Pray for Pisa – The Tower and The Wheel

Posted on November 12, 2017 by veilofveronica

 

 

As I looked at the living creatures, I saw wheels on the ground, one alongside each of the four living creatures.  The wheels and their construction sparkled like yellow topaz, and all four of them looked the same: their construction seemed as though one wheel was inside the other.  When they moved, they went in any of the four directions without veering as they moved.   The four of them had rims, high and fearsome—eyes filled the four rims all around.  Ezekiel 1:15-18

 

The past several days I had multiple people ask me why God told me to pray for Pisa. The short answer is, I don’t know. I just do what he asks. But because so many people asked, I decided to take it to prayer and ask God. I will post here the response that popped in my head as I prayed;
Beloved,
The past several days you had multiple people ask you why I told you to pray for Pisa. When I ask you to pray know My ways are not your ways and My thoughts are not your thoughts. Be obedient, all will become transparent.
But I do want to talk to you about this city.
What do you think of when you think of Pisa?
 The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Lord.
The tower. The tower built by man that is flawed. What else do you think of when you think of a tower?
 The Tower of Babel
Do you see the scattering you cause when you rely not on me, but on yourselves? I AM. You are my creation.
The evil one tempts you to make Gods of yourselves, but this is false. This is disordered.
When you first heard me tell you to pray for Pisa the next day you heard a news story about Pisa. You found that strange. The story was about a Ferris wheel.
What does that remind you of?
 Ezekiel 1, the wheels with the four creatures, the wheels that moved when the creatures moved. The wheels with the eyes on them, Lord.
Those represented the 4 evangelists. Each evangelist has a wheel, wheels within wheels. The wheels of infinity. When the evangelists move spreading the Gospel, the wheels move.
A wheel has no beginning and no end. I AM the Alpha and the Omega. I AM all things. Those who KNOW me have the veil lifted and have eyes that see. These are the communion of Saints spreading the Gospel that they heard from the Four. My covenant made to restore you. The wheel is not for your entertainment, but for your glorification. The spirit of the Gospel lives in these wheels.
Go and make disciples of all Nations.
I will restore you.
Be in my NOW.
The Wheel and the Tower.
Towers will fall but the Alpha and Omega has already won the Victory.
Pray for Pisa.
Pray for your new Bishop.
– Abba

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What do you deserve?

Posted on November 3, 2017 by veilofveronica

Christ crucified

Christ Crucified – Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament – Hanceville, AL

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” John 5:30

My friend called me this morning.  She had gotten in her car to take her children to school.  Her husband had left the radio on a sports station.  The advertisement came on for one of those drugs like Viagra, and the announcer stated, “because you deserve intimacy.”

We deserve it.

According to the ways of the world, it is something we deserve.  It isn’t a gift, a free gift from God.

Still all these years after the fall of man, we don’t get it.  Everything we have is a gift from God.  In the garden, Adam and Eve had everything, they lacked nothing.  They lived in the Divine Will.  But the serpent, convinced them they deserved to be like God, and so they ate of the fruit and brought sin into the world.

My friend adeptly pointed out that even in their sin God continued to give.  Adam and Eve had clothed themselves in fig leaves once they “knew they were naked,” but God gave them “garments of skins” to clothe them.  What God gifts us is lasting.  What we think we deserve is usually fleeting and will leave us naked, ashamed and empty.

In our day and age, Lust has actually become one of the deadliest of the seven deadly sins.  Why? Because lust is catapulting us into grave sins that allow us to dehumanize other people.  Once we dehumanize them, all the other sins can follow.  We are using people for “deserved” pleasure, which really isn’t intimacy at all.  Intimacy is knowing someone to their core.  We are called to be intimate with God.  The world has everything disordered.

I read an article in Good Housekeeping that was essentially accepting of incest.  The logic was that these were siblings who were not raised together and had a Genetic Sexual Attraction (GSA).  Incest has long been outlawed because of the genetic mutations it can cause in children.  But in a society that “deserves” pleasure at any cost, we now have contraception and abortion to take care of that issue.  Once you morally accept one disorder that takes you away from God, it becomes very easy to start accepting all kinds of things.

I felt like God was asking me if I live in Sodom and Gommorah.  I couldn’t answer.  Can I find 10 people that don’t accept at least one of these things;

Contraception, abortion, divorce,  gay marriage, IVF, surrogacy, pornography, prostitution, masturbation, co-habitation, fornication…

I hope I can, but I know most accept at least one of these as something they “deserve,” just look at all the screaming among feminists about birth control being a right that they deserve.  Everyone thinks they deserve pleasure, children can be bought and sold as commodities, woman are denigrated, families are torn apart, children are murdered in the womb, and all because we want immediate satisfaction which we think we deserve.  I don’t say this to minimize the struggle individuals go through, but to show as a society the direction we are headed.

