Miracles

Ask and you will receive.

How do miracles happen?

I have had some in my life, but I only discuss them in general terms.

Perhaps the one aspect that comes to peoples' minds is that they really have to want the miracle and there can't be any doubt about receiving a miracle.

An honest person will probably be frantic, or the need for an actual miracle would not come up in the first place.

While there are criteria in the Lord's mind, we will never reach such pinnacles of perfection; our selfishness is a very hard burden in life. You don't need to be a saint to ask for a miracle. You do need to be humble and your eyes fixed on the Heart who loves you, because miracles do not take place outside of a great deal of love; very deep and unselfish love.

A person might want to ask, but they may not see themselves worthy. Well, no one is worthy, because we blew in the beginning by the first sin. 

So if you need a miracle, ask for it, humbly and unselfishly, and don't worry about what if. Sometimes the asking must be carried out for a while before it is reoeived. It does not hurt to be a person who bothers to live the way God asks either. 

Peace be with you.

Rapture and other myths

 

The time has come for sober thought. Would God allow a nuclear war? I think the answer has been given before now; we fought the first world war, a second world war, and the VietNam war with the Korean war, the Afghan war and now we prepare for another war. Insofar as war is concerned, another war based on a nuclear exchange would annihilate the human race; there can be no winning side, no thousand year reich or soviet utopia, or wall street atheistic war to establish the kingdom of personal satisfaction and pleasure.

Let that sink in for a bit. The personal guard of Vladimit Putin prance around his palace with a priggish smirk on their face as if they are the master race. As far as human survival is concerned, there is no master race, no master economy and no worker's paradise in which he who works is the slave of the government, whether it resides in Washington DC or Moscow or Beijing or Pyongyang. Every human empire has come to an end; someone smarter and stronger came along and wiped it out, taking possession of everything achieved. Built on the ashes of the last empire, every empire comes to an end.

And if God allows another war, will there be a rapture? Ask yourself, did the people of the first and second world war go away at the height of the veangance rocket? Are we going to give away everything we have achieved? I think not. But even if nucllear weapons disappeared and the very concept was vanished, we would still be at each other's throat without the grace of God, and it is only the grace of God that will allow us to live in peace. Unlike the world that existed in the movie "THe Day the Earth Stood Still", there are no master robots with the ability to totally erase the human race if they don't stop fighting.

No economic system can survive without a radical transformation of human beings by God's grace.

Frankly, I am tired of thinking about these things. I have been thinking about them for 77 years and I participated only in the Vietnam war, and have no desire for any further participation in any further wars. I have seen too much evidence of the consequnces in human lives, young, old and in between.

I think we must insist on His grace, demanding it at any cost. While demanding it may seem arrogant and selfish, people truly in love with each other demand quite a bit from each other, and I am told He loves us with an infinite love. Not much love exists in the world anymore. Only our prayers can preserve it and help it survive and thrive in place of the selfishness and sinfulness of the human race, which seems bent on inventing new heights of sin and hate 

We may be deserving of punishment and chastisement, but even Jesus endured it, when He was whipped at the scourging post in Jerusalem.

That He endured it, not deserving of it, is a fact, and whether we punish ourselves or God punishes us, a lot of unpleasantness and gloomy despair awaits those who will not open their minds and hearts to Christ. I am also tired of having to to shut up and not offend someone who has no clue who God is, let alone what He is really like. The God who allowed the first two world wars was not a woose or a wimp. He is not afraid to punish us justly. We must satisfy His justice, or He will do it.

Rapture refers to a state in which God swoops up a soul and suspends it between heaven and earth, so that nothing of this world affects it and is capable of feeling the full effect of infinite love and joy. It has nothing to do with floating above the scene of a final war, or being lost in God's own bliss to unite us to Himself. The final state of the people who inhabit heaven will be perfected, free of sin or the capacity to commit sin and will be eternally happy. Another word for rapture is ecstasy, in which the senses are suspended along with bodily functions. In that state, the soul feels as God feels, and anything the soul can endure will be at the divine level, and only God can make it possible to be suspended that way and able to endure the happiness. I have never experienced it, though I have experienced great happiness and was not concerned about earthly comfort while I was in His presence.

All in all, I would rather feel that love than suffer anything on earth, but if only some great suffering will satisfy the Lord, then I would choose to be stigmatized, as that was Jesus choice, the choice of St. Francis and the choice of St. Padre Pio when the occasion arose. In Padre Pio's case, he desired the wounds out of love for Jesus, but not the constant harassment he suffered because he bore Christ's wounds. 

So we have come full circle. Much suffering is evident in our future, but loving God, we will not care, because to feel that love is to be wholly abosorbed in Him to the exclusion of everything else. We do have choices, but thus far, the human race has chosen poorly. We see what happened to the Nazi who chose poorly in the ndiana Jones" movie.. Let our intellect be perfected by Jesus so it is at Hs service, then we will not be liable for the sin of selfishness and we may console Jesus hanging still on the cross of selfish loves.

The Solitary Man

 God help the solitary man who seeks God. He is exposed on every side and beset from within and without by evil, gnawing away at his soul for his love of God, subject to the most heartless and descpicable pronouncements possible.

