Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers.

Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

This week was spent in the ER and finally the hospital laid low by what a CAT scan showed to be a partial  intestinal obstruction, which has (Praise the Lord!) resolved itself .  I’m happily and gratefully home again.

I received these video, well worth sharing with all of you and a treatise on the Holy Trinity to open our heart to the  Hoily Ghost:

The Lord’s Command to Baptize

Test of Fire Election Video

Obama’s Not So Secret Plan

The Lord’s Command to Baptize

From the treatise On the Trinity by Saint Hilary, bishop

The Father’s gift in Christ

Our Lord commanded us to baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. In baptism, then, we profess faith in the Creator, in the only-begotten Son and in the gift which is the Spirit. There is one Creator of all things, for in God there is one Father from whom all things have their being. And there is one only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom all things exist. And there is one Spirit, the gift who is in all. So all follow their due order, according to the proper operation of each: one power, which brings all things into being, one Son, through whom all things come to be, and one gift of perfect hope. Nothing is wanting to this flawless union: in Father, Son and Holy Spirit, there is infinity of endless being, perfect reflection of the divine image, and mutual enjoyment of the gift.

Our Lord has described the purpose of the Spirit’s presence in us. Let us listen to his words: I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. It is to your advantage that I go away; if I go, I will send you the Advocate. And also: I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you for ever, the Spirit of truth. He will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine.

From among many of our Lord’s sayings, these have been chosen to guide our understanding, for they reveal to us the intention of the giver, the nature of the gift and the condition for its reception. Since our weak minds cannot comprehend the Father or the Son, we have been given the Holy Spirit as our intermediary and advocate, to shed light on that hard doctrine of our faith, the incarnation of God.

We receive the Spirit of truth so that we can know the things of God. In order to grasp this, consider how useless the faculties of the human body would become if they were denied their exercise. Our eyes cannot fulfill their task without light, either natural or artificial; our ears cannot react without sound vibrations, and in the absence of any odor our nostrils are ignorant of their function. Not that these senses would lose their own nature if they were not used; rather, they demand objects of experience in order to function. It is the same with the human soul. Unless it absorbs the gift of the Spirit through faith, the mind has the ability to know God but lacks the light necessary for that knowledge.

This unique gift which is in Christ is offered in its fullness to everyone. It is everywhere available, but it is given to each man in proportion to his readiness to receive it. Its presence is the fuller, the greater a man’s desire to be worthy of it. This gift will remain with us until the end of the world, and will be our comfort in the time of waiting. By the favors it bestows, it is the pledge of our hope for the future, the light of our minds, and the splendor that irradiates our understanding.

Obama’s Not So Secret Plan

Test of Fire Election Video

St Gertrude Promises.

St Gertrude promises.

During her life, Saint Gertrude’s prayers were miraculously answered: Because of her intercession, many were delivered from long and serious illnesses, while others were told in dreams to seek her counsel, as we have related earlier.

1. Our Lord once said to her: “If anyone, being oppressed by sorrow . . . and grief, humbly and sincerely seeks consolation in thy words, he will not be deceived in his desires; for I, the God abiding in thee, urged by the liberality of My love and goodness, desire through thee to bestow much good on many.

2. Whosoever commends himself with full confidence to thy prayers will obtain life eternal by thy mediation. Just as much as anyone hopes to receive from thee, so much will he surely obtain.

3. Besides this, whatever thou shalt promise anyone in My Name, that I shall certainly grant him.” [13]

4. St. Gertrude received the most consoling promise that whenever anyone devoutly praises and thanks God for the graces bestowed on her, Our Lord will enrich that person with similar virtues and graces. And if this does not come to pass immediately, it will be fulfilled at an opportune time. On the page containing the Prayers of St. Gertrude you will find such a prayer of praise and gratitude.

5. Our Lord also promised her that no one who had venerated her would depart this life without having first received the grace of making his life pleasing to God, and that, furthermore, he would enjoy the comfort of a special friendship with God. Our Dearest Savior said to His beloved spouse: “Just as I have now drawn in My breath, so shall I in truth draw to Myself all who incline toward thee with love and devotion for My sake, and I shall grant them the grace to make progress in virtue from day to day.”