Remember, Jesus took all of this on.  If you want to know what you deserve, look at the cross.  There lies your sin.  Your sin looks like bloodied death and destruction.  That’s actually what you and I deserve.  But what Christ wants to give you is a gift.  Love doesn’t ask what I deserve.  Love is thankful for the gifts given.  Love sacrifices.  Choose love, and order yourself rightly to God, even when it’s hard, even when you don’t get what you desire, because what God desires for you is much bigger.  And when we fall, which we all do, repent of the sin, confess the sin, and do penance.  These are the things that order us back to God.

Love is patient.  Our society doesn’t seem to understand the concept of waiting anymore.  Love is kind.  Just look at social media and see if you see kindness.  Love is not jealous. Can you think of a person who isn’t currently desiring what someone else has? or isn’t offended by what someone else has?  Love is not arrogant or rude, it does not insist on it’s own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in right.  Does this sound like our society?  And lest you start pointing fingers at others, we must pull the planks out of our own eyes first.  Transformation of society actually begins in your own heart.  Rightly order yourself towards God, people will notice the peace in you and will ask, how do I get there?  You can answer, through Jesus Christ.

This is not meant to condemn those who have participated in the sins I listed above.  This is a call to conversion, for the Holy Spirit to convict hearts and order you towards love.  Jesus said to the adulterous woman, “neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more.” John 8:11.  Let’s at least try to take the second part to heart so we don’t end up condemning ourselves.

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Thy Will be Done on Earth

Posted on October 24, 2017 by veilofveronica

Guido_Reni_031 St Michael

Guido Reni’s St. Michael

 

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

We pray this prayer in the Our Father.  Thy will be done on earth.  Do we mean it when we pray it?  How does God’s will get done on earth as it is in heaven?  Have you ever asked yourself that question?

I have been pondering that a lot lately.  So let’s take a look at the line that comes before that.  Thy Kingdom come…thy will be done, it seems that God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven has to do with God’s Kingdom.

I have been privileged and honored to meet recently a man named Jansen Bagwell who is an ex-charismatic evangelical pastor that converted to Catholicism.  Jansen is helping our Intercessory prayer team learn about the Kingdom of God.  Learning from both Jansen and my Spiritual Director has drawn me deeper into relationship with Our Lord.   If we can understand the concept of God’s Kingdom, then practically speaking, we can live God’s will on earth.  Living God’s will on earth is how the earth gets transformed from a place of division and hatred to a place of Love.  If you truly are a believer, then we must believe what the Word of God has taught us; which is, that the supernatural world is real.

  “For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6: 12 RSV

Basically the whole world is God’s Kingdom because He is the creator of it.  Jesus is the King of our Kingdom and He wants all of us to be a part of this Kingdom.  Satan likes to think he also has a Kingdom, but in reality, he has to operate within the laws of God’s kingdom.  He is opposed to God’s kingdom, but we must remember that God and Satan are not equals.  Satan was originally an angel of light created by God, therefore he is subject to the laws of God.  God allows this because God does not revoke free will, and he let Satan make his choice.  But for practical purposes sake, I will refer to two Kingdoms, God’s Kingdom and Satan’s.  I do this in order for you to understand, you choose who you serve.

One of the issues today is that people have stopped believing in this, they have stopped believing in the supernatural.  But I am here to tell you, the supernatural world is real, as real as the world we live in, and there is a battle that is raging around us.

I can clearly see how St. Paul is outlining how to live in God’s Kingdom by telling us to,  “Put on the whole Armor of God”.  If we can understand this, we can help to usher in God’s Kingdom.  Let’s break down what St. Paul is saying.

Remember that when St. Paul was writing this, he was in prison.  He was looking at Roman soldiers every day, so he could equate how to live God’s Kingdom with what he was seeing in front of him.  I recently did the Jeff Cavins bible study on Ephesians, he helped me understand the armor Roman soldiers used. Let’s break it down;

“Therefore take on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand evil in the day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13

Paul is telling us to literally “put on Christ”.  Christ is our King.  By virtue of our Baptism we are in covenant with our King.  We have exchanged our soiled sinful garments for the white garment of purity and love.  Our Confirmation gives us the boost of the Holy Spirit to proclaim this covenant and its ability to free us totally and completely.  This covenant we are in is the law in God’s kingdom.  But it is more than law, it is the exchange of persons.  We give Christ all of us, and He gives us all of Him.  We definitely get the better end of the deal in this exchange because we give both weakness and strength, but He gives us only strength.  The question you have to ask yourself is, have you done this?  Have you given Christ all of yourself?  The good and the bad?  Have you asked Him to form your will to His? Or are you trying to conform His will to yours?

Next St. Paul says; “Stand therefore, having fastened the belt of truth around your waist…” Ephesians 6:14

What is the belt of truth?  The Roman soldiers used the belt to gird their loins so they could easily move.  A belt might also be where they stored their weapon, a sword.  In God’s kingdom, where Jesus is King, the belt of Truth comes from the Word of God.  This is akin to the Constitution of God’s Kingdom.  The Magisterium of the Church helps to interpret this truth.  They are akin to the Supreme Court in God’s Kingdom.  Do you read the Bible so you can know Gods truth?  Do you listen to the Magisterium of the church so you aren’t making up your own interpretation of everything?  This is how you know truth.  If you gird your loins in this belt, you will be able to discern good and evil in the world around you.  You must speak and live truth in LOVE.  Prayer is our communication with our King.  One form of prayer is the Rosary which the Dominican order wears around the waist (like a belt with a sword), as a weapon of God.  The Rosary is a prayer that walks you through Christ’s life, along with his mother, and helps you to know these scriptural truths.

