Preternatural punishment for doing good?

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I know many of you have heard that joke, “No good deed goes unpunished,” but I’m going through something that may be similar to what inspired the joke in the first place. Your (name removed by moderator)ut and prayers appreciated.

Recently, I volunteered to help with arrangements for an upcoming event at our parish. This is no routine event. Without revealing specifics (the event organizers would probably appreciate me keeping quiet about that), this event involves someone who someday may become as well known as the three visionaries of Fatima and for the same reason. The Church is taking this person very seriously and is investigating claims of the supernatural/miracles and until a decision is made, the Church says it’s OK to make pilgrimages to the person’s home town, etc.

Not long before I became aware of the opportunity to be of service in planning this event, I had told our Lord in prayer, “Do with me what you will,” in terms of using my talents to serve him.

I am honored to be involved in this and the planning is/was going well.

Then, a few days ago, unrelated, gut-wrenching, fearful, b-a-a-a-d, things started happening to me. A large, surprising and seemingly unsolvable financial problem. A family member shooting poisonous verbal arrows, repeatedly. The type of negative things that are VERY uncommon in my life now.

Is it possible, that when we step out in service to our Lord, “the enemy” starts trying to punish us? If so, what are we supposed to do?

Again, your (name removed by moderator)ut and prayers for a good resolution to these problems–one of which is quite serious – are very much appreciated! I know your prayers will help.

PAX
 
Oh, I forgot to mention–for those of you who don’t know–as I understand it, the term “supernatural” refers to things that come from God. The term “pre-ternatural” refers to things that come from someone else who lives in a very bad place.

Please correct if I’m wrong.

🙂
 
Yes, it’s definitely possible. Many on here, myself included, have experienced bad or strange things following a conversion or a new dedication to the Lord. The devil always hopes we will become discouraged or say, “It’s just too hard” and turn away from God. And then, of course, God allows these things in order to test our love for Him. If this event is as important as you say, then the devil REALLY wants it to fail! Pray all the harder. Remember, GOD is always triumphant!
 
Going through similar now.

Part of me wants to just drop it all and walk away … BUT … ditto above.

God didn’t call us down a smooth and wide path.

Frankly I am shocked at how overt they are becomming (the preternatural beings) - with multiple witnesses, mind you.

I think the Devil’s plan to lay low for a while has paid off in spades. People are fleeing from any mention of God like therein lies some sort of poison. The demons don’t need to hide anymore.

Remember, you are Peter on the water: you have stepped out of the boat; don’t look at the storm raging around you; look to Jesus.

When you get bizarre calls from out in left field - do not internalize them at all. It is the Enemy. Pray extra hard for the people who may be so easily influenced.

I’ll pray for you; pray for me too, please.
 
Yes, have experienced similar myself.

And also made a retreat with the Dominican Sisters in Ann Arbor, MI (Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist) who experienced the same thing in the form of a power outage when they were first setting up their living quarters in Ann Arbor. A very happy and enthusiastic young sister remembered that the reaction of the community to this obstacle was a joyous one: “Oh, we must really be making the devil mad! God must really want to bless us!”

Praying for you …

And may God bless you.

:blessyou:
 
Oh my gosh, thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your testimonies!

When I first got news of this huge problem–I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach–you know, that fear feeling?

After I had a few minutes to process things…my internal response was (and remains) “Jesus I trust in you.”

I don’t know how these problems will be resolved…but…Jesus, I trust in you!

Any other advice appreciated (in the form of spiritual warfare prayers you may know, etc.)

And…thanks in advance for your prayers!!! You will be in mine, too!

🙂
 
You aren’t being punished.

If you’ve never been noticeably attacked by the enemy, this is what an attack is like.

Stay in the state of grace. Wear a miraculous medal, St. Benedict Medal, and/or a crucifix. (the St. Benedict Medal is a very effective tool against the devil). Be careful with what you do and don’t do. Make sure it’s ok by the Church. Other than that, if you’re ok as far as that, it’s only that jerk the devil. You can’t really stop it. Just ask God for help, pray, and hold on tight.
 
Thanks so much for the link to the St. Michael Spiritual Warfare site.

St. Michael has been very good to me. When I’m running late for Mass, I always ask him for help. Usually, then, the traffic lights are all green. 🙂

(I figure that since he’s the patron saint of police officers, he probably has pretty good control over traffic lights. Works! )

Hope he gets a kick out of it!

Again, thanks to all!
 
It might be true that you are being attacked - and if that’s the case, take it as a compliment!

On the other hand, one scripture I always need to keep close to my own heart is MT 5:45 -
"…for He makes the sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust."
 
