Humility is a virtue we all tend to struggle with, I think this is beacuse it is a virtue with many different aspects. Lately, God has been calling me to a greater humility and a deeper trust of his guidance in my life. Currently, I feel astray because I do not know what next year looks like at all. I've made a couple of decisions in my life, seeking to know God more and fall deeper in love with him - now things are changing and I feel left astray, but I know God is in me, He is in my heart, He is guiding me. Many of us feel this way, in some aspect, or have felt this way. Today's gospel really stood out to me, so it's will be posted below for you to refer to!
When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.
He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. Putting spittle on his eyes he laid his hands on him and asked, "Do you see anything?"
Looking up he replied, "I see people looking like trees and walking."
Then he laid hands on his eyes a second time and he saw clearly; his sight was restored and he could see everything distinctly.
Then he sent him home and said, "Do not even go into the village." -Mark 8:22-26
Jesus is known for his humility, obviously. The Son of God chose to become man in order to save us. He completely surrendered himself for our redemption. In the parables, Jesus always says at the end to not go tell others, but for a person to keep to himself about the miracle Jesus performed. I believe God is asking us to be thankful for the gifts we have been given. He doesn't want us running around prideful - rather, he wants us joyful & spreading the truth through love and our actions. Therefore, we must thank God humbly realizing that our gifts are not of us, but are purely of God!
The other twist on this gospel came from a reflection I read today from The Word Among Us. In this reflection the author discusses Jesus having to lay his hands on the man's eyes a second time. Jesus is always calling us back to himself. He is the merciful Father. When we are far from him, he is calling our name desiring our repentance, desiring our return. This is the other aspect of humility. Recognizing that we need Christ. We cannot, cannot live this life alone. We cannot bear our cross alone. We need Christ to help us carry the cross because we are too weak without him and can do nothing without Him. We can do all things through him who empowers us(phil 4:13).
We, as human, are imperfect. We are going to fail. We are going to mess up. Recognize your faults and pray for the grace to grow from the mistakes. Pray for the grace to receive whatever you need to fully accomplish God's will. Only God knows exactly what we need, for he knows us better than we know ourselves!
Keep praying!
God bless!
In the love of Jesus&Mary,
Amber
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Ahh Valentine's Day
So many of my friends, especially of the female orientation get down on Valentine's day when they're single. Hallmark kind of, well...created this holiday. Originally, St. Valentine was martyred on this day, which is where it gets the name from, however, today that is not the nature of this holiday. St. Valentine is the patron of love, and so it makes sense that ones in love would celebrate their love in honor of St. Valentine's patronage, but hallmark has taken it a little over board and made Valentine's day into something bigger than it needs to be. "
Today, I want to speak to those suffering from pains of loneliness and the obvious fact that they are single. I encourage you to join with me in embracing the single life. Recognize it as an opportunity to grow. The times in your life when you are single give you the opportunity to seek God more fully. We must have established a strong, consistent relationship with God before we are able to truly enter into a relationship with another person. We must have defined ourselves through God, as His beloved children, before we can really date for the purpose of dating, discerning marriage. Embrace the single life. Look at it as an opportunity to love everyone. Look at it as an opportunity to learn how to love.
Again I say to you, embrace the single life. Look at Jesus Christ as your beloved. Turn to Him in the times when you feel the pains of loneliness. Remember, Christ loves you with a perfect love. He is perfect and is the perfect giver of love. Embrace the love of Christ. Seek Jesus as your one and only, drawing close to His Sacred heart. He welcomes you into His arms with great love!
Keep praying!
God bless!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
Today, I want to speak to those suffering from pains of loneliness and the obvious fact that they are single. I encourage you to join with me in embracing the single life. Recognize it as an opportunity to grow. The times in your life when you are single give you the opportunity to seek God more fully. We must have established a strong, consistent relationship with God before we are able to truly enter into a relationship with another person. We must have defined ourselves through God, as His beloved children, before we can really date for the purpose of dating, discerning marriage. Embrace the single life. Look at it as an opportunity to love everyone. Look at it as an opportunity to learn how to love.
Again I say to you, embrace the single life. Look at Jesus Christ as your beloved. Turn to Him in the times when you feel the pains of loneliness. Remember, Christ loves you with a perfect love. He is perfect and is the perfect giver of love. Embrace the love of Christ. Seek Jesus as your one and only, drawing close to His Sacred heart. He welcomes you into His arms with great love!God bless!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
Saturday, February 12, 2011
You are my Treasured Possession
And I rejoice over you with singing -Zeph. 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you. Jer. 32:40
For you are my treasured possession Exodus 19:5
And I love you with an everlasting love Jer. 31:3
The other day when I was praying I came across these verses and they really stood out to me. I was actually preparing for a testimony for a Confirmation retreat, about why Jesus needs to be number one in our lives.
