Let God arise

As an "antidote" or follow-up to my last very disconcerting post, here is another blog post, from my favorite Vultus Christi. Father Mark offers much in the way of beauty and wisdom there. I thank God for him. Here, In our struggle with the powers of darkness, I am given hope and a chance to breathe. Please, read it.

After all, though a new era of martyrs this may surely be, then that means a new era of saints. Those among us who will rise above the rest and be shining witnesses to God's love and mercy, God's truth and sovereignty, in a hungry, thirsty, aching world. We are all of us called to be saints. Each one of us.
I pray for living courage in the face of evil. I pray for a vibrant, anchored faith in the face of lies and falsehoods. I pray for illuminating hope in the face of darkness and deadening despair. I pray for a living, bleeding, breathing love in the face of hate, indifference, wrath, sin, and the culture of death.

Let us pray together. Let us, through our imperfect lives, help to usher in the Kingdom of God. We are called to be icon-bearers of Christ to the world. For some, we might be the only glimpse of Truth they will ever receive.

Fides, by Sir Edward Burne-Jones

"What is the monster we've become?"

And I thought this world was already utterly, utterly insane.

Guess I was wrong. Sorry to be so depressing today, but check this out. [WARNING: Link contains disturbing and graphic details/info.]
THIS. On top of all that is already WRONG with the world, on top of all that is already EVIL. More. More of it. More insanity.

I feel like screaming, and this is one of the very good reasons why God did not endow me with magical powers and a wand to harness it with. I would be too dangerous with them. Case in point -- situations like this. Mercy fades in my heart and I just want JUSTICE DONE NOW. It is only later when I am calmer do I begin to feel such overwhelming sorrow for the people like this. Sometimes I feel a kinship with St. Thérèse and her great desire to save souls. Sometimes I feel that way. This great burden and responsibility and yearning, this need, to reach people and bring them the Light of Christ. They need it so much. This world needs it so much.

I mean, read the comments....someone mentions another HEINOUS Youtube video (I unfortunately know such videos/acts are relatively common) involving cruelty to a helpless animal. GOD, I WANT TO SCREAM AND SHOOT SOMEONE. Or at least ask for another Flood. OMG. I FEEL SO FREAKING TICKED OFF RIGHT NOW.

-_____________-


Oh, my God, what have we done?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????

WHAT ARE WE DOING??!!!??!!??????????????????????


Oh, Mary, Mary, Light in All Darkness and Mother of Hope - PRAY FOR US.


Everyone just pray. And fight. We are in a war. Father Phillips, at church, wasn't kidding when he said we are living in a New Age of Martyrdom.

Martyrdom takes many forms, and though right now it may not look like the Age of Martyrs in the past, with horrific tortures and executions, if one but looks, you will see how and where the martyrdoms happen. We suffer and are tortured and killed in other ways. But we are on the path back to all-out persecution. Traces of 1984 and suchlike are becoming more apparent every day.........



Oh, God, I'm so scared!

Oh, God, my heart hurts!

Oh, God, I feel so sick!


My God! You ask us to trust You! How? How?

And yet, still You say - "Fear not, for I am with you always."

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph."

Oh, Mary, when will that be? I'm starting to wish it. Though I do not wish for the end of this life, I wish for thy triumph. I wish for Christ's reign upon this Earth. Oh.......

It's things like this that cause me to lose hope. But we are never without hope. There is always hope. Always. We must be the ones to keep working, keep fighting, keep living and loving, keep its Flame burning.

"And all that is not well shall be made well."



We live in a very, very sick world. Perhaps sicker than it has EVER been before. We must fight for its soul. We must fight and pray. The Holy Rosary is one of the best 'weapons' we have against evil. Pray it. Pray it. Every day. I confess I don't always. :( But I should. Our Lady asked us to, pleaded us to, at Fatima.


We need the Great Physician now more than ever.



Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.

He weeps.