GardenMum232 said:
…Recently, I volunteered to help with arrangements for an upcoming event at our parish. This is no routine event. Without revealing specifics (the event organizers would probably appreciate me keeping quiet about that), this event involves someone who someday may become as well known as the three visionaries of Fatima and for the same reason. The Church is taking this person very seriously and is investigating claims of the supernatural/miracles and until a decision is made, the Church says it’s OK to make pilgrimages to the person’s home town, etc.
…
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I feel compelled to warn you to show extreme caution until the Church has decided in this matter. There is a woman in our town that is drawing similar attention, having predictions “come true” and the like. Those who lack discernment put a lot of faith in her.

She is not what she seems and subtly sow discord wherever she goes. It is insidious.

I’m not saying that’s what you have… I just urge caution.

The overall test is whether the message glorifies God but even that is not always so clear.
 
DihydrogenOxide said:
You aren’t being punished.

If you’ve never been noticeably attacked by the enemy, this is what an attack is like.

Stay in the state of grace. Wear a miraculous medal, St. Benedict Medal, and/or a crucifix. (the St. Benedict Medal is a very effective tool against the devil). Be careful with what you do and don’t do. Make sure it’s ok by the Church. Other than that, if you’re ok as far as that, it’s only that jerk the devil. You can’t really stop it. Just ask God for help, pray, and hold on tight.
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Haha, that bugger can really go all out though. And for some of us he fine tunes the attack to such a degree that he has us blaming ourselves for it, thinking that it’s just our own sinfulness and weakness and not some kind of clever trick to get us to obliterate ourselves. For example, I converted right around last Ash Wednesday… and then one of my meds failed on me, my illnesses went mad, I went mad, I got scrupulous as all get out, all of a sudden I was constantly confused by everything religious, angry at myself and everything and everyone, suicidal, exhausted, sinking and sinking and on top of that it took me until like a month ago to realize that med crapped out, and then when I tried to take care of it I kept getting turned away from hospitals and (name removed by moderator)atient services, my insurance failed to cover another one of my other meds all of a sudden, and on and on and on. I also wound up diagnosed with two other physical illnesses in the process, and was forced to embrace the reality of the Asperger’s Syndrome people kept thinking I had when growing up - alongside the other mental issues I already knew I had. Oh, and I came down with an intermittent case of a rare genital disorder 🤷

Dude does NOT like me.

Ow.

tl;dr I go convert, my life go boom.

On the bright side however… having my face rubbed so hard in my own problems has finally made me break down and get therapy… so I guess you could say that all things work together for good to them who love God.
 
InspiritCarol said:
I feel compelled to warn you to show extreme caution until the Church has decided in this matter. There is a woman in our town that is drawing similar attention, having predictions “come true” and the like. Those who lack discernment put a lot of faith in her.

She is not what she seems and subtly sow discord wherever she goes. It is insidious.

I’m not saying that’s what you have… I just urge caution.

The overall test is whether the message glorifies God but even that is not always so clear.
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Thanks, Carol, for pointing this out. So far, the “fruits” of this situation appear to be good, but I will do as the Church directs. ('Trying to be a “good little convert.”) 🙂

As I once explained to a Protestant relative of mine, thousands of people far more educated and intelligent than I have spent a lot of time coming up with good guidance for us in these situations. Thank God for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith!

Thanks again!
 
WoundedIcon said:
Haha, that bugger can really go all out though. And for some of us he fine tunes the attack to such a degree that he has us blaming ourselves for it, thinking that it’s just our own sinfulness and weakness and not some kind of clever trick to get us to obliterate ourselves. For example, I converted right around last Ash Wednesday… and then one of my meds failed on me, my illnesses went mad, I went mad, I got scrupulous as all get out, all of a sudden I was constantly confused by everything religious, angry at myself and everything and everyone, suicidal, exhausted, sinking and sinking and on top of that it took me until like a month ago to realize that med crapped out, and then when I tried to take care of it I kept getting turned away from hospitals and (name removed by moderator)atient services, my insurance failed to cover another one of my other meds all of a sudden, and on and on and on. I also wound up diagnosed with two other physical illnesses in the process, and was forced to embrace the reality of the Asperger’s Syndrome people kept thinking I had when growing up - alongside the other mental issues I already knew I had. Oh, and I came down with an intermittent case of a rare genital disorder 🤷

Dude does NOT like me.

Ow.

tl;dr I go convert, my life go boom.

On the bright side however… having my face rubbed so hard in my own problems has finally made me break down and get therapy… so I guess you could say that all things work together for good to them who love God.
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Whoa!!! So sorry to hear what you’ve been through!

