There is a war raging inside us
between divine love and self-love. How do we allow divine love to win out in
our lives?
Why do you think we are so prone to self-love?
How can we surrender more of our will and passions to God’s will and good
pleasure?
Why with the grace of the sacraments is this pursuit of divine
Dec 22, 7:31 PM
Sister Susan Marie (Moderator): Why with the
grace of the sacraments is this pursuit of divine love still so seemingly
difficult?
Where do you think our passions will be in heaven?
Dec 22, 7:31 PM
Sister Susan Marie (Moderator): can you see all the questions?
Dec 22, 7:31 PM
Lisa C: Yes
Dec 22, 7:32 PM
Lisa C: Hi Ruth
Dec 22, 7:32 PM
Lisa C: Hi Blanca
Dec 22, 7:32 PM
VisitationSiste: We were on retreat since Friday so I did not post them. Still in retreat so I amy only stay a while
Dec 22, 7:33 PM
VisitationSiste: Glad you are all here
Dec 22, 7:33 PM
Blanca Villa: Hello everyone.
Dec 22, 7:33 PM
VisitationSiste: Hi all!
Dec 22, 7:33 PM
Ruth (Guest): Hi Lisa, Hi Sister Susan Marie, and Blanca!
Dec 22, 7:33 PM
Lisa C: What time is Mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas, Mother
Dec 22, 7:33 PM
VisitationSiste: 730pm Christmas Eve and 9AM Christmas Day
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
Ruth (Guest): Are you going to Brooklyn Lisa?
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
VisitationSiste: Priest are Fr Johannes on the eve and Fr King on the 25th
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
Lisa C: Yes, Ruth
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
Dawn (Guest): Hi Sr Susan. Blanca, Ruth,Lisa,Blessed Advent!
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
VisitationSiste: Welcome back Dawn!
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
Ruth (Guest): Wow! Will you stay at the Monastery?
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
Lisa C: Hi Dawn
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
VisitationSiste: Blessed last days of Advent!
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
Lisa C: No, Ruth, with my family
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
Dawn (Guest): Thank you all
Dec 22, 7:34 PM
Ruth (Guest): Hi Dawn. Glad you made it.
Dec 22, 7:35 PM
Ruth (Guest): Ah ha. Wonderful. They are still there near the Monastery.
Dec 22, 7:35 PM
Lisa C: In SI
Dec 22, 7:36 PM
VisitationSiste: These days divine love is so prominent- we must think on what jesus has done by coming to earth and that can reduce our inordinate self-love
Dec 22, 7:36 PM
Ruth (Guest): Staten Island. When we were moving from Brooklyn — not far from the Monastery but I did not know it then — we did a lot of house hunting on Staten Island.
Dec 22, 7:38 PM
VisitationSiste: Jesus has done…
Dec 22, 7:38 PM
Lisa C: Mother, what do you mean Divine Love is so prominant
Dec 22, 7:38 PM
Lisa C: Prominent
Dec 22, 7:39 PM
VisitationSiste: Jesus’ Love is outstanding at Christmas time
Dec 22, 7:39 PM
Lisa C: Oh, yes
Dec 22, 7:39 PM
Dawn (Guest): yes
Dec 22, 7:39 PM
Lisa C: His humility too…as a baby
Dec 22, 7:39 PM
Ruth (Guest): It is hard for me to understand the point of view of SFdS. When I catch myself “hating” myself, I know that it is the work of Satan or one of his assistants. When I renounce that self love and claim my relationship to Our Lord, I am able to again praise HIM.
Dec 22, 7:40 PM
Dawn (Guest): his mercy, and his graces
Dec 22, 7:41 PM
VisitationSiste: which part of his point of view
Dec 22, 7:41 PM
Lisa C: When I feel like I cannot do something I tell God that I need Him to make me do it
Dec 22, 7:42 PM
VisitationSiste: or give you the grace to do so?
Dec 22, 7:42 PM
Lisa C: Yes, Mother the same thing
Dec 22, 7:43 PM
Lisa C: Sometimes I just have to say I cannot so I need You to help
Dec 22, 7:43 PM
Ruth (Guest): Correction: renounce that self-hating. When I acknowledge who I am as a daughter of the Father, a child of God, I am healed.