Begin with the world unseen

(And what's this about no comments on the song before this post? Hmmm? Do you seriously not like it? xD)

I meant to post this on Sunday, and I know that Monday is now almost over, but better late than never! I subscribe to their email list, and received this in my inbox on Palm Sunday. :) I pray it offers you some food for thought and meditation, as we enter the second day of Holy Week.

Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, by Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin

In ‘The Cross of Christ the Measure of the World’ (1841) Newman argues that this world can only be truly understood in the light of the cross of Christ, for we must experience the sufferings of this world before we can understand ourselves, our weakness and sin, and so realise our eternal destiny. So is this world somehow bad, and not to be enjoyed? No, says Newman, but: ‘they alone can truly feast, who have first fasted’.

And thus, too, all that is bright and beautiful, even on the surface of this world, though it has no substance, and may not suitably be enjoyed for its own sake, yet is a figure and promise of that true joy which issues out of the Atonement [for our sins which Christ worked on the cross]. It is a promise beforehand of what is to be: it is a shadow, raising hope because the substance is to follow, but not to be rashly taken instead of the substance. And it is God’s usual mode of dealing with us, in mercy to send the shadow before the substance, that we may take comfort in what is to be, before it comes. Thus our Lord before His Passion rode into Jerusalem in triumph, with the multitudes crying Hosanna, and strewing His road with palm branches and their garments. This was but a vain and hollow pageant, nor did our Lord take pleasure in it. It was a shadow which stayed not, but flitted away. It could not be more than a shadow, for the Passion had not been undergone by which His true triumph was wrought out. He could not enter into His glory before He had first suffered. He could not take pleasure in this semblance of it, knowing that it was unreal. Yet that first shadowy triumph was the omen and presage of the true victory to come, when He had overcome the sharpness of death. And we commemorate this figurative triumph on the last Sunday in Lent, to cheer us in the sorrow of the week that follows, and to remind us of the true joy which comes with Easter-Day.

And so, too, as regards this world, with all its enjoyments, yet disappointments. Let us not trust it; let us not give our hearts to it; let us not begin with it. Let us begin with faith; let us begin with Christ; let us begin with His Cross and the humiliation to which it leads. Let us first be drawn to Him who is lifted up, that so He may, with Himself, freely give us all things. Let us “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and then all those things of this world “will be added to us.” They alone are able truly to enjoy this world, who begin with the world unseen. They alone enjoy it, who have first abstained from it. They alone can truly feast, who have first fasted; they alone are able to use the world, who have learned not to abuse it; they alone inherit it, who take it as a shadow of the world to come, and who for that world to come relinquish it.

(Reference: John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons Vol 6 (1842) Sermon no. 7, p. 92-3)

***My thoughts - Yes, a shadow of the world to come. But then, so are we also shadows of who we really are. We will not become fully and completely ourselves, fully alive, until we pass through death, a second birth. All Creation groans for redemption; it will not be "destroyed" in the Apocalyptic imagery (exploited and exaggerated and woefully misunderstood) that is so known to us (and despised by me), I think it is more proper and orthodox to believe that Creation will be renewed and redeemed. What is false will pass away; what is true shall not pass away, but be made perfect. "Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen."

I've been reaching for the stars

So yesterday, since it is now barely Sunday, lol, was Lazarus Saturday. I had actually forgotten about it until a friend mentioned it on her blog. xD
Probably because I am Latin Rite (Western) and not an Eastern Rite or Byzantine Catholic, or Orthodox, as this day is more in their liturgical calendars than in our Western ones. :P

In honor of the day, whether or not it's on my calendar, lol, I am sharing this beautiful song by one of my newest favorite bands, Army of Me. The song is called "Rise" and I have heard it acoustic in person. :D

I was actually thinking of posting it yesterday, but today...er....yesterday...makes better sense. You will see why. ^_^ Enjoy!

You may listen here, which also has lyrics.

