Great movie quote, Darrell: It’s not supposed to be this way.... Thanks! I've done it, too, yet he forgives me. At least, we are privileged to comfort others with the solution, Jesus Christ, our hope of glory! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
I love the way the Holy Spirit leads you through this mystery, Darrell. I am afraid when I say the rosary lately I am inlcined to let my mind wander a lot and on a few occasions even to dose of, to the amusement of my prayer group. I don't really know what it is like in America, but in my little parish, The Holy Family I have seen some very terrible changes over the last 40 years. For instance lately two of our three churches are closed all the time now except for services. IF they were left open they would be wrecked. Many people do not venture out the doors at nights, it is just too dangerous. Many old people live in real fear. Drugs and drink both taken to huge access are everywhere. The suicide rate amongst our young are the highest in Western Europe. But worse than anything, there is a real lack of love and kindness, people treating each other with a hardness and abruptness that is very wearing to the spirit. I notice this especially amongst our young girls who I expect normally to be naturally kind. I look back down the years and remember a very different world. Our churches, for instance were packed on Sundays for numerous services, so much so that you had to get there early in order to get a seat. People greeted each other on the streets and you knew your neighbours and their whole families very well. TO commit a crime or do something wrong invoked a real sense of shame. The reason for this is simple , the fire of the faith has dimmed and folks have turned their back on faith. I find at work amongst very good people there is a real surprise about my faith, but they like me for it. However in the wider community I would generally be regarded as a religious fanatic at wrose or a bumbling, if rather harmless eccentric at best. I thank God with all my heart that He has granted me the intense joy of the faith, but I feel a real sorrow that the world around me has so very,very often turned its back on God and are paying the price for this in the terrible world they are making for our young. But I feel great hope too. These days, these terribel present days are fast coing to an end. We shall pass through the darkness of unbelief to a brave new dawn.
Darrell, Thank you for your insightful postings. Your post on the crowning of thorns really struck me and was in my mind all day. We now live in such a disordered world. Everybody says 'How can God allow this'. We forget of course that it is we who allow these things by our rejection of God and our sinful lives. God bless Mary
Terry, Padraig, Mary, Thanks for your acknowledgement. I should have a meditation on the next mystery in the next couple of weeks, God willing. I really do appreciate your comments. When I get this book done, hopefully I’ll have time again to contribute more to discussions on the forum. Peace to you, my friends, Darrell
The Fourth Sorrowful Mystery: Jesus Carries His Cross And carrying the cross himself he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull, in Hebrew, Golgotha. -- John 19: 17 Speak Lord, for your servant is listening… Jesus carried His cross Himself, and He tells us that if we’re going to follow Him, we’re going to have crosses of our own to carry – that’s the condition of discipleship: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10: 37-38 ). One morning, as I prepared to go for a walk and meditate on this Mystery, I went to get something out of my car and banged my head on the door frame. It hurt, and I yelled out loud! I wondered to myself why we must suffer these blows, and I was reminded of a conversation I had many, many years ago around the time of my high-school graduation. A man, an acquaintance of my mother I believe, asked me what I planned to do with my life. I think I said something about going to college and having a cabin in the mountains. The man looked at me and said, “I mean, what are you going to do with your life?” I wasn’t quite sure what he was getting at, but I responded with something about carving out my own little piece of the pie, and live and let live. This man looked at me and said, “Oh, you are going to have a hard life.” Incredulous, I demanded to know what he meant by that, but that’s all he had to say. We don’t want crosses and we don’t want trouble – we want prosperity. We want what’s called here in the United States “the American Dream”: a good job and a modest house in the suburbs; a long, healthy life where our children all live to grow up (without getting into drugs or criminal activity), and then go to college so that they can get good jobs and raise families of their own. Then we can retire and move to some place with a mild climate and lots of sunshine so we can play golf and go out to dinner at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Only these days, people aren’t content with a modest home; everyone wants to live in a show place and drive luxury cars. People aren’t content with earning a living; everyone wants to be rich and live like the stars. And if we’re going to be happy, we need lots of toys (motorcycles, boats and big screen TVs), take dream vacations and have a second home in the mountains or at the beach. Recently, I heard one young man at work say, “I deserve to be comfortable.” I wondered just what made him think he deserved to be comfortable. What had he done to deserve this? Exactly who owed it to him? This “entitlement mentality” is rampant in our society. Even many Christian denominations don’t want to follow what Jesus taught and are infected with a “prosperity spirituality” – a distorted notion that if we’re following God, He will bless us materially: “name it and claim it.” But that’s not what Jesus said, and it’s not what the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church teaches. Jesus said we’re going to have trouble in this world (John 16: 33), and He asks us to follow Him and to carry our cross! This false prosperity spirituality can itself create anxiety and fear (it can also cause some to doubt their faith if God doesn’t give them the material prosperity they’re praying for). In our highly technological society, we have almost instantaneous access to news from around the globe; whether it’s a cyclone in Myanmar, an earthquake in China, or a stagnating economy in the United States, we’re aware of the major struggles and tragedies in the world. Just last week, one young man shared his fears: “My anxiety mainly stems from the future. I want to be secure and happy and be able to make a decent living but the economy is so out of whack these days that it is looking very grim for most people my age…How am I supposed to raise a family in this world when I am older? How am I supposed to be at peace when I am constantly reminded of how vulnerable I am?” My response to this young man was basically to get used to it. God has created a beautiful world for us to live in, with joys and opportunities to love; however, we’re all of us going to have hardships, struggles and sorrows. Uncertainty is a fact of life in a fallen world, and there’s no guaranty of health, prosperity or long life. Some people reading this right now might be thinking “Wait a minute. Doesn’t God promise He will bless us?” Well yes, yes He does. Let’s take a look at what Jesus said to the rich young man. Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to (the) poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19: 21-24). Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5: 3 ). This is how God will bless us if we are intent on following Him – with a spirit of poverty. “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” ♦ ♦ ♦ A friend of mine took his own life recently, and it was really a shock to everyone. This was a man who seemed to have his act together, with a successful career and a family – prosperous in the world’s eyes. He was a new friend, and I was just getting to know him; I don’t know what drove him to such despair. If I had known he was having these thoughts, I would have gone to him; I would have grabbed him, and shook him, and said to him, “Think! Think of what you are considering. Think what this will do to your family. They need you! Stop thinking only of your self, and think of others.” Carry your Cross! Now, I am not judging my friend. However, what he did was wrong. Suicide is a serious matter; it’s a grave sin because it is an ultimately selfish act – the individual is thinking only of themselves. This life is a gift, and it’s meant to be lived out. Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of. Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to the love of the living God. --Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2280-2281 However, always we should trust in the Mercy of God, and we’re not to despair over the souls of those who have committed suicide. …Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide. We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives. --Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2282-2283 I will pray for the soul of my friend (I’m praying for him now), and I will do what I can for his wife and son. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world (James 1: 27). So I do not judge my friend. I remember my own terrible grief after Johnny was killed, and the grave anguish – the darkness of not believing in God, and I offer these now for the soul of my friend. I’ve shared this to show that material prosperity does NOT guaranty happiness in this life. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have a decent life – I think everyone wants that. However, true peace and joy comes in knowing that whatever hardships, disappointments or sorrows we face in this life, we do control our own destiny, our eternal destiny, through the choices we make and the way we live our lives. When we begin to put the welfare of others before ourselves, to love, that’s when we are following Jesus; that’s what it means to carry our own cross. ♦ ♦ ♦ Tradition tells us that St. Bernard of Clairvaux asked Our Lord what was His greatest unrecorded suffering, and Jesus answered, “I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound, which was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men.” Now this comes from private revelation: it’s not part of the official teaching of the Church, and so we’re not required to believe it. However, as the Apostle John tells us, there’s much that Jesus said and did that’s not recorded in the scriptures alone (John 21: 25). I don’t know if this is a true revelation, but it comes from a Saint of the Church; and as it contains nothing contrary to our Faith, I see no reason it can’t be considered. As I meditated on this Fourth Sorrowful Mystery, I asked myself, “What would make this wound so grievous and more painful than the others?” It occurred to me that this wound on Our Lord’s shoulder was a result of our unwillingness to carry our own crosses. As the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, we call to mind our sins, and together we pray: I confess to Almighty God, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and what I have failed to do… Very often, it’s the sins of omission that offend Jesus the most. So for one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, it is a sin (James 4: 17). What does Jesus ask us to do that we are we failing to do? Jesus told the rich young man to “keep the commandments” (Matthew 19: 17). Are we keeping the commandments? We have disordered appetites, and in our weakness, we fail; but Jesus has given us the Sacrament of Reconciliation so that with a sincere and contrite heart we can confess our sins and do penance and resolve to amend our lives. Yet despite our resolve, we often fall again and again, repeating the same sins over and over. Jesus never sinned, yet He carried His cross. He fell three times, and each time He got back up and finished His Way – He gave everything for us. So too He asks us to struggle against our weaknesses. He tells us to be perfect as Our Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5: 48 ). Jesus tells us to obey the commandments. “Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter will pass from the law, until all things have taken place” (Matthew 5: 18 ). Are we striving to obey the commandments and to amend our lives? Let us examine our consciences. Jesus gave Peter and the Apostles the Authority to teach on matters of faith and morals. Are we obedient to the teachings of the Church? ? Do we acknowledge the Authority of the Church to teach on matters of faith and morals? Or do we pick and choose what we want to believe? Jesus tells us that if we want to be perfect, we need to renounce our earthly desires, give to the poor, and to pick up our cross and follow Him. Have we embraced a spirit of poverty? Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your clothes have become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against you; it will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days (James 5: 1-3). This is not a time to be concerned with worldly pursuits and material things. Who knows what will happen tomorrow? In our modern world, we have incredible technology and wonderful physical comforts. But we may not always enjoy the prosperity that we have now. “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” (Matthew 16: 26) In the parable of the rich fool who did not have enough space to store his bountiful harvest, the man planned to tear down his barns and build larger ones. “But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong? Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.” (Luke 12: 20, 21) We must ask ourselves, “What is my focus today?” When we wake up in the morning, what is it that occupies our thoughts? Is it how good we will look or how much fun we will have or how much money we will make? These things are temporary, and none of us knows if we will even be here tomorrow. The fact that we may die tomorrow – or even today – should not cause fear or anxiety. After all, this is the reason we were created. This is the purpose of our entire lives – to prepare to spend eternity with our God. No, death is only hard for those who remain on this earth because we want our loved ones to be with us, and we will miss them. But we can take comfort in the promise that one day soon we will be together again, in believing in the promise that we will spend eternity in the presence of our God with all our loved ones who have chosen light over darkness, in the communion of saints. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all (1 Corinthians 15: 19). So when we rise each day, it should be with the understanding that this day brings us closer to eternity, that this day is an opportunity, a time of Grace, another day to prepare. The first thing we should do is to say a prayer and give this day to our Lord, something like this: Father in Heaven, I know that you created me to be with You ,and that it is only by Your Grace that I even continue to exist from moment to moment. I give this day to You, O God. Help me to do Your Will. Lead me. Guide me. Let Your Light reflect in me, and help me to see You, Lord Jesus, in everyone I encounter today. Or, quite simply, Thy Will be done, Father. Thy Will be done. We should ask ourselves, “What can I do for my Lord Jesus Christ today? What can I do for others? What can I do to make the world a little better place today?” If we are busy at work or taking care of our home, the very least we can do is go about our daily tasks with a smile on our face, thankful for all the good God has given us. We can treat each other with dignity and respect. If we are driving in heavy traffic, rather than become frustrated and angry, we can drive with a charitable spirit, letting the other person in front of us. What a beautiful way to die to our selfish selves! As we go about our business, we need to think of God’s Laws and keep them in mind as we make all our decisions and in our speech and in the way we treat others. In our work, we need to do our best and perform our duties with honesty and integrity, not to make ourselves look good or to gain praise for ourselves, but because it is right! Truly, we need to examine our motives as we go through our day. We must ask ourselves what it is we are pursuing: the things of this world which are temporary? Or the things of God which are forever? And we must not forget to pray! Even in the busiest of days we can find a moment to at least say, Thank You Lord or Help me Jesus. And if we have a spare minute, we should remember to say an Our Father or a Hail Mary for a departed loved one or for the souls in Purgatory. If we have some small suffering, a little physical ailment or emotional trial, we can offer it to the Lord Jesus on His cross, saying, “I accept this little bit of suffering Jesus because it reminds me of the nature of this fallen world, and it reminds me of Your cross, Lord Jesus; it reminds me that You chose to suffer and die to show me how much you love me. I offer my suffering to You, Lord Jesus. Please accept it and use it in some small way in Your work in the salvation of souls.” What a wonderful way to make our souls look beautiful to our Jesus. For those of us who are parents, properly raising our children should be our highest priority. Beyond providing for their physical welfare, it is our sacred duty to teach them right from wrong and to ensure their religious education. Are we setting a proper example by following God’s Commandments in our lives? Do our children know how precious they are to us? Are we showing them by holding them and hugging them as much as we can? Believe me – and I speak from experience here – we never know if we will have another day together. Do we bless them, making the sign of the cross on their foreheads? Trust me, they will understand this. Do we remember to thank God when we sit down to the table? Are we praying the Rosary together as a family every evening? These children do not belong to us. They belong to God, and He has entrusted their care into our hands. This is an incredible gift as well as an incredible responsibility; after all, our Jesus has told us, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew18: 6). Remember, God has given us His commandments: “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day” (Exodus 20: 8 ). Let me ask a question to all who are reading this: do you go to church on Sunday because it is an obligation? If so, there is a problem. Going to mass together as a family on Sunday should be the highlight of our week, not something we squeeze into our busy schedule! Here’s what the Fatima visionary Sister Lucia had to say about it: “Do you…observe Sundays and the Holydays of Obligation? Do you do so by abstaining from servile work and going to Mass? The Lord’s Day is not to be passed in idleness, still less in unlawful pleasures, in vice or any kind of sin. Sundays and Holydays are to be used to bring us close to God by taking part in the Eucharistic Liturgy and other devotions, reading good books which will give us better knowledge of God and his Laws so that we can fulfill them better, and engaging in wholesome entertainment which will enable us to recuperate our physical and moral energies. Only thus can we have an easy conscience and be certain of fulfilling the Law of the Lord.” …Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks without meaning when it says, "The spirit that he has made to dwell in us tends toward jealousy"? But he bestows a greater grace; therefore, it says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you (James 4: 4-8, 10). The Son embraced His cross and surrendered to the will of the Father: “not as I will, but as you will.” Jesus gave Himself. At any time, Jesus could have saved Himself; as He told Peter in the garden, “Do you think that I cannot call upon my Father and he will not provide me at this moment with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26: 53) I think one angel would have been more than enough; but Jesus embraced His cross, and He carried it Himself, and He asks us to carry our own crosses. There’s a scene in Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, where just as Jesus begins to carry His cross, someone in the crowd asks Him, “You fool, why do you embrace your cross?” He did it for us. Jesus loved us so much, he wanted to be with us so much, that He embraced His cross, and He carried it Himself. We are His passion – every man, woman and child ever conceived since the dawn of creation – we are the Passion that burned in His Sacred Heart. So let all of us be fools for Christ! So let us each of us embrace our own crosses. Our Father, who art in Heaven… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Hail Mary, full of grace… Glory be… O my Jesus… O Immaculate Mary, Pray for us! Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Pray for us! Sister Lucia of Fatima, pray for us!
I enjoyed reading your post, Darrell. there is a lot on what you say. Each of the Mysteries of the Rosary is such a great teacher. I admire people, especially young people who pray the Stations of the Cross. As you point out, the things that the world seeks and the things of God are not at all the same. Some one told me one time up in the hospice that most folks die from moprhine overdose. Not that the doctors kill them as such , or not that the patients ask to die, they just keep upping the dosage , taking greater and greater chances until the person succumbs. I don't think the Church has a problem with this and it is accepted. But, anyway I heard about a French writer who refused morphine right up to the end. He said death was the final adventure and that he wanted to experience it to the full. Remarkable. I think maybe for the Christian, thats what life is an adventure, heading towards a happy ending...whereas for the unbeliever it is a series of random happenings. I walked some of the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, its hard to believe Jesus walked the city streets just like us and shed his blood, all His blood on the pavements. I'll pray for your friend, Darrell, he has all my sympathy , life can be so hard and terrible, goodness knows there were many times in my younger days when I longed for death... But there is this about Jesus carrying His cross, it fills us with joy rather than despair...the start of a great adventure, I suppose....
