for me, God, I’ll never miss Mass again.”  “If you give me the money I need, I’ll never use another credit card as long as I live.”  “If you make sure I keep my job, I will go back and find the car I hit and leave a note. I promise to pay for the damages.”  We do things we would not normally do as we are battered by the storm of fear. 

We say novenas that require us to publish the novena in the newspaper or leave copies of it in church for others to see. We lose sleep.  We miss meals.  We snap at our families and coworkers.  We eat too much.  We drink too much.  We self medicate.  We become so self involved that we fall into a box of fear that even prayer cannot release.  We forget that fear and anxiety are not gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Fear opposes peace in our souls.  Anxiety prevents trust in God. 

Real control begins by turning everything over to God, even if we are still afraid, even if we do not trust that God really does know what’s best for us and those we love. 


Continue reading at Mallory's blog His UnEnding Love.

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.

The call of a humble heart

By Michael Incorvia

Madonna of Humility by Sasseta
(Wikimedia Commons)

The Lord hears and responds to the call of a humble heart. Call on Him with confidence and courage.

The Lord seeks and desires a heart free of self and the world, for a heart burdened with self and the world cannot bind itself to God.

The Lord helps and protects the meek and humble of heart. Lovingly, He provides what is needed to serve Him, strengths the will with grace to embrace the cross, and joins those of humble heart to the mystical body of His Son, Christ Jesus.

Trust in the mercy and goodness of the Lord fearlessly.


Michael blogs at To Love and Truth.

Trust: God sees everything

By Nancy Ward

 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely,” (Proverbs 3:5).

God sees everything. He sees the clerk short-changing the old man, the boy stealing the heroin, the man cheating on his wife, the girl lying to her teacher. He also sees the teenager turning in the $100 bill he finds in the parking lot, the wife praying for her non-Christian husband, the daughter loving unconditionally her siblings who taunt her. He sees everything. He is a just and loving God and that’s why we can trust in him.


His 360-degree vision takes in the full panorama of time and space. He sees behind closed doors and around corners. He sees things that happen at work, things that happen in our government, things that happen in our schools. He not only sees all in the present, he sees all that is beyond us and he sees all that is behind us. He sees it in the full context we will never see. And because he sees everything, everywhere with loving eyes, we can trust him.

Trusting God enables you to live in the truth and not be afraid to remember who you are. “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will act,” (Psalm 37:5). You can trust in his personal call to you, it isn’t a mistake. Trust in who he created you to be in him. Trust in his call to your role in life and in your family.


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

God is your papa

By Barbara A. Schoeneberger

Digital oil painting by Barb from photo
by Michelle M. from freedigitalphotos.com

And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt. (Mark 14:36)

“Abba”, that beautiful Aramaic word spoken by a baby as his first word for “father”, has an equivalent in every language. In English it is “daddy”. In Korean it is “Appa”. In Italian, “babbino”, “papá”, “papino”. In all languages it expresses childlike innocence, trust, intimacy, and affection. In pre-Christian times “Abba” grew from solely a baby’s expression to mean “dear father”, an expression grown children would use to address their fathers.

When Jesus cried out these words during His agony in the garden, He spoke for all mankind, first as a Jew and secondly as a Gentile, as Mark wrote first the Aramaic word and then the Greek for “father”. Abba is for all of us. St. Paul reminds us of this in Romans 8:15:

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, “Abba, Father

By this we know that Jesus means for all of us to have that same relationship with His Father that He does, the child with the strong and loving protector and provider who watches over us with the greatest of care. This is His will for us.


Continue reading at Barab's blog Suffering With Joy.

St. Therese on littleness

By Michael Incorvia

(Photo in public Domain)

Littleness is what St. Thérèse desired with all heart.  She saw littleness as a way to spiritual childhood, a pathway to heaven, for “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

For Thérèse, littleness was surrendering to Jesus, trusting in God, bathing in Christ’s divine mercy.  In her littleness, she rested in God’s protection and found serenity.  St. Thérèse made God her Father in all aspects of her life.

