Aurora Shores, Reminderville, Ohio Picture by Sandra Mullins
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Extraordinary Time
Where have we seen these words before?
“Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them,
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.”
When he got home away from the crowd
his disciples questioned him about the parable.
He said to them,
“Are even you likewise without understanding?
Do you not realize that everything
that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,
since it enters not the heart but the stomach
and passes out into the latrine?”
(Thus he declared all foods clean.)
“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”
Emphasis mine Mark 7:14-23
From within the man, from his heart,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.”
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.
Emphasis mine Galatians 5: 19-21
We emphasized, and the like, because the list St. Paul gives us for the works of the flesh are always expanding. We can now include some of the junk we see on the internet, T.V., movies, and even in our music.
Life is a continuous battle, satan never quits. Just when you might be thinking all is well, bam! satan hits again from a different angle.
All we can do is pick ourselves up, pray the Our Father, remember Jesus gave us this prayer, and in that prayer, we ask to be forgiven, as we forgive,
easy, forgive,
and we are forgiven.
I think this is what is so hard about our religion.
Forgive others and we are forgiven.
Easy.
There is a story in the Old Testament. Naman, (2 Kings 5) an Army Commander who contracted leprosy. Naman had conquered some Jewish Territory, and a little Jewish girl, who was captured, was assigned to his wife. The girl told Naman’s wife about a prophet in Samaria who could cure leprosy.
With a letter from Naman’s king, Naman set out to be cured. He found Elisha, and Elisha told Naman to bathe seven times in the Jordan river, and Naman would be healed.
Naman balked, until his servants reasoned with him, that if Elisha had asked for a great feat, Naman would have done it. They pleaded with Namam to just bathe seven times.
Naman finally did, and the Leprosy was gone.
This thinking still exists today.
Say the Our Father, MEAN all of the Words, “Thy will be done, and forgive our trespasses,” and forgive everyone who has worked you over, don’t just keep saying the prayer, STOP, and take a moment to pray for everyone who has worked you over, and your sins are forgiven. I didn’t say this Jesus did!
And
Jesus can be trusted!
Remember:
“But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him.
Prayer:
If you have a difficulty;
Thank God the Father for the Death of His Son, the Nails that were driven into His Hands, and the Nail that was driven into His Feet, and next pray:
“Thank you, Father, for the difficulty of …………….. (NAME YOUR DIFFICULTY) ….. You have ALLOWED in my life I have FAITH that you will take care of me.” Repeat this prayer until you smile, as smiling tells you that the Holy Spirit is back in your life.
Sidebar:
What an interesting morning!
I thought I knew what The Holy Spirit wanted to talk about and I was wrong. How did I know I was wrong, you might be asking.
The computer shut down two times, I typed in CAPS for a small portion, my mind went blank. In short, what should have been joyful, as it normally is, wasn’t.
I finally woke up, and deleted what I, yes, I had typed, and started anew.
I love this job and our relationship.
We just finished reading He Leadeth Me, by Walter J. Ciszek with Daniel L. Flaherty.
Briefly, this is the story of a Jesuit Priest who wanted to go to Russia before WWII and become a priest to the poor people in Russia. God grants him his wish, BUT not in the way Fr. Cisek originally planned. Fr. Cisek spent seven years in solitary confinement, and fifteen years in a Gulag in Siberia. This is an excellent read, and what Fr. Cisek is put through is unbelievable.
Bottom line – God never left him.
But,
Fr. Cisek had to learn how to filter out satan and see God in every aspect of his life.
The reason we are mentioning this book is Fr. Cisek had to learn to live in the NOW, and most importantly to TRUST God your Father.
satan is constantly trying to get us to live in the past or the future.
The Past is over, you can’t change anything that has happened except apologize to anyone who has screwed you or you have screwed over, and move on.
The future doesn’t exist. God told Moses His name was I AM. Stay with I AM and enJOY the day.
The past and future ruled my, yes, my life for too many years. The Holy Spirit through Love, Joy, and Peace showed me over a long period-of-time that life could be different, and much better. It’s taken work, but like writing this blog, it is well worth the effort.
Every day, I pray that I NEVER return to the person I was. I believe I have been forgiven, I don’t deserve forgiveness, but that is what life is like when you worship a God of OUTRAGEOUS Love, and I now love and try even harder to grow in the Fruit of The Holy Spirit.
The sixty-four dollar question is, How do I stay in the NOW? My answer, and it’s my answer, you have to work out yours, is through prayer. We pray the Rosary every day, and sing hymns the rest of the time. Sounds BORING to many, yep, that’s what I thought when I started, satan, but over time I realized I was living in Joy and Peace, and that was much better than where I lived before I made the change.
I know other people who found Joy and Peace walking, walking a dog, working in the garden, playing an instrument, so as you can see there are many ways to live in the NOW.
Try it!
Picture:
This picture is our lake in Aurora Shores, Reminderville, Ohio (suburb of Cleveland). October 2020. It’s a natural glacier lake. Picture by Sandra Mullins
Please keep Snapping!
Email me if you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph
