"... difficult and stormy days..." (St. Faustina's words)

[BobCatholic]

Dear Catholic Bob,
Look at Christ on the Cross- fix your eyes on Him and think about how He felt.

Christ only took care of the spiritual, not the temporal. You’ll notice we are not in the Garden of Eden.

I’m sure that in the Garden of Gethsamane, he had me in mind, I’m such a disappointment to him. No wonder he didn’t want to die on the cross, I’m one of those who almost drove him away from the cross.

So yeah, I know what he felt.

 

[fred_conty]

Christ only took care of the spiritual, not the temporal. You’ll notice we are not in the Garden of Eden.

I’m sure that in the Garden of Gethsamane, he had me in mind, I’m such a disappointment to him. No wonder he didn’t want to die on the cross, I’m one of those who almost drove him away from the cross.

So yeah, I know what he felt.

In St. Catherine’s book, Little Talks With God, she mentions that God only wants us to be grateful for having been merciful toward us. That we can be thankful to him for forgiving our sins in general. But She said that God does not want us to go back to any particular or individual sin and start thinking about that one sin, or any one sin. That the Father doesn’t want this because it interfers with our close ties with him. If we start realizing how much we lack, it is not good for building a closeness with him.

So her advice is to be grateful to him for all he has done, and just be glad for that, and let the rest go.

“You will show me the paths of life, the fullness of joy before your face, and delights at your right hand until the end of time.” Psalm 15

Another way to come close to Him, is to develope a devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Bob,

I tried repeating each of your comments but my post was too long, so I’m posting only my answers. Sorry it’s still long, but I wanted to give answers to each comment/question.

Ever read the book of Job? God “permits” trials of all sorts because He knows we can overcome them by His Grace. It is through temporal (as well as spiritual) trials we to grow spiritually. God’s Word assures us:

Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it. But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind. (James 1: 2-6)

Whatever seems impossible, we need to remember, “nothing will be impossible for God” (Luke 1:37)

Do you not see a contradiction in your thinking? You’ve said God does wonderful, awesome things in the spiritual realm but now you say “God doesn’t show me the pleasant side of himself.” God shows Himself Good in all that He does. He is Love and does nothing evil but only does good. When he permits temporal or spiritual trials he puts a limit on the evil we suffer from sin because He does not allow tests beyond our strength with His Grace. We see this in the story of Job and we see it in the suffering on Calvary and in all the sufferings since sin began with the disobedience based on the disbelief in God Adam & Eve chose. God created the first man and woman good. They chose to believe the lies of satan when tempted, so they fell into sin and suffering entered the Garden of Eden.

God so loved the world, He did not stop loving us , He sent His Son born of a woman. Jesus, became Incarnate so that He could suffer with and for us. In the Garden of Gethsemane He shows us even when He suffered in His Human Nature and cried out, “Father if it be possible let this chalice pass from me”, He then said “Nevertheless, Thy will not mine be done”. We were not created for death and suffering but for Life and union with God. By His life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus sets us free to live in union with God. What Adam and Eve lost, Jesus has regained for us. All are called to holiness.

I don’t know what saints’ lives you read, Bob, but all of them suffered. Mother Teresa of Calcutta spent long years in the “darkness of Faith”. Faith is “blind” in the sense that we cannot “see” God, but by faith we believe what we cannot “see”; and even what we see but cannot understand.

It’s more than “Hard”! It’s impossible to trust without God’s grace to strengthen the faith we received in Baptism. He will never stop loving you, but you need to accept all He permits in your life, believing in His Love and Infinite wisdom. He is not like us who can spoil our children by giving them everything they may want. God gives only what He knows is best for us. We can choose wrongly but He chooses always in Love for us, what He knows to be best.

“Bad luck is being delivered to evil” is a lie from the devil, Bob, and I hope you recognize it.
God is more powerful than “bad luck”. It is for you to choose His Truth or the lies you hear from satan, or those who write and speak his lies – you did not get any lies from God. God is Truth – always was and always will be.

I replied before regarding St. Faustina, but again: God invites all to holiness, including you. There are many lay saints - Mary and Joseph were lay persons. Many early martyrs were laity. There weren’t many priests at first; religious orders began later. Laity carried the Gospel along with apostles. Some lay saints: St. Isidore, the farmer, St. Maria his wife; St. Mary Magdalene from whom Jesus cast out 7 devils; St. Thomas More a lay lawyer , St. Gianna Molla, a lay woman, wife and mother who also worked as a doctor. You do NOT have to worry! We choose to worry, but Jesus said: “Seek first the Kindom of God and all the rest will be given you” and “Do Not Worry”.

