Luke 15:4-7 is the parable of the Lost Sheep: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."
I just learned something really interesting about this passage. In Biblical times, when a shepherd found a sheep that had run off he gently broke the sheep's leg and put it around his shoulders, carrying it back to the herd. He would then nurse the sheep back to health, allowing for a close bond to be created between the sheep and the shepherd. Once the sheep's leg was healed, it would still follow the shepherd around everywhere because of this newfound bond and would never run away again.
This is a metaphor for our relationships with God. Sometimes, when we are running away from Him, He will come and "break" our leg in a spiritual sense. This can come in the form of suffering, trials, humiliation, etc. Through these experiences we will turn to and rely on God in a deeper way than before, and will grow in our relationship with Him. Once our suffering goes away, we will still stay on the path of holiness (God-willing) because our lives have been changed. No matter what suffering we are going through, God is always in the midst of it with us even though we may not be able to recognize Him at first. He is always there to sustain us and renew us, to help us on the path to healing. We should never begrudge Him our sufferings, as easy as that is, because it is through them that we become closer to Christ our Good Shepherd.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
This Most Wonderful Love
"Everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone, to have a deep soul relationship with another, to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But God, to a Christian, says, "no, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled, and content with being loved by Me alone, with giving yourself totally and reservedly to Me, with having an intensely personal and unique relationship with Me alone. Discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me alone, exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires or longings.
I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing. One that you cannot imagine. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I Am. Keep listening and learning the things I tell you. You just wait. That's all. Don't be anxious. Don't worry. Don't look at the things you think you want; you just keep looking off and away up to Me, or you'll miss what I want to show you. And then when you are ready, I'll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you could dream of. You see, until you are ready and until the one I have for you is ready (I am working even at this moment to have you both ready at the same time). Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I prepared for you, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplified your relationship with Me. And this is the perfect love.
And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love, I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely, the everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love utterly. I am God. Believe it and be satisfied."
-St. Anthony of Padua
By the grace of God one of my friends sent me this amazing quote. God is so good, because He sent it to me at a time when I really needed to hear it. He may not take our sufferings and trials away, but He sure knows how to help you along the way.
I've always struggled with being a hopeless romantic. I partly blame it on all the Disney movies I watched as a kid. There's nothing wrong with desiring this kind of true love, except for when you think that you will only find it in your Prince Charming alone. This is where we all fall into the trap. My first and foremost Prince Charming is Jesus Christ. It took me a long time to see it in this way, but He wants to court us. He wants us to fall madly in love with Him. He is the perfect fairy tale. Heaven is the perfect happily ever after. As much as we hate to admit it, no human is perfect. Therefore no human relationship is perfect. There will always be ups and downs and sacrifices made for each other. If we put all of our hope of a perfect true love in another human, our hearts will not be satisfied. It is only through the love of Jesus Christ that our hearts are fulfilled.
This quote also helped me to realize why God is calling me to at least discern the possibility of religious life. I was so mad at Him at first, because I have always dreamed of getting married and finding that perfect Prince Charming to share true love with. But this was like getting knocked over the head: duh, of course He's calling me to discern! If I didn't, then I would have stayed in that mindset of finding fulfillment in another human. I would have never gotten to the level in my spiritual life where I am starting to learn to rely on Christ alone, and a human second if He so wills to give me a husband. I am thankful from the bottom of my heart, for this experience has opened up new recesses in my heart that I didn't even know I had. It has allowed me to be prepared for whatever my vocation is in life- because if it's marriage, I need to have my heart satisfied in Christ first in order to fully and truly love a man. It is so so important to pray for our future spouses, for their hearts to be open to the ways that Christ wants to prepare them and teach them as well!
A priest told us something beautiful in his homily at mass the other day. When the Roman soldiers pierced the side of Christ after He died on the cross, blood and water poured out. In the Church we traditionally see this as symbolizing nourishment and healing along with cleansing and mercy. But there's another meaning that the priest gave- that the water came out because there was no more blood left- Christ spilled ALL of His blood for our salvation. He didn't keep any for Himself. Whenever I ask Christ how much He loves me, I am always pointed right towards the Cross. It is the ultimate sign of love, that He would die in place of us.
I want you to stop planning, stop wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing. One that you cannot imagine. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I Am. Keep listening and learning the things I tell you. You just wait. That's all. Don't be anxious. Don't worry. Don't look at the things you think you want; you just keep looking off and away up to Me, or you'll miss what I want to show you. And then when you are ready, I'll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you could dream of. You see, until you are ready and until the one I have for you is ready (I am working even at this moment to have you both ready at the same time). Until you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I prepared for you, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplified your relationship with Me. And this is the perfect love.
And dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love, I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your relationship with Me, and to enjoy materially and concretely, the everlasting union of beauty, perfection and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love utterly. I am God. Believe it and be satisfied."
-St. Anthony of Padua
By the grace of God one of my friends sent me this amazing quote. God is so good, because He sent it to me at a time when I really needed to hear it. He may not take our sufferings and trials away, but He sure knows how to help you along the way.
I've always struggled with being a hopeless romantic. I partly blame it on all the Disney movies I watched as a kid. There's nothing wrong with desiring this kind of true love, except for when you think that you will only find it in your Prince Charming alone. This is where we all fall into the trap. My first and foremost Prince Charming is Jesus Christ. It took me a long time to see it in this way, but He wants to court us. He wants us to fall madly in love with Him. He is the perfect fairy tale. Heaven is the perfect happily ever after. As much as we hate to admit it, no human is perfect. Therefore no human relationship is perfect. There will always be ups and downs and sacrifices made for each other. If we put all of our hope of a perfect true love in another human, our hearts will not be satisfied. It is only through the love of Jesus Christ that our hearts are fulfilled.
This quote also helped me to realize why God is calling me to at least discern the possibility of religious life. I was so mad at Him at first, because I have always dreamed of getting married and finding that perfect Prince Charming to share true love with. But this was like getting knocked over the head: duh, of course He's calling me to discern! If I didn't, then I would have stayed in that mindset of finding fulfillment in another human. I would have never gotten to the level in my spiritual life where I am starting to learn to rely on Christ alone, and a human second if He so wills to give me a husband. I am thankful from the bottom of my heart, for this experience has opened up new recesses in my heart that I didn't even know I had. It has allowed me to be prepared for whatever my vocation is in life- because if it's marriage, I need to have my heart satisfied in Christ first in order to fully and truly love a man. It is so so important to pray for our future spouses, for their hearts to be open to the ways that Christ wants to prepare them and teach them as well!
A priest told us something beautiful in his homily at mass the other day. When the Roman soldiers pierced the side of Christ after He died on the cross, blood and water poured out. In the Church we traditionally see this as symbolizing nourishment and healing along with cleansing and mercy. But there's another meaning that the priest gave- that the water came out because there was no more blood left- Christ spilled ALL of His blood for our salvation. He didn't keep any for Himself. Whenever I ask Christ how much He loves me, I am always pointed right towards the Cross. It is the ultimate sign of love, that He would die in place of us.
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