So, I’m on Day 54 of Asenscion’s Catechism in a Year Podcast, and it’s drawing me in. The most remarkable of the lessons in Catholicism is the dignity God gives to creation to have our own free will. In as much as He offers Himself for us to accept Him, we are also free to reject Him. That’s humans and angels as well. In today’s podcast, we discussed the fallen angels and their choices. The most salient lesson of this part of the Catechism deters anyone from praying for the fallen angels because there is nothing imperfect in God’s mercy – these creatures chose to reject God, and that is what they received.
Dearest Lord, in your wisdom you give your creation the freedom to choose our way in our lives. Still, you never give up in offering yourself for our salvation from sin. When we turn away from you, you are there to take us back – until the very last moment of our dying breath. Thank you for your graces. Let us never be apart from you, and when we fall may we always find our way back to you. Amen.
R.Pascual
We should never be afraid of the wickedness of the fallen angels; they are neither omnipresent nor omniscient. They, creations of God, have chosen their way of pride, hate, and envy. Even when we feel like we are victims of the forces of darkness, God can transform those encounters into a greater purpose. Keep praying for one another and have courage.
Found a song on Sirius XM, The Message station, and it really moved me. Check it out and read the lyrics as they go:
Plumb – Lord, I’m Ready Now
Lord I’m ready now. All the walls are down. Time is running out, and I want to make this count. That line sticks out to me. We’re all faced with moments where we need to let go and trust in the Lord. Have you ever been in such a mess that you let it all go, and say: “Lord I’m ready,” and you surrender. I have felt at times so frustrated and defeated, and that’s where God is waiting for you to let Him and and take over.
I ran away from you and I did what I wanted to. And I don’t want to let you down. Yes, we stray from Him, but there is peace and comfort that He never gives up on us. Whether we accept Him from the beginning, or through hardship we discover His amazing graces. In our brokenness, He is there, waiting to embrace you and take you into His heart.
Are you ready? Time is running out, and I want to make this count. Oh, I dearly want to make this count. Pray for one another, that all of us find peace in Him. Peace be with you.
Symbiosis has significance because more than one organism in nature has the power to coexist without expense to the other. What is that? It would be as if the other were better off not existing. Larger organisms, the sentient ones have a distinction, and that is the works of a selfless act. When we do so, one other depends on something given and not taken. In that is the art of living; moving and inspiring as it is.
First Verse; Can’t fight it, the dialogue of the lyrics are quite special to me.
What a moving song. IT’s odd how looking at the words long enough wakes up something inside. The recording posted before brought me to tears. The lyrics reminds me that joy and sadness seem to cross at the same point I cry. Whatever it was, just don’t bottle it up. What a great way to think of how we share with children. Cheer up! Chin up! Start looking for reminders like favorite things.
The Riddle by Five for Fighting
There was a man back in ’95
Whose heart ran out of summers
But before he died, I asked him Wait, what’s the sense in life? Come over me, Come over me
He said, “Son why you got to sing that tune?
Catch a Dylan song or some eclipse of the moon?
Let an angel swing and make you swoon
Then you will see, you will see”
Then he said, “Here’s a riddle for you
Find the answer: There’s a reason for the world
You and I”
Picked up my kid from school today
Did you learn anything? Cause in the world today
You can’t live in a castle far away
Now talk to me, come talk to me
He said, “Dad I’m big, but we’re smaller than small In the scheme of things, well we’re nothing at all Still every mother’s child sings a lonely song So play with me, come play with me”
And hey Dad, here’s a riddle for you Find the answer: There’s a reason for the world You and I.
I said, “Son for all I’ve told you
When you get right down to the
Reason for the world who am I?”
There are secrets that we still have left to find
There have been mysteries from the beginning of time
There are answers we’re not wise enough to see
He said, You looking for a clue? I love you free
The batter swings and the summer flies
As I look into my angel’s eyes
A song plays on while the moon is hiding over me
Something comes over me
I guess we’re big and I guess we’re small
If you think about it man you know we got it all
‘Cause we’re all we got on this bouncing ball
And I love you free, I love you freely
Here’s a riddle for you
Find the answer: There’s a reason for the world
You and I
Today’s reflection isn’t on designer perfume, but on the concept of “Eternity”. I just found that the ad campaign for this Calvin Klein product seemed fancy and eye-catching enough for the discussion.Ironically, this symbol of “high fashion” is an example of the material comforts that do not last the test of time and in fact, are a part of what we leave behind when we die.
As believers in Christ, we are reminded that life on earth is a mere temporary stop on our journey. Life here is intended only as a testing ground for what lies ahead: an eternal feast in the true presence of the Lord our God.
John 14:1-3 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
There is a place for us that is prepared and not one of us spends a day more than God intends us to have on this earth.
Many of us grieve when we have lost a loved one also often ask the question “why“? Author Max Lucado said it best when he writes: “You and I both know I can’t answer that question. Only God knows the reasons behind his actions. But here is a key truth on which we can stand. Our God is a good God.” (Traveling Light, Max Lucado). As inspired in the Book of Psalms: “You are good, Lord. The Lord is good and right.” (Psalms 25:7-8) God’s plan may not be revealed completely to us, but the motivations are pure and loving; it truly is “for the good” that these things happen.
But how could death be good? Isaiah writes: “Good people are taken away, but no one understands. Those who do right are being taken away from evil and are given peace. Those who live as God wants find rest in death.” Death is God’s way of taking people away from evil.What is this evil that the Bible speaks of? It could be a number of things, but mostly they are the things that turn us away from God or the things that harm us or cause unnecessary suffering in ourselves and in others.
