My Spiritual Journey

[jbsmith]

LilyM:

jb, hope you see this message soon. I’m praying for your father. If you can, say the Divine Mercy Chaplet in the sickroom when you visit your father - it’s a powerful prayer especially when said in the presence of a sick person.

Thank you for praying for my father. I’ve never heard of the Divine Mercy Chaplet before reading about it on your post. Thank you for making me aware of it. It’s a beautiful prayer. My father is back home now, but I’ll say it for him tonight. My father is chronically ill, so he can always benefit from it.

 

[Edwin1961]

jbsmith:

I’m glad your surgey went so well. My father had a triple bypass ten years ago. Thank you very much for praying for us. Please continue. I’ll pray for you as well.

Jeff,
Now your father needs ‘surgery’ of a different type…the one only Our Lord can give. Let us rally behind Jeff’s father and start storming Heaven with our prayers.

 

[Dorothy]

Edwin1961:

Jeff,
Now your father needs ‘surgery’ of a different type…the one only Our Lord can give. Let us rally behind Jeff’s father and start storming Heaven with our prayers.

Yes!

 

[krysianka]

jbsmith:

Originally Posted by icequeen

I will say a rosary for him.

Thank you. By the way, how does that work? Do you announce the person’s name at the beginning of the rosary?

Yes. You can announce your intentions, verbally or mentally, before you begin a rosary.

We can offer up anything and everything for any special intention:
→ postive:
Good works, prayers, etc., you can even “offer” a mass yourself, privately, at a mass you attend (and traditionally have the priest offer for your intentions for a mass you will not attend–remember the mass card?!)
Good info here (LINK), especially: " . . . the Church considers the Mass as the greatest possible prayer of intercession insofar as it is the perfect offering of Christ to the Father by making present the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection."
→ negative:
Suffering, tedious chores, etc.

Not knowing that much about it, I think of the concept of consecrating oneself, one’s family, to . . .
*Sacred Heart of Jesus (LINK)
*Immaculate Heart of Mary (LINK)
. . . where a person offers up themself to Christ, offers every breath they take, every beat of their heart to God (to God, through Mary). To me, offering up even ordinary things for a special intention seems to come from the same mind as consecrating oneself.

These are just examples; there are many other forms of consecration but these are the two I remember right away.

 

[Rammy]

Good job…are you sure you are not a theologin yourself…lol

 

[icequeen]

Hi Jeff,

I am glad that your dad is out of the hospital, even though he is still very ill. I will continue to say rosaries for your dad. To answer your question, I usually say my intentions before I get into the 5 decades of the rosary. I usually say, " My intentions are for Jeff’s dad because…" That way, I can mediate on the mysteries and how they can relate to what my intentions are. Also, as Lily suggested, the Divine Mercy Chaplet is an excellent prayer for the sick and dying. If you ever get the chance, read about St. Faustina, who Jesus revealed Divine Mercy to. One of the great things about the chaplet is that it is said that it will get rid of those pesky demons. And those pesky demons love to torment people who are dying. It is very easy to get into and you get to use your rosary.

 

[jbsmith]

icequeen:

Hi Jeff,

I am glad that your dad is out of the hospital, even though he is still very ill. I will continue to say rosaries for your dad. To answer your question, I usually say my intentions before I get into the 5 decades of the rosary. I usually say, " My intentions are for Jeff’s dad because…" That way, I can mediate on the mysteries and how they can relate to what my intentions are. Also, as Lily suggested, the Divine Mercy Chaplet is an excellent prayer for the sick and dying. If you ever get the chance, read about St. Faustina, who Jesus revealed Divine Mercy to. One of the great things about the chaplet is that it is said that it will get rid of those pesky demons. And those pesky demons love to torment people who are dying. It is very easy to get into and you get to use your rosary.

Thank you. This will be useful. Can I say a Divine Mercy chaplet for myself as well? Since I’m having chronic health problems, I was wondering. Is that allowed, or must you only say it for someone else?

 

[jbsmith]

Edwin1961:

Jeff,
Now your father needs ‘surgery’ of a different type…the one only Our Lord can give. Let us rally behind Jeff’s father and start storming Heaven with our prayers.

Thank you, Edwin. He’s resisted God all his life so far. He needs all the prayers he can get.

 

[jbsmith]

krysianka:

Yes. You can announce your intentions, verbally or mentally, before you begin a rosary.

We can offer up anything and everything for any special intention:
→ postive:
Good works, prayers, etc., you can even “offer” a mass yourself, privately, at a mass you attend (and traditionally have the priest offer for your intentions for a mass you will not attend–remember the mass card?!)
Good info here (LINK), especially: " . . . the Church considers the Mass as the greatest possible prayer of intercession insofar as it is the perfect offering of Christ to the Father by making present the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection."
→ negative:
Suffering, tedious chores, etc.

Not knowing that much about it, I think of the concept of consecrating oneself, one’s family, to . . .
*Sacred Heart of Jesus (LINK)
*Immaculate Heart of Mary (LINK)
. . . where a person offers up themself to Christ, offers every breath they take, every beat of their heart to God (to God, through Mary). To me, offering up even ordinary things for a special intention seems to come from the same mind as consecrating oneself.

These are just examples; there are many other forms of consecration but these are the two I remember right away.

Thank you. This is fascinating to me. I have a raging sinus headache right now, but I’ll read the links later when I feel better. I’m going to rest right now.

 

[Dorothy]

jbsmith:

Thank you. This will be useful. Can I say a Divine Mercy chaplet for myself as well? Since I’m having chronic health problems, I was wondering. Is that allowed, or must you only say it for someone else?

Jeff, of course you can include yourself in the prayers as well. God’s Mercy is infinite, we don’t have to limit him!