Love is both spiritual and material. God created us body and soul – human persons are a composite of material and spiritual and He cares for each person. “Game over,” only if you choose to stop. God has not stopped loving you. He does not refuse His grace to the humble. Human persons with free will make choices to receive or refuse the grace He gives . We are the ones who close the door to His Grace, if we choose. I sincerely hope and pray you will pay attention to what fred, miz and I have been trying to help you understand. More importantly pay attention to what God has told us all from the beginning.

Reading about saints can depress anyone who chooses to keep looking at himself or whatever he chooses to look at instead of God Who loves him. Read the Gospel, but keep your eyes on God, who loved you so much He sent His son to assume a human body and soul to suffer, showing us all the way, the truth and the Life of our Father. You don’t need to “figure it out” – God has told you in the Life, death, resurrection and ascension of His Son Jesus. He continues to speak. Keep praying and listening to hear what God Who is Love has been telling you from the beginning.

 

[BobCatholic]

Whatever seems impossible, we need to remember, “nothing will be impossible for God” (Luke 1:37)

Except God going against his own will.

God is limited by his will.

Do you not see a contradiction in your thinking? You’ve said God does wonderful, awesome things in the spiritual realm but now you say “God doesn’t show me the pleasant side of himself.”

There is no contradiction.

Imagine a beneficent trillionaire who has a room in a large mansion just for you, on an island that is paradise. If you get there, you have all your needs met and no more suffering. (yes, this is heaven)

But you have to get to that island somehow. Somehow one has to survive temporally until one makes to this island.

And we’re on our own there. A trillionaire who is hyper generous in the spiritual realm gets stingy in the temporal realm.

He does not allow tests beyond our strength with His Grace.

God’s grace is fragile and easily lost. It is like holding a glass of water and being required to run, in life. Eventually the water spills. So I have to stop running and get more water (confession) and continue. But the water is very easy to lose and hard to keep!

God makes it easy to fail but horrendously difficult to be a saint.

That’s why I wanted to be delivered from bad luck. This is not in God’s will. So I’m doomed. This is beyond my strength (that’s why you see the pain in my words).

So God does permit tests beyond my strength.

God so loved the world, He did not stop loving us , He sent His Son born of a woman. Jesus, became Incarnate so that He could suffer with and for us.

Correct, he took care of the spiritual problems, not the temporal problems. We’re still not in the Garden of Eden, you’ll notice. We are temporally held responsible for the sins of our ancestors (not spiritually held responsible, Jesus took care of that!)

n the Garden of Gethsemane He shows us even when He suffered in His Human Nature and cried out, “Father if it be possible let this chalice pass from me”, He then said “Nevertheless, Thy will not mine be done”

.

Correct.

God is limited by his will.

If God’s will does not include me having a job, guess what? No amount of praying will get me a job. If God’s will does not include me having a particular temporal benefit? No amount of praying will get me that particular temporal benefit.

If God’s will is that I have bad luck, I’ll never see good luck again. Game over.

I don’t know what saints’ lives you read, Bob, but all of them suffered.

I know.

Apparently God treats his people badly, spanking them harshly all the time, even if they’re saints.

“If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few!”

God gives only what He knows is best for us.

Except temporal things.

“Bad luck is being delivered to evil” is a lie from the devil, Bob, and I hope you recognize it.
God is more powerful than “bad luck”.

Yes, God is more powerful than bad luck, but he’s not more powerful than his will.

If his will is that I have bad luck, game over, nothing can get around that mess.

Mary and Joseph were lay persons.

They also had Jesus as their son, and he was with them and they could talk to him and have conversations with him.

Not me. I can’t have a conversation with God because he won’t talk to me.

Many early martyrs were laity.

Correct. Their martyrdom was all that mattered. Their lay status did not matter. I don’t know how a lay person can become a saint without red martyrdom. (hence I’m looking at Opus Dei)

We choose to worry, but Jesus said: “Seek first the Kindom of God and all the rest will be given you” and “Do Not Worry”.

This is only for those who have a personal relationship with Jesus. I don’t. I only have a corporate one.

Love is both spiritual and material.

So God does not love me temporally, only spiritually.

 

[BobCatholic]

In St. Catherine’s book, Little Talks With God, she mentions that God only wants us to be grateful for having been merciful toward us.

