So Lent is upon us.
No, it isn't a Catholic 40 day diet plan. It does, however, offer us a time to cleanse -not a physical detox, but spiritually (although, kudos to people who actually are detoxing physically for Lent. Jesus approves).
I've had some time to reflect on the idea of us as Church using these 40 days to fast and abstain, to sacrifice something for God. Our Lenten practices should be something that lead us to prayer and to Christ, something to prepare our souls for His death and Resurrection.
I think a lot of us struggle with that idea -that whatever we do, it should lead us to Christ. For years I gave up junk food because Lent was a convenient time to cut out the extra calories, and if it happened to lead me to prayer that would be great, but it seldom did.
In my experience I've learned that for myself, taking something on for Lent has been much more spiritually rewarding. Rather than using Lent for my selfish purposes, I find that taking on extra responsibilities helps me to make the effort to shed my sinful ways and seek Him more deeply.
Whichever way you roll this time of year, whether you abstain from something or take on new spiritual practices, the end result should always be the same. We work to bring ourselves to the same place on Good Friday -at the foot of the Cross, and on the same place Easter Sunday -rejoicing in the glory of the Risen Lord.
There is absolutely grace in fully immersing ourselves in whatever we have given to the Lord anytime of year, but Lent offers those of us who have not been as feverishly devout all year to come back in some way.
The main two thoughts that have been on my mind this first week of Lent are simple: Lent is an opportunity for those who have strayed to find their roots in the Church -and even if the simplest offering is made during this season, it is an opportunity for Christ to open the door to ones heart and deepen their faith a bit more. The second thought is that for all of us -Sunday catholics, daily massers, or CEA's (Christmas, Easter, Ash Wednesday Catholics) there is real and abundant grace in every sacrifice we make for the Lord -actual grace that stays with us and moves our hearts in the direction of Christ.
Some people bash the Catholics who abstain from meat on Fridays of Lent and give up candy bars for 40 days. For some of the Christians who daily receive Eucharist, they see this sacrifice as too little. For those who do not know Christ, they see these practices as meaningless and unimportant -just something we do for tradition's sake. But I maintain that however one chooses to make an offering to God -no matter how small, it is still beautiful in the eyes of our Lord.
More so, even IF it is a sacrifice that is made because out of tradition's sake, it is still an opportunity for one of the flock to find their way home. So what if they were binge drinking on Bourbon Street for Mardi Gras, and woke up Wednesday morning to the blurry realization that Lent had begun? Maybe it was a thought that was second nature and almost overlooked, and on the spur of the moment one thought, "I guess I'll give up cookies this year." Maybe they don't even know what Lent is really about, they just know that Catholics do it, and by golly, they are Catholic. So what? It doesn't matter how we come to Christ or how we choose to show Him our devotion, even in the littlest ways we can come to better know our Savior. When we least expect or realize it, Jesus takes hold of our hearts and brings us into deeper communion with Him. He reawakens that longing for Him. Lent is the perfect opportunity.
I am seeing more and more clearly that whatever we give to Christ brings grace and blessings into every aspect of our lives. As much as sacrificing can be inconvenient, when we put God first, all other things fall into place.
I have gradually noticed this effect in the past few years that I have really given myself over to the idea of a hearty Lenten practice. For example, this year I have taken on going to daily mass for Lent. I am a youth minister -I LIKE sleeping in. So to get up early for MASS of all things is about as big a sacrifice as I could have thought to make. I can get up to do the selfish things I need to do, but I have never really taken advantage of the gift of daily mass, and I thought this would be a great opportunity.
Getting up for mass has, in many secular ways, done me a lot of good. It gets me going for the day -it gets my running shoes on my feet ON TIME, it gets me to work early, it even gave me the chance to realize my tire pressure was low so that I could allow time to go to Tire Pros before work.
But spiritually, the grace and closeness to Christ I experience is worth so much more than the sacrifices I had to make to get to mass. More so, the conveniences of getting out of bed earlier than I would like to is NOTHING compared to the amazing feeling of partaking in Communion and hearing the word of God every morning before the day gets started. Eucharist strengthens us spiritually, and what better way to prepare for the day? I even think it makes me RUN better in the morning!