Dec 22, 7:44 PM
Ruth (Guest): I am again able to be who He intends me to be.
Dec 22, 7:45 PM
VisitationSiste: Hi Kristi
Dec 22, 7:45 PM
Ruth (Guest): It seems to me that healthy self-love is essential to any healthy relationship. That is what God wants of his children.
Dec 22, 7:45 PM
Kristi (Guest): Hi Sister!
Dec 22, 7:45 PM
Ruth (Guest): Hi Kristi.
Dec 22, 7:45 PM
VisitationSiste: Yes healthy self love
Dec 22, 7:45 PM
VisitationSiste: But SFDS usually means unhealthy
Dec 22, 7:45 PM
Kristi (Guest): Hi Ruth!
Dec 22, 7:46 PM
VisitationSiste: I think divine love wins out when we deeply concentrate on that love
Dec 22, 7:46 PM
Lisa C: We have free will, but we have to learn to control it
Dec 22, 7:47 PM
Ruth (Guest): It is only the exaggerated, distorted sense that one is better, smarter, kinder, than the one who is the Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier of us all that gets a person into trouble: ARROGANCE!
Dec 22, 7:47 PM
Lisa C: Obvious sins are easier to avoid, but sins we do not see right away are ones that are harder
Dec 22, 7:48 PM
Lisa C: If we try we get holier with time
Dec 22, 7:49 PM
Ruth (Guest): I easily perceive it in many of my physician-peers. But do I guard sufficiently against it in myself? God will make it clear if I take time to LISTEN to Him.
Dec 22, 7:49 PM
VisitationSiste: I think we are prone to self love BECAUSE we are supposed to have healthy self-love but like all good things it gets distorted by sin
Dec 22, 7:49 PM
Lisa C: The devil is tricky
Dec 22, 7:49 PM
Ruth (Guest): And we MUST take the time every day.
Dec 22, 7:51 PM
Blanca Villa: At some points in our
lives we have to make a choice between self love
and divine love and ask God to give us wisdom and self denial to chose divine
love. There’s no easy way to go about it.
Dec 22, 7:51 PM
Lisa C: Baptism gets rid of Original Sin, but it feels like the sin of just being born into the world is still there …..
Dec 22, 7:53 PM
Ruth (Guest): You said it, Lisa. The devil is tricky; and nowadays he is working at destroying the Church from the inside. He won’t succeed. We have Christ’s promise.
Dec 22, 7:53 PM
VisitationSiste: yes Amen
Dec 22, 7:54 PM
Ruth (Guest): Somehow, I do not think that self-love and love of God are opposed to one another.
Dec 22, 7:54 PM
Dawn (Guest): cause to ponder, Ruth
Dec 22, 7:54 PM
VisitationSiste: no not necessarily but only if self love is inordinate God comes first, even in our interior
Dec 22, 7:55 PM
Lisa C: Yes, Mother
Dec 22, 7:55 PM
Ruth (Guest): How can, how should we not love, what God loves? God loves us, each one of us. So we must love ourselves, too.
Dec 22, 7:55 PM
Lisa C: Ruth, I think they mean wanting your will rather than God’s
Dec 22, 7:55 PM
VisitationSiste: Yes but not selfishly to the point of excluding love of others or God Himself
Dec 22, 7:56 PM
Ruth (Guest): Exactly.
Dec 22, 7:56 PM
VisitationSiste: However we can have untamed passions drives, addictions etc that get in the way
Dec 22, 7:56 PM
Ruth (Guest): And faults, disabilities, ignorance.
Dec 22, 7:57 PM
Ruth (Guest): But if we love ourselves properly, we — together with his grace — work at these.
Dec 22, 7:57 PM
VisitationSiste: placing all in the Heart of Jesus through our prayer can heal much
Dec 22, 7:57 PM
Lisa C: Jesus keeps us safe
Dec 22, 7:58 PM
VisitationSiste: Now please carry on- I am going to leave early because of the retreat. I will pray for you all that Christmas is very blessed!
