The Unprofitable Servant: Blue Monday

Monday, February 11, 2013

Blue Monday

I'm really tired and my late-onset dyslexia seems to be working full-throttle, so I can't promise you much of a post here, but here goes.

I turned on the television at 5:30 AM to see what kind of commute I was in for and got the shock of my life: Pope Benedict XVI, a German shepherd if ever there was one, resigned. Then I learned this evening that Roz (Shadowlands) apparently passed away in September. Then I visited a blog I drop in on from time to time and learned that the author has been in a severe bout of depression, barely hanging on but for the Grace of Almighty God.

I have been approached nearly every single day by yet another person with an urgent prayer request, and there seems to be no let-up in sight of the trials and tribulations that shake our families and our faith. Lord knows I have a few of my own and I thank all of you for your prayers and am always touched and honored when you ask me to pray for you.

In the meantime, we have first-graders being gunned down by the classroom-full, abortionists writing about the most effective way to keep those pesky babies from surviving a murder attempt, and weather unlike anything I've ever seen in my lifetime tossing houses about like pieces on a Monopoly board.

What is going on?

It certainly feels as if the plates hidden deep beneath the world's surface have made a seismic shift. However, that is not for me to speculate on, tempting as it may be. I wish I had a dollar for every St Malachy prediction sent to me via email today. Yet another person contacted me about an Irish visionary who claims to have revelations from Our Lord Himself that Pope Benedict XVI was not long for his papacy.

I have no control over any of this, nor any foresight. All I know is that I am a sinful person who was incredibly blessed to have undergone a profound conversion and despite my attempts at holiness, I fail miserably on a daily basis. I am also reminded that I am "dealing with the God of Mercy" and that "as often as (I) shall beg for it", God will be pleased to bestow His Mercy on me.

Every Saturday, I go to Mass and Adoration at the same place, and every week, I see the same gentleman in line for confession. I thought I went to confession often but I don't go weekly as this fellow does. I was just thinking the other day that if the sacrament is available to us, we should take advantage of it. If nuns can find something to confess every week, surely I can. If we knew that a certain fruit or vitamin would stave off cancer, we would indulge in it often, would we not? So why the aversion to confession? God already knows all, and the remote chance for less-than-smooth treatment from the priest is inconsequential, isn't it?

Every day in the Morning Offering I pray "Dear God, I do not know what will happen to me today, I only know that it will not have been unforeseen by You and will be directed toward my greater good for all eternity."

One way or another, the end comes for us all. This brings me so much sadness when I think that some members of my own family may not be headed in the same direction that I pray I am. I liken it to waking up in the middle of the night with the house on fire and having to watch one of my own children left behind, pounding on a window, pleading for help. Once I'm on the other side of the divide, there will be little to nothing I can do.

Pray unceasingly. And please remember to pray for the repose of the soul of Roz. I believe she suffered in ways unknown to most of us but I also believe she trusted completely in Jesus. May her soul and all the souls of the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

On a slightly lighter note, I picked this up over at Ars orandi. You might find it interesting.

As for Pope Benedict, I don't believe he would have taken this step if he wasn't certain it was better for the Church that he did. I am grateful that he was Pope at all and pray his replacement will be someone who will stay the course on which Benedict embarked. Please God that it might be Cardinal Burke.

Whatever is in store for us Catholics, it won't be anywhere near as bad as what we deserve. In the meantime, on the eve of the Feast of the Holy Face, think of Therese.

When St. Therese was in the throes of her worst agony, one of her sisters asked her what she did to pass the time at night. "Mother, how I was tempted last night, but I made acts of faith and looked at the Holy Face the whole time. " During her long days of confinement to her bed, Therese passed the hours by adoring the Holy Face and wiping the image she loved so much with rose petals, "in imitation of Veronica".

What treatment have I accorded the Holy Face? I'm afraid to say, but God-willing, there will be time enough to rectify that.

12 comments:

PatriciaFebruary 11, 2013 at 8:48 PM
Joyce, what an amazing post...so rich with food for thought. It is such a sad day for all of us, but you seem to have been hit with several things all at once. I didn't know Roz, but will definitely pray for her tonight.

I am heartbroken over losing our beloved Pope Benedict, but I know that Our Lord Jesus is ever at the helm of His Church. I had not even thought of Cardinal Burke...oh how wonderful that would be!

I almost wept reading what you wrote about Therese and the Holy Face. Joyce, truly the Holy Spirit was speaking through you as you wrote this post. Every word went straight to my heart. Such wisdom about confession as well..

And your image of the house on fire with some of our loved ones still inside is one I will not soon forget.

Sending you a big hug to help soothe your sorrow..although in this world, much more than that is needed. But so glad all of us in our little circle here at least have one another.

Thanks Joyce, you are such a blessing. xoxo
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Kathy Felsted UsherFebruary 12, 2013 at 5:14 AM
I have been wondering about Ros, I hadn't heard from her in so long. She was a good person. Thank you.
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MannyFebruary 12, 2013 at 8:55 PM
OMG, Roz passed away!?? It's true. I just did a Google search and found her sister's blog that mentions her passing:
http://tribute-to-fireoftheirlove.blogspot.com/2012/09/who-passed-away-recently-1961-to-2012.html

I loved Roz. She was such a good soul. Shadowlands was the first Catholic blog I found or at least followed. It was through her that I found others and all the Catholic friend's I've made on the internet. Oh now I'm really heartbroken.
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KellyFebruary 12, 2013 at 9:29 PM
Maybe something is in the water here in our town. I have been more down than I've been in a long time. Of course, it's child-related. sigh. And then the pope! Oh my. I trusted him so much. I pray we are blessed with another like him. I was praying the Divine Mercy on Monday at my parish at 3:00 in front of the Blessed Sacrament, as they always do--and the man leading it (you may well know him, his initials are RV)--threw into the preliminary prayer a prayer for the pope, and for the one to come, "not a liberal!"--lol I couldn't help but wonder what the priest waiting in the sacristy to repose the sacrament thought about that...anyway, it made me laugh inside.
I pray this Lent is actually a balm to us all personally and to the Church.
God Bless~
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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God Bless You!

The Unprofitable Servant

Monday, February 11, 2013

Blue Monday

12 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross