The Abiding Presence of the Centuries

This. From +Venerable Fulton Sheen, The Mystical Body of Christ:

When therefore we in this twentieth century wish to know about Christ, about His early Church, about history, we go not only to the written records, but to the living Church which began with Christ. That Church, or that Mystical Person who has been living all these centuries and is the basis of our faith, says to us:

"I live with Christ. I saw His Mother and I know her to be a Virgin and the loveliest and purest of all women in heaven or on earth; I saw Christ at Caesarea-Philippi, when, after changing Simon's name to Rock, He told him he was the rock upon which the Church would be built and that it would endure unto the consummation of the world. I saw Christ hanging on a cross and I saw Him rise from His tomb; I saw Magdalene rush to His feet; I saw the angels clad in white beside the great stone; I was in the Cenacle room when doubting Thomas put fingers into His hands; I was on Olivet when He ascended into heaven and promised to send His Spirit to the apostles to make them the foundation of His new Mystical Body on earth. I was at the stoning of Stephen, saw Saul hold the garments of those who slew him, and later I heard Saul, as Paul, preach Christ and Him crucified; I witnessed the beheading of Peter and Paul in Rome, and with my very eyes saw tens of thousands of martyrs crimson the sands with their blood, rather than deny the faith Peter and Paul had preached unto them; I was living when Boniface was sent to Germany, when Augustine when to England, Cyril and Methodius to the Poles, and Patrick to Ireland; at the beginning of the ninth century I recall seeing Charlemagne crowned as king in matters temporal as Peter's vicar was recognized as supreme in matters spiritual; in the thirteenth century I saw the great stones cry out in tribute to me, and burst into Gothic Cathedrals; in the shadows of those same walls I saw great Cathedrals of thought arise in the prose of Aquinas and Bonaventure, and in the poetry of Dante; in the sixteenth century I saw my children softened by the spirit of the world leave the Father's house and reform the faith instead of reforming discipline which would have brought them back again into my embrace; in the last century and at the beginning of this I heard the world say it could not accept me because I was behind the times. I am not behind the times, I am only behind the scenes. I have adapted myself to every form of government the world has ever known; I have lived with Caesars and kings, tyrants and dictators, parliaments and presidents, monarchies and republics. I have welcomed every advance of science, and were it not for me the great records of the pagan world would not have been preserved. It is true I have not changed my doctrine, but that is because the ‘doctrine is not mine but His who sent Me.’ I change my garments which belong to time, but not my Spirit which belongs to eternity. In the course of my long life I have seen so many modern ideas become unmodern, that I know I shall live to chant a requiem over the modern ideas of this day, as I chanted it over the modern ideas of the last century. I celebrated the nineteen-hundredth anniversary of the death of my Redeemer and yet I am no older now than then, for my Spirit is Eternal, and the Eternal never ages. I am the abiding Personage of the centuries. I am the contemporary of all civilizations. I am never out of date, because the dateless; never out of time, because the timeless. I have four great marks: I am One, because I have the same Soul I had in the beginning; I am Holy, because that Soul is the Spirit of Holiness; I am Catholic, because that Spirit pervades every living cell of my Body; I am Apostolic, because my origin is identical with Nazareth, Galilee and Jerusalem. I shall grow weak when my members become rich and cease to pray, but I shall never die. I shall be persecuted as I am persecuted now in Mexico and Russia; I shall be crucified as I was on Calvary, but I shall rise again, and finally when time shall be no more, and I shall have grown to my full stature, then shall I be taken into heaven as the bride of my Head, Christ, where the celestial nuptials shall be celebrated, and God shall be all in all, because His Spirit is Love and Love is Heaven."

"Oh how I love to help you, my dear son and daughter. Let me remove those knots for you forever. I love you."

This morning as our new little guy was sleeping (well, not so new, 7 months now!), our 4 year old was trying to untangle a set of earbuds and becoming a bit frustrated.  Feeling a full heart this morning for many reasons, I decided to offer my help as I could see my patience was a little higher than his (which isn't always the case). Plus the baby was sleeping. 

That is not a picture of the same earbuds that we untangled, but some random group of tangled cords that seem to lie in abundance about our house.  But thank God we have a lot of pictures of Jesus at our house too.  Plus I thought you might get a kick out of the industrial strength ultra duster that my husband seems to think is the way to dust our house, which is covered in dust. But I digress.

He gave me the earbuds, and I proceeded to untangle the cords with great patience.  With this great gift of patience in my heart, I began a *teaching moment*.... this one was successful though!  I told him that it only takes a little bit of patience and perseverance to untangle and remove the knots.  He agreed. We worked together diligently and within no time at all, it was untangled! This happened with no interruptions, a miracle in itself.  It was so easy, but I reminded him that sometimes tangles are not so easy, and if we let God do the work for us and with us, He always works out the knots for us.