I feel these verses really elaborate how great the love of Father is for each of us, his children. God's love is infinite, his mercy is great. With those who are close to Him, his memory is short and he forgives us for each failure.
He says, you are my treasured possession, we belong to him, we are treasured by him, we are special to him, and this is why we must make Him number 1 in our lives. He loves us with an everlasting love, and we are called to serve him in praise and thanksgiving, for the love he has bestowed on us. Making Jesus the center of our lives is all we are asked and he gives us so much in return when we simply make him number one.
When I wholly surrendered, and chose to follow Jesus, not so long ago, it was the best decision of my life. I had many questions, especially about Catholicism, but I knew it was truth, and I knew it was the only place I would find what I had been searching for all along. God is great in His mercy. He will forgive us for any sin, great or small. We often make our God too small, and don't put enough faith in Him.
I will never stop doing good to you. Jer. 32:40
For you are my treasured possession Exodus 19:5
And I love you with an everlasting love Jer. 31:3
The other day when I was praying I came across these verses and they really stood out to me. I was actually preparing for a testimony for a Confirmation retreat, about why Jesus needs to be number one in our lives.
I feel these verses really elaborate how great the love of Father is for each of us, his children. God's love is infinite, his mercy is great. With those who are close to Him, his memory is short and he forgives us for each failure.
He says, you are my treasured possession, we belong to him, we are treasured by him, we are special to him, and this is why we must make Him number 1 in our lives. He loves us with an everlasting love, and we are called to serve him in praise and thanksgiving, for the love he has bestowed on us. Making Jesus the center of our lives is all we are asked and he gives us so much in return when we simply make him number one.
When I wholly surrendered, and chose to follow Jesus, not so long ago, it was the best decision of my life. I had many questions, especially about Catholicism, but I knew it was truth, and I knew it was the only place I would find what I had been searching for all along. God is great in His mercy. He will forgive us for any sin, great or small. We often make our God too small, and don't put enough faith in Him.
Today, I encourage you to wholly surrender. Give your life over to Jesus and let him be in control. It will be a challenge, it will be hard, but it will be completely worth it in the end. You will be able to be joyful in a new way. If you've said yes to Jesus before, if you've surrendered before, I encourage you to surrender again. Give your life to God again. Let him reign in your heart and hand your life over to the one who created you!
God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
All We Need is...? Part 3
The other day my friend informed me she couldn't help but smirk at one of the emails I sent her because she went through the exact same struggles I was emailing her about. Today, I received an email from a friend and I couldn't help but smirk because she's going through the same struggles I have gone through and am going through.. It's great how God places people in our lives who can help us through things with their own experiences.
The advice my friend is always giving me when I email her upset with my struggle is to pray and to rely on Christ. We, as God's children canNOT rely on our own strength to bear our cross. We must rely on Christ. We must humbly admit that we are too weak to carry our cross and we NEED Christ. So often our pride gets in the way and we try to rely on our own strength. In doing that, we get worn down, we get tired, and we lose the desire to keep fighting. Once we wholly surrender and hand everything over to Christ we are re-energized. We receive the strength to bear the cross God has willed for us, and we can bear that cross with that joy!
We gather our strength from Christ through prayer. We must pray in order to get to know Him. We must have a relationship with him so that the Holy Spirit can guide us. Simply put: all we need is Christ.
Tonight, I encourage you to give God a chance. Be open to what He has in store for you, be open to his will. When you open to Christ, he works His way in and your life changes radically. You lose who you once were, but the person you become is so much better than the person you were. There are new struggles, but you have somewhere to go, you have someone to run to, and you're never alone because Jesus is always with you. Give God a chance. Let Him in!
God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
The advice my friend is always giving me when I email her upset with my struggle is to pray and to rely on Christ. We, as God's children canNOT rely on our own strength to bear our cross. We must rely on Christ. We must humbly admit that we are too weak to carry our cross and we NEED Christ. So often our pride gets in the way and we try to rely on our own strength. In doing that, we get worn down, we get tired, and we lose the desire to keep fighting. Once we wholly surrender and hand everything over to Christ we are re-energized. We receive the strength to bear the cross God has willed for us, and we can bear that cross with that joy!
We gather our strength from Christ through prayer. We must pray in order to get to know Him. We must have a relationship with him so that the Holy Spirit can guide us. Simply put: all we need is Christ.
