I cannot figure out this site

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Thank you, but that is not my problem. Perhaps you meant this for another person’s thread?
 
You grew and learned in your time away from the Church, and now you have the ability to use those experiences to lead others to God.

We can never know the exact “why’s” this side of eternity, but we can hope to use the experiences we’ve had to grow God’s Kingdom.
 
ThisOne said:
I do rejoice that the Lord loves me, but I thought we should not presume that we are saved. I have to use oxygen 24/7, and I am having a hard time.
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The Lord has called you home, lifted you up from your life of an, and se you on the narrow pilgrim path home.
Yes. It’s now up to you to work hard , stay on that path, partake in the Catholic Sacraments and in the Body of Christ.

Stay close to the Sacrament of Reconcilliation and the Eucharist.

What are you having a hard time with.?

You are 71? So you have walked with the Lord for 36 years… where is the problem there.?
 
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The problem is that I have not fully and completely accepted my mobility limitations, my disease, in other words. Sometimes I just cry and cry over having to wear oxygen, even though it allows me to live.
And I have allowed myself to get so deconditioned that I haven’t been to Mass in years. I am working with a physical therapist now to get back in shape, but I cannot walk more than a short distance without having to stop and rest and breathe until my oxygen blood saturation gets back to what it should be. I hope to get stronger, but I just recently began to wonder why God (a) doesn’t awaken the faith of a friend who sorely needs Him, and (b) didn’t awaken me sooner.

I’ve lamented to my psychotherapist that I have no Catholic person to talk to, and that’s why I am here. I am so grateful that you all are willing to talk to me and encourage me to do the right thing.

I’m single, no children, and pretty much alone, except for sisters who are on the other side of the country and my one friend.
 
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I am so sorry to hear about your troubles. You must feel so alone. I wish I could be there to hug and encourage you. Can you call the local parish and ask for the priest to come and meet you at your home? Explain your situation, that you are homebound and need Confession and the Eucharist. Perhaps your local parish would be able to bring you the Holy Eucharist every week until you got strong enough to go to Mass. And perhaps they can arrange for visits from church members to come and visit you. It isn’t good for you to be so isolated and alone.

Now…instead of questioning God and getting angry that He allowed you to mess up your life and get sick, have you thought perhaps of the opportunity He has given you now to unite your sufferings with His? You are suffering so much…if you could willingly surrender that to Him, and ask Him to use that suffering for the good of others…think of what you could do. Ask Him to use your suffering as reparation for all the suffering this world causes His wounded heart. You have an opportunity to be a victim soul and a prayer warrior. You could be praying so many souls straight into Jesus’ arms…and only in Heaven would you find out how many people your sorrows helped save.

There are other saints who gave their suffering to Jesus. You can take encouragement from them. Of course it seems easy for me to say, but as you try and get stronger you could be a mighty prayer warrior. Jesus and Mary want to meet you right where you are. I’ll pray for you.🙏

Sweet Jesus, You were wounded and suffered for us. You know the agony and loneliness that ThisOne is feeling. I pray that You comfort and bring her healing and peace. Mother Mary, cover her with your mantle and keep her close to your dear heart. Holy Spirt, kindle in her a passion and fire for You and Your kingdom. Strengthen her resolve and don’t let her give in to despair. I pray that she can let go of any bitterness in her heart and surrender everything to you. Fill her with your love.❤️

Jesus, I surrender everything to you. Please take care of everything. Amen.
 
I loved the old site and the layout. I find it hard to find things now, how to add new friends etc?
 
The entire purpose of our lives, including the hardships which can be stepping stones to that end, is to find God. We shouldn’t complain once we’ve done that; it’s all worth it.
 
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Thank you so much for your message. I actually have both joy and sadness in my life. My Protestant physical therapist and I pray together, so that’s good. And I’m not in pain. I try to keep things in perspective and sometimes I seek out online things that show me how other people are managing their chronic illnesses. I am blessed, I know, in that I believe Jesus is with me in my sufferings, although sometimes it feels as if he’s not. And yes, I have thought about doing what you mention, but haven’t done it yet. It’s so very ironic, though. When I was a very small child, about three years old, I was in a pre-school for pre-kindergarten children. I had a transcendental experience that had to have been God, but I didn’t know what it was. I don’t know why He took me “up” into a “place” of total bliss for about 30 seconds. I remember coming back to myself and saying to my little self, “What was that?” I never found out until I reached rock bottom as an adult and that same peace came to me as I was reading Fulton Sheen’s Life of Christ. Anyway, I’m not in as dire a situation as my previous messages may have sounded.

I don’t want to ramble on too much. Thank you again. I appreciate your prayer and your praying for me. Please pray for my friend, who cannot seem to accept that God loves her.
 
You make a good point, so thank you. Not everyone who smokes gets emphysema. I could have gotten lung cancer. I may still get lung cancer. We are all going to die of something. You’re right that if I’ve found God, then I’ve found the treasure of all treasures. I don’t feel ready to die. I’m in good shape physically except for my lungs. The main thing that is hard is the shortness of breath (SOB) that happens even when I’m on oxygen. At some moments, if I’m SOB, I’ll get anxious and almost panicky, and feel this terrible pressure on my rib cage and a great fear and depression. Sometimes I just want to die now and not have to feel good and bad alternately during the course of the day.
 
