Bells

Let us make the bell toll with gladness and happiness.
 

The saint's lives are like great cathedral bells which sound loudly for all to hear to great distances. St. Padre Pio was born in 1887 and died in 1968, enduring the passion of Christ in physical wounds which hurt and bled for fifty years.

Many people have been affected by his life and in many places in the world, even though he never left the cloister to visit. There are many stories about how he was seen in places far distant from the monastery convent of the Capuchins where he lives. He is even said to have appeared in the air in the midst of an allied bomber formation headed to deal destruction with bombing attacks. His appearance spared people in cities nearby. So we do not know how one thing will set another into motion.

I am encouraged by the fact that good things can happen in one place and be felt in another, good things and holy things, the result of faith and love.

In part, I was spared death in Vietnam so I may serve God in my own humble way. it has been an opportunity to witness many things that stir faith in many people. It is sobering to realize that we are not alone, but interconnected by our faith and because of our love. His purpose is to increase our faith by proving that we are not doomed, by the positive outcome of many terrible events.

I havenot been blessed with the stigmata like Padre Pio, and I am glad to indicate the goodness of His servants, some who have been declared saints and some not yet. But because of the arthritis and several other things over the years, i have been afforded a participation in His suffering redemption. No one should feel defeated or demeaned by suffering when one would prefer to be healed and suffering ended. But we have the choice to acquiesce to suffering, or to obtain the healing possible in the Lord. Service to the Lord is by our willing act, unless He explicitly makes note that He would like to offer us the chance of suffering to please His Heart.

The grace of the life of Padre Pio was great enough to span distances and time itself. That grace was loud enough to be heard anywhere the Lord can reach and be heard, just like a great cathedral bell. Some pull the great ropes that move the bell to make it toll, and some simply respond with love toward God when they hear the bell. Both are in plain sight of the Lord who is aware of all that happens, and whatever great deeds we have done will be known to all holy people with the Lord.

New Vows

 

In humility and need of you, my Lord Jesus and my Mother, Mary,I pledge myself
all my days, to You and no other until my days are done and I come
to You.

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Solitude

 

Rise or set, there is no correct answer,
fortunately.

The deeper the solitude, the deeper the solitude I want.

God is infinite, and it should surprise no one that in His immense  infinity, He does not fit  into anything we can conceive.

It is in genuine solitude that you appreciate His greatness and His immense love. Solitude is a spiritual thing, not a physical measurement, like miles or kilometers. While one can retreat farther into a cave, it is not until you have gone all the way to the back that you realize how close everything is in being a living being. Clearly, existence does not define solitude. It is purely spiritual, which is to say, divine.

Once you have realized that solitude is existential and not mathematical, you realize how difficult it is to be truly spiritual in the midst over seven billion other human beings. And every one of the seven billion that exist all crave the love and acceptance of God who does not retreat away from us; it is we who are retreating away from Him, in terror of the materialism that defines all other aspects of life.

It is not possessing things that fulfills the human longing for unity with God who fills every place and everything and lives and moves and has His being in every moment of our existence.

If one craves real solitude, first of all, it is a divine invitation to us to embrace. There is no more certain means of finding solitude than embracing every thing that pains us and fills us with longings we can scarcely define. But of all the cravings, one alone is certain to transcend our limitations to effect a state in which we are close to Him in understanding, and that is in suffering.

Jesus provided Himself as the one efficacious and forgiving sacrifice which atones and satisfies all needs. The longings are silenced when death cuts us off from the longing to enable us to feel the fulfillment that is at the deepest depths of yearning. The possibility of union with Him has driven countless saintly children of God  to embrace poverty, solitude and perpetual longing. The most crass kind of solitude is called loneliness. A transcendance awaits one who chooses to love God as He is found, and not according to one's desires, because the gratification of the longing is a satisfaction of human longing and not the divine longing that waits our embrace. I have been on the cross a long time, high enough above the earth so that the blood drops fall on the dusty earth with a definite sound. From that distance, entering into the divine suffering, one sees adequately to appreciate His love for us. One day, perhaps, it will resolve itself so I may find rest in Him that satisfied.