Long story short, Lent is awesome. It is an incredible gift from our Lord, and no matter what we do to during this liturgical season, the more important part of Lent is keeping an open heart, and our minds and spirits focused on that Cross.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Are you there God? It's me...
God speaks.
A lot of us, myself included, wish God would just come down on a big white cloud and say the things we want Him to say. To give us a yes or a no, to enlighten us on His plan for us, to explain what's going on in our lives and why the stuff is hitting the fan, or whether or not we're on the right path.
We all have those moments, right? The times when we look up to the heavens and yell, "Hellooooo? Is anybody up there? Is anybody listening?"
And usually no one responds. There's no booming voice from the sky like the prophets received. God doesn't always "give us a sign." There ARE times when He does, but sometimes you just have to wonder. How is God speaking to me? Or...is He?
As a youth minister I often feel like I am supposed to have the answers. There are times that I feel like out of all the people in this world, all us really "devout" or spiritual Catholics are supposed to recognize the most how God speaks and what he wants for us. We are supposed to "discern" His will. We're supposed to get it right, and somehow just know. But too often, I fail. I have no idea what God wants. I have a sort of spiritual verdigo -like I'm drowning and can't figure out the way up. All too often I just want clarity.
This weekend I had an amazing opportunity to really "discern" God's will for me. I was on retreat down in Orange county, and hoping that God would give me a big "yes!" or a booming "no, no, no, get the heck outta here!" to some of the directions I am trying to take my life in.
I wasn't doubting, I wasn't worried that I was making the wrong decision. But I did want a little assurance. A sign, if you will, that this was the right thing. And in His quite whisper, in the subtle move of His spirit, in His gentle presence residing in my own heart, I received my resounding ...ask again later...from Him. It takes more than a weekend away to get there.
Listening to God and discerning His will is about more than retreats. It's an ongoing process -something that requires patience and openness. God works on His own time. And He never forces Himself on us.
If our hearts are open to what God has in store for us, we will know how to follow Him. God's grace will never lead us astray, and even when we fail to follow the path as closely as God would like, He continually opens new paths for us to continue moving closer to Him.
The key to hearing God is prayer. Prayer is talking to God, and it isn't a one way street. I was once told that we as His people talk to God, and if He talks back that makes us crazy. But we are told to pray without ceasing, and it can be exhausting and frustrating to feel like our prayers aren't going anywhere. Being open to God's will means opening that line of communication -that prayer street- and letting the road blocks that stop God's response fall away.
God doesn't always speak the way we want Him to, but as Christians we have faith that God never abandons Us. He speaks -just not always in the most traditional of ways. Sometimes we do get HUGE signs from above, but that isn't what we can count on. Our faith allows us to rest in God's presence, and trust that He will reveal His will to us in the way that we are mean to know it.
A lot of us, myself included, wish God would just come down on a big white cloud and say the things we want Him to say. To give us a yes or a no, to enlighten us on His plan for us, to explain what's going on in our lives and why the stuff is hitting the fan, or whether or not we're on the right path.
We all have those moments, right? The times when we look up to the heavens and yell, "Hellooooo? Is anybody up there? Is anybody listening?"
And usually no one responds. There's no booming voice from the sky like the prophets received. God doesn't always "give us a sign." There ARE times when He does, but sometimes you just have to wonder. How is God speaking to me? Or...is He?
As a youth minister I often feel like I am supposed to have the answers. There are times that I feel like out of all the people in this world, all us really "devout" or spiritual Catholics are supposed to recognize the most how God speaks and what he wants for us. We are supposed to "discern" His will. We're supposed to get it right, and somehow just know. But too often, I fail. I have no idea what God wants. I have a sort of spiritual verdigo -like I'm drowning and can't figure out the way up. All too often I just want clarity.
This weekend I had an amazing opportunity to really "discern" God's will for me. I was on retreat down in Orange county, and hoping that God would give me a big "yes!" or a booming "no, no, no, get the heck outta here!" to some of the directions I am trying to take my life in.
I wasn't doubting, I wasn't worried that I was making the wrong decision. But I did want a little assurance. A sign, if you will, that this was the right thing. And in His quite whisper, in the subtle move of His spirit, in His gentle presence residing in my own heart, I received my resounding ...ask again later...from Him. It takes more than a weekend away to get there.
Listening to God and discerning His will is about more than retreats. It's an ongoing process -something that requires patience and openness. God works on His own time. And He never forces Himself on us.
If our hearts are open to what God has in store for us, we will know how to follow Him. God's grace will never lead us astray, and even when we fail to follow the path as closely as God would like, He continually opens new paths for us to continue moving closer to Him.
The key to hearing God is prayer. Prayer is talking to God, and it isn't a one way street. I was once told that we as His people talk to God, and if He talks back that makes us crazy. But we are told to pray without ceasing, and it can be exhausting and frustrating to feel like our prayers aren't going anywhere. Being open to God's will means opening that line of communication -that prayer street- and letting the road blocks that stop God's response fall away.
God doesn't always speak the way we want Him to, but as Christians we have faith that God never abandons Us. He speaks -just not always in the most traditional of ways. Sometimes we do get HUGE signs from above, but that isn't what we can count on. Our faith allows us to rest in God's presence, and trust that He will reveal His will to us in the way that we are mean to know it.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The Little Things
"The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description."
-Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Sometimes therapists have patients meditate as part of their treatment. There is something about meditation that soothes the soul. Slowing your mind and your words, relaxing your body, the entire meditative process is really beneficial to one's health. Have you ever noticed the healing power of the rosary? No matter how busy a day, no matter how much pain is in our heart, stopping to pray the rosary almost stops time in our souls. It draws us into the most intense drama of salvation history and puts us right there beside Christ. The world around us seems to cease to be, and we are experiencing Christ's love moving in our hearts. One can feel Mary's mantle wrapped around them, enveloping them in her comfort and peace. It takes 15 minutes, we can say it anywhere at any time of the day, it is a simple prayer, yet it is one of the most intense experiences we can have in our prayer lives.
That is the beauty and the genius of the rosary. While many Christians today look at the rosary as "wrote prayer," the truth is that it is deeply meditative and probably one of the most profound prayers we as Catholics have. The power of the rosary truly is beyond description. It is a string of 59 beads, it can fit in your pocket, it is a small reminder of our faith that we can dangle over the rear view mirror, yet it yields more power than we could ever know.
One thing I have noticed about Catholicism is that the little things seem to have the most power. Maybe that's why St. Therese is a Doctor of the Church. The little way, the little things, create the most change in our lives. They are the things that, in my opinion, aggravate Satan the most.
The rosary is probably one of the most powerful tools we have against Satan. When we think about it, who is the one woman who terrifies him the most? Mary was the most powerful woman in history -her yes changed the entire world as we know it- yet she was a young, meek, humble, virgin girl. And Satan hates her for it.
A lot of this world glorifies the idea that real power and strength is held by the big guys. But the comfort of the faith is that while our battle is epic, and our fight against evil is real and exhausting, we can be any size to fight it. We can have the weakest faith in the world, but with the support of our Lady, and with a look to her and her Son, we are untouchable.
What does it say about Satan that he is so threatened by our Lady? That every conversion, every "hail Mary," every celebration of the Mass, has him trembling? That's the image that I get. I think that in the little ways we say yes to God every day, we show Satan that he has no power over us.
Moving forward can seem overwhelming when we have so far to go. Trying to make progress in leaps and bounds can oftentimes lead to disappointment. It is in small steps and increments that we make the most fruitful progress -whether it be financially, our spiritual lives, or in our relationships with each other, focusing on the little things and using them to better ourselves can take a bunch of tiny steps and turn them into the long journey toward peace in Christ.
-Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Sometimes therapists have patients meditate as part of their treatment. There is something about meditation that soothes the soul. Slowing your mind and your words, relaxing your body, the entire meditative process is really beneficial to one's health. Have you ever noticed the healing power of the rosary? No matter how busy a day, no matter how much pain is in our heart, stopping to pray the rosary almost stops time in our souls. It draws us into the most intense drama of salvation history and puts us right there beside Christ. The world around us seems to cease to be, and we are experiencing Christ's love moving in our hearts. One can feel Mary's mantle wrapped around them, enveloping them in her comfort and peace. It takes 15 minutes, we can say it anywhere at any time of the day, it is a simple prayer, yet it is one of the most intense experiences we can have in our prayer lives.