Awesome! Darrell, What an examination of conscience you have provided! It was wonderful that you took the time to weave the daily readings from the Letter of James, into your meditation. The following line gave me pause as procrastination is one of my core sins: As I meditated on this Fourth Sorrowful Mystery, I asked myself, “What would make this wound so grievous and more painful than the others?” It occurred to me that this wound on Our Lord’s shoulder was a result of our unwillingness to carry our own crosses. You must be worn out emotionally after writing these meditations, Darrell. If I write succinctly and by God's grace impart some bit of wisdom, I am usually impressed by how short of the mark I come in practising what I preach. Thanks! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
It was wonderful that you took the time to weave the daily readings from the Letter of James, into your meditation. It's amazing, Terry, since I began making reading the daily scripture readings a part of my day, how often they speak to me directly, to something going on in my life. How great is our God -- nothing is beyond Him... You must be worn out emotionally after writing these meditations That's very perceptive; they have taken a bit of a toll... Padraig, a joyful adventure, yes. Darrell
Have you been dipping in my dreams, darrell? Other than the golf thing, that's what I want. I don't care about luxery cars, but the other stuff, yeah. It's not ALL I want, but I'll admit to having these desires. Who wants to live in a shack, work at a sucky job and see their children turn to drugs? I don't think wanting these things is evil, but it can be if they become gods in and of themselves. And, it's easy to slip into the mentality of working for things, rather than the kingdom of God. You're post got me thinking. I see a lot of materilism in my life and thoughts. It's hard to weed out. ((((((sigh))))))))
You're right, Deanna, it's not evil to want to have a decent life -- like I said, I think we all want that. When you get right down to it, I think what we all really want is to be back in the Garden, walking with Our Father. The secular world says, "We don't need God because we can create heaven on earth." This is a lie. Rather than everyone trying to create our own little paradise, we should all of us be working to make the world a better place; rather than chasing after the good life, we should all be trying to lead good lives. If everyone understood this, and acknowledged it AND were trying our best to live it, there would be a lot less disorder and suffering (and I don't think the world would be facing what it's facing now). There would still be sorrows and death because we live in a fallen world, but there'd be a lot less seperation from each other and from God. There would be less despair and a lot more hope because everyone would understand the eternal view, and we'd embrace our crosses with a sense of joy. Darrell
It is coming! Darrell, This sounds like the Era of Peace, where the world as a whole embraces her Eucharistic King and the internal crosses still offered to her by the Lord. The privilege, in which we must now rejoice, is to live these Mysteries (as you suggest) by practicing the disciplines of repentance, prayer, worship, and sacrificial love. We are the present witnesses of a future life that draws nearer everyday. The Warning and Miracle will augment our efforts; the Chastisement shall purify and humble our hearts. Peace will not be thwarted! Praise the Lord for his Mercy and Justice! Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
This isn't finished, and I usually post these on Friday, but it goes along with an ongoing discussion over on the Medjugorje forum, and as today is the feast day of St. Maria Goretti... The Fifth Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion Let us reflect on the words Jesus spoke to us from the cross: the Seven Last Words of Christ. Then Jesus said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” --Luke 23: 34 As a young man, I walked away from the faith I’d been taught to believe, and for over two decades, I lived a very secular and sinful life. I broke a lot of the Commandments and did many things I’m ashamed of; as King David wrote, my sin is always before me (Psalm 51: 5). Looking back on all those years, as I bought into the relativism and individualism of our time, thinking I could decide for myself what was right and wrong, believing distorted philosophies like “my own happiness is the moral purpose of my life” – lies (most likely inspired by demons), I realize now that I was wandering in darkness. I would never have rejected God outright, but the false promises of hedonistic world, combined with my own unwillingness to believe without seeing, led me to walk away from God. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know what I was doing. Until we understand that we have disordered appetites resulting from original sin and then begin to struggle against them, we’re wandering in darkness. Until we recognize that God is our Father and we are His children, we’re adrift in a sea of deception and falsehood and rebellion. Unless we first acknowledge the all-powerful, all-knowing and ever-present God, unless we seek to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this life, unless we understand that we can do no good in this life except by His grace, we know not what we do. Until in all humbleness and humility we understand our own fallen nature and reject the selfish and immoral culture of our modern world, we know not what we do. Only then can we run to the foot of the cross and ask Jesus for true food, so that we might begin to overcome our weaknesses, and strive to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect (Matthew 5: 48 ). Unless His law is in our hearts, we’re lost. Lord, teach me the way of your laws; I shall observe them with care. Give me insight to observe your teaching, to keep it with all my heart. Lead me in the path of your commands, for that is my delight. Direct my heart toward your decrees and away from unjust gain. Avert my eyes from what is worthless; by your way give me life. See how I long for your precepts; in your justice give me life. -- Psalm 119: 33 -37, 40 ♦ ♦ ♦ When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him and the criminals there, one on his right, the other on his left…Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." --Luke 23: 33, 39 – 43 Here we see the great Mercy of God. The two criminals, one on either side of Jesus, face their own imminent deaths. Guilty and deserving of punishment by his own admission – “we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes” – this man asks Jesus for His Mercy. Jesus responds, Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." In God’s presence, we see our nature, and like the criminal, we have recourse to God’s Mercy every second of our earthly lives, no matter how long we live or how much we sin. For those of us who have offended God by our sins – and that’s every one of us – Jesus’ words give us hope. If in our hearts we repent and we long for everything that is good and true and right, all we have to do is recognize our own sinfulness, and ask God for His Mercy. He promises us this day we will be with Him in paradise. However, there is more required of us than just asking for forgiveness if we want to be forgiven. Jesus tells us we must also forgive. With every Rosary, every Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and at every Mass, every time we pray the Our Father, we pray the words Jesus taught us: : forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us (Matthew 6: 12). Jesus tells us, “If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions” (Matthew 6: 14-15). On the mount of the Beatitudes, Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5: 7). Jesus is very clear; if we desire mercy, we should be merciful. If we want to be forgiven, we must forgive; it’s a requirement, and we won’t step foot into Heaven until we do. On the other cross hung the unrepentant criminal; he reviled Jesus. Jesus hung next to him, emptying Himself so that all might be saved. He too could have asked for mercy, but instead he reviled Jesus! I don’t understand it, but there are those who do not long for goodness and truth; in their hearts they love what is evil. Satan stands behind this iniquity: For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work… (2 Thessalonians 2: 7). Lord have mercy on us. Sometimes in my work in the ICU, I care for some rather unpleasant individuals. I’d like