Lyrics:

I’ve been reaching for the stars
I’ve been stretching out so far
Am I getting any closer than I’ve ever been before?
I was lying in the gutter
I was crawling in the street
Now the servants are all sitting
in the most distinguished seats, so…

Rise, rise
Like a star you will rise

I’m rebuilding this house that was taken by the waves
This time I’ll make a mansion
This time I’m not afraid
I was lying in the gutter
I was calling in the streets
I was looking for an answer
The answer, it found me, so…

Rise, rise
Like a star you will rise

Strengthen my ankles, it’s time to walk
Rise up, rise up, my heart’s unlocked
I have been hiding for much too long
It’s time..

Rise, rise
Like a star you will rise
Dead man, come out

Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum

Oh, alas, alas, it has been days and days since last I posted anything, I know! For shame! I am so darn busy right now, it's maddening. And so this little blog-in-forming, as I call it, gets neglected. In fact, I approved some lovely comments recently by some of you and have yet to reply to them! Agh! I will, though, I will.

First off, I am rather amazed that Sunday is Palm Sunday and Lent is nearing its end. Holy Week is upon us! How can this be? The days go by so fast. :/


Today is Lady Day! I love that English name for it. There's just something about it that makes my heart quicken. It is the feast of the Annunciation, when we remember when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Our Lady Mary, announcing the coming of the Saviour, whom she would conceive in her womb. Today is a day of joy! The beginning of the Incarnation and the setting forth in motion of our salvation.

Since I don't have a lot of time, but I still would like to share some thoughts for today, I am linking a lovely reflection from Deacon Keith Fournier on today's feast: Mary Teaches Us How to Live.

Also, one of my favorite religious blogs, Vultus Christi, has a beautiful post for today, The Two Annunciations. I urge you to read it.

And now, a poem, Ave Maria plena Gratia, from Oscar Wilde, who on his deathbed came to faith, and was baptized and anointed by a Catholic priest.

Was this His coming! I had hoped to see
A scene of wondrous glory, as was told
Of some great God who in a rain of gold
Broke open bars and fell on Danaë:
Or a dread vision as when Semele
Sickening for love and unappeased desire
Prayed to see God’s clear body, and the fire
Caught her white limbs and slew her utterly:
With such glad dreams I sought this holy place,
And now with wondering eyes and heart I stand
Before this supreme mystery of Love:
A kneeling girl with passionless pale face,
An angel with a lily in his hand,
And over both with outstretched wings the Dove.

The Annunciation, by John William Waterhouse

Surpassing all we know

I meant to post this yesterday, but forgot. In choir here we are now learning a song I've already sung with my beloved high school Chorale! It was either my sophomore or junior year, I can't remember. Probably junior. The words are so beautiful, I thought I'd share it with you. If ever I can get my hands on our recording of it, I will be sure to share that, too! (I'm pretty sure we did record it.)

Pilgrims' Hymn
Music composed by Stephen Paulus, Text by Michael Dennis Browne

Even before we call on Your name
To ask You, O God,
When we seek for the words to glorify You,
You hear our prayer;
Unceasing love, O unceasing love
Surpassing all we know.

Glory be to the Father,
And to the Son,
And to the Holy Spirit.

Even with darkness sealing us in,
We breathe Your name,
And through all the days that follow so fast,
We trust in You;
Endless Your grace, O endless Your grace,
Beyond all mortal dream.

Both now and forever,
And unto ages and ages,
Amen.

Alone in the stillness

LOBH head-webmistress Jeanna shared this recent interview with Jon Foreman that she found. He has got to be one of my most favorite people on this planet. :)


I feel [God's love] when all the chaos is pushed aside.

A forgotten art worth reviving

Over at Love and Fidelity Network, they posted this article on the differences between courtship and dating, between wooing and pursuing. Now what girl in her right mind wouldn't want to be wooed? I always say I don't want to be "dated," I want to be courted. Maybe not necessarily in a way as formally as done in the past, but with the basic framework and mindset of courtship, yes.

And that makes all the difference.