In the midst of such suffering, it does not matter the intensity of pain, or the debilitating loneliness with which he is assaulted, yet even in the midst of total darkness and the assaults of abandonment, he can only see that he is nailed to a cross as real as the ground beneath his feet, and his life blood is flowing away profligately, writhing in suffering that will not end. It makes you  old, and it makes you young.

Hybgry and yearning for sleep, it will not come, until one questions his very vision by which he sees. If it were not for the sudden effulgences of His glory, it might be as bitter as death, yet that does not come either, for men do not stop sinning, and the need that they be punished and chastised never ends, until in a moment He embraces him on the  brink of despair.

Thus a man knows how his brothers are doing, for he is alive with him and all who serve the Lord, and comfort is in their embrace, from far distant shores.

None of it is seen by anyone except God, who measures the weight of sins against the balance of our penances. Yet it is true that we scarcely know His pain and disappointment, and few are those who realize how much He wishes the consolation of our attention, and our desired embrace.

To bleed, the pain must be felt, and the suffering substantial. God deliver him from those who see nothing of the darkness or feel the least prick of any pain, for they are too busy in their merriment and are always busy entertaining themselves while others take up the cross and laid down on it so the nails may the more easilly be imparted all the way through the wood and through the limbs affected. So much will be requited on the final day. Do not fear for your salvation as long as you can feel abandoned and despairing, for the truth is that He loves us greatly for our willingness.

A Prayer

 Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to heaven, especially those who have most need of thy mercy.

One of the prayers said with the other prayers of the Holy Rosary.

A Prayer

 

Selfishness

Donald trump is no savior. He only responds to the possibility of getting something he wants. He has been indicted several times and has hurt people, even raping or molesting them. He doesn't care  if it is possible to get an abortion or not as long as he gets what he wants for himself. Those who voted for him in order to change the law about abortion was tragically wasted. Similalrly, those who are opposed to homosexuality and gay marriage in particularl, will find he hates homosexuals and would hunt them down if he got the chance.

The only thing trump responds to is what he wants, and he will spare no expense to get it, and will say or do anything that will get him what he wants.

Cares

God cares for His children and clothes them in life
and well being.

 It is not difficult to be stunned to silence. Events can freeze us where we stand. It tests what we believe by forcing us to do something, or to admit a truth.

One of my passtimes is watching historical videos about world war 2, and fantasy films like Harry Potter. While some condemn the Harry Potter series, I find that there is a strong current of good versus evil, which is a good thing, I think; if we can see events for what they were, history has a way of repeating irself, which can give us opportunities to take certain actions.

Human ingenuity alters the equation of how time resolves; we can't know how things will change, though we may be quick to pick up on possibilities

People can no longer doubt that changes in the climate have rendered weather forcasts difficult to make. That makes violence in nature very unexpected and if no advance warning is heard, then people die in floods, earthquakes and violent volcanic eruptions. While that list of events is by no means inclusive of everything adverse, it is already close enough.

The bodies discovered at Pompeii  were all that remained after the explosive eruption of Vesuvius volcano, in Italy. So many lives were cut short, and plaster poured into the ash rendered a solid image of the final agonising experience of the inhabitants of Popmpeii.

When ash was removed from parts of Pompeii, frescoes and mosaics appeared, perfectly preserved by the burning cataclysm. People's work was disclosed, the bread baked, and the decorations of the dwellings of the time.

At least some thought should be evoked in encountering these things. Our time is by no means without evidence of sudden and unforeseen catastrophes. People carry on having babies, raising children and working toward retirement and ultimately, passing from this life to the next.

If a person prays their Rosary, they can ponder the meaning of the associated mysteries, and find the comfort nothing else can give. We should ask to be forgiven our sins and we should make atonement for them. Certainly, we should also remember those who have gone before us and encountered the  justice of God. Every sin must be atoned in some way, and an important way is to recall those who have passed on in our prayers, asking for the forgiveness of their sins.

It is certain that none of us will have the excuse "I didn't have time to atone". Sins are committed almost casually, as if there were no consequences. Even priests and bishops nuns and monks must account for their lives before God.

The tragic events of history stand before us as witnesses and admonitions;  such things as the Boxing Day tsunami, and the fire-bombing of Dresden and the use of the first atomic weapon stand demanding explanations and ackowledgments.

"Oh my Jesus, forgive them their sins, be merciful to them and bring them home to you, in your great mercy"; a prayer given me by the Lord. It is a short and simple prayer we can repeat whenever we hear a fire engine or an aid car driving by with their sirens blaring. Then too, when we see the news on the internet or on a tv, we can pray for those who died in catastrophes. Whenever we feel ourselves becoming ill or sudden fear invades our heart, we can make the sign of the cross, and experience the Lord giving us His peace.

In the Rosary we can include the prayer, "Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, and lead all souls to Heaven."

We shold pray that the Lord prevent a nuclear exchange, and act to quell wars and disputes that can lead to deaths of millions.

The Lord does not demand the impossible; He gives all the grace and knowledge necessary to be safe and to remain close to Him in time of trial, suffering and terror. Those who perpetrate terror will suffer for it. Those who overthrow governments and foment wars will be punished for it, because God is just, and such things will be accounted for.