Gratefulness alone will not get me to heaven. God’s grace does that.

That we can be thankful to him for forgiving our sins in general. But She said that God does not want us to go back to any particular or individual sin and start thinking about that one sin, or any one sin. That the Father doesn’t want this because it interfers with our close ties with him.

I don’t look on my past sins, I look on my current lack of ability.

If we start realizing how much we lack, it is not good for building a closeness with him

I need that lack fixed. If God won’t fix it, that sends a bad message.

Another way to come close to Him, is to develope a devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I did first fridays and first saturdays, that didn’t work. Every attempt I made to get closer to God has failed. God plays hard to get.

 

[fred_conty]

by BobCatholic…
I don’t look on my past sins, I look on my current lack of ability.

Your current lack of ability is looking at your past sins. Look to Jesus and trust in him … really trust in him … Your past sins will only lock you in by dispare. Even if you still want your sins, just pray that he will help you not to want them. But your prayer should be said often asking him to help you not to want them. Not to get over them, but not to want them.

It does seems to me that you don’t trust him any longer and have just given up. This won’t help you to think that. And your reason is that it hasn’t worked before so why try the same-o. But youre not trying the same-o. Your praying and trusting and waiting patiently. Jesus never lets anyone down who keeps asking and praying for what is right and good.

And I have be frank with you, your attitude needs to be more loving. A bad attitude means a hard heart. That won’t due. Just keep telling him that you are not yourself, apologize for your attitude, and then stay with your prayer. Let him in … open the door. Admit you are the one who is at fault and ask his help. Honey works better then vinegar.

Doing the same thing over and over gets you … Be loving, humble, and open.

“Turn your face away from my sins and wipe out all my transgressions; create a pure heart in me, God, put a steadfast spirit into me.” Psalm 50

 

[BobCatholic]

Your current lack of ability is looking at your past sins.

I take my sins to confession and leave them there. I don’t look at them again after I confess them.

What I’m talking about is my inability to get closer to God. Every attempt I’ve made to get closer to God has failed.

I’ll go to a healing service. I see tons of people get healed. Not me. Not my son. God passes me by.
Did first fridays, first saturdays, life in the spirit seminar, rosaries, divine mercy chaplet…nothing worked to get closer to God.

Look to Jesus and trust in him … really trust in him …

I trust him 100% for spiritual issues.

For temporal issues, that’s where the problem is. He let me down many times where I could not get a job. Or refusing to eliminate my current bad luck.

. Jesus never lets anyone down who keeps asking and praying for what is right and good.

If something that is right and good, is not in God’s will, it won’t be granted. Period. It might as well be evil and wrong. Same thing.

And I have be frank with you, your attitude needs to be more loving.

I want to love God more. I’m frustrated that I can’t.

How can I love someone who refuses to talk to me? Or doesn’t care about my temporal needs? Or doesn’t want to help me by eliminating my bad luck? Only he can lift the curse.

Right now, I see God as distant and cold. I want desperately to see him as a loving Daddy.

 

[multitude]

Bob,

Maybe you’re just trying to do too much. Ah, I don’t know.

 

[MariaChristi]

…God is limited by his will.

We finite ones are limited by our will. God is Infinite Love and is unlimited.

…God’s grace is fragile and easily lost… God makes it easy to fail but horrendously difficult to be a saint…

Where did you get your “ideas” about God? Are these your own ideas or were you ever taught these things? God’s grace is a gift and a participation in His Love and His love endures forever. Do you have a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Look in the index and read more about God’s grace.

Again it is we who are frail and easily get lost because of our unbelief in what God has revealed about Himself. God did not make it terribly difficult to be a saint, it is we who choose wrongly. Saints are happy and find joy in God, they seek Him in good times and hard times and His grace is always sufficient. We cannot blame God for our sins; we have the will to choose and He gives us grace to make the right choice.

…That’s why I wanted to be delivered from bad luck. This is not in God’s will. So I’m doomed. This is beyond my strength (that’s why you see the pain in my words). So God does permit tests beyond my strength.

I am so sorry that you cannot see the crucified Jesus in the pain you suffer, because He is there with you and with all in our sufferings. He offers you and us the grace (the very union with Him that you are seeking) to offer our suffering with His to our Father, by the power of His Holy Spirit. Our suffering can be in spiritual matters or temporal matters or both, but God gives us what we need.