Right after we had that one untangled, he put it on top of another group of cords and it became all mixed up again! He and I laughed about that, and he tried to get them out himself but it was not working. That's when I said, "Here, let your mom help you out."

and bam! there she was, Mary, right there with us, saying, "Oh how I love to help you, my dear son and daughter.  Let me remove those knots for you forever. I love you."

So thankful for praying a Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots, recently, so she could open up my heart in this beautiful, tangible way.

And since I haven't announced yet here at this blog that we had a new baby, here is a picture of him! He was born just after midnight on January 21, 2015 on the Feast of Saint Agnes, with Saint Sebastian's help the day before during labor. We all love him so, our dear little David:

He Has Answered My Heart

He has answered a question that has been in my heart for so long now.  He answered last night while reading, just after midnight.  And now today I learn that this is the day that John Henry Cardinal Newman died. Thank You, Jesus.  Thank you, +Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Thank you, +John Henry Cardinal Newman.

"Touch Me not," He says to St. Mary Magdalene, "I am not yet ascended to My Father..." Why might not our Lord be touched before His ascension, and how could He be touched after it? But Christ speaks, it would seem, thus (if, as before, we might venture to paraphrase His sacred words)-- "Hitherto you have only known Me after the flesh. I have lived among you as a man. You have been permitted to approach Me sensibly, to kiss and embrace My feet, to pour ointment upon My head. But all this is at an end, now that I have died and risen again in the power of the Spirit. A glorified state of existence is begun in Me, and will soon be perfected.  At present, though I bid you at one moment to handle Me as possessed of flesh and bones, I vanish like a spirit at another; though I let one follower embrace My feet, and say, 'Fear not,' I repel another with the words, 'Touch Me not.' Touch Me not, for I am fast passing for your great benefit from earth to heaven, from flesh and blood into glory, from a natural body to a spiritual body. When I am ascended, then the change will be completed.  To pass hence to the Father in My bodily presence, is to descend from the Father to you in spirit. When I am thus changed, when I am thus present to you, more really present than now, though invisibly, then you may touch Me- may touch Me, more really though invisibly, by faith, in reverence, through such outward approaches as I shall assign.  Now you but see me from time to time; when you see most of Me I am at best but 'going in and out among you.' Thou hast seen me, Mary, but couldst not hold Me; thou hast approached Me, but only to embrace My feet, or to be touched by My hand; and thou sayest, 'O that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat! O that I might hold  Him and not let Him go!' Henceforth this shall not be; when I am ascended, thou shalt see nothing, thou shalt have everything. Thou shalt sit down under My shadow with great delight, and My fruit shall be sweet to thy taste. Thou shalt have Me whole and entire. I will be near thee, I will be in thee; I will come into thy heart a whole Saviour, a whole Christ- in all My fullness as God and man- in the awful virtue of that Body and Blood, which has been taken into the Divine Person of the Word, and is indivisible from it, and has atoned for the sins of the world- not by external contact, not by partial possession, not by momentary approaches, not by a barren manifestation, but inward in presence, and intimate in fruition, a principle of life and a seed of immortality, that thou mayest 'bring forth fruit unto God.'"

John Henry Cardinal Newman, Lectures on Justification

Serving from the Strength of Christ

Adapted from a previous post:

Several years ago, I read the book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver. It was a wonderful book that I studied with a group of ladies. During our discussion, some of us related more to Martha, some more to Mary, and some to both, depending on the place we were at in our lives.

I confess that at times I can relate to neither Martha nor Mary, as I have an awful tendency to be both lazy and not prayerful at the same time, just sort of sitting around focusing inward rather than upward toward God. This is a constant battle and it is good to know that God never takes His eye off of me, even if I wander away from Him.

One of the best things from the Weaver's book was a discussion of the 3 Deadly D's:

Distraction, Discouragement, and Doubt

We can end up on a path of downward spiral simply by becoming distracted, and we all know this is so easy to do in the information/entertainment age in which we live. Once we hit discouragement, which may be where Martha was when she complained about Mary not helping her, it is not far until we are clouded with doubt that can pull us into despair (a D all it's own) if we are not vigilant. It takes a recollected, prayerful heart to keep from being pulled into this downward spiral. When we are recollected in the Love of God, then we can serve from the strength of Christ, rather than our own inevitable weakness.  But I still thank God for my weakness, because it is there where I have found Jesus and His Sacred Heart, ready to pour out His love and healing in abundance.

Another very clarifying element of the book for me was Weaver's discussion of concern versus worry and her battle against fear.  Weaver tells us, "Concern draws us to God. Worry pulls us from him."

Concern	Worry
Involves a legitimate threat	Is often unfounded
Is specific (one thing)	Is generalized (spreads to many things)
Addresses the problem	Obsesses about the problem
Solves problems	Creates more problems
Looks to God for answer	Looks to self or other people for answers

So, if we find ourselves anxiety ridden, fearful, or insecure, we must give our anxieties, fears and worries to God, and He will give us peace. We need only trust in Him and His love and care for us and our needs.