That is the beauty and the genius of the rosary. While many Christians today look at the rosary as "wrote prayer," the truth is that it is deeply meditative and probably one of the most profound prayers we as Catholics have. The power of the rosary truly is beyond description. It is a string of 59 beads, it can fit in your pocket, it is a small reminder of our faith that we can dangle over the rear view mirror, yet it yields more power than we could ever know.
One thing I have noticed about Catholicism is that the little things seem to have the most power. Maybe that's why St. Therese is a Doctor of the Church. The little way, the little things, create the most change in our lives. They are the things that, in my opinion, aggravate Satan the most.
The rosary is probably one of the most powerful tools we have against Satan. When we think about it, who is the one woman who terrifies him the most? Mary was the most powerful woman in history -her yes changed the entire world as we know it- yet she was a young, meek, humble, virgin girl. And Satan hates her for it.
A lot of this world glorifies the idea that real power and strength is held by the big guys. But the comfort of the faith is that while our battle is epic, and our fight against evil is real and exhausting, we can be any size to fight it. We can have the weakest faith in the world, but with the support of our Lady, and with a look to her and her Son, we are untouchable.
What does it say about Satan that he is so threatened by our Lady? That every conversion, every "hail Mary," every celebration of the Mass, has him trembling? That's the image that I get. I think that in the little ways we say yes to God every day, we show Satan that he has no power over us.
Moving forward can seem overwhelming when we have so far to go. Trying to make progress in leaps and bounds can oftentimes lead to disappointment. It is in small steps and increments that we make the most fruitful progress -whether it be financially, our spiritual lives, or in our relationships with each other, focusing on the little things and using them to better ourselves can take a bunch of tiny steps and turn them into the long journey toward peace in Christ.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Why does God answer some prayers and not others?
I copied this post from my facebook. I had an exciting post for tonight but after 3 hours of driving was too tired to think.
I googled it. "Why does God answer some prayers and not Others?
Yahoo's top answer said that we can't understand the reasons because our perspective is too limited. I could see that. Another answer was that He does answer our prayers, but just not always in the ways we would expect. And I definitely see that too.
In the beginning of December my mom asked me to pray for someone I don't know. Never met this person, and I never will. She asked me to pray for a situation that seemed really bleak, and terribly sad. My mom always comes to me with prayer requests. She asks me to send them to people, because she believes in the power of prayer. It's like that line from Saved, when they get the Christian band to play, and Mandy Moore is like, "Prayer works!"
So anyway, I log onto facebook at work and see another person has posted a blog -a blog about this couple, the woman I was praying for, and all the progress that has taken place in the past month. It wasn't just my mom calling to say that prayers were answered. I think it was one of those little ways God reassures us, by showing me pictures of a person I had prayed for but never met and showing me how God has miraculously turned things around.
I pray for a lot of things. A whole long laundry list of things. Stupid things, silly things, seemingly impossible things. But God gives me something. Always some answer, some sign. Good or bad, what I want or not, there's always something. Maybe it's his way of reassuring me. Then my mom joked about how funny it is that God always answered my prayers.
But ya know, it's not like every prayer I've ever uttered was 'answered' -wrapped up and served on a silver platter. A LOT of my prayers in that past 9 years that I can recalled have seemed to go completely unanswered, or fallen on deaf ears, or so it would appear.
Yet when I think about it, the things that seem to have not been answered really have in one way or another. Because in then end, I think we all end up where we need to be when we are open to what's in store.
Maybe it all depends on what we are asking for. I bet it would sound like a cop out answer to people who don't believe in anything. If I said that every prayer that I ever prefaced with "Lord, let your will be done" was answered. But think that's really the truth.
We have free will, freedom to believe what we want and free to ask for what we want. But I think inevitably, God's will is GOING to be done. And prayer is an instrument through which God communicates with us. It's a two way street. So maybe when we pray for something, we just have to be open to HOW it is answered instead of looking for whether or not we get our way.
That sounds really callused, because I know there are times when we pray for something really important. It would seem absurd that God answered my prayer about having a little extra room on my flight from LAX to PIT or getting a good parking spot and not someone's prayer about a loved one not dying, or a family of 4 kids not losing their mother in childbirth. But then it goes back to what our intentions behind the prayer are.
If we pray for God's will, and the ability to recognize it, it's easier to make sense of some of the things that don't go our way in life. I think what is especially hard to cope with is when prayer doesn't go our way, and leads to REALLY intense suffering or grief.
If God hadn't "shown" me that this was the right pair of shoes or jeans while visiting the mall (and believe me, I would say he did), or any other material and unemotional thing that I'd selfishly prayed for, it wouldn't have shaken my faith to the core. It wouldn't have been the last straw, the final thread to break in the fraying rope of my faith. It's a trivial thing. But when the big prayers seem to go wrong, when we watch people we love pass away despite our prayers that they stay with us, that's when we start to wonder -is He even there? Is anyone listening? Have I been duped?
Even in things like break ups. I can recall running down the streets of a small New York town trying to hide the fact that I was weeping inconsolably, and fervently asking God to save a broken relationship and please let it be right. But it wasn't His will that it be so. In fact, it was His will that I wait for the right person. And in the time I've had to think about it, I'm SO GLAD to be out of that relationship (Hindsight's a biznatch, right?)
That was a hard time, but not nearly as tragic as what some people go through in their lifetimes. Heart break is hard, but I think a lot of people look for His answer in the most life changing and gut wrenching times of turmoil. Those moments of greatest lost can lead us to say, "That's it. If You loved me, You wouldn't have done this. You're not there, or You just don't give a damn."
I think that's when it really comes down to the intention behind a prayer. What are we REALLY praying for? You can't tell someone who is great mourning that they prayed incorrectly or for the wrong things, but the truth is that as Christians we know that suffering is an inevitable part of life. It's something our own LORD had to endure for our sake. We have these crosses to bear, and we must seek to understand that they UNITE us to Christ.
Maybe it's the revelation of a recent miracle that started this train of thought. Or the fact I've been watching Dead Like Me on Hulu that's brought me to thinking about it. But death is really only sad for the living. At least if we have a Christian understanding of death. If we have faith we know that what waits for us beyond this life is so much better. Just like a friend of mine posted recently on her facebook, "The very worst the world can do is kill us, and all that does is send us Home."
As living breathing people we have relationships and experiences, and we feel incredible indescribable pain and joy. We go through all kinds of things and witness both unbelievable miracles and see unspeakable horrors. And when we lose someone we love, it's the worst pain anyone can ever feel. And it is the saddest thing in the world for us. But just for us that go on living, because we are the ones still stuck here with the emptiness. Those who pass on, they go on to something more joyful and glorious than we can currently comprehend. Still somehow that doesn't always make us feel better. The idea of heaven really doesn't always seem to console those in grief, especially those without faith, or with weak or fragile faith.
Without that faith that God can work in the most painful situation, the suffering we endure seems meaningless and cruel. If we don't open ourselves the the desire to understand God's will, or to the possibility that there is a reason behind our sufferings, then it all seems pointless and without purpose.
It's not that I am some model of prayer and piety, but that's why whenever my mom asks me to pray for something, I don't just ask God for it. I ask Him that His will be done in a particular situation. Whoever I intercede for, I don't just ask God for favors. I don't just pray that God does what I want. In my experience, the most effective way to pray is just to ask God that He conform my will to His.
That way, when the people I want to live don't, and when anything important doesn't go my way, I can accept the pain and ask Christ to use it to bring me closer to Him. I think it's a pathway that He has made for us to be able to know Him better and to build that relationship. It makes it easier to accept the hardships that come with the painful things in life. And asking for understanding, or the grace to want what God wants, can help us to move on and rejoice in His love despite the tragic circumstances. It is what enables us to cope with death and loss, heartbreak and painful mistakes we make. All the problems of humanity become a method of growing closer to God when properly understood.
God answers all prayers in some way or another. I guess we either get a yes, a no, a "yes but not the way you think of it," or a 'yes but not in a way you can understand just yet'. Somehow, even when we hurt, God take's care of all our needs. Matthew 6:26 says, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" God takes care of the needs of the smallest of animals, so how much more will He take care of us?
And those prayers we don't see answered, the things we don't get, maybe they are the smalls things. The "wow" moments we experience when a superficial or small prayer is answered. Or maybe they are the huge life changing things, the moments when our worlds seem to fall apart and everything we thought we know -we don't.
