I had an intense day yesterday and a particular thought kept running through my head as usual I try to reason the thought and put it out of my mind,eventually I had to go in prayer to God,In prayer I begged Jesus to make me understand what it was that I was to do I begged Jesus to instruct me clearly as I was a simple minded person, I asked him clearly "were in time is this world of ours and what am I to do..I opened scripture at the following verse I will let you all discern for yourselves.. Judgment on the Philistines 47 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh smote Gaza. 2 “Thus says the Lord: Behold, waters are rising out of the north, and shall become an overflowing torrent; they shall overflow the land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell in it. Men shall cry out, and every inhabitant of the land shall wail. 3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his stallions, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of their wheels, the fathers look not back to their children, so feeble are their hands, 4 because of the day that is coming to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remains. For the Lord is destroying the Philistines, the remnant of the coastland of Caphtor. 5 Baldness has come upon Gaza, Ash′kelon has perished. O remnant of the Anakim,[a] how long will you gash yourselves? 6 Ah, sword of the Lord! How long till you are quiet? Put yourself into your scabbard, rest and be still! 7 How can it[b] be quiet, when the Lord has given it a charge? Against Ash′kelon and against the seashore he has appointed it.”
Quis ut Deus, I prayed with the passage you opened to yesterday, though what I received might not be for you. It was verses 6 and 7 that jumped out at me! The justice of the Lord is often painful, yet holy and good. As the song of praise in Rev 15 declares: 4 Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord? For thou alone art holy. All nations shall come and worship thee, for thy judgments have been revealed." I believethere is always an opportunity of mercy in the midst of judgment. I pray that in the midst of horror wrought by sin in Syria, that God's mercy can still reach the hearts of many. On the personal side I see the use of the sword as an image of penance. I sometimes have to do a sort of "violence" to myself to help form habits of virtue. Sometimes I pray the Rosary at home in a sitting position, but decided today to pray it in a kneeling posture only, simply because in such discomfort is the exercise of self-control. The following verse from Matthew 11 reminds me of this struggle: 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force. Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
yes Mario the very line above 6 & 7 hit me with the very point you make regarding penance " how long will you gash yourselves?" I too would make a habit of when in prayer or working I would be in pain due to arthritis I would always struggle that little bit longer and offer it up lol it must be the carmelite prompting St Therese whom we both love moving us always forward ... The first two lines of the scripture also struck me deeply as for too long I was always focusing the word wave with water but as I have grown on this forum with others it is becoming more and more clear that the wave is mercy.. and also the sword being mentioned in the scripture I have found over the many years of reading scripture the sword is always screaming out at me..In my youth I also had a dream of St Michael handing me a sword..I had a spiritual artist draw a portrait of me one time, he had a gift of drawing what gift of the holy spirit he saw in people I was astonished when he showed me my portrait with a large sword coming from my mouth.. To some up what I dearly love is when people share what they get from scripture its amazing the way the spirit speaks to individuals its black and white plain english on paper but a completely different language in discernment a bit like when the apostles were able to speak in tongues...
I am strongly reminded here of Mark Mallett's recent post, The Last Hour, and these words: "Jesus Christ, the True and Faithful One, comes riding upon the White Horse of Justice. Can you not hear its hooves, already shaking the earth? Beloved—do not be afraid, but raise your eyes to the skies and watch for Him who comes to strengthen you, for the hour of your Passion has come. And I will be with you; you will know and feel My presence. I will be with you. I will be with you." This strikes me in particular because when MM first posted this I sensed I was being told to get my sister to read it. She read it aloud to me and my mother, and when she got to this part about the white horse of justice, she gasped and had to stop for a second. When she read on, to the part about hearing it's hooves, she stopped again and the hair literally stood up on her head. She had been praying also to be shown where we are at at this time, and the image she was given was of horses gathered in preparation for battle, she could see and hear their hooves striking the ground in that way they do as they anticipate the coming onslaught. Behind them she could see a fortress, obviously the target for this battle, which, I suppose is the Kingdom of God or the Church.
Jesus Christ, the True and Faithful One, comes riding upon the White Horse of Justice. Can you not hear its hooves, already shaking the earth? Beloved—do not be afraid, but raise your eyes to the skies and watch for Him who comes to strengthen you, for the hour of your Passion has come. And I will be with you; you will know and feel My presence. I will be with you. I will be with you." Thank you Adoremus, that has really struck me! Especially since my name, Cher, means Beloved!
