Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO LOSS

Loss and the suffering associated with it rains down upon us in many forms from virtually the first moment of our births. As a child, we play simple board games and lose half or most or some of the time. We experience injustice, illness, pain, the passing of loved ones (even the young), and family strife. Even siblings can be mean, selfish, nasty, and inconsiderate of each other. Parents routinely lose sleep for the sake of their children and spend entire days fatigued as a result. Virtually all of us lose our jobs or incomes at some point, experiencing material privation. Even the very act of aging, day by day, is a gradual loss of vitality, causing melancholy, bitterness, or useless vanity.

"Days turn to minutes and minutes to memories. Life sweeps away the dreams that we have planned." (John Mellancamp)

Ah, the loss of dreams! Unfulfilled dreams of having professional success, or of finding a spouse, or of having children--these are among the worst losses. Or, having achieved worldly success, we realize too late that our earlier, empty sacrifice of time could have been better spent in prayer and with family.

Two common human reactions to the injustice of loss are anger and despair, in all their degrees and categories. Frustrated, parents give up on reigning in their child's sinful behavior, and thus neglect them. Embittered and humiliated, the formerly hardworking man might become lazy and withdrawn over the years. The Church has long taught that anger is actually a legitimate emotional reaction to injustice. But that does not mean we should be slaves to this emotion. Adults who give in to the anger that arises from mistreatment at the hands of others will become malicious, sullen, and vindictive.

Faith in Jesus in conjunction with our humble acceptance of loss, just or unjust, in all things great and small, is the only mature Christian response. (We are referring here to our internal spiritual response. Injustice often requires us to take steps in our practical actions to correct injustices, or, to make prudential decisions to address the loss--that is, if your child breaks his arm, you must take him to a doctor.) Our faith that God will restore all things (even if only in heaven after our death) opens the door in our soul for hope. We beg you, do not let that word, hope, slide by your mind. Hope is a supernatural virtue, a gift that flows from faith--a powerful reality available from God in matters of loss. When was the last time you felt the awesome power of supernatural hope?

These might sound like lofty and idealistic words, but you will experience (or witness) some kind of loss today, or this week, perhaps in a small matter. When this happens, attempt to examine your internal emotional and spiritual reaction. Then, make an act of faith--tell God that you believe in Him, and that you believe He can and will restore the loss, and remind yourself that God often uses loss (if we accept it correctly) to teach us something, or to prepare the path to some future greater good that is unfathomable at the current moment. After your act of acceptance and faith, make sure your internal spiritual radio is tuned into Channel Hope. Discern hope, feel hope, wait for hope. It will come. If you react this way often enough, hope will begin to shine through your eyes. People will turn to you in times of loss to see and feel the reality of hope in your eyes. In other words, when people see you, they will see ... a saint.
A timely message from Catholic City.
http://www.catholicity.com/

No comments:

Post a Comment

Like This Blog? ... Then please click to FOLLOW :)


A request was made that I make a video tutorial on how to make a Macramé Rosary. 1st effort by myself and my brother, the camera man :)
*** The tutorial shows and mentions #11 seed beads ... ERROR! LOL .. should be #6 seed beads! ***


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow Me on Pinterest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Apostle, St. John tells us exactly how to recognize the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood. He says "as for them, they are of the world - and the world listens to them because they speak the language of the world. But we are children of God and those who know God: LISTEN TO US. Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood." ~1 John 4:6 [The "us" to whom St. John refers are the Apostles, and their successors the Bishops.]


Abortion Alternative - The Adoption Movement


"THE BORN SUPREMACY: OUR UNBORN IDENTITY"


LUISA PICCARRETA ~ DIVINE WILL
It WILL change your life!


Prayer to avoid the Sin of PRIDE:
“Oh My Jesus help me to avoid the sin of pride when I speak in Your Name. Forgive me if I ever belittle anyone in Your holy Name. Help me to listen Jesus when Your Voice is spoken and fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can discern the truth of Your Word when You call out to mankind. Amen.”


A prayer of St. Teresa of Avila:
O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in "wedding garments." Amen.


“My children, let your speech be chosen with great care—it must be a light in the world. Know and believe that all you say has repercussions in time and eternity. Therefore, choose your words with wisdom and prudence, choosing to remain silent rather than fill the air with useless chatter or worse, gossip or virulent speech. Let your speech be a perfect mirror of your peaceful heart, a heart firmly grounded in the love of God and in complete trust in His goodness. Silence is often the more virtuous path. Bridle your tongue and you will be working for peace in the world.”

In the Name of Jesus I renounce as lies all thoughts that enter my mind from the evil one who accuses. By the authority of Jesus, I command them to leave me. I consecrate my mind to God for transformation into His Thoughts for my protection, salvation and His glory.


SWANSONS ONLINE -
THE BEST QUALITY, SERVICE AND PRICES FOR ALL YOUR VITAMIN, SUPPLEMENT AND HERBAL NEEDS!!!! Been with them over 20yrs and LOVIN' IT! :)

ZULILY ~ GREAT PRICES & GREAT STUFF!

Father Donald Calloway's New Book: ROSARY GEMS
Check it out!


Please Drop by and "LIKE" Battlebeads on FaceBook

Rosary beads, Chaplets and More by BattleBeads - Home of the USA Chaplet
Please Click here and "LIKE" us today!



Why you should pray the Chaplet

Stations

Full Rosary

Chaplet of the Holy Face

St. Gertrude Chaplet


Chaplet of Protection

MUSIC



Great Older Marian Playlist!
May Each Day

One Pair of Hands


Walking With the Lord
A Video Meditation


Lectio Divina

Please join to END ABORTIONS NOW!


FREE AUDIO BOOK:
The Story of a Soul by St. Therese
ANOTHER FREE AUDIO BOOK Father Solanus Casey

Little Latin Readers

Popular Posts

Universalis (weekly) Liturgy of the Hours

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

My Blog List

Great Catholic Sites

Flag Counter

free counters
since 6/6/10

It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American decent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people.
—Editorial, Pravda, April 27th, 2009; http://english.pravda.ru/

AddThis

Bookmark and Share

Just a Note:

Through the grace of God and many prayers, I survived a double surgery (with cancer) in the fall of 2008. Since then has becoming increasingly important to me to enhance my prayer life. I have taken on the task of praying for strangers and those with little hope and much adversity. To that end, I've also begun (July '09), to make rosaries and related items to put prayer into the hands of as many as I can that will PRAY for others.

The world is at the precipice ... we need to TAKE ACTION ... NOW. Time for fence sitting is quickly coming to an end. We all need to do what ever we can in the way of PRAYER & PENANCE to beg God's Grace upon humanity that we may shake away this sinfulness and pride to get back on the road that leads to heaven and our Glorious Triune God!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After you have made a decision that is pleasing to God, the devil may try to make you have second thoughts. Intensify your prayer time, meditation, and good deeds. For if satan's temptations merely cause you to increase your efforts to grow in holiness, he'll have an incentive to leave you alone.
~St. Ignatius of Loyola


BATTLEBEADS UPDATES, SALES & INFO!