St. Paul goes onto say in verse 14; “and having put on the breastplate of righteousness…”

The Roman soldiers used the breastplate to protect their heart and lungs in battle.  For Christians, we too must protect our hearts.  Sin enters first into our hearts until we act on it with our hands, so we must take care to protect our hearts.  Satan would love nothing more than to enter your heart and pull you away from God’s kingdom.  How do we protect our hearts?  With righteousness.  As a citizen of God’s Kingdom we have access to rights and privileges of the Kingdom, there is a code of ethics we live.  What did God leave us as a privilege to help us live out these ethics?  The Sacrament of Confession, and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  When we take care to examine our conscience and go to Confession to a Priest, we are helping to secure the breastplate of righteousness. It helps keep that Covenant exchange pure, where we continually give to God our weakness in order to receive His strength.  Once we are pure we can receive the Lord in the Sacrament of the Eucharist and it is how we as citizens continue to “put on God.”  We literally have access to the Living God at each and every Mass.  We are privileged to have access to these Sacraments and must make use of them as part of our Armor.

Verse 15 continues; “and having shod your feet with equipment of the Gospel of Peace.”

The Roman soldiers had a piece of equipment that would cover their feet.  When we are clothed in Christ, Jesus becomes our peace.  We do not have to be afraid of Satan because Christ has won the victory.  We often see Our Lady, and St. Michael with their foot on top of Satan’s head.  This is because they are clothed in Christ.  They have the armor to step on the Head of Satan.  We are called as citizens of the Kingdom to do this as well.  Reject Satan and use our armor to crush his head.  If you want to bring peace into the world, when making decisions, pray, and ask yourself, whose kingdom am I serving?

St. Paul continues; “besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming Darts of the Evil one.” Ephesians 6:16

The shield of faith is very powerful.  If you think of a worldly Kingdom, one of the things that can make it powerful is money.  The currency of God’s Kingdom is faith.  When we believe, when we have faith, mountains can be moved.  The Roman soldiers had shields that had wet leather stretched over them.  That wet leather helped to put out the flaming arrows the enemy shot that could burn an entire city if it hit the right place.  For us, the enemy shoots flaming arrows of temptation at us.  Satan is actually trying to train you how to think.  He wants to remove you from God’s kingdom and to break the covenant between you and God.  Those thoughts that we have that are not of God that are shot at us constantly.  If we have faith, we can protect ourselves.  If we internalize the temptation and take it into our hearts, that is when we are in danger.  That is when we turn from God toward sin.  By armoring ourselves with prayer and the sacraments, we are less likely to internalize that voice of temptation.  The enemy tries often to tell us we are not loved, we are not good enough, or that we are better than someone else.  He will attack anyway he can.  We must put up our shield of faith, recognize where the thought is coming from, and decide am I going to listen to this?  If we internalize the enemy’s voice and start believing it, we set ourselves on the path to perdition.  Remember the waters of your baptism, reject Satan, and the flaming arrow gets put out.

Additionally we have more tools at our disposal in this war.  The shield was also used by the Roman army to bond together.  They would line up shoulder to shoulder as a wall.  This helped to keep the enemy back and could be used as an offensive move.  When we in the Kingdom recognize we are not alone, there are many citizens in God’s kingdom, and when we bond together, we are living the Communion of Saints.  The Church Triumphant has angels defending us and Saints praying for us.  The Church suffering also prays for us.  We the Church Militant can bond with this army of the Communion of Saints to claim Christ’s already won Victory over Satan.  We are all the body of Christ.

Verse 17 states; “And take the helmet of Salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”

When we wear the helmet of Salvation, we know Christ already won the victory.  We also don’t accept false ideologies in our minds.  We do not accept the confused ideology of Satan.  We know the word of God, and we live it with the Holy Spirit in us.  We will not despair.  We will not be anxious.  We will be living the Peace that God brings.

Lastly, “Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all Saints.” Ephesians 6:18

Prayer is the way we can hear our King.  Every decision we make should be brought to our King through prayer.  Remember, whose Kingdom are you serving?  If you are not asking God, even in the little things, you can be subject to the flaming darts from the evil one.

If you truly take all of this into your heart, believe in your Baptism and Confirmation and act on them, and go to Confession and receive the Eucharist with confident faith, you will be clothing yourself in the love of God’s Kingdom.  Clothing in love ushers in God’s will on Earth, as it is in heaven.  It transforms individuals, families, communities and nations.  Be not afraid, and “Put on the Armor of God.” 