Notice

 

Someone who thinks he is God's messenger and pet, needs to act differently than to deliberately call out the national guard and police on people who love this country and would love the opportunity to contribute to its defense and contribute to its financial well being.

People who are rejected frequently hold treasures  of wealth and prosperity. But i state the obvious. If people are aborting their babies so they are  not inconvenienced are the same ones who don't want certain people polluting their neighborhood with the breath of their life. 

The people who are stunned by grapefruit sized hail day after day need to think a little deeper to grasp the reason why. The picture ought to be a little clearer by now; pollution is a result of combustion waste. Until it is removed from the atmosphere, the atmosphere will continue in its relentless rampage tearing up neighborhoods, until the impoverished in the world are living like the wealthiest people on the planet. They will be dismayed when it all gets overturned and there is no place safe  from discomfort in the world.

At this time, we live in an era of awakening as a message of austerity finds its way into the minds and hearts of everybody. Don't ask God to be moderate with you  if you spare no thought for those already suffering lack and see only a black sky of need. 

Burn your bombs, seek  out the oppressed, the starving, those dying of thirst without relief, and the people who live isolated from other human beings. Forget your trade wars, and all other  kinds of war, and make a warm place for love to grow in your heart. If you cannot do that, then make your peace with God as best you can and prepare for the next  life.

Offering

If you do not feel as if you could console that Heart, begin by allowing your love to come forth like a fountain within your own, and let it burst forth in a torrent full of joy.

If you are suffering, offer it to Him; it is no ragged thing you offer, but the center of your being. That is His home; He made it so purposely.

Remind yourself that the Father helped the Son to mount the cross and die for you. If you think you cannot offer the Father His Son's death, think again. He is already dying waiting for your love, and if you will some day give it to Him, He will reveal Himself.

There are those who begrudge you the consolation of your own heart, and try to separate you from His Heart so you will forget to offer your heart to Him. Always look for a way to be in a position to offer Him your heart, regardless of how you feel. Do not let a feeling deter you. He will not allow anything to deter you from loving Him and receiving refreshment and peace. His love lives in these two things, so searching for His love is not impossible. Finding it is even less difficult.

Amen +

 

Memorial Day

Rest, brother and be at peace.

 I have no explanation for the joy of your heart within me, except to plead you never leave  me or bandon me. 

Forgive my sins as a sign to your children that you love them enough to pardon them, and give each one your grace and strength.

I cannot say I was a good steward, or even a good son of your gifts, except to say, You are so boundless in your love and happiness, that it spills over like a spring bursting out its confinement to leap up to heaven to be near with you.

I am not unvisited, and I am not ignorant of your passion, but in the manner you desired I have been fixed to a cross as real as life, and as incomprehensible as light.

Let your Light shone on me, and on all your children Lord, and bless them with Yourself.

Amen.

A Unique Position

 

The Mother of God, Mary, has never been seen bearing the wounds of Jesus, Her son. However, A different perspective may be obtained by dedicating our silence to Her in a penance that makes us not just worthy to participate, but ready and willing for Her love.

I am glad She was never made to suffer that kind of pain, but She was present when He was nailed to the cross, and in a mystical way, She experienced the passion fully, and on occasion, has been present as someone else received the Stigmata as She enabled her to do so. I refer to Saint Gemma Galgani.

If anyone can bear the unbearable, it is Mary the Mother of God. And yet, because of Her love, She is able to free us from sin and heal us of all things wrong with us.

All the things wrong with the world today are solvable by asking Her intercession to the Father through Her son. And for this reason, we should pray the Rosary daily, and ask for the solving all things wrong, the wars, the insolent rejection of Jesus and the Church, and the crimes committed everywhere which burden our hearts with pain.

The Mother of God knows what is wrong and how to fix it. At the same time, a great deal of gratitude and humility must be present to obtain our answer. If at first you do not receive what you ask, ask Her how to obtain the gift you seek.

Anyone willing to recall Her life and stand by Her side in the passion, should receive what they ask because they love the Mother of God.

The children of God are not afraid to endure suffering or pain in order to obtain the salvation of souls and the things necessary for salvation.