Fullfillment

 

Moments after asking Saint Carlo Acutis to help update my windows 10 computer.

When we give ourselves to Jesus and Mary it is immediate and eternal. From that moment, whether our life continues for one second or for a hundred years, we are theirs if we ask for it, and belong to them. They may ask us whatever they like, and we ought act as if we are obligated because we are. Nevertheless, whether we were spiritually capable at that moment of delivering upon our promise or not, He respects us if we at least made the effort. 

This being the case, we should  hasten to offer ourselves to them, and reform our lives as if they had appeared to us and bound us tho themselves as to so many others who went on to be saints.

Let us not waste our lives, but engage all our capabilities to connect us to all the possibilities we have as a result of the sacred acts they make for us. 

This world is as fragile as a dove's egg, and in spite of human ignorance, it is subject to the sorrowful desecrations that befall the world, and tear up human lives like sheets of worthless paper.

Each such moment is dealt with by the Lord, and the promise of each life is saved from perdition for the day we will be united to them again after our sojourn here in life.

Cease your lamentations, for the moment of our salvation is at hand, and the moment our poor hearts will be united to theirs forever. Gone will be all sin and violence and the vileness of evil will be confined to a place from which there is no escape, while those He loves as His own son or daughter will be invited in to heaven to live with Him in peace and honor forever.

Do not weep for the humiliations you have suffered, or the losses brought about by the world, for God has kept all that was worthy in us in His Heart for the day He would be able ro restore them to us. Whatever was taken from us will be restored, and the good we did will be proclaimed in  honor before all the holy saints and angels above.

Wipe the tears from your eyes and from your heart and allow Him to fill you with His love.

A Feast

Can you drink the cup I will drink?
Welcome into my House.

Discipline has nothing to do with corporal punishment, and I do not advocate beating one's self. Some people do. That is their thing, but I think it is counterproductive. There are millions of people who suffer pain 24-7, 365 without let up and it is relentless. Some are very young; I know one case whose situation has been shared on the internet, who truly suffer enough for any ten men, and he is only eleven. In addition, he was put into an induced coma and it caused him to  lose his sight because of bleeding the coma caused. I am not a doctor, so I don't understand how a comatose condition should cause bleeding in the eye and rob a person of their vision.

I think it is infinitely better to calmy approach the Lord in humility asking forgiveness for sins of one's own self, and those of others. One might also fast in honor of the passion of Jesus, for the sake of those who most need His grace.

I am struck after all this time, by the compassion of Jesus toward sinners. We are in a condition in which we are spiritually blind, and see only the tiniest fraction of what Jesus suffers. Give Him cause to rejoice in us, and love Him as He wishes to be loved, even if we are aware we have little notion of what His suffering is. In it is included all our sufferings as well as the sufferings we are incaoable of seeing let alone endure.

Today is the feast day of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina who was the Capuchin friar upon whom Jesus imposed His Stigmata for fifty years; the stigmata disappeared after fifty years according to his own disclosure. He was attacked and several times physically injured by attacks of the evil one, and frequentlly assaulted spiritually as well. He was said to be able to read hearts and is responsible for many physical healings and miracles, in particular, capable of being in  more than one place at a time.

I pray for peace for all who are struggling with earthly matters and spiritual matters as well.  May He heal you and bring you relief of all that troubles you. May He dwell with you and make you dwell with Him in peace.

Turn It Off

 

Microsoft is in a ridiculous position. On the one hand it wants people to quit using windows 10 and use windows 11, but deliberately bars people from upgrading to windows 11 from windows 10. They state that hardware requirements and security as the reasons for not allowing an upgrade to windows 10. I have gotten to like windows 11 and find my self feeling very frustrated at being prevented by microsoft from upgrading.

Microsoft will never win any awards for security because of their sloppy practices when it comes to writing software to be used for security, or software to be used for other things. 

I even went to so far as to buy a refurbished system that was advertised as having windows 11 installed. That never happened. The system works, but it is stuck in windows 10 and can't be upgraded. I have tried some of the hacks people touted, but that didn't work. I wasted my money, but now they say that they will allow upgrading my system to install windows 11, onlly, if there is a button to click, it hasn't shown up. Frankly, it is very nasty indeed that they encourage people to tinker with the brains of the system to try to accomplish their purpose, because a mistake could brick the system insensible altogether.

So what use is microsoft or windows 11 if a person can't use what they  produce and they refuse to allow things to work? At one point I thought Linux might be an answer, and the temporary trial worked; I went from a windows environment to a Linux distribution, but the moment I wanted Linux to install permanently in place of windows, all hell broke loose and I even had to replace the hard drive. So Linux was not the answer. Apple has its own little own little kindgom, but membership in that realm is way to rich for my blood. I also have misgivings about how easy or difficult it might be to be born again as an Apple enthusiast, after some very unpleasant moments caused by bad upgrades and password snafus. I will never go through that again.