Called For A Greater Purpose

A life-changing realization:

"There is something wonderfully sacred that happens when a girl chooses to look past being set aside to see God's call for her to be set apart." ~Lysa TerKeurst

This is a grace. The truth is, yes, I have been set aside, many times. All of us have, at one point or another in our lives, been set aside. And it hurts. But the greater Truth is that God, my Father (*my Father!!!) has called me through and beyond that hurt, wholly His beloved daughter, for a greater purpose. What I love about Lysa's words are this: Though I cannot change or control being set aside, I can acknowledge that it has happened and then choose (this is huge!) to look past this fact and see, know, and believe God's call *for* me to be set apart.  He has chosen me, and I belong wholly to Him.  Every moment of my life, past, present, and future has been redeemed by Jesus's life saving sacrifice and resurrection from the grave. All of me and every moment of my life belongs wholly to Jesus, and He has created me completely anew as God's beloved daughter.

Yes, I have been set aside. It hurts. And in that moment, I choose to turn to You, Jesus.  Help me to turn to You in every moment, for You have redeemed all.  I know and trust as I look to You that You have created me completely anew, set apart as a beloved daughter of God, Our Father. I praise You and thank You, Father. For I am wonderfully made and made new by Jesus. In Your Holy and Saving Name Jesus, I pray and I love You. Amen+

From there where all surrenders come

ELECTED Silence, sing to me
And beat upon my whorlèd ear,
Pipe me to pastures still and be
The music that I care to hear.

Shape nothing, lips; be lovely-dumb:
It is the shut, the curfew sent
From there where all surrenders come
Which only makes you eloquent.

Be shellèd, eyes, with double dark
And find the uncreated light:
This ruck and reel which you remark
Coils, keeps, and teases simple sight.

Palate, the hutch of tasty lust,
Desire not to be rinsed with wine:
The can must be so sweet, the crust
So fresh that come in fasts divine!

Nostrils, your careless breath that spend
Upon the stir and keep of pride,
What relish shall the censers send
Along the sanctuary side!

O feel-of-primrose hands, O feet
That want the yield of plushy sward,
But you shall walk the golden street
And you unhouse and house the Lord.

And, Poverty, be thou the bride
And now the marriage feast begun,
And lily-coloured clothes provide
Your spouse not laboured-at nor spun.

G.M. Hopkins

"Rest is a communion of love between them."

"Think of a child asleep in his mother's arms: the abandon with which he gives himself to sleep can only be because he has complete trust in the arms that hold him.  He is not lying asleep on that heart because he is worn out with anxiety.  He is asleep there because it is a delight to him to be asleep there.  The mother rests, too.  She rests in his rest.  Her mind and body rest in him.   His head fits into the crook of her curved arm.  Their warmth is mingled like the warmth of two softly burning flames.  She rocks to and fro, and her rocking is unconsciously timed by his breathing.  Rest is a communion of love between them.  It is a culmination of content: on the child's part, utter trust in his mother; on the mother's part, sheer joy in the power of her love to sustain his life."

Caryll Houselander

"...let your love lead your steps to Jesus wounded, to Jesus crowned with thorns, to Jesus fastened upon the gibbet of the cross."

"Since fervor of devotion is nourished and preserved in us by a frequent return of our thoughts to the passion of Christ, anyone who wishes to keep the flame of ardor alive within himself should frequently--or rather, incessantly--contemplate in his heart Christ dying upon the cross. That is why the Lord said of old: The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest shall put firewood on it (Lev. 6:5) Listen Mother devout: your heart is the altar of God. It is here that the fire of intense love must burn always. You are to feed it every day with the wood of the cross of Christ and the commemoration of His passion. The prophet Isaiah says, You shall draw waters with joy out of the Savior's fountains (Isa 12:3); meaning that whoever wishes to obtain from God the waters of grace, the waters of devotion, the waters of tears, must draw from the fountains which are the five wounds of Christ.

 

"Therefore let your love lead your steps to Jesus wounded, to Jesus crowned with thorns, to Jesus fastened upon the gibbet of the cross. Not only see in His hands the print of the nails, with the apostle Thomas, not only put your finger into the place of the nails, not only put your hand into His side, but enter with your whole being through the door of his side into Jesus' heart itself. There transformed into Christ by your burning love for the Crucified, pierced by the nails of the fear of God, wounded by the spear of super-abounding love, transfixed by the sword of intimate compassion, seek nothing, desire nothing, wish for no consolation, other than to be able to die with Christ on the cross. Then you may cry out with the apostle Paul: With Christ, I am nailed to the cross. It is now no longer I that live, but Christ lives in me (Gal. 19-20)."

 

Saint Bonaventure 

On the Perfection of Life Addressed to the Sisters, The Works of Bonaventure