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True Reconciliation

Posted on October 16, 2017 by veilofveronica

jairus-daughter-1-607x483

A Girl Restored to Life and a Woman Healed: An Outline for True Reconciliation

By: Ashley Blackburn

When meditating on this story of the hemorrhaging woman and Jarius’ daughter from the Gospel of Mark, a formula for True Reconciliation emerges.  First we must recognize that reconciliation can occur whenever we ask God, with a contrite heart, to forgive us; this is the promise of our ever-merciful God.  True Reconciliation goes deeper and transforms us from the inside out.  The fruit of True Reconciliation is a life that is changed; when someone walks in newness of life, forever grateful for the gift they have received.  Who wouldn’t want this?  To break away from our bondage with sin and to experience the freedom of the Kingdom of God.

As we dig deeper into this passage, the following 4 steps are what show us the path of True Reconciliation:

 

  • Surrender
  • Open your heart
  • Sacrament of Confession  
  • Healing & Restoration

 

Step 1: Surrender

When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered around him; and he was by the sea. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” So he went with him. And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. (Mark 5:21-24)

Here we see a father who has tried everything in his human power to save his daughter and still she is on the verge of death.  This father is standing face to face with the death of his beloved daughter and at this juncture, he can either continue on this path of trying to find a cure, a better doctor, another meditation or treatment OR he can surrender.  Surrendering is not simply giving up, instead Jairus is surrendering to a higher power.  He is handing his daughter over to the care of Jesus.  Jairus has realized that he can do nothing to save her and so he needs a Savior, someone with more power and authority to save his daughter’s life.  

The fact that Jairus is a synagogue leader allows us to better understand all that he was risking by surrendering his daughter to Jesus. Needless to say, the leaders of the synagogue were not fans of Jesus.  Jairus had to swallow his pride, he had to put aside what others would think of him, and he had humble himself before Jesus, begging him to help his daughter.  Jairus was to the point where he knew that he needed a Savior.  

In much of the same way, God, our Heavenly Father, wants what is best for you. He created you… you are his child.  He wants you to be healthy, to be happy, to grow and enjoy all the goodness that life offers.  When we turn away from him we become sick – spiritually sick.  We wander through the world seeking a cure for our spiritual sickness, but the world will never be able to heal us.  In our desperation, God is there.  He is calling us to surrender to him, to recognize our own need for a Savior.  In this scripture passage, Jairus recognized this very thing and he chose to surrender, despite the risk of humiliation and rejection by his peers.  

This first step of True Reconciliation is important and can sometimes be the toughest. Recognizing that we need a Savior and then surrendering to Jesus is one of the most important things to learn as a Christian.  Often it is pride that gets in the way, hardening our hearts and destroying our ability to receive true healing. We are so used to doing so many things for ourselves that we forget that Jesus is there waiting for us to allow him to heal us.

Step 2: Open Your Heart

Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, “If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.” Immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. (Mark 5:25-29)

This woman who had been suffering for many years can be likened to a prolonged turning away from God.  With this we find ourselves searching in the world for something to make us happy, to fulfill us, or to heal us spiritually.  The woman in this passage no doubt knew she was ill and it says that she exhausted all of her resources to find a cure, but was instead worse off.  In her desperation, she knew that she could not continue on living this way; she needed a Savior.  So she took the next step, Step 2 on the path of True Reconciliation, as she opened her heart and literally reached out to Jesus in order for him to save her.

We see here that the hemorrhaging woman not only believed that Jesus was her Savior, but she also had a tremendous amount of faith that he would heal her if only she would touch his garment. Due to her years of relying on other sources for her healing, this woman didn’t see herself as worthy enough to approach Jesus face to face, she didn’t know if he would be merciful based upon her current state.  So she planned to simply touch his clothes, to remain unnoticed, but believing that if she did touch his garment, she would in fact experience healing.  

What we find here is that this woman must have thought about an encounter with Jesus prior to gaining access to him in such a way.  In the same way, we too must spend time searching our heart to examine where we have failed God, where we should have been more faithful, or where we could have better followed God’s law. This is what we call an examination of conscience.  In this step, we allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the darkness of our hearts, convicting us of our sins, and inspiring us to seek forgiveness.

Often times it is scary to take this next step; to open our hearts, bear our souls, and allow the Holy Spirit access to illuminate where we are wounded.  Feelings of anger, shame, guilt, embarrassment, or fear may arise, which tempt us to turn away and stop us from opening our heart to Jesus.  The other thing that may occur, is we determine that we do not need to open our hearts to Jesus because he already knows what is inside.  To believe this would be a huge mistake.  It is true that Jesus knows us completely and he wants nothing more than for us to be reconciled back to him, but he does not extend forgiveness without our being convicted of our sins. We must remember that when the Holy Spirit speaks to our heart and convicts us of our sins it is not a harsh judgement of our actions, but is instead an honest awareness of our sinfulness in the light of the insurmountable love and mercy of the Father.  The conviction of the Holy Spirit is always gentle and it inspires us to seek forgiveness, to turn back to God, and to walk in newness of life.  