But those moments, the most painful, are the times when we especially need to have faith and learn to pray. And to pray that God's will be done. And that He show us His love.
Hmm. I don't know. Just food for thought I guess.
I googled it. "Why does God answer some prayers and not Others?
Yahoo's top answer said that we can't understand the reasons because our perspective is too limited. I could see that. Another answer was that He does answer our prayers, but just not always in the ways we would expect. And I definitely see that too.
In the beginning of December my mom asked me to pray for someone I don't know. Never met this person, and I never will. She asked me to pray for a situation that seemed really bleak, and terribly sad. My mom always comes to me with prayer requests. She asks me to send them to people, because she believes in the power of prayer. It's like that line from Saved, when they get the Christian band to play, and Mandy Moore is like, "Prayer works!"
So anyway, I log onto facebook at work and see another person has posted a blog -a blog about this couple, the woman I was praying for, and all the progress that has taken place in the past month. It wasn't just my mom calling to say that prayers were answered. I think it was one of those little ways God reassures us, by showing me pictures of a person I had prayed for but never met and showing me how God has miraculously turned things around.
I pray for a lot of things. A whole long laundry list of things. Stupid things, silly things, seemingly impossible things. But God gives me something. Always some answer, some sign. Good or bad, what I want or not, there's always something. Maybe it's his way of reassuring me. Then my mom joked about how funny it is that God always answered my prayers.
But ya know, it's not like every prayer I've ever uttered was 'answered' -wrapped up and served on a silver platter. A LOT of my prayers in that past 9 years that I can recalled have seemed to go completely unanswered, or fallen on deaf ears, or so it would appear.
Yet when I think about it, the things that seem to have not been answered really have in one way or another. Because in then end, I think we all end up where we need to be when we are open to what's in store.
Maybe it all depends on what we are asking for. I bet it would sound like a cop out answer to people who don't believe in anything. If I said that every prayer that I ever prefaced with "Lord, let your will be done" was answered. But think that's really the truth.
We have free will, freedom to believe what we want and free to ask for what we want. But I think inevitably, God's will is GOING to be done. And prayer is an instrument through which God communicates with us. It's a two way street. So maybe when we pray for something, we just have to be open to HOW it is answered instead of looking for whether or not we get our way.
That sounds really callused, because I know there are times when we pray for something really important. It would seem absurd that God answered my prayer about having a little extra room on my flight from LAX to PIT or getting a good parking spot and not someone's prayer about a loved one not dying, or a family of 4 kids not losing their mother in childbirth. But then it goes back to what our intentions behind the prayer are.
If we pray for God's will, and the ability to recognize it, it's easier to make sense of some of the things that don't go our way in life. I think what is especially hard to cope with is when prayer doesn't go our way, and leads to REALLY intense suffering or grief.
If God hadn't "shown" me that this was the right pair of shoes or jeans while visiting the mall (and believe me, I would say he did), or any other material and unemotional thing that I'd selfishly prayed for, it wouldn't have shaken my faith to the core. It wouldn't have been the last straw, the final thread to break in the fraying rope of my faith. It's a trivial thing. But when the big prayers seem to go wrong, when we watch people we love pass away despite our prayers that they stay with us, that's when we start to wonder -is He even there? Is anyone listening? Have I been duped?
Even in things like break ups. I can recall running down the streets of a small New York town trying to hide the fact that I was weeping inconsolably, and fervently asking God to save a broken relationship and please let it be right. But it wasn't His will that it be so. In fact, it was His will that I wait for the right person. And in the time I've had to think about it, I'm SO GLAD to be out of that relationship (Hindsight's a biznatch, right?)
That was a hard time, but not nearly as tragic as what some people go through in their lifetimes. Heart break is hard, but I think a lot of people look for His answer in the most life changing and gut wrenching times of turmoil. Those moments of greatest lost can lead us to say, "That's it. If You loved me, You wouldn't have done this. You're not there, or You just don't give a damn."
I think that's when it really comes down to the intention behind a prayer. What are we REALLY praying for? You can't tell someone who is great mourning that they prayed incorrectly or for the wrong things, but the truth is that as Christians we know that suffering is an inevitable part of life. It's something our own LORD had to endure for our sake. We have these crosses to bear, and we must seek to understand that they UNITE us to Christ.
