Daniel's Prayer

Daniel pouring out his heart to God for himself and his people in exile (exile- to be placed physically where your heart is spiritually: far away from God):

Daniel 9: 3-19

I turned to the Lord God, pleading in earnest prayer, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.  I prayed to the Lord, my God, and confessed, "Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and observe your commandments! We have sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your commandments and your laws.  We have not obeyed your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land.  Justice, O Lord, is on your side; we are shamefaced even to this day: the men of Judah, the residents of Jerusalem and all Israel, near and far, in all the countries to which you have scattered them because of their treachery toward you.  O Lord, we are shamefaced, like our kings, our princes, and our fathers, for having sinned against you.  BUt yours, O Lord, our God, are compassion and forgiveness!  Yet, we rebelled against you and paid no heed to your command, O Lord, our God, to live by the law you gave us through your servants and prophets.  Because all Israel transgressed your law and went astray, not heeding your voice, the sworn malediction, recorded in the law of Moses, the servant of God, was poured out over us for our sins.  You carried out the threats you spoke against us and against those who governed us, by bringing upon us in Jerusalem the greatest calamity that has ever occurred under heaven.  As it is written, in the law of Moses, this calamity came full upon us.  As we did not appease the Lord, our God, by turning back from our wickedness and recognizing his constancy, so the Lord kept watch over the calamity and brought it upon us.  You, O Lord, our God, are just in all that you have done, for we did not listen to your voice.

Now, O Lord, our God, who led your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and made a name for yourself even to this day, we have sinned, we are guilty.  O Lord, in keeping with all your just deeds, let your anger and your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain.  On account of our sins and the crimes of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become the reproach of all our neighbors.  Hear, therefore, O God, the prayer and petition of your servant; and for your own sake, O Lord, let your face shine upon your desolate sanctuary.  Give ear, O my God, and listen; open your eyes and see our ruins and the city which bears your name.  When we present our petition before you, we rely not on our just deeds, but on your great mercy.  O Lord, hear! O Lord, pardon! O Lord, be attentive and act without delay, for your own sake, O my God, because this city and your people bear your name!

Amen!


Draw our hearts to You O Lord.  Keep us safe in the shadow of Your wings.  Let Your mercy be on us O Lord, as we place our trust in You. In Your Holy Name, Amen.

Confession

When the Damage is Already Done

Have you ever said something you have regretted, sometimes almost instantly?  And in this day of social media and electronic communication, have you every written/typed/texted something you wish you could take back?  Recently, in an online conversation, in trying to be "helpful", I typed something that I could not take back.  In the end, it was not helpful at all, and I wanted so hard to delete what I had said, but really it would have done no good except maybe protect myself from others seeing what I had typed.  I could have deleted it, but the damage was already done.  I apologized, but my apology was ignored.  It is very painful when our apologies are not accepted, but also I can understand hesitation to forgive as I have been there before.  I would love to say that I could live a life with no apologies, but the fact is that I am human and I am going to mess up and say stupid things, even when I'm trying to be helpful.

In the aftermath of self recrimination and self doubt, God let my heart know with certainty, that no matter what we do, when we come to Him to seek forgiveness, He will never reject us.  Never.  He always receives our plea for Mercy with Love and forgiveness.  Do I forgive the way He does?  Or is my forgiveness cold and conditional?  And on the other side, do I seek forgiveness with love or with a desire to make myself feel better?  The damage has been done, but with Christ, all things are possible, and His Mercy endures forever.

A.M.D.G.

Here is a good response to the video Why I love Jesus, but hate religion.  I actually haven't watched that video, but this one is good!  And considering my daughter, who is 10, just encountered some anticatholicism yesterday, it is timely for us. 

What happened  in a nutshell:  One of her friends told her, "A lot of people think Catholicism is messed up."  and "Why do Catholics add books to the Bible?"  and "I believe you only need to confess your sins directly to God."  All in the middle of an art class!  I'm proud of my daughter's response to this and that she held her ground and also told me about it even though she knew it probably meant she was not going to get to go on a playdate with her yesterday afternoon.  Although she did not have enough knowledge to talk about the ins and outs of the history of the Septuagint and the Canon of Scripture in the Catholic Church with her friend, she did have a great response about confession.  She told her friend that when she goes to confession she actually" is confessing directly to God, and that the priest acts in the person of Christ."  Pretty good for a 10 year old defending her faith to another 10 year old.   

I was torn about whether to let her go play with her friend anyway yesterday afternoon, but decided to have one-on-one time with her instead, so we went to our local coffee shop and had a wonderful talk! She is still friends with her, and I had a wonderful discussion with her friend's mother which made me realize how many misunderstandings and inaccuracies there are out there about our Catholic faith.  There are definite differences, but how will people know what we REALLY believe and where it came from if we are not willing to share it?  I am glad that her friend asked her questions and for my daughter's courage.... this is where her strong will is beneficial.  May we as parents help guide her to follow Christ and His Truth and to help her to grow in courage to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ with love and generosity.

Her mom apologized and was very gracious.  It was something that could have ended badly but ended up being a wonderful place to begin a dialogue.

Here's the video I was talking about before:



HT GNW_Paul on Plurk for the video

In Need of a Savior

On my last post, I should have written that I struggle with acedia and sloth rather than acedia/sloth because I struggle with both.... didn't mean to imply they were the same thing.

A HUGE help for me is Confession. I went to Confession last week the day after writing that post. Then we finally had a weekend at home without too much going on, and we were able to spend a full day cleaning and organizing. I'll admit I am not a particularly organized person, but in order for things not to completely fall apart around here, we have to have some semblance of organization. Procrastination usually comes first for me, and then sloth, finally resulting in acedia. A friend once told me, you are kind of an all or nothing type of person aren't you? Sigh Yes, I guess that is true for me. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior. I trust You Jesus, You are my All in All.

I am thankful for all of your prayers because it is such an encouragement and writing these things here helps me to be accountable. I am most thankful for Jesus Christ giving Himself completely to us in the Sacraments, particularly in the Eucharist and in Confession. Without these Sacraments, I could very possibly still be plodding my way in the Slough of Despond, trying to save myself.