This second step of True Reconciliation is where we open our heart, allow the Holy Spirit to search our soul and illuminate our sinfulness, awakening us to our need for healing.  Too many times we see people stop after step 1.  They recognize that they need a Savior, but then they do nothing to prepare for their encounter with Jesus. Yes, Jesus saves, but when we open our heart to him and allow him access to heal our wounds, we are led into a much deeper conversion.

Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”  And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?’” He looked all around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mark 5:30-34)

Miracles of bodily healing are secondary to the greater miracle of healing souls. That’s why, in the Gospels, Jesus always cured people one-by-one. He wanted to have that personal bond. He wanted to give them a real experience of Himself; one that would convict them and change their lives forever.  

After recognizing our need for a Savior, then reaching out to Jesus by opening our hearts and allowing him access to illuminate our soul, we are then called, much like the hemorrahging woman, to step forward in fear and trembling, fall down before Jesus, and tell him the whole truth. This step is accomplished in the Sacrament of Confession.  With this Sacrament we have the opportunity to say in REAL WORDS, out loud, our sins.  To name them and humbly ask for forgiveness.  Also through this Sacrament, Jesus is there and he speaks in REAL WORDS, through the words of the priest, “your sins are forgiven”.

This life can be difficult, but Jesus tells us not to be afraid. Yes, this is our God, the One who created all that exists, the one who created you. He desires to be in a real relationship with you. He wants you to realize that you belong to His family and that you can be open and honest with Him.  While our personal relationship with Jesus is important, we see in this passage that our face to face relationship with Jesus is also important.  This woman was healed after her reaching out to touch Jesus’ garment.  She could have walked away a fully healed woman! But Jesus called for her from amongst the crowd because he wanted something more from her.  He wanted her to take the next step.

The third step of True Reconciliation is the Sacrament of Confession, which is a tangible way for us to be reconciled back to God. It is Jesus calling for us by name from amongst the crowd and allowing us to step forward and humbly confess our sins.  Jesus knew that we needed this next step and so he instituted this beautiful Sacrament, where he promises to be present in a real way, in order for us to experience this next step in True Reconciliation.  

While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. When they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, he saw a tumult, and people weeping and wailing loudly. And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Tal′itha cu′mi”; which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And immediately the girl got up and walked; for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5:35-43)

Every reconciliation is meant to be a resurrection. In this scripture passage, we see Jesus restoring Jairus’ daughter to life by commanding her to arise.  Notice how Jesus spoke to the girl with authority and the girl immediately obeys.  This not only shows us the power and authority of Jesus, but it also shows us how we too are called to heed his command, turning away from sin and walking in newness of life.  

When we walk out of the Sacrament of Confession, we have more to do.  We are no doubt forgiven and completely absolved from our sins.  We are no doubt free from our bondage of sin and death.  But we are also commanded by Jesus, who has authority over death, to sin no more, to walk in newness of life. Jairus’ daughter immediately obeys.  She has been truly restored to life.  Everyone is amazed because they see the change in her. She is walking away from her encounter with Jesus transformed.

This fourth step of True Reconciliation is to sin no more; to walk in the light of our converted hearts.  Often times we leave the Sacrament of Confession and we think we will never fall again, we walk away with renewed strength.  But in our human nature, we are bound to fall again and when we do, we must remember that obeying the command of Jesus to “arise” means not only turning away from sin, but it also means, if we fail in our efforts, that we are offered, through the abundant mercy of God, the opportunity to follow the path of True Reconciliation once again.

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From Panic Attacks to Freedom in God Part II

Posted on October 10, 2017 by veilofveronica

Mass adoration

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.  Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died;  this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.  John 6:47-51

This is the second part of my story. Because all of my other writings have focused on the murder of my friend Veronica, I did not include that in this writing, though that is the pivotal moment when I began talking to God more like a friend. Perhaps I should have added that in, but it is so much a part of my other writings I wanted to show the rest of the what happened. So the turning point for me came after her murder. Here is part II

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From Panic Attacks to Freedom in God Part 1

Posted on October 10, 2017 by veilofveronica

butterfly

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.   John 10:10

 

This is the hardest story I have ever told. It is my story of struggling with anxiety, panic attacks anxiety and depression.  Many of you have heard parts of this story, but this is the more complete picture.

My story will contain references to counseling and medical care and I want to be clear- I am not here to tell you to change any protocol with counselors or doctors because we are mind, body, and spirit and all are to be attended to. I am writing here to address the spiritual side of our lives and to let you know we do have a Great Physician in Jesus Christ.

You can continue reading here at Catholic Stand.

I will publish part II tomorrow.

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The Reaping – be a light in the darkness

Posted on October 4, 2017 by veilofveronica

Mary in the dark

Make no mistake: God is not mocked, for a person will reap only what he sows, because the one who sows for his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows for the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit.  Galatians 6:7-8

 

Adoration today October 3, 2017

Beloved**,

I AM incomprehensible to you.  A Divine Paradox.  I want you totally detached from this world, attached totally to Me.  Yet in this detachment to this world, you are attached to Love Himself, which makes you attached to loving people.  I AM totally full and I AM totally empty.  The God who emptied Himself on the cross so the fullness of Life could be shown.