To tell you the truth my experience has been similar to yours, so I don’t mean to be unsympathetic. And while I sometimes can’t help but wish thst I could’ve handled things better in life early on, I also know that those same struggles are what drove me to seek God earnestly.
 
And now for the stupid question (I’m sure it’s stupid). I have not asked God to heal me. Am I wrong in that? I know that if someone were cured of emphysema, people would take notice and no doubt many would become believers. So why doesn’t God miraculously heal someone like me? Is it because we don’t ask? I haven’t asked Him to heal me because I don’t think I deserve to be healed. I would love to not have this illness, but I feel somehow wrong in asking for healing since I caused my own disease. I would love to be healed, but I cannot bring myself to ask to be healed. Am I nuts?
 
No, you’re not nuts! 😊 Lots of people feel unworthy of asking God to heal them. All of our shame and guilt makes us too afraid to face God. But we’re really not worthy of any of His gifts, are we? 😉 He longs to shower us with blessings, grace, and mercy because of His merits, not ours. So, of course, you can ask God to heal you. But you have to ask in alignment with His will for you. So, you can ask to be healed, but if that is not His will, then pray for peace with His decision and contentment in your situation, even if it never changes. You can expect God to always do what’s best for you, but remember that what YOU think is best is not always what’s going to be best for you in the long run. And that applies to all of us, in every situation. It might seem better to have a miraculous healing, but what if you were healed and then ran away and forgot God? He might know that keeping you dependent on oxygen is also keeping you dependent on Him. So you can pray for the desires of your heart, but keep trusting that He knows best.

Also, I’m glad to hear you’re not in pain. 😊 For some reason, I was under the impression you were worse off. But it does appear that you’re pretty much homebound and dependent on the oxygen, and probably fairly lonely, right? All of those little sorrows are all things we can offer up to God. I’m still learning how to offer things up, but I’m finding that the more I truly surrender to God, the more He can use me.

There’s an old song I love:

Change my heart, Oh God,
Make it ever true,
Change my heart, Oh God,
May I be like you.

You are the Potter,
I am the clay.
Mold me and make me,
This is what I pray.

 
ThisOne said:
I am working with a physical therapist now to get back in shape, but I cannot walk more than a short distance without having to stop and rest and breathe until my oxygen blood saturation gets back to what it should be.
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I am a registered nurse.

I wish I could sit down and talk to you!! What shape you were in really doesn’t matter now - look at what you’re doing to correct it! Small things, small steps. I think if you keep working you’ll be surprised at how you’ll progress. Look at what you’ve done - you have a physical therapist, a psychotherapist, you’re reaching out to a community…look at all you’ve already accomplished!

I know it seems small - I know you feel overwhelmed - but everyone has to start slow. You are doing fine, I promise. Just don’t quit, even if you have a bad day or don’t do as much as you think you should. Get up tomorrow and start over.

We are here. We will pray for you. God is with you. And all of us are on your side.
 
Pup7, thank you so much! I’m so grateful to you for your kind words of hope and the loving guidance of everyone here. I aspire to being able to bop down the street to church using a cart to carry my oxygen instead of using the rollator I now have to use to go anywhere.

Peace,
ThisOne
 
ShowersofRoses,
Thank you so much for your post. If he healed me, I would never run away from Him. But if anyone on earth was healed by God of emphysema, it would be something the entire world would hear about. I don’t ask because it seems a foregone conclusion that He has no intention of healing anyone from emphysema because that would entail regenerating lung tissue, and THAT JUST DOESN’T HAPPEN. If it ever did, believers would be knocking down the doors of all the Catholic churches all over creation. So I don’t ask. I haven’t got that many years on this earth left, anyway. Where would I run to? I probably need to make a confession to get rid of this lingering guilt I have for making myself sick. But for now, I will thank God for sending me to CA a few days ago. I used to post here once in a while years ago, while I was still a smoker. Of course I self-medicated all those years, and I knew I was defiling the temple of the Lord, but I could not stop. I was a true addict. It’s a sin that there aren’t detox institutions for people who want to quit nicotine, which is a very poweful, addictive drug. It was hard to quit, even with the patch. I’ve been a nonsmoker since May 2011. Many people with COPD are worse than I am. I have 30% lung capacity, which means I have “end stage” COPD. That doesn’t mean I’m dying soon, but it does indicate the severity of the illness. If I were 25, maybe I’d pray for a miracle, but I feel it would be a sin to pray for one for myself. Thank you again.

Peace,
ThisOne
 
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I’m using an Apple II from 1983 and I’m having the same issues. 💾

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I hate to tell you, but I don’t get the joke. Oh, you’re talking about my not being able to use the site. I have improved since yesterday!
 
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Yes, but I always find an excuse not to go. Either my hair needs washing, or I’m dirty, or the oxygen machine makes a noise, or something. Many times I’m just afraid that I will spend the entire time weeping, and I don’t know how I will get the Eucharist with my rollator. I’d rather use the cart, but I’m not ready to do so. I need to be stronger.
 
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