She became completely dependent on God’s merciful grace.  When asked to describe this littleness, she replied:  “When we keep little we recognize our own nothingness, and expect everything from God just as a little child expects everything from his father. Nothing worries us.”


Michael originally posted this at his blog   To Love and Truth.

Humility of heart and confidence in God

By Amanda Rose

Ukranian Icon (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

We needn't be afraid of our weakness, our nothingness. Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen explains in my favorite book, Divine Intimacy:

"...for it is the consciousness of our nothingness which leads us to put all our confidence in God, and the greater this confidence becomes in us, the more convinced we are of our nothingness....I have to acknowledge new failures every day; daily I must begin anew.
The more we suffer because of our wretchedness, the more we should run to Jesus, with full confidence in the power of  His Redemption... Let us not be discouraged; if we can humbly acknowledge our failure instead of feeling annoyance because of it, the failure itself will turn into victory."

It sounds like such a little step to "humbly acknowledge our failure instead of feeling annoyance," but how difficult it is when we struggle with the same challenges time and again! The words of the psalmist in Psalm 37:24-25 have been a great encouragement to me over the years as I struggle with myself: "Though I may fall, I do not lie prostrate, for the hand of my God sustains me."  I continue to fall, but He keeps me from falling too far and is ever ready to reach out His own hand to pull me back to my feet, or maybe (more humbly) to my knees. He is ever patient with me while I am pridefully impatient myself. Humility of heart grows as we accept our failures as being part of our human condition, repent with true contrition, and then move right along rather than wasting time beating ourselves up, regretting, or rehashing.
 

Continue reading at Amanda's blog Little Steps Along the Way.

Harden not your hearts

By Connie Rossini

Moses Smites the Rock in the Desert by Tissot (photo credit:Wikimedia Commons)

"If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts." This Psalm response from Sunday's Mass is familiar to those who pray the Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office). Taken from Psalm 95, it is part of the Invitatory prayed every morning. This verse helps me immensely in my spiritual life. It reminds me always to be open to God's grace.

I get easily overwhelmed when I think about all the obligations of the spiritual life. I need to pray every day and pray well. I must be detached from everything except God. I must answer my children with love, work diligently, be considerate of my husband's needs, refrain from gossip, be humble... Yikes! The phlegmatic part of me can't handle all that at once.

Over the last year, God has shown me how to reduce these obligations to just one: trust. I must believe in and accept His plan for me at every moment. Another way of saying this is I must have an open heart.

 

Don't look for grace before you need it

Corrie Ten Boom, who survived Dachau's horrors, wrote her family's story in The Hiding Place. I love the tale she tells about her conversation with her father concerning death. As a little girl, she was distraught at the thought her beloved father would someday leave her:

I burst into tears, “I need you!” I sobbed. “You can't die! You can't!”

“Corrie,” he began gently. “When you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you your ticket?”

“Why, just before we get on the train.”

“Exactly. And our wise Father in heaven knows when we're going to need things, too. Don't run out ahead of him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need – just in time.”

I don't need to think about all the things God is asking me to do throughout the day. I only need to recognize what He is asking me to do at this moment. Grace exists in the present moment. It is available when we need it, not before. What is God's will right now?


Continue reading at Contemplative Homeschool.

Becoming like a little child

By Terry 

Blind Man's Bluff by Laufberger (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

#8 has a science project on Matter and Energy.  This past week, she gathered information on her topic.  Since I wanted her to use other sources besides the internet, we walked to the library on Saturday afternoon.

On the walk home, she decided to see what it would be like to be blind.  She closed her eyes, linked her arm through mine and asked me to guide her on the almost 2 km. walk home.

The mind plays all kinds of tricks when we shut off the sense of sight.  #8 felt she was walking in circles and even found her balance a bit off, but she was determined to continue her experiment.  Over one section of sidewalk, two men were trimming some badly overgrown hedges.  There were branches, debris and hedge clippings strewn over a distance of about half a block.  I thought #8 would open her eyes at this point, but she didn’t.  She walked in front of me and with my hands on her shoulders and my voice guiding her steps, she made it past that stretch of sidewalk.  As we continued on and she became a little disoriented, she leaned closer into me and persevered.  When we finally arrived home, she tentatively climbed the first two steps to our front door but then ran up the remaining three steps, felt for the door handle and opened the door triumphantly.