When you belong to the Divine Will and receive it fully, though still being yourself, you are one with the Creator.  You become fully you by receiving Me.  You live in harmony with Creation instead of being at odds with it.  You feel the Body of Christ.  I AM at once Joy, yet I show you the Man of Sorrows.  Our Lady understands fully.  The Presentation to Simeon was at once a joyful mystery while simultaneously being a sorrow foretelling of the sword that would pierce her heart.  I AM all things.

Creation groans against you because the evil one has deceived you into thinking you are equal to me.  Equality with me cannot be grasped.  You must empty yourself and then you will be glorified.

This morning you broke down and wept.  Yet you knew these were not your own feelings.  These are the feelings of the Man of Sorrows and Our Lady of Sorrows who, being in unity, weep for the created.  They weep over the rejection of Love Himself.

Do you not know where your flourishing comes from?

The people have forgotten.

They have removed Love, removed Me, and now the reaping is due.

They have asked for justice when all I want to give is Mercy.

So it is that in this time I will raise up Great Saints.  That is what I call you to.  DO NOT BE AFRAID.  Do not be insecure in this mission.  Have BOLD CONFIDENCE in ME.  This is a Divine Love Story.  I AM creating a Trinity of Hearts.  Sacred. Immaculate.  Beloved.

Your heart is restless until it rests here.

Velocity speeds up.  Things happen quicker.  Rest in my NOW.  Do the task in front of you.  Remember things are not what they seem.  Everything is connected.

Total Trust.

Pray for San Francisco.

Pray for Pisa.

Pray for Panama.

Pray for the souls in Las Vegas.

Pray without ceasing.

Be a part of restoration.

-Abba

 

** Author’s note

I write what pops in my head as letters from God. I wrote this as a reflection of what I thought God was saying to me.I was taught to journal this way by my Spiritual Director. He said as long as it doesn’t stray from Scripture and the magisterium of the Church, I can write what pops in my head while I am praying.

 

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Dreams and Preparation

Posted on September 22, 2017 by veilofveronica

wedding homily

The Priest prepares my husband and I with His homily just before we make our vows. October 7, 2000

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready.  She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment.”(The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.)Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true; they come from God.” I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers who bear witness to Jesus. Worship God. Witness to Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Revelation 19:7-10

I had a dream the night before last night.  In it I received a package in the mail.  I opened it and inside was a wedding dress.  I tried it on and it was beautiful and I remembered thinking that the wedding was soon.  Somehow I was also at my brothers house, but it wasn’t the townhouse he actually lives in, it was a giant mansion and he had servants and nannies for his two new adopted girls.  I went to the girls room to show them my dress.  All of the people in the house were fussing over the children and I just knew how loved and important those children are.

My mom and I went outside and I was still wearing the wedding dress.  There was snow all over the ground and my mom began telling me not to get the dress dirty before the wedding.  I started to look closely at the dress and I could see that it was actually cheaply sewn.  I went to look in a mirror that was outside the barn door and the right shoulder strap broke on the dress and the bottom of the dress was dirty just like my mom said to be careful of.   I remember thinking I either have to return this to get a better one, or I have to repair this.  And thinking it was a good thing that I knew a shop where the people in it could help me get it repaired before the wedding.

It was cold, dark and snowy outside.  Then I woke up.

When I woke up I knew I was not prepared.  Personally, I am working on getting a healing and prayer ministry up and running, but I know there is so much preparation.  We are doing a whole life confession, so we will not be bound by any unforgiveness when we may eventually minister to other people.  Forgiveness is the key to everything.  Whether it be in running a ministry, or being called home to the Lord, we cannot harbor unforgiveness, after all he forgave us everything.

But it’s more than that.  My friend Caitlynnegrace adeptly pointed out to me that “until we fuss over the children, none of us will be prepared.”

God talks to me ALL THE TIME about purity, and how we are corrupting the children. We have, as a society, essentially stopped trying to protect them and keep them innocent.

It’s almost like He is telling me that Lust is THE DEADLIEST of the 7 deadly sins, and not the least deadly.  The reason being is that it seems more innocuous and people think it’s about love, but it is actually what lets Satan in the door.  It is SEEMINGLY the least deadly, but results in the destruction of everything.  I know Aquinas would disagree because he thought it brought on shame quicker… but we are living in a world that’s not ashamed of anything.