That’s where eternity comes into the picture. What length of time is our life here on earth compared to eternity? It’s almost nothing… “In God’s plan every life is long enough and every death is timely.” (Lucado) We all have our season of life and our time, though highly unpredictable is completely intentional and planned by the Lord.
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
These “days” are the eternity that believers long for – for those of us left behind to live, we should take comfort in the loss knowing that the sacrifice of Christ has ensured the continuation of the journey for the dead in the life of the world to come.
The first book of Corinthians writes in a figurative sense about “yeast” when it says:
Get rid of the old yeast that you may be a new batch without yeast – as you really are. For Christ, our passover lamb, has been sacrificed. – 1 Corinthians 5:7
From an old post on the blog “Finding the Motherlode” the author poses a theological discussion on the nature of religion. Religion (religious thoughts, rules, ways and means), the author writes, is selfish. It stems from self and revolves around self. This selfish sense of “religion” is present in all of us and like a speck of yeast, it is very difficult to spot and remove. Some examples of this sense of “religion” that we should be warned of:
Religion is when I try to make something happen before God has ordained it.
Religion is doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons.
Religion is saying Hallelujah before having the faith to say Amen.
Religion is saying “Yes” to God without saying “No” to ungodliness.
I think I have a sense from where the author is coming from and I offer up an example from another blog which studies the works of James and the warning “Faith Without Works is Dead.” This selfish notion of religion is in saying and doing things that are biblically advisable but not really making the effort to make it happen. That in itself is a contradiction. It’s in the contradiction that we find the “yeast” in our lives.
But if a brother or sister is naked and may be lacking in daily food and any one of you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but does not give them the things the body needs, what gain [is it]? – James 2:14-15
This is a tough brand of yeast for me to purge from myself as I am faced daily with many homeless and poor individuals on the streets, all of whom are begging for their meager living. I usually pass them up knowing that a smile or a good word is not enough to fulfill their bodily needs, as the Bible demands. Finding ways of fulfilling my obligations to the poor is a lifelong challenge that faces me and possibly many others.
Like I said, once you recognize what yeast is in your life, it’s really, really hard to figure out how to remove it. It takes work and it takes sacrifice. As in the promise of salvation through Christ, we are challenged by Corinthians to prepare and make ourselves “new” (a new batch without yeast) to meet Christ’s sacrifice.
Today’s reflection comes from Purpose for Everyday Living for Fathers, which really speaks to this current life and times facing families today. It talks about the nature of unpredictable change and the anxiousness that some fathers may feel about factors affecting their families that seem so far out of their control.
Our world is in a state of constant change. God is not. At times, the world seems to be trembling beneath our feet. But we can be comforted in the knowledge that our Heavenly Father is the rock that cannot be shaken. His word promises, “I am the Lord, I do not change” (Malachi 3:6 NKJV)
The author reminds any father facing difficult circumstances that God is far bigger than any of those problems that you may face.
By putting your faith in the Father and His only begotten son: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV) Because the savior does not change “you can face your challenges with courage for today and hope for tomorrow.”
I myself as a father experience this anxiousness each day as I prepare my children for their day, struggle to pay the bills and expenses or hear about yet another violent crime happening in my community. Sometimes the number of troubles at my feet seem insurmountable and the pressure that comes from having a family count on me introduces a whole new level of change and uncertainty.
With God there is certainty. God will protect you if you ask Him. So ask Him and trust in Him to handle the many things that seem out of your control.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV
Corinthians reminds us that we are meant to be beings of faith. If we succumb to what we see before us, it is certain that we will be overcome and overrun with the multitude of problems that face us. By walking with faith we look beyond and towards the Lord instead. With faith, we trust in Him to handle what seems out of our control allowing us to serve Him instead of the problems before us.
Many of us are familiar with the promoted acronym: WWJD. For those who don’t, it stands for “What Would Jesus Do?”; it is a reminder for those who wear bracelets or accessories with the simple saying to consider their actions and decide if they are Christlike in nature. I’ve been reflecting on this saying and find it very catchy. It really gets to the point about a Christian’s journey seeking the path that Jesus has laid down for us to follow. On the other hand, in a post on “Eventful Journey“, a blogger makes an apt statement about the WWJD sentiment when he wrote:
Recently I have been rephrasing the bracelet: What WILL Jesus Do? This seems a much better way of looking at things. Jesus is not absent. Nor is he waiting to see if, through our own efforts, we can live up to his enormous expectations. Instead, he is in us, working through us by the same Holy Spirit that raised him from the dead (Romans 8:11). We are co-workers with him, not second-rate replacements for him. I have found this new way of thinking profoundly liberating.
I like that thinking because I agree that Jesus is NOT absent at all throughout our lives, our trials and our struggles. On the contrary, He is guiding our every action and gently leading the way. WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) is a nice sentiment, but to some people who consider its nuance will realize that the saying pits each of us alone at a crossroads, faced with decisions that are eminently beyond our ability to handle. As Jesus said in John 14:6: “no one comes to the Father except through me.” Our lives as Christians isn’t about rediscovering some hidden formula or path behind the life Jesus led on earth. It’s in finding Jesus Himself within the things that we pursue and the things that we do. So, where is Jesus? As in the beautiful poem about the footprints in the sand, we continue our life’s journey not alone and falling behind a trail Jesus has left behind. Instead we are right there, side by side with Jesus through whom we find our way to the heavenly Father.
10 Minutes For God 