....THINK AGAIN!
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| St. Augustine & St. Monica, pray for us. |
God always answers our prayers. Sometimes He says yes and sometimes He says no. God loves us so we can be sure when He says no that what we are asking for is not good for us.
When He says yes, sometimes He takes His own time. Abraham and Sarah prayed for a child. God told them, yes, not only would they have a child, but their descendants would be like the stars of the sky. But God made them wait...and wait...and wait.
Instead of trusting Him, they decided to take things into their own hands. Sarah convinced Abraham to have relations with her maid, Hagar. Ai yi yi! We all know how that ended and we're still suffering from the battle between Isaac and Ishmael today.
Maybe God delays fulfillment of His yes to help us grow in patience and perseverance. And sometimes, He rewards that patience and perseverance with an abundance we can hardly imagine. Let me share an excerpt from Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence about St. Monica and her sixteen-year prayer vigil for the conversion of her son, Augustine:
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| Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us who have recourse to Thee. |
Mary Immaculate, living tabernacle of the Divinity, where the eternal Wisdom lies hidden to be adored and served by angels and men, Queen of heaven and of earth, beneath whose sway are subject all things that are lower than God, Patroness of the United States of America, sorrowful and mindful of our own sinfulness and the sins of our nation, we come to Thee, our refuge and hope.
I have a hummingbird feeder hanging near my office window, a source of much amusement. One little female has delegated to herself the role of sentry. She feeds and then sits on the tippytop of the pole holding the feeder. From there she dive bombs other hummingbirds (mostly other females) to keep them from feeding. Occasionally, a ruby-throated male drops in for a drink, but most of boys apparently have already begun migrating. The females usually remain a bit longer, so the war is usually among the girls. Seems like a lot of wasted energy for nothing but territorial rivalry.
I got a message this morning from a dear friend whom I've known since she was a teenager. I did a reading at her wedding back in the early 80s. She asked for prayers for her daughter, a busy mom of many, who is in the hospital with pneumonia. I've received many prayer requests lately: from a young father who's very sick, from an internet friend who lost his job and is near retirement age with not even a thin parachute for his golden years, from a number of sick family members including my sister in a nursing home, and from a number of other suffering souls. I've been keeping the Poor Clares busy with all the requests for their intercessory prayers.
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| Woodstock, VA historic courthouse |
Does it make you angry to see the evil global elitists doing everything they can to destroy not only our country, but all the sovereign nations of the world? Love of your homeland is a virtue. According to St. Thomas Aquinas it is man's nature to be a “civic and social animal.” (ST, I-II, 72.4) Society begins in the family, the basic building block of every community. If the family is moral and strong, a nation will be moral and strong. That's why communist philosophy always strikes at the family. Orwell showed that masterfully in 1984 where children were encouraged to spy on their parents and report them for violations against Big Brother.
We all want to make a good Lent, right? It's coming in only a few weeks, so now is the time to begin planning how we will make the best of it. How will we apply prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in our daily lives?
My husband and I have decided to study Bishop Schneider's compendium of the faith, Credo, as our prayer and study. I recently ordered both the books and the study guides. We've decided to begin today and make part of our observance of Sunday, reading and studying the faith so we can share it more effectively.
The angels are powerful and eager to help us -- but only in things that bring us closer to God. Don't ask your guardian angel to give you the numbers for the big lottery win. How many people's lives have been ruined by quick riches? Too many to count. But praying before studying that you might be well prepared for a test or praying before taking up the Scripture asking for guidance in understanding God's word....
The angels will happily respond to those kinds of prayer.
Today's meditation in Benedictus is well worth quoting in part:
This morning, reading The Imitation of Christ, I meditated on this passage:
My blog partner, Susan, and I both have the same addiction. We are book-a-philes. And we demonstrate it with piles of books all over our respective houses. One of the common traits of book-o-philes is that you often find that you have purchased the same book more than once. As I get older that seems to be happening to me more often. But I don't regret it. I just have wonderful gifts to share with others. I sent my godson a copy of Peter Kwasniewski's book on the Eucharist. (Actually, I bought that extra copy on purpose.) But the other day as I was beginning Roberto de Mattei's biography of St. Pius V, I looked over at my bookcase and there another copy stared back at me. Now who would like that for Christmas?
There's no such thing as an unbeliever. Everybody believes in something.
Some worship Mother Nature. Some wear their crystals and worship the moon, the stars, pagan goddesses, etc. Some worship money. As St. Paul says, some think of nothing but their bellies. One could say they worship their taste buds and their digestive system. Some actively worship Satan. Some worship Dr. Fauci. Have you seen all the ridiculous religious items being sold in his name? Wow! And then there are those who worship themselves.