It’s good to hear though, that I haven’t crumbled my crackers on this one. Things DO appear to happen. I’ve often thought about two nationally known Catholic evangelists who do a marvelous job educating us. Both were hit by rare tragedies. I wondered then, what might be at work and I still do, but they kept on going.

Maybe this is one of the reasons Jesus said, “Pick up your cross and follow me.”
Or…maybe…Follow me and EXPECT a cross. (But also hope inspired by a strong faith.)

My two cents! Thanks for yours.

🙂
 
+JMJ+

Could be. But in my life, as I look back, all trials and temptations that happened to me are actually invitations to joy and peace. Let me repost (with some edits) what I posted in another thread:
eddadonkey said:
Do you know that the Holy Spirit is the Gift of God given to us during Baptism? This is of course one fact that is very obvious. But do you know what that entails? Consider St Thomas Aquinas’ words:
“Gift, taken personally in God, is the proper name of the Holy Ghost. In proof of this we must know that a gift is properly an unreturnable giving, as Aristotle says (Topic. iv, 4)–i.e. a thing which is not given with the intention of a return–and it thus contains the idea of a gratuitous donation.” (ST, I, Q38, A2).
The Holy Spirit is, like all gifts, the Gift of God that that is not meant to be returned, He is something that we have to use and enjoy or be thrown away. To not use Him is to throw Him away, like the ticket after the European family’s cruise upon reaching the Americas if they had not known the free meal.

Use God? In the same article, St. Thomas says: “the Holy Ghost can be called the spirit of a man.” Now this was from an objection, but in the reply, St. Thomas did not dispute the assertion, but just qualifies it as a gift of God. The Holy Spirit is meant to be OUR Spirit, the “Soul of my soul.” He is meant to be the Source of all of our spiritual strength. Now do you understand why St. Paul said: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Tim 1:7)?

Use and enjoy God? Again, from St. Thomas, with my emphases:

Again, we are said to possess only what we can freely use or enjoy: and to have the power of enjoying the divine person can only be according to sanctifying grace. And yet the Holy Ghost is possessed by man, and dwells within him, in the very gift itself of sanctifying grace. Hence the Holy Ghost Himself is given and sent.

Reply to Objection 1. By the gift of sanctifying grace the rational creature is perfected so that it can freely use not only the created gift itself, but enjoy also the divine person Himself; and so the invisible mission takes place according to the gift of sanctifying grace; and yet the divine person Himself is given. (ST I, Q43, A3)

God wants to be used by us. Oh how much so! Don’t you see, THIS is the Joy of God, that He be used by us for His glory!
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
Oh ineffable humility of God!

Now do you see why trials come when we ask for strength and guidance from God? In absolute confidence, I can now see that what Fr. Corapi said, that in asking God for virtue, He will give us trials to develop it, is ABSOLUTELY WRONG. On the contrary, I can now see, in theory AND in my life, that God gives us trials when we ask for virtues like chastity, patience, and the like because He already answered our prayers: in asking for virtue, He already gave us virtue by giving Himself to us. He wants to be used, He wants His Power to be used, wielded, enjoyed by us, and thus He gives us opportunities to use Him: trials and temptations. That is why the Bible said: “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41). The apostles were rejoicing because they found they were made worthy of using the Holy Spirit Himself to handle the persecution given to them.

Therefore, from your own temptations and trials in life comes the joy of using and enjoying God, and of experiencing God’s Joy of being used.
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Oh I forgot to add…when I awakened in a nervous state early this morning…I immediately started repeating “Jesus I trust in you.” followed by a whole bunch of Hail Marys.

I then got this picture in my mind of a pegboard in Heaven with a whole bunch of lights in the holes, some green (representing folks who were giving thanks in prayer), some yellow (representing prayers from folks who were a bit worried) and some of them flashing bright red, popping up all over the place (representing the panicked and those praying for them.)

Wouldn’t that make make it easy for the folks upstairs to identify who needs help the most and mighty fast?

Then again, I’d bet the system’s far more sophisticated than that.

Thanks for allowing my ramble. 🙂

PS: Prayers still appreciated. We’re not out of the woods yet!
 
eddadonkey said:
+JMJ+

Could be. But in my life, as I look back, all trials and temptations that happened to me are actually invitations to joy and peace. Let me repost (with some edits) what I posted in another thread:
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Wow! Kind of like a secret weapon!

Thanks! 🙂
 
Praying for you from today’s Liturgy of the Hours:

Almighty ever-living God,
direct our actions according to your good pleasure,
that in the name of your beloved Son
we may abound in good works.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.
 
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