6. Our Lord promised Gertrude that if anyone should praise and thank Him for the graces lavished on her, and ask for a favor, He would, in that love with which He had pre-elected her from eternity, assuredly grant the plea, provided it were for the eternal welfare of the suppliant. [14]

7. Moreover, St. Gertrude received the promise that if anyone performs a good work in her honor, in union with that love in which God descended from Heaven and accomplished the work of our Redemption, he should obtain as his merit whatever is performed in honor of the Saint. No sinner who had loved and venerated her should die suddenly!

St. Gertrude once asked Our Lord for a sign as a solemn confirmation of these favors. “Stretch forth thy hand,” said Jesus. She did so. Immediately He opened the ark of His Deified Heart, and placed her hand in the Wound of His side. Then He said: “Behold, hereby I promise to preserve inviolable the gifts I have bestowed on thee. If, however, according to My wise foresight, I suspend their effects for a time, I hereby bind Myself to recompense thee threefold, by the omnipotence, wisdom and goodness of the Triune God.” When Gertrude withdrew her hand, she saw a golden circlet on each finger, and on the signet finger, three. “Seven rings shall be to thee a certain proof that the seven favors I have promised thee for the salvation of the world have been ratified,” said Our Lord. [15]

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers.

Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

This weeks efforts:

Stir into Flame

My Holy Thee

One Last Prayer

Fear Not

School of Faith

Of Walls and Hedges

One Last Prayer

If I should die today,
What have I to say?
Perhaps just one last prayer.

Grant that my heart
Should leap and quicken,
Catching sight of You
Coming from afar.

With Your Father,
You have wooed, and waited,
Sent Your Spirit
Into my dry bones,
Raising me from dust
Once again
And, now, forevermore.

Here I am, my Hallowed Three.
The Bridegoom cometh;
Come for me.

© 2012 Joann Nelander

 

Shared at Poetic Picnic week 36

My Holy Thee

My Holy Three
The ground of me.
In knowing myself
May I know Thee.

Write upon my heart
The thoughts that are Your own.
Seat Yourself upon
My empty throne.

You who find no place
To rest Your Head.
Here, reign and rule
To delight and wed..

My Holy Three
The ground of me.
In knowing myself
May I forever know Thee.

Beyond Tears

I just want to rest here,
In a place beyond tears.
When You see me,
In my life’s blood,
You will not pass me by.

Shepherd,
That you are,
Lift me to Your shoulder.
Carry me
The rest of the way.

I consent to Your ministries,
Trust in Your mercies.
As Your strong arms
Enfold me.

I am comfort,
Through and through,
For I will to be
One with You,
And You have given me
My heart’s desire.

Song of Creation by Michael Chacon

Of Walls and Hedges

I am the greatest obstacle
To my salvation,
Yet You leap the walls,
I have raised about me.
You breech them,
You penetrate them.
You shake and crumble them.

Your Holy Spirit
Is that quake
Of Calvary,
The earthquake,
That rattled open prison doors,
Destroyed the chains of those,
Commissioned to speak with Your power,
And in Your Name..

Place a high,
Insurmountable hedge about me.
One I can not leap,
When I hear the voices
Calling on the other side.

I know myself,
And that I shall try to flee.
For, though the boundary,
Be for my own good,
Fool, that I know myself to be,
Fleeing is in me.

All my hope
Is in the Love
You bear for me.
You, my Love,
Scale the walls of my pride,
O, Love, Who sets watch towers
On the heights,
And is enemy
To my enemies,
And the Guardian
Of my soul.

School of Faith

My dear little Saint,
What a beautiful hedge
He placed around you,
Mother and Father,
Sisters and Faith,
Love to grow you,
And hardship
To steel you.

Holiness drew you
As family ties
Formed you for God,
And set you free
To take flight
In the air of Carmel.

Little Saint be to me
Mother, Father, Sister
And my school of Faith.
With you like Solomon,
I learn to sing,
“Draw me; we will run
after Thee
To the odor
Of Thy ointments.”

Mother’s Day Reflection

Crayon and pencil by Sr. Grace Remington, OCSO Copyright 2005, Sisters of the Mississippi Abbey

Mother Eve, waiting long,
Your bones resting in the earth,
At Adam’s side,
From which you were taken,
Waiting, waiting for the Woman.

Sustained in weary life by a Promise.
Enduring the grave,
Counting the centuries,
Waiting for Good News.
The Virgin is with Child. Rejoice!