Here are a few things I have read about and observed;

Adam and Eve ”knew they were naked” – and had brought sin in the world…

Noah – Ham slept with Naamah – curses Canaan…

Abraham sleeps with concubine – has Ismael – which leads us to Islam eventually…

With Moses his people can’t stop their debauchery while Moses is on Mount Sinai… they wonder around far longer than they need to…

David sleeps with Bathsheba and has her husband killed…

Recently I had gone to hear a speaker who spoke on the Physiology of Grace.  He said that people who pray have been scientifically shown in studies to have greater brain connections, have a protective coating on their brain, and then also have a smaller amygdala (I think that’s the part he said- and I really wish I could site the study he was using, I am going to try to contact him to get that.) This is the area that controls fight or flight and is the fear region of the brain.  People who pray… theirs is smaller… this means that they can stand up in the face of great fear where most people would flee or fight.  These people can face what’s coming head on, and are not controlled by fear.  Makes me think of Maximilian Kolbe.

Conversely, pornography had the exact opposite effect.  People who are addicted to pornography have less connections, have no protective coating, and have a large amygdala which would make them respond out of fear and sometimes more animalistic.

Que, today’s world.  The statistics on pornography are astounding.  We hand devices to our children where they can have instant access to it.  It is a multi-billion dollar industry.  It leads to sex trafficking, and rape, and all kinds of sin.  We see people acting extremely violent, like animals.

The sexual revolution ushered in contraceptives, which means people think they are safe having sex in any circumstance.  And as Humanae Vitae pointed out led to all those problems we have today.  Divorce, abortion etc….

I actually look at the violence in the streets today and wonder how many of them are  addicted to pornography?  At the very least, I wonder, how many of them are praying and having silence with God?

It’s like what started out as lust… just progressively got worse… until it’s so twisted we don’t even know what gender we are….confusion.  Confusion actually comes from the Father of Lies, and it’s harming our children.

And then, even in my Catholic circles, people who DO FOLLOW the faith… they excuse sexual sin WAY more easily…. and I understand this because many have come from leading impure lives to true conversion, and so they know, and I know, that conversion is possible.  And when we are convicted to change God does not condemn us.  But the question is, are we praying for purity?  Are we teaching our children purity?  Or do we say, “oh well, that is the least deadly sin” and keep silent.  Do we say one thing, like “wait until marriage” but secretly hand our children condoms “just in case” and thereby undermine the message that purity is something attainable?  When we think purity isn’t attainable for a human being, we need only look at St. Joseph to remind us it is.  But know too, if our loved ones do fall, we must love them, help them get back up, and continue to point them to truth.

Sometimes, especially with children, if you have taught the faith, and they aren’t listening, we have to let go, and let them make mistakes, we have to love them anyway, and nagging won’t change them.  But we must never ever stop praying for their purity.  And if you struggle with impurity take it to God.  Every time you want to log on to that website, or have that impure thought, offer it to God, and ask that he save 100 other souls that are struggling too.  You will find soon enough the devil will leave you alone about that issue when you start using your suffering to save other souls.

In a previous post, I talked about a prayer my friend Jansen, a convert and former evangelical pastor, taught us to pray for loved ones who are struggling with sin.  I am going to post that exact prayer here today;

“Lord, I ask that you send angels of sufficient number, power, authority and rank to (persons name) to fight back the demon off and away from their life, so that they are able to follow you.”  The other prayer was about the Holy Spirit.   “Lord, send your Holy Spirit to convict (persons name) so strongly that they stop what they are doing and repent of their sins, with the intentions of confessing them to their priest the next time they go to Reconciliation.”

My prayer for all of us today, is for us to return to purity.  Pray for purity.  Purity of body and purity of heart would make the world a lot better place.

 

 

 

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Trinity of Hearts

Posted on September 11, 2017 by veilofveronica

Trinity of Hearts

 “For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to bring to light the knowledge of the glory of God on the face of [Jesus] Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

In my prayer of late, I feel God speaking to me about living in the Divine Will.  I wrote this in my journal**;

Beloved,

The time has come for purification.  Wickedness will be purged.  The broken hearts of the faithful will be repaired with the thorns of suffering.  Purity and Love will be restored like a fragrant rose and each human heart that desires to receive will be aflame in the Divine Will.  3 hearts beating together.  A trinity of love.  Sacred.  Immaculate.  Beloved.

-Abba

Then the image above appeared to me in my prayer.  I am sorry I cannot draw better because it absolutely does not do justice to what I saw.  In reflection upon the image, here is what I wrote down;

The bottom heart combines both the thorns of the Sacred Heart and the Roses of the Immaculate Heart.  The thorns go vertically to symbolize the broken heart of each human being, but sown together by the thorns of suffering just like Christ.  Christ’s thorns are horizontal because it matches His outstretched arms of love for us, that He took all of this on without sin.  He is God.  The Roses blooming from the Heart of the Beloved represent the repair made by Jesus through Mary who was the human example of unity with Divine Will and the example teaching us as Humans how to live in the Divine Will.  And though Jesus is fully human and fully God and sinless, and Mary is a sinless human, and we are not sinless, we can be restored to purity and love again.  One rose is white representing purity and one is red representing love.

 

I do have a friend who is a graphic artist.  Hopefully he can capture better what I saw.

In the coming days I will be posting more about the Intercessors of the Divine Will.