Please read! I'd personally like to hear your thoughts and reactions to it. :)

On the Forgotten Art of Pitching Woo

The End of the Quest, by Sir Francis Dicksee

Truth

"Love always has meaning. But sometimes only God knows what it is."

~ Madeleine L'Engle

Now I'm finally where I belong

I am in the process of telling a new friend of mine my conversion story. Well, as much of it as I feel comfortable telling. :P I’ve already warned her how long and rambly and involved and intricate and winding it is, and how it will take me forever to tell it to her. So I edit. ;) But in all seriousness, I know I could most likely write an entire book on my “story.” In fact, it would be more like a memoir or autobiography than just a book telling my conversion, as this involves my entire life. Indeed, yes, one could say my whole life thus far has been leading up to my entry into the Holy Catholic Church, and afterwards, going ever deeper.

This is why the Protestant notion of a single “moment” of conversion or salvation (ie: being “saved”) is so erroneous. Conversion simply cannot be relegated to a single moment! That’s ridiculous. Conversion takes an entire life. It is an entire life. To constantly refocus, realign one’s life with God’s will, to always be getting back up after stumbling, always seeking out the light in the darkness, always absorbing and seeking out a deeper understanding of the Christian Mysteries, of the Faith. Always going deeper and deeper into the Heart of Love – Christ’s Heart.

Reading that may come as a surprise to a few of the people I know occasionally visit this blog-in-forming. They have no inkling I’m a convert whatsoever. I don’t exactly advertise the fact, and sometimes I’ve even felt rather embarrassed or ashamed of it. Which is ridiculous. I know it is. I have no reason to feel that way. I shouldn’t feel that way sometimes. But I do. More on that later…

Others will only be semi-surprised, having been told of me being a convert many moons ago and having since more-or-less forgotten.

And still others will find this as no surprise at all, with my conversion being very out in the open with them. :)

Why do I sometimes feel almost ashamed to be a convert? Is it because that sometimes I let myself think that being a convert and not a “cradle Catholic” somehow makes me less Catholic? Is it because I fear what others may think – that I will not be devoted to my Faith, not care, know next to nothing, don’t belong here – something?? Is it because I really don’t feel like launching into the discussion of the how’s and why’s and when’s of my conversion?

Ohhhhhhhh….how stupid! How silly! I have NO REASON to think those things. I should be proud, even. I made a conscious choice – to enter the Catholic Church. After what I’ve sometimes seen called the “emotional conversion” came my “intellectual conversion” – I studied, I read, read, read, I researched, I did so much research online of even ‘little’ things. I wanted to know all I could about even just the basic things. I wanted to understand as best I could all the Catholic doctrines and dogmas I would have to accept. “Have to” – sounds like being forced, but I wasn’t. They all make sense to me.

I should feel honored and blessed – as I do – for being a convert. I have come home! “This is home, now I’m finally where I belong…” I sing. As I have been told by others, I am in some ways lucky, because I will never take my Faith for granted now that I have it. I know what it’s like not to have it.

Being Catholic now is as much a part of me as … as being me. :P

Rachel is Catholic. It is part and parcel of my identity now. I would be woefully lost and adrift without it. I don’t even want to think about that. “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

So, yes. I am a convert. My “emotional” conversion was throughout all my life, really, but more-or-less “happened” in the beginning of 2006. Then throughout the rest of 2006 and into 2007 was the majority of my basic “intellectual conversion.” And since then has been the ever-deepening, ever-growing, ever-learning journey of my Catholic life. Just when I think I can go no deeper, God surprises me. And so it will always be. (Thank God!) :)

His love precedes our action

God has already given us His love, the fruit. It is not we who must produce the abundant fruit; Christianity is not moralism, it is not we who must do all that God expects from the world; rather, we must first of all enter into the ontological mystery: God gives Himself. His being, His love, precedes our action and, in the context of His Body, in the context of being in Him and identified with Him, ennobled with His Blood, we too can act with Christ.

~ Pope Benedict XVI, Lectio Divina on the Feast of Our Lady of Trust, Major Pontifical Seminary of Rome