Again, I’m not sure where you get your ideas. Baptism cleansed us from Original Sin, what remains are temptations to disbelieve God and believe lies. His grace, sharing in His Life and Love, enables us to grow more like Him. We are responsible for what we do in both spiritual matters and temporal matters but in both cases we can, by Grace, trust in Him to care for us.

“If this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you have so few!” St. Teresa of Avila in saying that, is offering herself to be among those few friends the Lord seems to have in this world. So few are willing to suffer with and for Him out of love. Friends are not always looking for what they get but what they give. Jesus laid down His life for us, but what are willing to suffer for him? St. Teresa of Avila suffered, for love of Him. All the saints were willing to suffer believing and trusting in God’s power and in surrendering themselves to Him.

Again, it is so sad to read your ideas on God Who is Love. God does not will evil but good. If he permits something painful it is only because His will is to help us find the good. He works all things unto good… (Romans 8:28)

Ah but but game is NOT OVER! God gets around any mess – even one like me and others – like Peter’s mess and Mary Magdalene’s mess and anyone else who simply gives up “self” concern and puts the focus on God Who is Love. God is able to make us saints, working with our desire to leave any mess and our willingness to believe and trust and love Him completely.

Opus Dei may be worth your looking into and possibly joining. Be willing to really listen to a good spiritual director who has been trained well in the way of St. Jose Marie Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei.

May God help you to hear his Truth: He is Love and He calls you to holiness. Bob, you can by God’s Grace have an intimate personal relationship with Him! He loves you more than you seem willing to believe right now – just don’t give up. Trust in Him Whom you have not known well enough yet. Keep asking to receive, keep seeking to find, keep knocking on the door of His Heart and He will open to you.

 

[BobCatholic]

Bob,

Maybe you’re just trying to do too much. Ah, I don’t know.

Clearly not enough. Nothing worked.

We finite ones are limited by our will. God is Infinite Love and is unlimited.

OK, then can God do something outside of his will? It never happens. Because he is limited by his will. I agree we are limited by our will, and even our will is limited by what we can do. I can’t leap tall buildings in a single bound, no matter how much I will it.

Where did you get your “ideas” about God?

Experience.

God did not make it terribly difficult to be a saint.

Read the lives of the saints. Without exception, it involved horrific amounts of terrible suffering. If you think that’s not “terribly difficult” no wonder you can’t understand where I’m coming from.

because He is there with you and with all in our sufferings.

Quietly. Not talking. Not comforting. Just sitting there watching me suffer.

He’s giving me the silent treatment because he’s angry at me and I’m a disappointment to him.

Baptism cleansed us from Original Sin,

Which takes care of the spiritual problem. Not the temporal. You will notice upon Baptism, we are not immediately transferred to the Garden of Eden, nor are we healed of all concupiscence.

So few are willing to suffer with and for Him out of love.

And how do I love someone who refuses to talk to me, refuses to comfort me, refuses to help me temporally, refuses to do anything except spiritual things?

Friends are not always looking for what they get but what they give.

Friendship is a 2 way street. Unfortunately, God only operates “my way or the highway.” Fine, he’s the boss, that’s his prerogative. He has every right to do that. But how is that a friendship? How long would you stay friends with a human being with that kind of attitude? Even if his ideas were great?

He works all things unto good… (Romans 8:28)

Now go back 5 verses. Romans 8:23.
Our bodies have not been redeemed yet, he’s holding that back. That’s why we’re temporally held responsible for our ancestor’s sins.

And works unto good…WHEN? I can’t keep living in bad luck forever. I need this conquered and only he can do that.

Ah but but game is NOT OVER!

Well, I’m still alive, so plenty more time to suffer. Here comes more bad luck.

God gets around any mess

If it is his will. And only if it is his will.

He is limited by his will.

who simply gives up “self” concern and puts the focus on God Who is Love.

Yes, we must give up self because the self is evil.

Opus Dei may be worth your looking into and possibly joining. Be willing to really listen to a good spiritual director who has been trained well in the way of St. Jose Marie Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei.

I hope to find such a Spiritual director.

Bob, you can by God’s Grace have an intimate personal relationship with Him!

If it is his will. If not, game over.

Keep asking to receive, keep seeking to find, keep knocking on the door of His Heart and He will open to you.

What kind of father demands that I keep begging over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over before he decides “OK, you’ve done enough begging, I’ll say no.”

Imagine if I demanded that my son ask over and over and over before I fed him? I’d be a horrible father!

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear Bob,

Your reply to where you got your “ideas” about God is simply your word, “Experience”. If all you “hear” is your own ideas about your experience, how can you expect to hear anything else? You want a relationship with God, but you seem too full of your ideas on “bad luck” to allow God to say anything.

