The Belly of the Whale

My sweet husband took me to Lourdes, France this summer. On our first morning we attended the International Mass in the Basilica of St. Pius X. The Basilica of St. Pius X is a huge underground cathedral with a maximum capacity of 25,000 people.

During the mass there were many times that I didn’t understand what was being said, because it was held in many different languages. In these moments, I took in my surroundings and was amazed to realize that I was sitting in what looked like the belly of a whale.

We were not there for 3 days and 3 nights, instead about 3 hours, but in that time I prayed and praised the Lord for inviting us, bringing us and preparing all of us, me, my family, everyone there (about 2000 people), to do His Holy and Good Will!

Jonah 2:1-10

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said:

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me.
From deep in realm of the dead, I called for help,
and You listened to my cry.
You hurled me into the depths,
into the very heart of the seas,
and currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers swept over me.
I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight;
yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you, Lord my God,
brought my life up from the pit.
When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered You, Lord,
and my prayer rose to You,
to Your holy temple.
Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.
But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to You.
What I have vowed I will make good.
I will say, ‘Salvation comes from Lord.'”

And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.


Cross my heart

Only when His cross is written on our hearts will it pour forth into all aspects of our lives.  It is then that the crosses we display on our bodies, in our homes, our yards will gain new meaning and power.  It is then that the crosses we bear and carry through our lives will gain new meaning and power. They will all become His Cross and it is here, at the foot of His Holy Cross, that Our Mother, Mary, waits patiently for us.

John 19:25 – Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

My sweet Lord – please cross my heart!

Come all ye faithful…

He beckons to us, calls to us and asks us to come.  Come and see, come and adore, come all ye faithful, come.  My friends let us go together, let us run in great joy to our Lord shouting out…

Yes, sweet Lord, we are coming, we are coming through the darkness and the light, we are coming through the valleys and over the hills, we are coming through everything and we will help each other along the way.  

Thank you my Lord for making us faithful and calling to us – we are coming!

John 6:37
All those the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away.

 

Giving us Time

He who does not know TIME – came up with the idea for TIME.  This alone should awe us into silence and yet there is so much more.

He designed an amazingly wonderful plan for creating soul filled beings that could learn, change and grow within TIME.  It is in these few moments that we have here on this earth that we have an opportunity to grow.  Watching as we learn, change and grow, greatly pleases Him.  We amaze Him as we strive for and grow in Holiness, and we bring Him great sorrow when we don’t, yet He is always cheering us on, giving us many more chances and opportunities to grow by giving us TIME.

When the final bell tolls on our life, our opportunities for change and growth end too.  It is this final state of our soul that is grafted into His infinite, eternal moment, and determines the depth of joy and pleasure we will be able to hold as we dig deep and explore His infinite love and goodness.

Oh my sweet Lord – please let the rest of my life be a prayer for all of my brothers and sisters to fully surrender to Your Holy Will so we may all grow in love and holiness as we journey through TIME.  Please teach me how to be Your gardener!

John 9:4
As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

When I close my eyes…

Here in this place a veil is drawn, there is so much we don’t see when our eyes are open, but what about when they are closed?

Oh my Lord, I pray that when I close my eyes the darkness surrounding me is the protective darkness of the hem of our Blessed Mother’s mantle.

For here, hidden in the hem of her mantle, Mary’s feet will crush the head of any serpent that ensnares me, Mary’s words and teachings will soak into my ears, my heart, my soul, and knowing that Mary remains lovingly and faithfully near her Son always, I too will be near her sweet and precious Son, our Savior – Jesus Christ!

Close your eyes and let us crawl to the feet of our Blessed Mother and hide in the protective darkness of her mantle!

Luke 1:45
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!

Intersections

When two opposing lines, a vertical line and a horizontal line, intersect they create a cross – just like the cross our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was crucified on.  On that ancient cross, at that intersection, heaven and earth collided, yet we forget… opposites and intersections are a part of our everyday lives and I think heaven can be found at these intersections.

My friends – seek the intersections, seek the opposites and when you find them fall to your knees in worship, prayer and gratitude as if you were before that very first intersection, the cross carrying our sweet and precious Lord, Jesus.

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
– 
Luke 23:46

Aligned

Isn’t it funny that when waves are perfectly aligned they become bigger, or when a mirror is aligned with a light source the light is doubled, or when a compass is correctly aligned it can be used to find the way.

Sweet Lord, please align the ripples flowing from my heart with the tsunami of Your love , please align my mirror so that I may reflect Your perfect light, and please align the compass of my heart with Your Will so that my path will be straight and clear!  Please let me be an infinitesimal addition to the Your infinite goodness!

Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.
Luke 3:5

A Perfect Prayer

Sometimes during my workout, I take the word “neighbor” literally as the person on the machine next to me.  Yesterday someone was there and as I was working out I started praying for him. I prayed for him, his family, his friends, and his job, but it felt jumbled and messy, and not quite right.

I stopped myself for a moment and thought…

Holy Spirit, please give me the words to pray for this man.

I think I was hoping for specifics about him to better pray for this one man, but the next thoughts that started flowing through my mind were…

Let him Glorify You with his life,
Let him Glorify You through his marriage,
Let him Glorify You through his children,
Let him Glorify You through his job,
Let him Glorify You through his family,
Let him Glorify You through his friends.
Let him Glorify You in all aspects of his life.
Let him Glorify You with his life.

Halfway through this prayer I realized that these words were not mine, they did not come from me. I realized this prayer had been given to me.

I am still in awe of this perfect prayer.   It’s beautiful simplicity and it’s perfect logic that both allow it to be prayed over everyone while keeping it always aligned with His will.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
– James 1:17

Encapsulate

Time goes on, never to return again. Whatever is enclosed in it will never change; it seals with a seal for eternity. 
– Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska

Each moment of our lives we are slowly building our own time capsules, sealing in each moment, every thought, every word with a seal for eternity that will not be broken until we stand trembling at the foot of His Glorious Throne.

Oh my Lord, all seems lost when I think of the muck I have encapsulated up to this point, but then I am reminded through Saint Maria Faustina’s beautiful dairy of Your infinite Divine Mercy!

Oh my Lord, I long for LOVE to pour forth from my capsule when You break the seal!  Please help me fill it with LOVE!

Come, come and see…

When I first began writing this blog, I didn’t realize I was searching for Jesus, but now that I have found Him (through His infinite Mercy and Grace alone) how I long to take EVERYONE by the hand and say,

“Come, come and see…”

And then in His infinite kindness and gentleness He whispers – patience my love, they are coming, they will see, they too will find me… theirs is a different path, just as painfully beautiful as yours, but different.  Keep praying, keep loving, and keep listening so that you know when the time is ripe for you to take someone by the hand and say ever so gently and full of My love,

“Come, come and see!!!”