Tonight, I encourage you to give God a chance. Be open to what He has in store for you, be open to his will. When you open to Christ, he works His way in and your life changes radically. You lose who you once were, but the person you become is so much better than the person you were. There are new struggles, but you have somewhere to go, you have someone to run to, and you're never alone because Jesus is always with you. Give God a chance. Let Him in!
God bless!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
Monday, February 7, 2011
All We Need Is...? Part 2
I need nothing, absolutely nothing, but my Jesus, to be complete and to feel whole. This is how we should always look at our life. We should always desire Jesus. We should gather all our strength from Him and rely on Him alone to live this life. The problem: this is extremely difficult! Our human pride gets in the way. We want to rely on our own strength. We want to overcome our problems, in our own ways, relying on our own strength. When we do this, we fall. We fall because we are too weak to carry our crosses on our own. We need Jesus to be our strength in carrying our cross! This is where prayer comes into play. Prayer is communication with Christ, and what better way to get to someone than communicating with him or her! Just as we communicate with our friends and that is how we develop a relationship, become close, we also must communicate with Christ, and develop a relationship with Him.
“As iron cast into fire loses its rust, and becomes all bright with burning, so the man that turns himself wholly to the God is divested of all sloth, and changed into a new man.” (from the Imitation of Christ book 2 chapter 4)
Let’s say man’s soul is the iron, the rust is sin, and the Holy Spirit is the fire. The man sins, so his soul becomes rusty. He needs to be cleansed, so the fire of the Holy Spirit comes and cleanses the soul. Upon this occurrence, the man is changed. He was open to the Holy Spirit entering his heart and coming to cleanse his soul. He was open to what the man had in store. Therefore, he is now a changed man. The man now is motivated to change his life. Just as the fire cleanses the iron, the Holy Spirit cleanses man.
Let us, as children of God, give Christ that little sliver. Let us be open to change. Let us be open to what the Lord has in store. I pray that the Holy Spirit may move in our hearts and change our lives. I pray that we learn to rely on Christ as our strength, for He is all that we need!
May God bless you!
Keep praying!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Forgiveness - Part 2
Tonight I decided to watch the movie Amish Grace. It is one I have wanted to see for a very long time. I was able to start watching it once a few months ago; however, I didn't get very far, but tonight I have been able to watch it.
In the beginning of the movie, a man enters into an Amish school building. He releases all males, but holds captive the females. In shoots 10 girls. The man then kills himself after shooting the 10 girls. The message behind this movie so far is the need for forgiveness. The father of one of the girls who died went to the house of the wife whose husband shot the girls and killed himself. Upon this visit, the man tells the wife that he forgives her husband. He recognizes that she is grieving as well.
The mother of Mary Beth, one of the girls who were killed, struggles to forgive. She cannot forgive this man. She does not desire to forgive this man. Her husband expresses the need to forgive her. Her husband reminds her that commands we forgive. Just as it says in the Our Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. God commands forgiveness. We must forgive those who have harmed us, no matter how they hurt us.
In December, I met a woman who forgave the man who killed her son. Her son was in a pre-med program. He was taking some summer classes. The 2 men who killed her son were high and wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. Therefore, they picked a random house and eventually shot these two men who died a sufferable, awful death. Yet the mother was able to forgive the men who killed her son because she knew God commanded it!
Tonight I wish to encourage you all to forgive. It is in forgiveness that we are set free. When we hold onto the hurt we have endured, we are chained down. We are held back. We cannot fully move to the next step of our lives until we forgive the person who hurt us. We must choose forgiveness. We must choose love. Not only does God call us to forgive, he calls us to love. He calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We can only love when we forgive. Therefore, choose love, choose forgiveness!
Lord Jesus, give us the grace to forgive those who have hurt us. Help us to break the chains that hold us back. Help us as we grow and take the next step in our lives. Be our strength, O Lord, be our stronghold, our rock on which we stand firm. Amen!
God bless!
Keep praying!
Jesus, we trust in you!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
In the beginning of the movie, a man enters into an Amish school building. He releases all males, but holds captive the females. In shoots 10 girls. The man then kills himself after shooting the 10 girls. The message behind this movie so far is the need for forgiveness. The father of one of the girls who died went to the house of the wife whose husband shot the girls and killed himself. Upon this visit, the man tells the wife that he forgives her husband. He recognizes that she is grieving as well.
The mother of Mary Beth, one of the girls who were killed, struggles to forgive. She cannot forgive this man. She does not desire to forgive this man. Her husband expresses the need to forgive her. Her husband reminds her that commands we forgive. Just as it says in the Our Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. God commands forgiveness. We must forgive those who have harmed us, no matter how they hurt us.