Maybe it's the revelation of a recent miracle that started this train of thought. Or the fact I've been watching Dead Like Me on Hulu that's brought me to thinking about it. But death is really only sad for the living. At least if we have a Christian understanding of death. If we have faith we know that what waits for us beyond this life is so much better. Just like a friend of mine posted recently on her facebook, "The very worst the world can do is kill us, and all that does is send us Home."
As living breathing people we have relationships and experiences, and we feel incredible indescribable pain and joy. We go through all kinds of things and witness both unbelievable miracles and see unspeakable horrors. And when we lose someone we love, it's the worst pain anyone can ever feel. And it is the saddest thing in the world for us. But just for us that go on living, because we are the ones still stuck here with the emptiness. Those who pass on, they go on to something more joyful and glorious than we can currently comprehend. Still somehow that doesn't always make us feel better. The idea of heaven really doesn't always seem to console those in grief, especially those without faith, or with weak or fragile faith.
Without that faith that God can work in the most painful situation, the suffering we endure seems meaningless and cruel. If we don't open ourselves the the desire to understand God's will, or to the possibility that there is a reason behind our sufferings, then it all seems pointless and without purpose.
It's not that I am some model of prayer and piety, but that's why whenever my mom asks me to pray for something, I don't just ask God for it. I ask Him that His will be done in a particular situation. Whoever I intercede for, I don't just ask God for favors. I don't just pray that God does what I want. In my experience, the most effective way to pray is just to ask God that He conform my will to His.
That way, when the people I want to live don't, and when anything important doesn't go my way, I can accept the pain and ask Christ to use it to bring me closer to Him. I think it's a pathway that He has made for us to be able to know Him better and to build that relationship. It makes it easier to accept the hardships that come with the painful things in life. And asking for understanding, or the grace to want what God wants, can help us to move on and rejoice in His love despite the tragic circumstances. It is what enables us to cope with death and loss, heartbreak and painful mistakes we make. All the problems of humanity become a method of growing closer to God when properly understood.
God answers all prayers in some way or another. I guess we either get a yes, a no, a "yes but not the way you think of it," or a 'yes but not in a way you can understand just yet'. Somehow, even when we hurt, God take's care of all our needs. Matthew 6:26 says, "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" God takes care of the needs of the smallest of animals, so how much more will He take care of us?
And those prayers we don't see answered, the things we don't get, maybe they are the smalls things. The "wow" moments we experience when a superficial or small prayer is answered. Or maybe they are the huge life changing things, the moments when our worlds seem to fall apart and everything we thought we know -we don't.
But those moments, the most painful, are the times when we especially need to have faith and learn to pray. And to pray that God's will be done. And that He show us His love.
Hmm. I don't know. Just food for thought I guess.
Welcome
There IS something about Mary.
She is the Queen of Heaven and earth, and the most humble servant of Her dearly beloved Son. She wants no glory for herself, only to bring us to the foot of her Son's cross.
I would like me to introduce myself. I am a slave to the Queen of Angels, and a daughter of the Most High King. I have been praying about the best way to serve our Lord, and have decided to go with the blogging route.
My hope is that whoever may come across this blog may be open to the grace that Christ has in store for them. I will be posting my own personal reflections, as well as the prayers and quotes of the saints. I would also like to pray for you, so feel free to leave your own intentions in the comments.
Thank you for stopping by :)
"With your help, so long as there is strength within us, we will fight to the last breath. So help us O Queen, O Lady, O best and dearest Mother!" -St. Maximilian Kolbe
She is the Queen of Heaven and earth, and the most humble servant of Her dearly beloved Son. She wants no glory for herself, only to bring us to the foot of her Son's cross.
I would like me to introduce myself. I am a slave to the Queen of Angels, and a daughter of the Most High King. I have been praying about the best way to serve our Lord, and have decided to go with the blogging route.
My hope is that whoever may come across this blog may be open to the grace that Christ has in store for them. I will be posting my own personal reflections, as well as the prayers and quotes of the saints. I would also like to pray for you, so feel free to leave your own intentions in the comments.
Thank you for stopping by :)
"With your help, so long as there is strength within us, we will fight to the last breath. So help us O Queen, O Lady, O best and dearest Mother!" -St. Maximilian Kolbe
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