to tell you about one of them, and as I’m not revealing his name or other personal information, it’s not breaching professional confidentiality. This patient was a man of about thirty, tall, lean and with good muscular development; he’d been an athlete in his youth. He had a history of drug abuse and criminal activity, and he was admitted to our hospital in a psychotic rage – it required a half-dozen security officers to subdue him. He remained delirious for several days, and at one point during his ramblings, one of the nurses heard him talk about a girl he had killed. He was my patient for several days, and as he gradually gained somewhat coherent thinking and was able to converse with me, it didn’t take long for me to realize he was a sociopath. Amoral, his thinking was totally self-centered and self-absorbed. Sex and drugs were his only motivations, and he wasn’t particular about how or where he obtained either. His language was filthy. He said something so repulsive to one of our young-but-experienced nursing aides that, even though he was in leather restraints, she refused to go back into his room. She was too modest to repeat to me what he had said to offend her. He was a man without a conscience, without a speck of compassion or empathy for others – the kind of man who would kill you without hesitation if he thought he could gain from it. I gave him the same care I give all my patients, and I treated him with dignity. One day, the man’s father and sister came to visit him, and they both impressed me as very decent individuals. I wondered to myself what happened that the son turned out like this. The mystery of iniquity… And I said to his father that, as a parent myself, I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to see his son like this. It occurred to me this father must be heartbroken, and quite possibly experiencing feelings of guilt, wondering if he had somehow failed. The possibility that the man’s son might be on the road to Hell also occurred to me. We can never know the state of another’s soul, but as Christians we are always to hope and trust in Divine Mercy. Perhaps the care he received and the dignity he was shown will make a difference. I hope and pray that he will recognize the light of Christ and allow Him to change his life. As a father, no matter what wrongs my own children might commit, I could never stop loving them, and I could never desire for them to burn in hell for all eternity. So too, our Father in Heaven desires for all His children to be saved (1 Timothy 2: 4). Christ have mercy on us. Some friends of mine have recently been engaged in a discussion on the death penalty and whether or not it is proper for Christians to support it. This discussion was prompted by the impending execution of Mark Dean Schwab, who abducted, raped and murdered Junny Martinez, a sixth grader at Clearlake Middle School in Cocoa, Florida. It turns out that Sean, one of my friends in this discussion, was a classmate of Junny. According to Sean, Junny was the most popular kid in sixth grade. He was a happy boy, and an excellent surfer, with the potential to become a professional. Mark Schwab saw Junny’s picture in a local newspaper a month after being released from prison in 1991 for raping a 13-year old boy. Sean told us that Schwab came to their school pretending to be a newspaper reporter, and then abducted, raped and murdered Junny. Schwab then stuffed Junny’s body in a foot locker and left it in the woods “like garbage.” Sean shared that he learned the details of Junny’s death from the news playing on the school bus. Sean still struggles to put it all in perspective. Mark Schwab was executed by lethal injection on July1, 2008. According to an article in the Palm Beach Post, when the curtains to the execution chamber were opened, Schwab “appeared calm and blinked at the ceiling.” I wonder if he saw anything there on the ceiling. Angels? Jesus or the Blessed Virgin Mary? Or did he see demons dancing there? Schwab never admitted his guilt, claiming that another man forced him to do it, and when the warden asked him if he wanted to make a final statement, he remained silent. Apparently, he died unrepentant. Again, we can’t know the state of anyone’s soul at the time of their death. It’s possible Schwab repented right before he died. We can’t know, but maybe if Schwab hadn’t been executed and instead lived the remainder of his life in prison, perhaps he would have found the words to apologize to Junny’s family and beg for their forgiveness. Lord have mercy on us. Maria Teresa Goretti was born in Corinaldo, Italy on Oct. 16, 1890, the second daughter of Luigi and Assunta, poor farmers. When Maria was six, her family lost their farm, and this forced them to move and work for other farmers. Maria’s father Luigi died from malaria when she was nine. The Goretti family shared a house with another family, Giovanni Serenelli and his son Alessandro. Maria took her faith very seriously, and even at her young age, became like a second mother to her brothers and sisters, helping to care for them, and to teach them their faith. In June of 1902, twenty-year old Alessandro Serenelli made several sexual advances on the eleven-year-old girl. Maria didn’t tell her mother because Alessandro threatened to kill her if she said anything. On July 5, 1902 Alessandro once again attempted to force Maria to have sex with him, but she resisted, warning him that it was a sin and God did not want it. Enraged, Alessandro stabbed Maria a total of fourteen times. Maria underwent surgery without anesthesia, but her wounds were too grave. She died less than twenty-four hours later on July 6, 1902, but first she forgave Bruno from her death bed. In the face of overwhelming evidence, Alessandro Serenelli eventually confessed and was found guilty of murder. He was spared the death penalty because of his young age and was sentenced to thirty years hard labor. A priest came to visit Serenelli in prison, and he turned on him in rage, lunging at him and howling like a maniac. Serenelli remained unrepentant and uncommunicative for years, until after a Bishop visited him in prison. Alessandro wrote the Bishop a letter thanking him. He also wrote of a dream he had in which Maria appeared to him carrying lilies; one account states that the lilies burned up in his hands. After serving his sentence, he begged Maria’s mother to forgive him, and she did, stating that if Maria had forgiven him from her deathbed, she could do no less. Assunta Goretti and Alessandro Serenelli attended Christmas mass together the next day. Serenelli moved into a Capuchin monastery where he lived the rest of his life working as a gardener and caretaker. From then on, he began to live a peaceful and constructive life. Maria Goretti was canonized on June 24, 1950 by Pope Pius XII. If Alessandro Serenelli had been executed, he might not ever have had an opportunity to repent, or the opportunity to ask Maria’s mother Assunta for forgiveness. We see in the example of this young Saint how God can bring good out of a tragedy and the suffering surrounding it: it led to the conversion of a wicked young man and presented an opportunity for forgiveness and reconciliation. Saint Maria Goretti, pray for us! For those of us who have lost someone at the hands of another, it’s easy to understand the feelings of anger, of wanting justice and retribution. In my own case, I think back to the anger I felt toward the man who killed our son and how I wanted to hurt him the way he had hurt our family. I wanted vengeance. I thank God that He gave me the grace to be able to forgive that man. Now I trust in God, who judges justly. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. --1 Peter 2: 22-24 In Queen of Heaven Cemetery, in the Queen of Peace section, where our son Johnny is buried, a number of other young people are buried, all who died around the same time as Johnny: Ana Marie Kelly, who died of a sudden illness two weeks shy of her thirteenth birthday; Jason Highet, aged eighteen, was killed in a motorcycle accident; Lisa Marie Gurrieri, a beautiful twenty-year-old, who along with her boyfriend were murdered while their car was parked in a secluded area (as far as I know, this crime has never been solved). If we live long enough, we’re all of us going to personally experience some tragedy in our life, something that makes us shake our heads and ask, “Why? Why?” And whether it’s from illness, an accident, or at the hands of evil, we’re going to lose someone we love. If nothing else, it helps us to desire Heaven, “our heart’s deepest longing.” It doesn’t matter whether you live eleven years like Junny Martinez or Maria Goretti, twelve years like Ana Marie Kelly, eighteen years like Jason Highet, twenty years like Lisa Gurrrieri, or only six years like my son Johnny, they’re all really short times compared to eternity. None of us knows how much time we have with our loved ones on this earth – every day is a gift. People speak of closure, but I don’t know that there’s any real closure this side of death. For me, closure comes in eternity, when those who have run the race well will be reunited with our loved ones, together with Jesus, and He will wipe away every tear. Now that’s something to look forward to. Until then, we think of Jesus, who bore our sins on the cross, so that we might live for righteousness. We have only today to live for, and Jesus gave us work to do. Lord Jesus, I pray that I might finish my mission in this life. I was at work at the hospital yesterday, and I noticed one of the patients in the unit watching me. I smiled and said, “Good morning!” This woman looked at me and said, “You’re just a happy person, aren’t you?” My response was that life is too short to be otherwise. Sometimes people can be destroyed by their grief over the death of a spouse or child, and they never really live again. That’s not the Christian way. We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4: 13). We’re supposed to live lives of faith, hope and charity because Our Father offers us forgiveness; and He’s given us this gift of life, the opportunity to make a difference, and to choose our place in eternity through the lives we lead. For us Christians, death should not cause despair. The only thing that should cause us to despair is the loss of souls. Something Alessandro Serenelli wrote nine years before his death struck a chord with me: "Looking back at my past, I can see that in my early youth, I chose a bad path which led me to ruin myself. My behavior was influenced by print, mass-media and bad examples which are followed by the majority of young people without even thinking. And I did the same. I was not worried. There were a lot of generous and devoted people who surrounded me, but I paid no attention to them because a violent force blinded me and pushed me toward a wrong way of life.” A violent force blinded him and pushed him toward a wrong way of life. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work… (2 Thessalonians 2: 7). Like Alessandro, many in my generation, myself included, were influenced by the bad example of a secular world, and followed it. When I look at the world today, this bad influence seems so much worse. I think of my children and the young people of our society, and I’m concerned. Please pray with me… Lord Jesus, you emptied yourself on the cross for us. Help us to forgive, as Our Father in Heaven forgives. Fill our hearts with mercy, as You are merciful. Fill us with Your Light that we might help others find their way in the darkness. Lead us, all of us, away from the bad influences. Give us faith, Lord Jesus, strong faith that our children might see and believe and be saved. Place in our hearts the desire to be perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect. Lord Jesus, from Your cross pour out Your grace upon us, fill us with Your Love, fill us with Your Mercy, fill us with Your Holy Spirit and make us you servants. Lord Jesus, our hearts cry our! Our Hearts long for every tongue to confess that you are our God, and we are Your people. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us. Saint Maria Goretti, pray for us!
Hi Darrel, I hope you and yours are keeping well. Its ironic, but as I have just reread your post I am just getting ready to down to Church to go to confession, so you have given me plenty to think about in your long and deep post. Many times in the past I have thought about Saint Paul's wonderful words, 'Freely will I rejoice in my iniquity for were I am weak Christ is strong!!'. Of course this being true of Saint Paul who actively persecuted the saints, so of Saint Peter and the rest of the Apostles who ran away and left Jesus to die on the Cross. I am walking the dog up the mountains after going to church so I'll be thinking and praying a lot about your post up there. So many of the things you say touch things in my own life. The evil I have committed and the evil I have seen at first hand in the hearts of others. For myself I can onoy repeat what I heard a priest say one time, 'I don't go to Church because I am a saint, I go to Church because I KNOW I am a sinner. I am finding it hard to go to confession tonight. I recall saying to a priest one time that I felt sick and sorry that I seem to be commiting the same old sins I have committed since I was a kid. The priest laughed at me and said, 'Well, wouldn't it be a lot worse if you were commiting new ones!!' Frankly if I were to pay really close attention to all the wrongdoings I have gotten up to in my life it would drive me into deep depression and despair. But I have long since realised that I have total need of God's mercy. If I ever get to heaven I know that it is because Himself and His Blessed Mother have grabbed me there and dragged me there, kicking and screaming by the hairs on my head. If Mary had not come right down the stairs from heaven I would most certainly be very, very deep down in hell now. But , you know I have a saying always comes inot my head, 'Sometimes in order to reach the top you have to reach the very, very bottom. Sigh I am going to Church now to confession. I'll think some more about your post, Darrell and write a little later on I hope when God's graces clean me up and make me frsh and new again. May God have mercy on me, a great sinner. Siigh..
Oh well, just back from Confession and in very good form!! God's mercy is incredible, He forgives again and again and forgives totally. I always love the story of the saint who asked Jesus to forgive the sins of her youth. Jesus answered , 'What sins?' The saint tried to remind Him. But Jesus laughed and said, 'My daughter my forgiveness is not like yours. When you go to confession your sins our blotted out I do not even remember them. We too can too can forgive but forgetting.... well that's a different matter. Anyway Darrell story about the guy in the hospital reminds me of something a young monk in the monastery one time. He was working as a bartender on Jersey, an island of the north coast of France were only the very wealthy are allowed to come to live. There was a young man, with loads of money who used to frequent the bar. He drove a Porrche, was very well dressed and was always very personable and good mannered. But the young monk was always repelled and a little frightened by him, although he was a great tipper and very friendly and personable. He enquired about him and found by reputation that this person was an internetional hit man who killed poor people for money. Then the young monk realised what was making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. I believe that some souls can be so full of evil that they can be perfectly possed by Satan. We think of folks who are possessed spitting and shouting, however this only occurs when the soul fights Satan. Not so when the soul allows Satan free room and board. This is what I believe the person we call a 'Sociopath' is...someone perfectly owned by the devil. My father was asking me last night why there is evil in the world? Essentially there is a mystery to this; why Adam and Eve ate the apple. But I think in essence when we choose evil we are just like Lucifer we want to become little Gods ourselves. I was reading before I went onto confession in the Church a little about Saint Gerald Majella. Just before he died Gerald asked that a sign be placed over his room, 'The will of God is done here!!' What a perfect description of holiness; to say that we do the will of God and what a perfect description of evil ,to say we refuse to do God's will. Well now I am away up the mountain to do some more thinking and praying about Darrell's excellent post.
I had a walk there up round the Castle, it was beautiful up there amongst the trees on a beautiful summers evening. God seems very close, he is a bit like the Irish weather, sometimes the sun shines very well, other times its a bit cloudy!! I was thinking of Saint maria Gioretti, she died a sudden and violent death but one she was well ready for. It reminds me of the story of the virgins who were ready for the coming of the Lord with their lamps lit!! Oh Mary my Mother may I be as well prepared when my last hour comes!!
Birds of a feather... I went to confession, too; then, just got back from taking the kids for a swim. It was a hot one today! Padraig, What a marvelous web of love mercy weaves. In love, Jesus laid down his life, and in so doing extends mercy to each of us. In realizing my total need for God's mercy, I reach out in hope and am filled with his love. Then, in love, I am able to freely extend mercy to others! Without God first loving me, I could never freely extend mercy to others. Gratitude wells up and in showing mercy to others, we demonstrate our love for God. It was like Darrell's reaction to the self-serving patient. As repulsive as his behavior was, Darrell chose to freely extend mercy, kindness, and love to him. How glorious is the work of God! How liberating his mercy! Darrell's gesture appears small, but in God's economy it is a gem of great beauty; and so will be it's fruit. When we lay aside the natural man and let the Spirit lead, how wonderful. Praise you Jesus! Thank you, Father, for adopting us into your everlasting family. May we, your children, imitate your mercy more and more: chips off the old block! Isa 55:12 For you shall go out with joy and be led forth with peace: the mountains and hills shall sing praise before you, and all the trees of the country shall clap their hands!
In God’s presence, we see our nature, and like the criminal, we have recourse to God’s Mercy every second of our earthly lives, no matter how long we live or how much we sin. For those of us who have offended God by our sins – and that’s every one of us – Jesus’ words give us hope. If in our hearts we repent and we long for everything that is good and true and right, all we have to do is recognize our own sinfulness, and ask God for His Mercy. He promises us this day we will be with Him in paradise. This is the song of one of the criminals crucified next to Our Lord: Thief by Third Day
Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. --Philippians 2: 5 -11 The entire life, and death of Jesus, was a sacrifice. He gave Himself. Rather, he emptied himself. His Incarnation and death were sacrifice; taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. We did not deserve it, but He gave what we could not earn. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6: 23). Let us continue with our meditation and reflect on the words our Lord Jesus spoke to us from the cross. ♦ ♦ ♦ And at three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" --Mark 15: 34 When we look at Jesus upon the cross, His body beaten and scourged, his flesh shredded and bleeding, His hands and feet nailed to the cross, and His side pierced by a spear, mocked, ridiculed and reviled, we understand that Jesus gave Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. He bore our sins, and the consequences of our sins, all the pain and suffering caused by every wrong ever committed since the beginning, all the disorder and separation, every injustice and cruelty. He took all of it upon Himself, and His cry of abandonment was our cry of anguish: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why so far from my cry for help, from my cries of anguish? My God, I call by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I have no relief. --Psalm 22: 2 - 3 I’ve shared these meditations so far, my personal reflections on the Sorrowful Mysteries, to show how they helped me at a time when I was in great sorrow, how they helped me to make sense of all the suffering and wrongness in the world. To be honest, in those first years after our young son was killed, I didn’t think I’d ever really be happy again in this life. My hope was in Eternity where I would be reunited with my little Johnny, and every tear wiped away (Revelation 21: 4). But at the time, I couldn’t imagine that the incredible pain and sadness I felt would ever go away in this life; however, my hope gave me the strength to go on. If there’s anyone out there reading this right now who is in that same place I was, suffering, from whatever pain or sorrow, and believing that you’ll never be happy again in this earthly life, I acknowledge your pain. I won’t tell you that I know what you’re going through because only you know what you feel, but I understand because I was once in a similar place. I remember the things people said in an effort to make me feel better, how they made me angry because they all sounded like platitudes. And they were platitudes; but they were said in love. Be thankful you have someone who cares enough to offer you platitudes. And if you have no one, contact me, and I’ll send you a boatload of platitudes. (Just kidding! Humor is a balm for the wounded spirit. In all seriousness, if anyone would like to contact me, please feel free to do so.) I won’t tell you that your pain will go away, but if we have hope, we can find the strength to go on. All I can say to anyone who is suffering is that in my own pain, I turned to God, and He brought me through it. I believe that if we’re intent on following God, He will lead us where He wants us to go. So we need to be very intent on doing His will – like Jesus who prayed in the garden, “not as I will, but as you will.” If there is some place specific the Lord wants us to go, or something specific He wants us to do, I think He will make it pretty clear to us, in His own way; but He never takes away our freedom to choose. For some individuals, He has very definite plans, and He lets them know in no uncertain terms – Mother Teresa of Calcutta, for example. But I think for most of us, in the freedom God gives us, He usually leaves the “what” to us. My friend Pat once said to me, “I don’t think He cares what you do, as long as you’re doing it for Him.” He’s always here with us, and I think in His Providence, He arranges and presents for us choices along the way. Very often these opportunities may not look very inviting; they usually include self-denial, sacrifice, and possibly even suffering. We might think, “Oh Jesus, I don’t want this. ” And He responds to us, “I embraced My cross for you. Won’t you accept this little cross for me?” Why would our God ask us to suffer? In His humanity, Jesus did not want to drink the cup of suffering. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prayed three times to let the cup pass from Him, but He also prayed, “Thy will be done.” It was the Will of the Father that His Son suffer and die on the cross. We know that our Heavenly Father gives us only that which is good; so we must conclude that there is value in suffering. The greatest value comes from Christ’s own suffering and death on the cross, for He did what we could not do: our redemption cannot be earned. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6: 23). Jesus paid the price for our sins: For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2 Corinthians 5: 21). When I came to understand just what Jesus did for us, how much He loved us and how much He had forgiven me personally, how He suffered and died for each and every one of us, I was willing to carry my own cross. It was in meditating on these Sorrowful Mysteries that I came to make sense of all the suffering in the world. The anguish I felt over Johnny’s death echoed Jesus’ cry on the cross, and my own heart cried out, “My God, my God, how the world has forsaken You!” I understood how very much the world needed Jesus… In my desire to help others to know the Truth, I began working in an evangelization ministry, and it dawned on me that I was never going to lead anyone to Jesus if all they saw in me was pain and sorrow. I knew I needed to get joy back in my life, and so for a time, I quit praying the Sorrowful Mysteries and began meditating only on the Joyful Mysteries. And joy came back into my life. Now, almost seven years later, I KNOW that God can heal all wounds. Not only did God bring hope and joy back into my life, but also meaning and purpose. But all these things came gradually; my sorrow and grief remained for years, and there’s a reason for that: there’s value in suffering. We can think of suffering as bad tasting medicine: we don’t like it, but sometimes it’s what we need. Here’s what the Pope John Paul II had to say about it: Jesus did not hesitate to proclaim the blessedness of those who suffer… This blessedness can only be understood if one admits that human life is not limited to the time spent on earth, but is wholly directed to perfect joy and fullness of life in the hereafter. Earthly suffering, when accepted in love, is like a bitter kernel containing the seed of new life, the treasure of divine glory to be given man in eternity. --Go in Peace: A Gift of Enduring Love Just in the news recently has been a perfect example of the value of suffering. I was at work one day two weeks ago when I walked into the break room and something on the news caught my attention. I watched as an attractive woman dressed in camouflage clothes and hat climbed off an airplane. Her eyes were full of peace and joy, and she made the sign of the cross. She began to speak, and the first thing she said was to thank God and thank the Blessed Virgin Mary! My own heart leapt for joy as she said this! Ingrid Betancourt was abducted by revolutionaries while running for president of Colombia in 2002. She and fourteen others were liberated on July 2, 2008 by the army in a bloodless military operation. Less than two weeks after being freed from six years of captivity, she made a pilgrimage to Lourdes, France to give thanks. Ingrid stated that during her captivity she made a Rosary out of buttons and old string. While in France, Ingrid gave an interview to the French magazine Pelerin. Ingrid could have allowed the suffering she experienced to make her bitter and angry, but instead she turned to God and allowed Him to help her grow in faith and love. Ingrid explains why she resolved to thank God first: Whilst I was in captivity, I had resolved, when the moment of freedom would come, to thank firstly Our Lord. Why? Because had the Lord not been at my side, I do not think I could have grown in stature with all that pain. To be a hostage puts you in a situation of constant humiliation. You are the victim of a totally arbitrary environment; you get to know what is vilest in the human soul. Faced with this, there are two ways. Either you become bitter, bad-tempered, vindictive, you allow your heart to be filled with rancor. Or, you choose another way, the one shown to us by Jesus. He asks us to “Bless our enemy”. Every time I read the Bible, I could feel that these words applied to me, as if He was in front of me, and that He knew what to tell me. And this went straight to my heart. Of course, I know that when the enemy is atrocious, it is difficult to be faithful to these words. In spite of this, as soon as I started thinking “Bless your enemy” – whilst I wanted to think the exact opposite – it was magic, there was some kind of…. relief. And, quite simply the horror disappeared. I could tell you about similar things for days. I know and I can feel that I am transformed, and I owe this transformation to this contact, to this capacity to listen to what God wanted for me. It was a constant dialogue with God through the Gospel! Ingrid’s words – “it was magic, there was some kind of…. relief. And, quite simply the horror disappeared.” – make so much sense to me. Early in my own walk of conversion, I began to offer my sorrow and pain to God. I would say, “I offer my suffering to you Jesus,” and the pain would be lessened. I didn’t know anything about the offering of suffering, I just began doing it. Now, every time I look at a crucifix, I see our salvation, not from the cross, but from the Person on the cross – from the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. When I reflect upon His Sacrifice, His Agony in the Garden, blood-sweat dropping on the ground, upon the scourging which shredded His flesh, upon His Crown of Thorns, a crown of wrongness which He took upon Himself in creating His Kingdom, and upon the nails in His hands and feet, I see Mercy and Love. Every time we look at a crucifix, we see the greatest value in the greatest sacrifice. When we gaze upon Jesus on the cross, we see the ultimate expression of love, for God is love. God can bring good out of the greatest suffering. In my own life, from out of hopelessness, He brought me to hope; from out of the deepest, darkest despair, a light shone, and He gave me faith; from out of chasing after worldly things and vain glory, He has led me to long for righteousness and holiness (and I still have a long way to go). From a day over six years ago, walking along a dirty, dusty canal and dreading the rest of my life, Jesus has given me the understanding that every day is a gift. I’ve learned that there are joys and sufferings in this life, and they’re usually not too far apart. I’ve learned that Jesus has given each of us the opportunity to choose our place in eternity through the lives we lead and the choices we make. Jesus has shown us the way: to willingly embrace our own trials and hardships, joyfully, through knowing that this life is short, but eternity is forever, and ever…
I heard Ingrid talking , Darrell, there's no doubt in my mind that that lady is a living saint. Especially the way she was so charitable talking about her captors after such an ordeal; a real example. I like to think God has a plan ; a very specific plan for us all. I like to think each of us is on Earth for a reason, each of us has e vocation. Often maybe we won't really know what it is till we're older or looking back on life, maybe we won't know it till we reach heaven, some of us know this plan even as children' or at least have a sense of it; but its there...its there glowing like a little jewel. This reminds me of the Frank Capra film, 'Its a Wonderful Life ' which has the remarkable old Angel, 'Clarence ' in it. George Bailey , a buisnessman lives in a little town and because of a buisness setback resolves to kill himself by throwing himself into a river. Clarence the old angel rescues him and in order to convince George Baily that his life did have meaning did have a plan shows him what the town would have been like if George Bailey had never existed. It is only by seeing this that George realises that his life did have a real purpose . I think God hides these truths from us, this sense of the great river of meaning and intent underlying our lives in order to teat our faith, but really the meaning is always there. In any case having seen these river of purpose, of vocation of purpose George returns to the town on fire. The town is on fire too!! They gather up a big wad of cash, several times over to pay George's debt...love paying of love. Wonderful ending..and at Christmas too!!. ahhh you can't beat the old film!s! Sniffle, sniffle ,tear in eye!
Padraig, it's amazing that you think of It's a Wonderful Life because it fits right in with my next meditation. God willing, I'll have it finished and posted on Friday. http://darrellbowles-climbingthemountai ... picks.html I agree with you that the old films are the best. Interesting that in my list of picks, 3 films are from the 1940's, and 4 are from between 1963 and 1971. I have in mind another post of 12 more great films, and a few of them are old ones. I already have 12 movies in mind, but if anyone would like to nominate a film not on my previous list, I''ll consider it. If I haven't seen it, I'll borrow or rent it and watch it. Darrell