In December, I met a woman who forgave the man who killed her son. Her son was in a pre-med program. He was taking some summer classes. The 2 men who killed her son were high and wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone. Therefore, they picked a random house and eventually shot these two men who died a sufferable, awful death. Yet the mother was able to forgive the men who killed her son because she knew God commanded it!
Tonight I wish to encourage you all to forgive. It is in forgiveness that we are set free. When we hold onto the hurt we have endured, we are chained down. We are held back. We cannot fully move to the next step of our lives until we forgive the person who hurt us. We must choose forgiveness. We must choose love. Not only does God call us to forgive, he calls us to love. He calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We can only love when we forgive. Therefore, choose love, choose forgiveness!
Lord Jesus, give us the grace to forgive those who have hurt us. Help us to break the chains that hold us back. Help us as we grow and take the next step in our lives. Be our strength, O Lord, be our stronghold, our rock on which we stand firm. Amen!
God bless!
Keep praying!
Jesus, we trust in you!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Forgiveness
Human beings are imperfect. That's a simple fact of life. We fail, screw up, mess up, and fall. When we fail sometimes, we hurt other people. Therefore, I'd confidently say that all of us have been hurt by another person as well. Today, I wish to talk about the virtue of forgiveness. It is one I seem to struggle with. When people hurt me, I tend to get really mad and hold a grudge against them for a long, long time, especially when it comes to guys. My first boyfriend, well he hurt me severely when we broke up. I'd made a few mistakes, he'd made a few mistakes, and we both ended up hurt. However, that's not what it was in my mind. I was the one who got hurt, I was the one who suffered, and he destroyed me...as I frequently like to think. I have held a grudge against him for almost 2 years now because he hurt me. I hated him. He made me angry. He hurt me. He made me suffer. That was how I viewed it. That is NOT how I should have viewed it. I should not have viewed it because it was in accordance to God's will. I would not be the person I am if he had not broken up with me. I would not be the person I am if I had not made the mistakes I did, and got hurt in the way I did. I would not be the person I am today if that had not happened in my life. Therefore, I should forgive this boy. I need to forgive this boy because it wasn't his fault. He hurt me, yes, but when I see the person I became after he hurt me, I am thankful. Ironic, right? Nevertheless, it's true. I'm thankful he hurt me. I'm thankful for the hurt I had to endure because it formed the person I am today. The pain of the cross I had to carry developed my faith. I had nowhere to turn. I could have turned to God or I could have turned to worldly things. I chose God. In addition, because I chose God, I developed a deep passionate love for the Lord. I recognize now, almost 2 years later, that it was because my first boyfriend "broke my heart" that I am so passionate about my faith and so in love with Jesus.
Next time someone hurts you, don't hold a grudge. Recognize that they are imperfect. Recognize that we are all imperfect. Moreover, just as they hurt you, you have hurt someone too. Forgive them for the hurt. Don't let hold you down. Don't hold on to one little thing. Let go, recognizing that they, just like you, are imperfect and forgive them because you never know the good that will come from the hurt you have been asked to endure. The crosses you are given are given to you for a reason trust in that. Trust in Christ, knowing that He has a perfect plan and reason for you to have to carry this cross he has handed you. Remember, you are not alone in your struggle. Other people all around you struggle. I encourage us all to embrace each other and love each other as we work to grow in our faith together!
Christ our Lord, help us to break free of the chains tying us down. Give us the grace to let go of our hurts, recognize the good that came from them, and forgive those who have done us harm. We trust in you, O Lord, break lose our chains. Amen.
Keep praying!
Jesus, we trust in you!
God bless!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
Next time someone hurts you, don't hold a grudge. Recognize that they are imperfect. Recognize that we are all imperfect. Moreover, just as they hurt you, you have hurt someone too. Forgive them for the hurt. Don't let hold you down. Don't hold on to one little thing. Let go, recognizing that they, just like you, are imperfect and forgive them because you never know the good that will come from the hurt you have been asked to endure. The crosses you are given are given to you for a reason trust in that. Trust in Christ, knowing that He has a perfect plan and reason for you to have to carry this cross he has handed you. Remember, you are not alone in your struggle. Other people all around you struggle. I encourage us all to embrace each other and love each other as we work to grow in our faith together!
Christ our Lord, help us to break free of the chains tying us down. Give us the grace to let go of our hurts, recognize the good that came from them, and forgive those who have done us harm. We trust in you, O Lord, break lose our chains. Amen.
Keep praying!
Jesus, we trust in you!
God bless!
In the love of Jesus & Mary,
Amber
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