Continue reading at Terry's blog 8 Kids And A Business.

Don't be afraid to approach God

 By Michael Incorvia



 

St. Therese at age 13 (photo credit: Wikipedia).

More fearful than standing before a large audience to deliver a speech, is standing before God.  We fear being found unworthy and sinful.  We need only look to the Gospels to dispel our fears.  Christ welcomed all to approach who felt unworthy because of their state in life or sinfulness.   They needed only call out His name or beg His mercy to approach and be healed.

St. Thérèse teaches that we should have complete trust in the merciful love of Jesus.  His divine heart is irresistibly inclined to pour out its mercy without measure on the abject and the lowly.

We are to approach Christ in “trustful humility” with our sinfulness, brokenness, and imperfections before us.  Through His mercy our sins will be forgiven, our brokenness healed, and our imperfections refined.

In “trustful humility” we should offer ourselves as an “empty vessel” to be filled with the love of God and ultimately absorbed in love in Him.  We should never fear His loving mercy.  We should approach unhindered, to embrace His merciful love.


Michael blogs at  To Love and Truth.

Humility: God's anesthesia

By Mary N. 

Madonna of Humility by Domenico di Bartolo (photo credit: Wikipedia).

God has been very good to me. Unfortunately, I have to admit that at times I have the bad habit of focusing on my flaws instead of God's mercy and kindness. Do I really think that my human imperfections matter more than the greatness of the Lord? No, but it can be easy for me to get caught up in this negative type of introspection.

Every flaw looks magnified when inspected up close.

The world becomes a very small place indeed when we focus on ourselves to this degree.  I know better than this but still catch myself doing it. There's nothing that imprisons a person as much as being overly preoccupied with yourself does. When it comes to spiritual matters, self-absorption is downright dangerous.

I'm quite sure we impede the work of the Holy Spirit when we worry about our spiritual progress. It's as if we were saying to the Lord, "I can't trust you with my sanctification. I am worried about my holiness because I don't quite believe you are powerful or loving enough to take care of this for me." Or perhaps we think He'll let us down and that we won't reach the impossibly high standards of holiness that we set up for ourselves with our fallen natures that (of course) know better than God what holiness is.

 In other words...

 ...I am  convinced that our own idea of holiness and God's are different. Very different.

Sooner or later everyone must get rid of the false gods they have set up for themselves...and the most difficult one to boot off the throne is the god of self. It's been a problem since the Garden of Eden and is no less of one today. The apple doesn't fall far from tree. Those who think they have escaped this aspect of the fall of man are deceiving themselves. The saints didn't think they were saints; they understood the depths of their fallen nature and their total dependence on God's mercy. They knew they were sinners in deep need of salvation. Once self has been kicked off the throne it becomes very clear that this is true in our own lives as well. One of the biggest obstacles to becoming a saint is thinking you are one already. The humble KNOW they are sinners but this doesn't bother them to a great degree because:


Continue reading at  The Beautiful Gate.

Keep singing in the cellar

by Caroline

The Golden Stairs by Edward Burne-Jones (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons).

I will sing of thy steadfast love, O LORD, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations.

—Psalm 89:1

These uncertain times we live in feel like when my dad asked me to go down in the basement alone to do chores. It was always a dark descent even when the lights were on …even in the daytime. I’d fight him and pitch a fit..but he’d still ask me to go. My memory plays back the hollow sound of the wooden steps with each click of my shoes on the way down. I can still hear it and feel the fear.

It’s almost as if the Lord has resuscitated this memory to help me remember the faith of a child and how He strengthened me to do what I was asked even though I was afraid.

We need to know how to courageously continue on in our faith even when it appears the bottom is falling our of our country and the Church.

Dad…I can’t go down there.
How will you know if something happens to me?

He would say,

I’ll be right here in the kitchen.

But, I can’t see you.

Yes…but—-

I know where you are.
And if you’d like…you can sing.
When you stop singing, I’ll know something’s wrong.

