Listen To The Voice Of The Lord...

In the book of Luke we are reminded "Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste and house will fall against house.  Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." Just reading scripture from the bible in this case, magnificat, is alarming!  We hear the words and yet we go against what our Lord is telling us.  Why is it we choose not to obey God's laws leading us down the path of destruction?  Jesus is giving us a free warning and yet we do not take it seriously.  We choose the path of great suffering, and sadly allow our choices to chip away at the beautiful life God is directing us towards.  He lays it out simply and we make it a complication that drags on indefintely.  Thank God as Catholics we have the greatest Sacrament ever!!!  The Sacrament of Reconciliation.  It is where we visit with a priest and confess our wrong doings.  Asking God for his forgiveness and healing of our disorderly passions.  Just this week I learned an invaluable lesson about myself, totally unintended.  I was drawn to pray a nine day Novena to Saint Jude.  My intentions were for my family and friends who have walked away from the Catholic Teachings, that they would desire a deep conversion, and return to practicing and living out their Catholic faith, taught to them in their youth.  Well I was quite surprised by the outcome.  Of course I had another intention, and God allowed me to see his blessing upon the health of a dear friend improving after a very serious surgery.  My pastor mentioned that when we want to ask God for something, we have to ask Him without an inkling of doubt and it will be granted.  Little did I know when I had asked God through Padre Pio for this intention, it ended up being a blessing in my life, to arrive at the most gut level and degree of honesty, and that was a tremendous hurdle in my life.  You can carry within you anger for so long, you dont see it, but it comes out in the way you treat other people.  I had to own it.  And I did.  Acknowledging our wrong doing, is the first step in overcoming our weaknesses.  We are an imperfect people, but God and only God can make us perfect!  So because I am in Christ, I have to reconcile all of my differences within myself and within all of my relationships, as do you.  If the hurt goes way back, it is much more difficult to see and work through.  Triggers, muscle memory, causing hypersensitivity, and all those hurts can only begin to heal through Christ.  Prayer.  Fasting.  Confession.  Spending a holy hour in adoration.  Scheduling an appointment with your priest asking for spiritual direction. Reciting the divine office, will bring to the surface all those details in your life left undone.  Holy Mother Mary, Undoer Of Knots, will assist you.  Your patron saint can be called upon and reciting prayers to that saint, along with your guardian angel, you have alot of interesting avenues you can take to help you.  I once read that every saint you pray to, ask for their intercession, they will be present on the day of your death when Jesus comes for you.  Studying the lives of the saints are comforting to the soul, because they have already made their contributions to the faith, and have received their eternal reward.  We now have our chance before we die, to do the same.  To share with the world our relationship with Jesus Christ living in us through the Catholic Faith.  Drawing us closer every day to Him, in this life, as we transition into eternal life.  The steps we were inspired to take and share with the world will be our testimony, our contribution, adding to the mosaic of the women at the well, the twelve apostles, all the saints, and every man and woman of the cloth yet to be revealed!