Saint Francis states: “Now never does any love take our hearts from God, save that which is contrary unto him.” What are some loves that can take us away from God? Are these truly “loves?” Why has God prepared a different kind of clarity and sweetness for each soul in Heaven? If two people love God with all their hearts, Saint Francis says the “amount” of love could be different between the two. Why is this? Can one with “less capacity to love” still love as much as those with “greater capacity?”
Jun 22, 9:24 AM
VisitationSiste: How can love of one’s spouse increase and deepen our love of God?
Jun 22, 9:25 AM
VisitationSiste: Chat Sunday June 23 730pm est
Jun 22, 9:25 AM
VisitationSiste: I will be at our Sacred heart Novena Mass at this time so probably won’t be able to make the chat in time but will try
Jun 23, 7:42 PM
Dawn (Guest): Hi Carroll
Jun 23, 7:43 PM
Dawn (Guest): and viewers
Jun 23, 7:43 PM
Carroll (Guest): Hi Dawn- sorry I am late… AND need to review the reading…
Jun 23, 7:43 PM
Carroll (Guest): Hi Ruth!
Jun 23, 7:43 PM
Dawn (Guest): Hi Ruth
Jun 23, 7:48 PM
Ruth (Guest): Hi Carroll and Dawn and viewer. I’m here without my eyeglasses and without my “homework” — not a very good start. So tired and so much still to do. . .
Jun 23, 7:49 PM
Dawn (Guest): sorry about that Ruth. It happens sometimes a slow start at chat, could be one of those times
Jun 23, 7:51 PM
Ruth (Guest): Yes. With just the right eye I can see pretty clearly with these OLD eyeglasses.
Jun 23, 7:52 PM
Carroll (Guest): Sorry you are struggling so Ruth…
Jun 23, 7:52 PM
Ruth (Guest): I thought it kinda’ interesting that St. Francis says that God has prepared a different kind of clarity and sweetness for each soul.
Jun 23, 7:53 PM
Ruth (Guest): So I guess for one thing, I can expect to see clearly without eyeglasses!
Jun 23, 7:54 PM
Ruth (Guest): And maybe we will all speak a language that everyone can understand — kind of like before the Tower of Babel.
Jun 23, 7:55 PM
Carroll (Guest): Well, in trials we say that ” God never gives us more than we can handle,” so I guess that is true with clarity and sweetness, too.
Jun 23, 7:57 PM
Carroll (Guest): “Loves” that take us away from God…
Jun 23, 7:58 PM
Carroll (Guest): Obviously, anything that takes us away from God is a false ” love,” rather than a true love…
Jun 23, 8:01 PM
Carroll (Guest): Having said that, what about good things that can even be holy things that can either sort of take on a life of their own and behin to distract us from Him or are actually serving to appease our pride and self love as opposed to expressing or orienting us towards pure love of Him?
Jun 23, 8:01 PM
Carroll (Guest): begin to distract us
Jun 23, 8:02 PM
Dawn (Guest): carroll can you give example….trying to understand
Jun 23, 8:03 PM
Ruth (Guest): I few days ago I saw a man who used to be a cook at our Adult Center. He now gets meals there like the rest of us. At the time he took on the job because of the health benefits, because his wife had multiple myeloma. The director was his wife’s sister. She fired him, lost the health care benefits. There is a different director and the cook is now hired by the members — through the local Board of Directors. It works better. But in the meantime his wife died. He doesn’t believe there is a heaven. “T
Jun 23, 8:03 PM
Carroll (Guest): For example, I was learning to play the organ and developed a genuine interest and appreciation of Sacred music.
Jun 23, 8:03 PM
Carroll (Guest): Practice time was truly prayerful, and an added bonus was practice time in the chapel
Jun 23, 8:04 PM
Dawn (Guest): sad story Ruth, but his journey is not over as yet, right?
Jun 23, 8:04 PM
Dawn (Guest): so, this is a good thing, a gift of playing usic
Jun 23, 8:04 PM
Carroll (Guest): However,… I got so caught up in it that I found myself choosing practice over Adoration or quiet prayer time…
Jun 23, 8:06 PM
Dawn (Guest): now I understand, thanks
Jun 23, 8:07 PM
Dawn (Guest): Mass was so beautiful today
Jun 23, 8:07 PM
Ruth (Guest): “This is all there is,” he says; when we die, we turn into energy, just like anything else decomposing.” “Besides I don’t want to sit around on a cloud playing a harp” he says. If only he could understand that heaven is desirable, and not the picture he has in his head! I’ve been praying for him a lot ever since. . .
Jun 23, 8:07 PM
Carroll (Guest): Ruth- we will pray for him!
Jun 23, 8:10 PM
Ruth (Guest): Oh, Thank you!
Jun 23, 8:10 PM
Dawn (Guest): It came on my heart, as it has before, to ask God to command my loved ones Holy Angels to come to Mass for them then return to guide them
Jun 23, 8:10 PM
Ruth (Guest): Wow! Beautiful Dawn.
Jun 23, 8:10 PM
Ruth (Guest): Mass is like a foretaste of heaven. At least when we are able to be really attentive.
Jun 23, 8:12 PM
Carroll (Guest): Sounds like he and my dear Elisabeth have a few things in common… I pray our guardian angels help us to be aware of the promptings of the Holy Spirit as we intercede on behalf of all those with whom we meet…
Jun 23, 8:13 PM
Carroll (Guest): Dawn- wow! That really is beautiful… thank you for sharing!
Jun 23, 8:14 PM
Ruth (Guest): Today I was lector at St. A. It is really easier to be attentive when I am up there close to the altar, and I had the distinct impression that our priest — always a good homilist — was during the Elevation/adoration suddenly really “struck” by the momentous moment — the Presence in the form of Bread and One — of the Creator of the Universe, His Son, the Holy Spirit — in his own hands!
Jun 23, 8:14 PM
Dawn (Guest): you both share beautiful too Carroll. and Ruth
Jun 23, 8:15 PM
Carroll (Guest): How beautiful on this solemnity!
Jun 23, 8:15 PM
Dawn (Guest): Beautiful!
Jun 23, 8:16 PM
Carroll (Guest): What a gift it is to be awe struck by pure Love.
Jun 23, 8:18 PM
Ruth (Guest): Ideally, the love of a spouse, should lead to and deepen the love of each partner for God.
Jun 23, 8:19 PM
Dawn (Guest): I can nearly envision this happening. Last week I believe we touched on the treats we receive here, a foretaste as you said Ruth, to help us sustain us on this journey here on earth
Jun 23, 8:20 PM
Ruth (Guest): Those moments! Thanks be to God!
Jun 23, 8:21 PM
Dawn (Guest): Amen!
Jun 23, 8:22 PM
Carroll (Guest): I have never been married, but I have had very close friendships that taught me the experience of trust in a new and healthier way… Then, I had a new sort of reference point when focusing on my relationship with Jesus… maybe the same sort of dynamic can apply with spouses, at a more intimate level.
Jun 23, 8:24 PM
Dawn (Guest): There was a elderly couple joined us for rosary today. They prayed in unison, one filling in where the other may have forgotten where they were, ….so the two prayed as one.
Jun 23, 8:25 PM
Carroll (Guest): Union
Jun 23, 8:25 PM
Carroll (Guest): Union of heart and soul
Jun 23, 8:26 PM
Dawn (Guest): this too was beautiful
Jun 23, 8:28 PM
Ruth (Guest): Yesterday, with the Sisters of Saint Joseph Associates, we had what they call a “retreat.” For me, always the content seems a bit “thin.” No Eucharist. Christ is even, sometimes, left out of the prayers. And the presentation about the Psalms may have been helpful to some, but for me, it seemed — from the sweetest, kindest 80+ year old sister — like a forth grade book report, something she had read about and was just beginning to discover as a form of PERSONAL prayer, words to express her own feelings.
Jun 23, 8:30 PM
Dawn (Guest): oh my!
Jun 23, 8:30 PM
Ruth (Guest): And yet, for me, God did His work in the quiet times outdoors . . . good memories, thanksgiving, spontaneously. Each wild flower bringing back happy thoughts almost forgotten.
Jun 23, 8:30 PM
Dawn (Guest): Beautiful!
Jun 23, 8:30 PM
Carroll (Guest): …the Holy Spirit ever present and at work!
Jun 23, 8:31 PM
Dawn (Guest): Being surrounded by Gods love in nature, his Creation, I think sometimes it is as a beautiful Catheral.
Jun 23, 8:32 PM
Dawn (Guest): yes, can invoke beautiful memories !
Jun 23, 8:32 PM
Carroll (Guest): Amen!
Jun 23, 8:33 PM
Ruth (Guest): I am so grateful. We always have an over-abundance of foods; we “graze” all day, and have hamburgers and hot dogs for supper. But “grazing” is, with my health issues, definitely better than eating a meal. None of my usual “stomach” troubles.
Jun 23, 8:34 PM
Carroll (Guest): I should get back to Elisabeth, so I will say, “good night.” Thank you for being here. Have a blessed week!
Jun 23, 8:34 PM
Dawn (Guest): wonderful, Ruth.I am happy to hear that
Jun 23, 8:34 PM
Ruth (Guest): All loves — if they are not opposed to the Love of God — CAN lead to Him and to a deeper love.
Jun 23, 8:34 PM
Dawn (Guest): Yes!!
Jun 23, 8:35 PM
Carroll (Guest): God be praised for your respite, Ruth! … Good night.
Jun 23, 8:35 PM
Dawn (Guest): Goodnight Carroll, thank you. a blessed week to you, and hope to see you next week.
Jun 23, 8:36 PM
Ruth (Guest): So glad you were here, Carroll. Have a good week. And know that there are prayers for you and your precious one-on-one ministry to Elizabeth.
Jun 23, 8:36 PM
Dawn (Guest): Thank you Ruth, I am happy you had a beautiful day!
Jun 23, 8:37 PM
Dawn (Guest): Thanks be to God!…..goodnight
Jun 23, 8:40 PM
Ruth (Guest): Good night, Dawn. Glad you are sharing from the heart. God is GOOD, and your love, united with His, will, with perseverance, bring about good changes in your loved ones. Peace. And blessings.