If you can’t hear God, maybe you’re really not listening – really listening – to what He has said and what He continues to say through His Holy Spirit. God knows, you need more than your experience to teach you what is His Truth.

If you really “listen” to what the Saints wrote about their experiences, you might hear what they heard from God. I marvel too at the terribly difficult experieces they had, but please “hear” how saints continually offered their sufferings, in union with Jesus, believing and trusting God. St. Monica prayed 20 years for the conversion of her son. St. Paul of the Cross suffered 50 years from “spiritual darkness” of faith, as did Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Saints become saints through their experiences because they persevere in the darkness. They learn to believe in God’s Love and practice patience in suffering. They never give up, nor stop looking at Jesus; listening to His “experience” on His Cross.

All of us suffer; you are not alone. I’ve had my share of sufferings as have others who read your words and know something of “where you’re coming from”. God allows suffering but you seem unwilling to “listen” to Him in Scripture, or through His saints. I’ve suggested several things to read , but you seem to prefer “your experience”. Did you ever read the Book of Job? Did you listen to how Job went through his experience and all God said to Job? Did you read the story of creation in the Book of Genesis and hear God say all He created was good, indeed very good?

Did you ever read Scripture or the Catechism to learn what Scripture and God’s Church teach about God’s Will? You said in your last reply to me:
CatholicBob:

He’s giving me the silent treatment because he’s angry at me and I’m a disappointment to him.

God has every right to be angry at sin because He knows how we hurt ourselves by our sins, but God is “the friend of sinners”. God hates the sin; but loves the sinner. Jesus on the Crucifix says: “Father, forgive them…”

Listen to Jesus’ words! Listen to the thief’s words too. The thief hanging on the cross asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus came into His kingdom, and received Jesus’ words: “This day you will be with me in paradise”.

We are not immediately in heaven after Baptism, but we are immeasurably close! We can keep growing closer – which is why I recommended the book, “The Ordinary Path to Holiness” written by a layman who has helped others to find in Scripture and in the words of saints and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a way forward – to grow in holiness rather than give up and grow depressed and risk falling even into despair.

Seems to me you’re repeating some of your comments, no matter what I offer; that is your choice. It just seems again you’re unwilling to step outside your own ideas regarding your experience. For instance you said this:

… we must give up self because the self is evil.

You are misunderstanding God’s creation and our re-creation into Christ by our Baptism. We are freed from selfishness if we choose to remain in His Love as Jesus tells us in John 15. It is when we choose to love ourselves so much we begin preferring self to God, and become selfish, rather than God-like. It is a constant choice and the that is why it is so important to persevere in prayer. We choose either evil or God. God did not create our human nature as evil. Human beings choose to seek God and become saints or refuse God and choose evi for themselvesl. We are free to choose. By faith, we believe in God’s love, choosing Him in every experience. Try listening to the Catechism on Baptism.

Please choose wisely, in your search for a Spiritual Director. You may not find a good one. St. John of the Cross warns people that some directors can hinder rather than help. St. Teresa wrote about some spiritual directors she had who seemed not to have the strong faith she had and were confusing. Some saints did not have Spiritual Directors but stayed close to Jesus in the Scriptures and in prayer to the Blessed Mother and praying to saints for help on their path to holiness.

Please do not compare God the Father with yourself or any other human father because God is far more loving, and wise than human persons. He is God, we are not. He is Divine Love Love and Divine Wisdom. He knows our human needs because He created us. He sent His Son to assume a human nature to help us. Jesus tells the story of the Prodigal son. The father in that story helps us to understand how much God longs for our coming home to Him. It took awhile before the prodigal son came to understand his father’s love. Another book I recommended is by the same layman whose second book was on the Our Father. The Catechism also has many beautiful and true words to help us pray the prayer Jesus taught us, “Our Father…”

I sincerely hope and pray, you will let go of that part of yourself seeking only your own understanding, and turn to hear what God teaches in Scripture, words of the saints and others in His Church who are asking, seeking and knocking on the door of His Heart. We can learn so much by faith in God’s Love, trusting in the power of His Holy Spirit sent to bring us into ALL Truth. Bob, I hope you continue also to pray to Mary, for she is a Mother and a Model for all of us.

 

[mlz]

Dear Bob,
Just for one moment I want to challenge you to pray the following prayer and mean it as God has given us a free will and we choose. He waits in deep love for you to sincerely come to Him. Here is the prayer to be read slowly:
“Jesus, I feel lost. Open my heart to accept Your Love and show me the Truth, so that I may be saved.”

You are in my prayers.ray:t2:
mlz

 

[BobCatholic]

Dear Bob,

Your reply to where you got your “ideas” about God is simply your word, “Experience”. If all you “hear” is your own ideas about your experience, how can you expect to hear anything else? You want a relationship with God, but you seem too full of your ideas on “bad luck” to allow God to say anything.

I can’t hear God because he is not talking to me.

It is one thing to accuse me of being deaf, it is yet another if I’m not actually deaf at all.

If you can’t hear God, maybe you’re really not listening – really listening – to what He has said and what He continues to say through His Holy Spirit. God knows, you need more than your experience to teach you what is His Truth.

That’s where I’m trying to do many things to get closer to God.

None of them worked.

Clearly I’m doing something wrong, and that must be because I exist. The self is evil.

If you really “listen” to what the Saints wrote about their experiences, you might hear what they heard from God. I marvel too at the terribly difficult experieces they had, but please “hear” how saints continually offered their sufferings, in union with Jesus, believing and trusting God. St. Monica prayed 20 years for the conversion of her son. St. Paul of the Cross suffered 50 years from “spiritual darkness” of faith, as did Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Saints become saints through their experiences because they persevere in the darkness. They learn to believe in God’s Love and practice patience in suffering. They never give up, nor stop looking at Jesus; listening to His “experience” on His Cross.

I don’t want the Darkness.

I want Christ’s promise, that if I follow him I won’t have to walk in darkness. I want the light.

All of us suffer; you are not alone.

True. That’s why I hate it that we are temporally held responsible for the sins of others.

God allows suffering but you seem unwilling to “listen” to Him in Scripture, or through His saints.

Scripture says “deal with it. This is my way or the highway.”

His saints say that God wants them to suffer.

Did you ever read the Book of Job? Did you listen to how Job went through his experience and all God said to Job?

Yes, I read the book of Job. God bragging to the devil rather than smiting him was particularly disturbing. Why does God need to ego trip like that? I thought he was supposed to be humble.

In addition, God’s answer was “Hey, I’m the boss, that’s how I roll.”

So yes, God is the boss. He can do whatever he wants.

Did you read the story of creation in the Book of Genesis and hear God say all He created was good, indeed very good?

Then why does God say that we must give up ourselves (and the creation) while we are here and in most need of it? Oh. It no longer is good anymore, God wants us to give up evil things.

Did you ever read Scripture or the Catechism to learn what Scripture and God’s Church teach about God’s Will?

God’s will is “my way or the highway.”

You said in your last reply to me:

God has every right to be angry at sin because He knows how we hurt ourselves by our sins, but God is “the friend of sinners”. God hates the sin; but loves the sinner. Jesus on the Crucifix says: “Father, forgive them…”

OK, so why doesn’t he talk to me?

Human beings choose to seek God and become saints or refuse God and choose evi for themselvesl.

That’s the point. We have a choice between good and evil. If we choose the self, God hates that because the self is evil.

Please choose wisely, in your search for a Spiritual Director.

I hope to find one, but I’m having trouble.

Please do not compare God the Father with yourself or any other human father because God is far more loving, and wise than human persons.

I can’t.

In one area my human father ran rings around God. He was loving, encouraging, and was the only person in the world with who I could feel like “yes, I actually can do something right.” I can’t do that with God. I can never do anything right. I could please my human father. I can’t do that with God. My human father was proud of me and was joyful in my accomplishments. My heavenly father is critical and harsh, and is never joyful about anything I do.

So yes, you’re right, I can’t compare any human to God.

. He knows our human needs because He created us.

And them promptly ignores them.

He does not care about our temporal needs.

Bob, I hope you continue also to pray to Mary, for she is a Mother and a Model for all of us.

I did pray to her. Our Lady Undoer of Knots is my favorite Marian devotion. She helped me get my current job. But she apparently is not here for me anymore, because I’m going to lose my job.

 

[BobCatholic]

Dear Bob,
Just for one moment I want to challenge you to pray the following prayer and mean it as God has given us a free will and we choose. He waits in deep love for you to sincerely come to Him. Here is the prayer to be read slowly:
“Jesus, I feel lost. Open my heart to accept Your Love and show me the Truth, so that I may be saved.”

You are in my prayers.ray:t2:
mlz

Done! Thanks for this tip.