So. I’d go down the steps…singing all the way and don’t you know, I never tried to test him by stopping. I just trusted he could hear me.

I’d do the laundry, soak the codfish, put the games away…..


Continue reading at Caroline's blog  Bell of the Wanderer.

Finding what really satisfies us

by Terry

Human Contentments by Edgard Farasijn (Photo in Public Domain).

We’re a peculiar bunch, we humans.  Most of us never seem to be satisfied with our lot in life.  No matter how good or how bad, we instinctively reach out for something more.

As someone who wears many different hats in a 24-hour period, I hate to admit it but I am guilty as charged.  If only my kids would do more chores; if only I could land that contract; if only I could finish that lesson plan; if only...

Recently, a person of advanced age who has great material wealth but failing health wistfully remarked, “if only I had more money, all my troubles would be over.”  The person was visibly anxious while saying this.  I probably shouldn’t have been surprised at that statement but it made me pause because it didn’t make any sense.  Money isn’t going to solve the myriad health problems or reverse the aging process.  I felt very sad for this person who, in my eyes, was still searching for something more and relying heavily on things of this world to appease an inner restlessness.  That the person was an atheist certainly didn’t help.

 
Continue reading at Terry's blog  8 Kids and a Business.

How to complain to God in 3 easy steps

by Daria Sockey

Mary Stuart's Breviary (Photo: Wikipedia)

I used to think it was wrong to complain to God. I had overdosed on those stories where saints are portrayed as  positively craving new opportunities to suffer for the love of God-- bursting into rhapsodies of delight at each new illness, inconvenience, and disappointment. And so, when the thought would cross my mind in times of trouble—God, what on earth were you thinking to let this happen to me?—I thought I was being at least slightly sinful.

But King David and the other psalmists complain plenty. They go on in great detail about how bad life is at the moment, and ask God why He hasn't fixed it yet. They tell God they don't understand why He worked so many miracles in the past but doesn't seem to do so anymore. They point out that non-believers are suggesting that maybe God is not so great if He allows  such  disasters to happen to His friends. 

We can't dismiss this by saying, "That was the Old Testament."  After all, the psalms were the prayers that Jesus used. As He was dying, he cried to His Father with the ultimate complaint from Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?”

Psalm 42 shows us the way

Yesterday's Morning Prayer from the Divine Office (Psalter, Monday Week II) starts with a wonderful example of the biblical way to complain--Psalm 42. It opens with sheer poetry, expressing our deepest longing:"Like a deer that years for running streams, so my soul is thirsting for you, my God..."

But soon the psalmist makes it clear that he is pretty miserable: "My tears have become my bread by night and by day, as I hear it said all the day long,'Where is your God?'"

"I remember...how I would lead the rejoicing crowd into the house of God...the throng wild with joy."

Now, check this out: "Why are you cast down, my soul, why groan within me? Hope in God, I will praise Him still, my savior and my God." A complete acceptance of suffering? Not quite. After this expression of trust, he is immediately back to complaining. "Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning, oppressed by the foe?...my enemies revile me, saying to me all the day long, 'Where is your God?'"

Despite that, the psalm ends with the refrain, "Hope in God, I will praise him still, my savior and my God."

Complaining and trust aren't mutually exclusive

The pattern is easy to see. Complain while trusting. Trust while complaining.

This makes perfect sense. In fact, it is what good (albeit fallen) children will do. Think of that fussy toddler screaming his head off while clinging to Mom's leg.  The whiny six year old whose favorite phrase is “That's not fair.” Or the  teenager pouting in her room. Despite each age-appropriate version of “why have you rejected me?”  they know that you love them and have their best interests at heart. Not that they are likely to say, “That's okay, Mom. I trust you, even if you don't buy me an Ipad.” These are fallen children we're talking about. But their continued trust is, I think, implicit. Maybe this is part of what Our Lord meant when He said we should become like little children.

Of course, it would be better to follow up our complaints to God with explicitly stated trust in Him. And the psalms are excellent models of how to do this. Complain. Trust. Repeat.

Daria Sockey originally posted this at her blog  Coffee and Canticles.