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mariafransisca2
Guest
Prayer and the Sacraments: the source of Grace
To pray is to love Jesus. Well, we cannot love Jesus without praying. Thus, we cannot love our neighbor without prayers too. Because Jesus is the source of love. He is love and mercy itself. We, are created in his image and likeness. Can you imagine that?
Image and likeness.
Contemplate that for a moment. What does it mean? Jesus, is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The Father begot the Son in his image and likeness, and love him, with the same love with which he loves himself. And the love with which the Father love the Son, is called the Holy Spirit. Co-substantial, co-eternal.
We, are made in His Image and Likeness. Since God is love, thus, we are made to love and to be loved, by God.
Isn’t that wonderful? That is why we have a longing to be loved. And sometimes, if we do not get that love from our closest ones, that is our parents, siblings, we can be hurt and feel empty inside. Thus, we start seeking that “love” some other else.
It is interesting that Madonna, when she was 7, her mother died. And it left such a big wound in her heart, and she said to herself, “If I cannot have my mother, I will be strong and independent.” Later, her father remarried with a servant, and had 2 children, she was hurt too, because the love of the father didn’t go to her. So, she went to new York, but unfortunately, she was raped. She was a catholic, by the way. Madonna, is the title of Our Lady.
Later on, in her vulgar shows, with inappropriate images, clothing, she wore crucifix and the rosary. She even went further by writing the inappropriate song lyrics, with the title of like a virgin (A virgin is held in high regard in the Catholic church, ie. the Virgin Mary). like a prayer, and Papa don’t preach (which she intended for the Pope. The Pope is indeed her Father)
In all tribulations, we shouldn’t lose faith. How is it that we foster our faith except through prayer.
But no, it is not your regular “Father, give me a new dress, a new car, a good job, a steady relationship, a spouse.”
It’s not a prayer, it is commanding Jesus. As if he was your servant, you commanded Him.
What prayer is, according to St. Teresa Avila, “Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us."
“You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.”
'One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer. "
“Suffering is a great favor. Remember that everything soon comes to an end . . . and take courage. Think of how our gain is eternal.”
“Pain is never permanent.”
“Truth suffers, but never dies.”
“I am afraid that if we begin to put our trust in human help, some of our Divine help will fail us.”
“Our greatest gain is to lose the wealth that is of such brief duration and, by comparison with eternal things, of such little worth; yet we get upset about it and our gain turns to loss.”
“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God’s will in us.”
“Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ looks compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet
with which Christ walks to do good.
Yours are the hands
with which Christ blesses the world.”
"Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and there is only one Glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing. "
Let nothing trouble you,
let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing;
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who possesses God lacks nothing:
God alone suffices.
Well, that is prayer.
From a carmelite nun website:
According to St. Teresa of Jesus, prayer “is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends”. Prayer: that one word says what Carmelite nuns are about throughout their lives. The intimate sharing St. Teresa speaks of can easily be understood when we think of someone we are close to, someone with whom no conversation is necessary in order for us to be happy and comfortable with them. That’s what prayer is: a ‘being with’ the one Friend who will be there no matter what. However there is one extraordinary difference. When we cultivate friendship with Jesus Christ, there opens up within a whole new dimension of life, one of infinite depth and meaning. We truly find Him within us where He patiently waits to be discovered. The intimacy we have with Jesus is closer than any other intimacy ever could be. He is always the place where we receive life. In prayer we find the meaning of our life, and it is a meaning continually discovered.
That’ll give you a good picture, friend. Now, there are several ways to build personal loving relationship / friendship with Jesus.
To pray is to love Jesus. Well, we cannot love Jesus without praying. Thus, we cannot love our neighbor without prayers too. Because Jesus is the source of love. He is love and mercy itself. We, are created in his image and likeness. Can you imagine that?
Image and likeness.
Contemplate that for a moment. What does it mean? Jesus, is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The Father begot the Son in his image and likeness, and love him, with the same love with which he loves himself. And the love with which the Father love the Son, is called the Holy Spirit. Co-substantial, co-eternal.
We, are made in His Image and Likeness. Since God is love, thus, we are made to love and to be loved, by God.
Isn’t that wonderful? That is why we have a longing to be loved. And sometimes, if we do not get that love from our closest ones, that is our parents, siblings, we can be hurt and feel empty inside. Thus, we start seeking that “love” some other else.
It is interesting that Madonna, when she was 7, her mother died. And it left such a big wound in her heart, and she said to herself, “If I cannot have my mother, I will be strong and independent.” Later, her father remarried with a servant, and had 2 children, she was hurt too, because the love of the father didn’t go to her. So, she went to new York, but unfortunately, she was raped. She was a catholic, by the way. Madonna, is the title of Our Lady.
Later on, in her vulgar shows, with inappropriate images, clothing, she wore crucifix and the rosary. She even went further by writing the inappropriate song lyrics, with the title of like a virgin (A virgin is held in high regard in the Catholic church, ie. the Virgin Mary). like a prayer, and Papa don’t preach (which she intended for the Pope. The Pope is indeed her Father)
In all tribulations, we shouldn’t lose faith. How is it that we foster our faith except through prayer.
But no, it is not your regular “Father, give me a new dress, a new car, a good job, a steady relationship, a spouse.”
It’s not a prayer, it is commanding Jesus. As if he was your servant, you commanded Him.
What prayer is, according to St. Teresa Avila, “Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us."
“You pay God a compliment by asking great things of Him.”
'One must not think that a person who is suffering is not praying. He is offering up his sufferings to God, and many a time he is praying much more truly than one who goes away by himself and meditates his head off, and, if he has squeezed out a few tears, thinks that is prayer. "
“Suffering is a great favor. Remember that everything soon comes to an end . . . and take courage. Think of how our gain is eternal.”
“Pain is never permanent.”
“Truth suffers, but never dies.”
“I am afraid that if we begin to put our trust in human help, some of our Divine help will fail us.”
“Our greatest gain is to lose the wealth that is of such brief duration and, by comparison with eternal things, of such little worth; yet we get upset about it and our gain turns to loss.”
“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God’s will in us.”
“Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which
Christ looks compassion into the world.
Yours are the feet
with which Christ walks to do good.
Yours are the hands
with which Christ blesses the world.”
"Remember that you have only one soul; that you have only one death to die; that you have only one life, which is short and has to be lived by you alone; and there is only one Glory, which is eternal. If you do this, there will be many things about which you care nothing. "
Let nothing trouble you,
let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing;
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who possesses God lacks nothing:
God alone suffices.
Well, that is prayer.
From a carmelite nun website:
According to St. Teresa of Jesus, prayer “is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends”. Prayer: that one word says what Carmelite nuns are about throughout their lives. The intimate sharing St. Teresa speaks of can easily be understood when we think of someone we are close to, someone with whom no conversation is necessary in order for us to be happy and comfortable with them. That’s what prayer is: a ‘being with’ the one Friend who will be there no matter what. However there is one extraordinary difference. When we cultivate friendship with Jesus Christ, there opens up within a whole new dimension of life, one of infinite depth and meaning. We truly find Him within us where He patiently waits to be discovered. The intimacy we have with Jesus is closer than any other intimacy ever could be. He is always the place where we receive life. In prayer we find the meaning of our life, and it is a meaning continually discovered.
That’ll give you a good picture, friend. Now, there are several ways to build personal loving relationship / friendship with Jesus.