** Author’s note

I write what pops in my head as letters from God. I wrote this as a reflection of what I thought God was saying to me.I was taught to journal this way by my Spiritual Director. He said as long as it doesn’t stray from Scripture and the magisterium of the Church, I can write what pops in my head while I am praying.

From time to time I share some of my entries on my blog.

 

 

 

 

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Illumination of Conscience

Posted on September 4, 2017 by veilofveronica

the-great-warning-illumination-of-conscience

 “A great purification will come upon the world preceded by an “Illumination of conscience” in which everyone will see themselves as God sees them.” Blessed Anna Maria Taigi (1769–1837)

 

I want to tell you all a story before I get into the reason for the title of this post.  Over the past several months my friends and I had noticed that there are four areas where Catholics and other Christians are poorly catechized.  These 4 areas are the Real Presence in the Eucharist, Confession, Mary the Mother of God, and Redemptive Suffering.  We each felt that one of these areas spoke greatly to us (all areas speak to all of us, but some of us felt called more to a specific one.)  We formed a group that we call the Intercessors of the Divine Will.  We each read a Gospel that we correlated with each topic.  For the Eucharist we assigned that person the Gospel of John.  For Confession we assigned the Gospel of Mark.  For Mary we assigned the Gospel of Matthew.  And for Redemptive Suffering we assigned the Gospel of Luke.  Because each of these Gospels has a symbol associated with them, we each adopted that symbol as our own.  You all know from my story of Veronica’s murder, how essential confession was to my change of heart, so I was assigned Confession and the Gospel of Mark, my symbol is the winged lion.

winged lion

The other ladies and men have also been assigned their Gospel with the corresponding symbols.

The Gospel of Luke – Redemptive Suffering is the Winged Ox;

winged ox

 

The Gospel of Matthew – Mary the Mother of God is the Winged Man or Angel;

winged man

The Gospel of John – The Eucharist is the Eagle;

John Eagle

Assigning these Gospels for each of us to read helped us to carve out our mission as Intercessors of the Divine Will.  We are running a series of retreats on these topics, and we pray together.  Our mission is to help spread the Divine Will on earth as it is in heaven, and to pray for Priests by name.  We pray for intercession on behalf of people who are suffering and need help.   Our Patron is Our Lady Healer of Families because we feel healing in the family is essential to the Divine Will being lived on earth, which will bring healing to us in a much larger way. We are currently in the process of seeking an imprimatur for the Devotion to Our Lady Healer of Families, and we will abide by whatever Holy Mother Church decides.

Why am I telling you all this?  First, it been a such a blessing to pray with the men and women who are part of this.  I eventually envision this being spread to other areas.  In trying to organize and get these small groups praying together (which has definitely taken some time) we have come across many wonderful people.   Recently I came across a man who is an evangelical convert.  We all prayed together for another man who was in need of help.  The evangelical convert prayed specifically for “God to send Angels in Number, Power, and Authority to protect this man.”  He then prayed for “Jesus to convict his heart with his own sins.”  He explained to us that conviction is not condemnation, and conviction — seeing how God sees you — how God sees your sin but still loves you beyond measure will call a persons heart to conversion.   Within a week the man we prayed for called me.  He said two things that struck me.  He said, “I felt protected”, and he said “I had an epiphany in my heart about my own part in turning away from God and that it could be the cause of some of my problems and how I need to turn back to him.”  He felt protected and we had called on angels.  He had an epiphany of his own soul, and we had asked for conviction of his soul.  I was AMAZED.  I don’t know why, because God is always good and Amazing, so it shouldn’t come as any surprise.

This man had an illumination of conscience.  He had it, I believe, directly because of our prayers because when we do what God asks, as part of the communion of Saints and His Mystical Body, God acts.  This got me thinking about the Catholic Prophecy of Illumination of Conscience. It was spoken about by Blessed Anna Marie Taigi, which is in the quote above.  But probably most famously at the Garabandal Spain apparitions.  In Garabandal it was called a warning.  It is a warning because if we are sinning greatly it becomes a warning call to repentance.  I actually believe it is a rescue because it rescues our souls from the peril they are in.

Anyone who reads the news today can see the world is in desperate need of repentance.  Repentance comes when we see our own soul as God sees it.  We see our sin, and it makes us want to stop sinning when we see how much God loves us.  For some, I imagine seeing the state they are in could come as quite a fright, but an Illumination of Conscience would be a mercy for them then, a chance to reconcile with God.  It would give one a chance to repent and see the God of Love who calls them.  This repentance brings forgiveness.  Forgiveness of ourselves and of others brings healing and purification.  Healing and purification brings the spread of the love of God.  The spread of the Love of God brings heaven on earth.

So today, I call on each of you to pray for your loved ones and for all human kind to be protected by angels.  And most especially to pray for our own hearts to be convicted of our sins and for God to convict the hearts of our loved ones and all of humanity.   I recommend Ignatius’ “Whole Life Confession” by Rev. William Watson to help you see for yourself.  Show us who we are.  Ask God for the illumination of conscience.  I believe it would bring mass conversion, and help to usher in an era of peace.

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