Peace and Prayers,

Dorothy

 

[LilyM]

jbsmith:

Thank you for praying for my father. I’ve never heard of the Divine Mercy Chaplet before reading about it on your post. Thank you for making me aware of it. It’s a beautiful prayer. My father is back home now, but I’ll say it for him tonight. My father is chronically ill, so he can always benefit from it.

My pleasure :tiphat:

Continued prayers for yourself and your father jb.

 

[jbsmith]

Dorothy:

Jeff, of course you can include yourself in the prayers as well. God’s Mercy is infinite, we don’t have to limit him!

Peace and Prayers,

Dorothy

Thank you. I’m going to do this tonight.

 

[jbsmith]

LilyM:

My pleasure :tiphat:

Continued prayers for yourself and your father jb.

Thank you for your continued prayers, I appreciate them very much.

God bless.

 

[Rammy]

Hey Jeff…just wondering…with all the dramma, fighting Satan, his co-horts and all, did you have time for you? What is it that you like to do for you? We like to know more…ok, i do…every one else chime in…

prayers always…

 

[jbsmith]

Rammy:

Hey Jeff…just wondering…with all the dramma, fighting Satan, his co-horts and all, did you have time for you? What is it that you like to do for you? We like to know more…ok, i do…every one else chime in…

prayers always…

Normally when I’m feeling well and not vanquishing demons in my living room (Gotta stop crying and start laughing at some point.) I like to read, cook, watch DVDs, go see a movie or a play or a concert with friends, or go out to eat. I also like to travel. I’m famous for deciding on the spur of the moment to get in the car and take a road trip or go away for a weekend. (At least I was famous for it before I started having health problems. I went to Ohio for four days with a friend from church a few years ago. Three different times with two different friends. (I like Ohio. They have loose meat sandwiches and Skyline chili, two things we don’t have here in North Carolina.)

I also like to sing. I was taking voice lessons before I started having all these health problems. I miss it a lot. I was working on an Italian aria and some Josh Groban songs, and they were coming along quite well. I was also working on a couple songs by Andrea Bocelli. Singing is one of my favorite things to do. I was the lead singer in a local Christian/secular rock band for several years. It never went anywhere, but it was fun.

Anyway, that’s what I like to do in a nutshell. I’m hoping I can get to do some of these things again in the future.

 

[Rammy]

ahhh, you raise me up…so powerful a song, and Gosh sings it so well.

He sings another song, not sure of the title, but it was in the credit part of a historical movie lately…maybe Kingdom of Heaven…not sure…but it was riviting.

The timing of the debut of Gosh’s first album was in a comfort level with using the song to uplift the loss of my son.

 

[jbsmith]

Rammy:

ahhh, you raise me up…so powerful a song, and Gosh sings it so well.

He sings another song, not sure of the title, but it was in the credit part of a historical movie lately…maybe Kingdom of Heaven…not sure…but it was riviting.

The timing of the debut of Gosh’s first album was in a comfort level with using the song to uplift the loss of my son.

That was one of the songs I was working on before I started having my health problems. It’s beautiful. I’m not sure what his religious beliefs are, but that song seems to be about God. (By the way, if it isn’t, don’t tell me. I’d rather not know.) i can definitely see why this song would be comforting. I know people who can’t listen to it without crying.

Another one of his I like is “To Where You Are” from his debut CD. That was played at the funeral of a friend of mine last year.

 

[beckyann2597]

You siad you like to go to concerts too. What kind of concerts? I too am a singer and enjoy a live show, but when it comes to concerts, I love rock. I took voice lessons too (before kids) and I miss singing alot. When I try to sing now, my kids shush me. Oh well. Do you play any instruments? A guitar may be a good instrument for you now, since you can sit in bed and work on your finger work with it.

 

[jbsmith]

beckyann2597:

You siad you like to go to concerts too. What kind of concerts? I too am a singer and enjoy a live show, but when it comes to concerts, I love rock. I took voice lessons too (before kids) and I miss singing alot. When I try to sing now, my kids shush me. Oh well. Do you play any instruments? A guitar may be a good instrument for you now, since you can sit in bed and work on your finger work with it.

I’ve only been to rock concerts. I wanted to see Josh Groban and Sarah Brightman when they came to Norfolk, VA (Only an hour from me) two years ago, but they both sold out within hours of going on sale. Needless to say, I missed those concerts. However, I did see “Miss Saigon” and Verdi’s “Otello.” (I know, they’re not really concerts, but it’s similar.)

As far as rock concerts, I’ve seen the secular rock band Garbage. I was right up at the front, in the mosh pit. Yes, I moshed. (That was several years ago, when I was able.)

I’ve also seen a lot of Christian pop/rock bands in concert. I’ve seen Audio Adrenaline, (Mosh pit, at the front, moshing.) Jennifer Knapp, Third Day, Rebecca St. James, Skillet (moshed), Rachael Lampa, Michael W. Smith, Nicole C. Mullen, and Pillar (moshed again).

I want to resume singing lessons as soon as I’m physically able. As far as guitar, I’d love to learn. Do you play an instrument? Do you sing anywhere, like in your church choir?

 

[Rammy]

jbsmith:

That was one of the songs I was working on before I started having my health problems. It’s beautiful. I’m not sure what his religious beliefs are, but that song seems to be about God. (By the way, if it isn’t, don’t tell me. I’d rather not know.) i can definitely see why this song would be comforting. I know people who can’t listen to it without crying.

Another one of his I like is “To Where You Are” from his debut CD. That was played at the funeral of a friend of mine last year.

I only have the “Closer” CD with You raise me up on it…

i thought that was his debut…but i guess that is wrong…how many does he have out?