©2011 Joann Nelander All rights reserved

For more on Mother’s Day reflection visit Week 35 at Poetic Picnic

On Mother’s Day

On Mother’s Day all mothers hold a special place in the heart of God, especially those who have lost their children. I, especially, grieve with mothers who have aborted their babies.  Daily I pray that I be permitted to spiritually baptize all the children dying in any form of abortion with the Living Water that gushed from the open side of Jesus.  These holy innocents are victims, too young to will, but not too young to suffer and die. Knowing God desires to bring good forth from evil, I widen my prayer to include their  mothers and fathers, and all in their lineage, back to Adam and Eve, and to the end of time. I pray that God release from purgatory many of those in the lineage to accompany them to heaven in holy celebration, so that family always surrounds them.  One day I hope to rejoice with all these children and those saved by the mystery of their short lives and deaths united to the Will of God.

Fear Not

 Fear not to approach

And behold the child.

See, it is you!

He holds His treasure

Cradled in the arms

Of His Only Begotten Son.

No memory of sins forgiven

No repugnance,

For past crimes vanish,

Banished, by His flaming Love.

The Spirit and the Bride

Say “Come!”

©2012 Joann Nelander

Stir into Flame

Fire once flame

Enkindled by the Spirit,

Smolder.

Embers still aglow,

Await a new Wind,

And a prayer,

Sent on the breath

Of the will,

Catalyst and fuel.

 

O Spirit blaze again

To the heavens,

Sending heat and light

To ignite those cold,

World-weary and, now, ready.

 

Then will the sparks fly

And the earth shake.

Lord Jesus, send forth Your Spirit,

We are athirst and longing.

 

©2012 Joann Nelander

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers.

Join the fun by visiting This That and the Other Thing and creating your own link as RAnn directs.

This weeks efforts:

To Seek Bliss

Make It So, Lord

Heaven of My Soul

On My Father’s Side

Make It So, Lord

If heaven can be made more glorious,
Make it so, my Lord.

If the honor and respect, I show,
Sinner, though I am,
Can render
Your saints more glory,
For the light
They shine on men,
Make it so, my Lord.

If the blood of martyrs,
Can again be received
Before Your throne,
Mingled with the Blood of Christ,
That coursed their veins,
And flowed out
As rivers.
To wash the Nations
And praise Your Holy Name,
Make it so, my Lord.

All time is Now
In Your Eternity.
Your battles,
Though waging on earth,
Have all been won,
And presented to You
In Your Son.

“Thy Kingdom come!”
You make it so , O my Lord.

Copyright Joann Nelander 2011

All rights reserved

To Seek Bliss

Seek grace before bliss.
To seek  bliss,
Is to seek the gift
May be to shun the Giver.

Who conjures dreams matters.
My pleasure may  spring
From forbidden springs.

Before I entrust
Myself to gods,
Should I not seek
To discern truth
From Truth.

Come, come,
O, kind Spirit of Truth,
Though You contradict my way,
I promise to obey,
Clad in Your grace,
Day by day.

©2012  Joann Nelander
All rights reserved

Heaven of My Soul

Indwelling Trinity,
You inhabit heaven,
While all things in nature
Are held in being by Your Will,
There is a Presence
Of the supernatural kind,
That lights the soul
Of the baptized child.

O, God, indwelling,
In the heaven
Of my soul,
Behold me,
Living in constant adoration,
Willing Thy Will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

 

©2012 Joann Nelander

all rights reserved

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

RAnn of This That and the Other Thing hosts Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival, a group of Catholic bloggers who gather weekly to share posts of interest to Catholic bloggers. Join the fun by visiting http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2012/05/sunday-snippets-catholic-carnival.htmland creating your own link as RAnn directs.

This weeks efforts:

What Will You Worship Today?

Flight of Love

You are God

What Will You Worship Today?

My Child,
What will you worship today?

My sun warms you and brightens your day.
My plants and animals sustain you.
My ground yields it’s treasure
To build
And energize your cities.
Rivers of beauty
Play across the land,
Teeming abundantly.

You perceive
The wonder of creation,
Yet, your love
Does not go
Beyond the creature,
To see, or seek the Creator.
You do not want
To meet the artist.

You do worship.
You worship what you love.
There is little room for Me.
I am to you a thermostat
For your comfort,
Under your control.

Desiring love
I weep.
Here I am
Within reach.
Stretch out your heart
And I am yours.

My child,
What will you worship today?

Copyright 2012 Joann Nelander
All rights reserved