That doesn't leave much. But I am also aware of things looming beyond the horizon that might make doing things digitally very difficult, like power blackouts, massive earthquakes, disease epidemics and political catastrophes brought on by half-wit mental defective mouldering politicians and their nuclear bombs.

All my faith and trust in God are tested by other people and the things they do to other people to satisfy themselves. Why God doesn't give a hint at how we might turn things around without one or another of the above mentioned catastrophes slamminng down on us.

One is left wondering what will happen, why it was'nt averted or why God didn't step in and say "enough!" and bring the whole machine to a screeching halt and say what's on His Mind to set everything straight. The thing is, that could still happen without megatsunamis or nuclear warheads. I don't know how it would happen, or the consequences of an act of God falling on us in one preemptive moment. God's love nothwithstanding, He  insists on  justice for Himself. People who keep on trucking day after day without a change don't make things any easier on the rest.

The sun is coming up, it is bright  out and clear but the air is foul with a mixture of automobile engine exhaust and naturally  occurring wildfiire smoke lingering in the air.

I encourage everyone to sit down someplace quiet and be at peace long enough to get in touch with what's goin on inside themselves. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Clouds

 Clouds

I give thanks for dark and gloomy clouds for the way they reassure my soul and the way their bright light illuminates my soul.

If He can take care of my sad mood, surelly He is able to do all else that is necessary.

I give thanks for rainfall in the night's quiet which lifts up my soul.

A melody lifts me up, a blackbird's bright patches fluffing up when he sings reassures me when I am afraid.The bird is not afraid to sing, in spite of predators, giving away his hiding place. I will hide in His cloak and in His Heart I will take refuge and I will be safe, even if the nails of crucifixion explode within my wrists and feet. He bore all for me, shall I refuse Him anything?

Wingbeats

Not a single beat of his wings 

goes unnoticed by the Lord.

If it is necessary for you to change the way you live so that you are in solitude and silence, He will surely let you know. There are many ways to know; a way for each person on earth, so that there is great scope and variety, in accordance with the idea that there is never another you. You're it.

I found the thought of Nw Camaldoli intriguing and attractive, but it was not what God wanted, so that I do not live there today, and am not a member of that august community.

One should not be concerned with being unique. Each person is unrepeatable. So that having left behind the issue ot being unique is instantly resolved and you can get on to other more pressing things.

Do not worry about need. Each of us was born completely helpless and entirely dependant on other human beings for survival. Jesus told us in Scripture that we should not worry, that each day is sufficient to itself. Some, at this point, would wonder what's next, but that moment is taken care of by His Will.

So there are few things of concern still needful; prayer, dealing with solitude, responding to silence and solitude. These are full of enough urgency all by themselves. Haiving come and responded to the notion of joining a community or finding a place where one can truly be alone and live in silence, the moment is at hand when the stream of our prayers begins and we strive to keep it flowing, meaningfully and intensely. A person who thinks he can just plop down any old way in any old desert without preparation is nuts. He will discover that soon enough, if he is not prepared.

Eternity does not end, hence the necessity to be earnest in what one does in the presence of God. There is space enough in our time to respond to God, because He has built each day and moment until we are trained and ready for eternity. If we are sincerey, we will be prepared for eternity, and that care is wiped from  our consciousness. What remains is to be responsive to God, letting the stream of our prayers be as natural as our next breath.

There are enough people in need or in troubles of all sorts so that they are in jeopardy of losing their eternity because they are unaware of eternity or what it means. The world will try to take away our meaning so that our heading and our helm in life are unattended, not a good way to run a ship.

God will never cease calling us and longing for our presence, and if we love Him, we will be full of longing for Him. Let it not be hollow, empty, meaningless. How prescious the longing is that ties us to Himself. He will not let us fall from the cross to which He has fastened us, nor should we fear what the next moment brings, because we are attached to Him the way He is attached to the cross. Our hearts are attached to the Lord, so how do we become detached? by letting anything else occupy the space in our time and our awareness fostered by the Lord and trusting in Him. He cannot foul up the moment of our transition from our here and now that way the world can, and it abhors a steady man who trusts in God, and is dismayed that anything worldly might slip into oblivion as we meld into the Lord. Yet, do not be concerned. He knows our needs and the needs of those we pray for, and will bless us quietly for our prayers. If we love others more than ourselves, we cannot be lost because it always fulfills each need and leaves us satisfied and fulfilled as we will be in eternity.

We need noy be concerned for fancy clothes, rich foods or honors and recognitions, for there is nothing so valuable that we should forsake what God has forged, for somthing else. Do not forsake His Heart for any other, or any other person.

You need not worry about rules and regulations. The worldly are always fussing and quibbling over rules and regulations, but their concern is a waste of time better dedicated to the love of God. Do you think He knows if we love Him? Do you think He cannot draw us closer to Himself? Give time into His hands and He will see to it we satisfy His Heart.

Missing

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV9Rc7yOSj0&ab_channel=ASunnyAdventure

Our incomplete love is at fault for our inordinate longings. We are reluctant to admit how much someone means to us and what it  means when their presence is denied.

It is a shadow of the longing of all creation for unity with God, who made everything and orders all things in harmony, including us in His most lavish treats.

As much as we can miss a friend, He misses us infinitely more, and we do not always realize how great His love is until somehow He catches us in an idle moment and steals a bit of our heart, just enough to burn beyond enduring.

Union can catch us off guard, and reshape our life. The pain of our wounded heart longs to be whole again, but until we are ready to surrender all our defenses, so that we can feel the cross, we will waste most of our life not realizing what has happened to us or what is necessary to remedy the situation. To let it hurt as much as it wants to, and the Heart of Christ has finished binding us to Him and to the cross to become a fountain of grace and life to all who are near us.

See if it is so. Dare to sit still long enough, and let your distracted heart rest a bit until you are ready. 

If our dessication was not immensely worth it,
He would not bother with us at all. He is never content
to miss us and do without our company.

Contemplation

 

In transcendant prayer, words become a nuisance.

Contemplation is a gift of God, and blessed be the man who takes up prayer to encounter God in Himself. Lesser forms of prayer are no less desireable or meritorious, but prayerful living is not as common among the great numbers of persons.

To be given the gift of contemplative prayer is a blessing not that frequent, though those who have practised it have been swiftly swept up into God Himself to the wonder of the common observer.

It stands to reason, then, that for most persons, a fruitful prayer life is a great blessing as well, and the exuberance of joy expressed in pilgrimages and processions and decorations such as beautiful flowers are a means of expressing delight in the life and the Lord, every bit as much as contemplative ecstasies and other states of exaltation.

There is too, the injunction of the Lord that whoever is ashamed of Him, He is ashamed of them, and the lavishness of processions and services at church are a bold means to express love of a prayerful life in service to the Lord, to remind those who reject God that there are punishments for such behavior and blessings for life for those whose love of God is plainly demonstrated in a secular world. To get anyone to pray in public is a monumental task.Those involved in habitually encountering Jesus in contemplation are immediately engrossed in Him to their delight.

to divest our celebrations of God by foregoing processions, songs and vocal prayers as well as floral displays impoverishes our celebrations of God and dilutes our witness to the world. If some have taken advantage of the sentimentalities of persons by concetrating on the monetary gains to be had by a community celebrating a feast is obnoxious to the Lord, but we should reform our celebrations and not forbid them. 

Since contemplative prayer is a gift, it is not given widely among the congregation. When it is given, it is  meant to inform and instruct as well as to immerse a whole person in the experience of God as a consolation all His own. Often, the gift is given because a person has invested his entire self exclusively in God and desiring His presence not merely or solely so that one might be consoled but so that the Lord might be made known to all by the giving of and experience of Himself that rewards and demonstrates life perfected in His holiness.

Often God manifests Himself in a special way to someone as a demonstration of a service or special charism to exercise among the faithful where poverty and violence have been the common experience of life.

There are wealthy people in the world because there are the poor, and only the wealthy have the opportunity or means of alleviating the suffering of others. It is fitting therefore, that persons be raised up in the world who are gifted with the most intimate prayer to God so that they might console the unconsoled, the impoverished and those bereft of joy in its many forms.

In life there is misfortune, and many who profess only to make everyone they encoutner as miserable as possible. God has the right to snatch such miserable creatures out of their recreation, to turn them around and uplift them so they may lift the suffering out of their sorrows for the Lord's sake. We ought to give God thanks in all ways but most especially in our prayers for His providence, and if possible, by having processions that express every form of prayer and song and recital. To ban celebrations and demonstrations of solidarity with God is a mistake. Life for so many people is dreadfully tiresome and unenjoable. Anyone who exercises his ability to lift up others ought to be blessed for his love of God, and he should express his delight in Him in every way possible.

In order to pray it is necessary that one concentrate on the Lord; He then, if He so desires, can lift one up out of himself, and if one's appreciation and gratitude are sufficient, the delight given will transcend common life to enhance it with gratitude and the swelling of the feelings to more closely resemble those of Christ.