This is especially dear to me since October 7 is the day I came back into the Catholic Church after many years away. That was in 1997. The Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary.
Visit RosaryCoastToCoast.com
Showing posts with label repentance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label repentance. Show all posts
September 24, 2018
May 31, 2017
We [two single people] Had Sex. Now What?
I like this article below. It acknowledges our shortcomings and helps us to renew our faith!
So many other articles talk about how to strengthen yourself from ever falling short of the Catholic mark. It is all good information, but the reality is that people do fall short - and then struggle with how to recoup. This article helps.
https://www.catholicmatch.com/institute/2017/05/we-had-sex-now-what/
image - http://blog.seekingmillionaire.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/too-picky-when-dating.png
December 16, 2015
The Mourning of My Mother
Today marks the 2nd anniversary of my mother's death. Two years. Two years ago she had some kind of attack and fell to the floor from her kitchen chair. She was in her pajamas when one of my sisters found her. It seems like it was just yesterday.
Of course, I pray for her all the time -- still. She may be in Heaven, but she may also be in Purgatory or even Hell. I doubt she is in Hell, but none of us ever knows the final destiny of a person's soul. My mother was raised a Catholic and she was a proud Catholic. She loved having her aunt who was a nun come visit her school. She told me how she bragged a bit about it. She also prayed the Rosary to me in French, because that is the language in which she was raised. Canadian French, that is.
Unfortunately, my grandmother had a terrible incident with her parish priest. And then there was the time my mother sought out a funeral Mass for her, and the pastor would not accommodate her. My grandparents went to the Saturday Vigil Mass every weekend. They sat in the same place in the same pews at the same church, and this priest was inflexible when my grandmother died. Much to my mother's dismay, we had the Mass at another parish in the city. (At the same time, thanks be to God that we could have it somewhere else!) The parish was barren and cold and echo-y. Not comforting.
These happenings tainted my mother and she became spiteful toward the Catholic Church. It so breaks my heart that she distanced herself at those times. She never went back and she held a grudge for the rest of her life. Even after I converted back to Catholicism, I was at a loss of how to convince her that being Catholic meant being true to God and to our Faith, not to the failing humanity of priests.
I wish things could have been different, but they weren't. My mother may not have drawn upon the salvific strength of Jesus Christ, but that doesn't mean I don't have to. In fact, I do it right now. It is His strength I draw upon to carry the sadness associated with my mother's loss of faith -- and of all my siblings' loss of faith. Some of them are carrying on the bitter burden my mother carried due to the shortcomings of these priests in her life. May they come to see the face of God. May these priests come to see the face of God. And may I come to see the face of God as well.
I love you, Mom.
images - http://www.atlantachinesedance.org/images/2012/In%20Mourning.jpg
http://www.azhagi.com/pics/azp-divider-14.gif
https://redpointtailor.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/a-day-of-national-mourning-in-the-netherlands-in-memory-of-all-the-victims-of-flight-mh17.jpg?w=640&h=284
Of course, I pray for her all the time -- still. She may be in Heaven, but she may also be in Purgatory or even Hell. I doubt she is in Hell, but none of us ever knows the final destiny of a person's soul. My mother was raised a Catholic and she was a proud Catholic. She loved having her aunt who was a nun come visit her school. She told me how she bragged a bit about it. She also prayed the Rosary to me in French, because that is the language in which she was raised. Canadian French, that is.
Unfortunately, my grandmother had a terrible incident with her parish priest. And then there was the time my mother sought out a funeral Mass for her, and the pastor would not accommodate her. My grandparents went to the Saturday Vigil Mass every weekend. They sat in the same place in the same pews at the same church, and this priest was inflexible when my grandmother died. Much to my mother's dismay, we had the Mass at another parish in the city. (At the same time, thanks be to God that we could have it somewhere else!) The parish was barren and cold and echo-y. Not comforting.
These happenings tainted my mother and she became spiteful toward the Catholic Church. It so breaks my heart that she distanced herself at those times. She never went back and she held a grudge for the rest of her life. Even after I converted back to Catholicism, I was at a loss of how to convince her that being Catholic meant being true to God and to our Faith, not to the failing humanity of priests.
I wish things could have been different, but they weren't. My mother may not have drawn upon the salvific strength of Jesus Christ, but that doesn't mean I don't have to. In fact, I do it right now. It is His strength I draw upon to carry the sadness associated with my mother's loss of faith -- and of all my siblings' loss of faith. Some of them are carrying on the bitter burden my mother carried due to the shortcomings of these priests in her life. May they come to see the face of God. May these priests come to see the face of God. And may I come to see the face of God as well.
I love you, Mom.
images - http://www.atlantachinesedance.org/images/2012/In%20Mourning.jpg
http://www.azhagi.com/pics/azp-divider-14.gif
https://redpointtailor.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/a-day-of-national-mourning-in-the-netherlands-in-memory-of-all-the-victims-of-flight-mh17.jpg?w=640&h=284
February 26, 2015
It's Lent And The Front Cover of Unraveling My Father's Suicide Is Ready
It's Lent, thank God, literally. It's my annual time to regroup and pull in the reins of the lure of spiritual laziness. My spiritual counselor suggested I attend Daily Mass every day. For some, that would be easy to do. For me, since I have acquired a late-night writer's schedule, it's not so easy. I compromised and am attending Daily Mass three times a week. I recall the days a few years ago when I did that regularly. I miss Daily Mass. I love waking up to something bigger than me. I love waking up to Jesus Christ, in Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Nonetheless, I wonder if I will continue my practice after Lent when the overriding impetus is gone. I am a sinner. God please help me. I am weak. Make me strong.
Other things I'm doing for Lent? I gave up Super Blow Pops.
They're terrible for you. Sugar, corn syrup, bubble gum in the middle. It takes me a 1/2 hour to consume one and blow bubbles. I don't even know how I got started on them. Watermelon, Cherry, Grape, Sour Apple, Strawberry. Childhood memories. Not good for the teeth at all, but I'd eat them anyhow.
I also gave up electronic Scrabble and WordWhomp. That has been harder than I expected. I want to open a new Window right now and play my games. Finally, I gave up meat on Wednesdays in addition to Fridays, and there are a couple things too personal to share. Why give up anything at all? To deepen my relationship with God by walking with Jesus in His Passion. +
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