Dec 22, 7:58 PM
Lisa C: Blessed Christmas, Mother
Dec 22, 7:58 PM
Ruth (Guest): Scratch the surface of any arrogant person, and you find a scared, self-loathing individual struggling to feel less unworthy.
Dec 22, 7:59 PM
Kristi (Guest): God bless and Merry Christmas, Sister.
Dec 22, 7:59 PM
Dawn (Guest): goodnight Sr Susan. Blessed Christmas to you, the sisters, and those on retreat…
Dec 22, 7:59 PM
Blanca Villa: Very true Ruth
Dec 22, 8:00 PM
Ruth (Guest): God bless you! Have a wonderful Christmas!
Dec 22, 8:01 PM
Kristi (Guest): Have a Blessed Christmas, Everyone!
Dec 22, 8:02 PM
Dawn (Guest): Hi Kristi, are you leaving?
Dec 22, 8:03 PM
Kristi (Guest): Yes, it’s been hard to get on. I’ve had a lot going on.it should be better by the end of January. I’ll try to get on when I can. Take care!
Dec 22, 8:04 PM
Dawn (Guest): ok. thank you. Goodnight and a Blessed Christmas to you
Dec 22, 8:06 PM
Ruth (Guest): Good night Kristi, a blessed Christmas.
Dec 22, 8:06 PM
Ruth (Guest): I don’t have divided screen and was just checking back to get another look at the passage Sr. Susan Marie sent us.
Dec 22, 8:07 PM
Ruth (Guest): And the questions.
Dec 22, 8:07 PM
Dawn (Guest): 2.Why do you think we are so prone to self-love?
Dec 22, 8:08 PM
Dawn (Guest): 3.How can we surrender more of our will and passions to God’s will and good pleasure?
Dec 22, 8:08 PM
Dawn (Guest): did we cover these?
Dec 22, 8:10 PM
Blanca Villa: Have a Merry Christmas everyone!
Dec 22, 8:11 PM
Dawn (Guest): Goodnight Blanca. Blessings of Christmas
Dec 22, 8:12 PM
Blanca Villa: Thank you!
Dec 22, 8:14 PM
Dawn (Guest): Ruth, are you here? I think Lisa left also
Dec 22, 8:14 PM
Ruth (Guest): 1. There is a war
raging inside us between divine love and self-love. 2. How do we allow divine
love to win out in our lives?
3. Why do you think we are so prone to self-love?
4. How can we surrender more of our will and passions to God’s will and good
pleasure?
4. Why with the grace of the sacraments is this pursuit of divine love still so
seemingly difficult?
5.Where do you think our passions will be in heaven?
Dec 22, 8:15 PM
Ruth (Guest): Yes, I’m still here, struggling with numbering the questions correctly. Oh my! You are a lot quicker than I am Dawn!
Dec 22, 8:15 PM
Dawn (Guest): no
Dec 22, 8:18 PM
Ruth (Guest): I messed it up again! I knew there were five questions. But couldn’t copy the numbers correctly. Let’s jump to 4 (the second 4! ) amd 5
Dec 22, 8:18 PM
Dawn (Guest): ok.
Dec 22, 8:20 PM
Dawn (Guest): 4. I believe it depends on our starting point…someone that has lived the faith most of their life. or someone who is called later in life. what do you think?
Dec 22, 8:20 PM
Ruth (Guest): The Sacraments HELP — a lot — but we are imperfect beings in an imperfect, broken world, and we are often not able or open, completely, to receive the precious gifts of Grace that God offers us in the Sacraments.
Dec 22, 8:21 PM
Dawn (Guest): I agree…we may see this in Reconsiliation
Dec 22, 8:21 PM
Dawn (Guest): Confession
Dec 22, 8:22 PM
Dawn (Guest): is pure love
Dec 22, 8:24 PM
Dawn (Guest): but, one time may seem not quite to the point. and then, another time, esp if we pray before for God to help us, can be transforming
Dec 22, 8:25 PM
Dawn (Guest): my personal experience
Dec 22, 8:26 PM
Ruth (Guest): God blesses those called later in life with the blessings they, personally, need, too. The long journey of those who’ve lived a life with the Sacraments certainly helps, but when I look at the people, e.g. many of those blogging, who are converts “proselytites” as they were once called, who run some of the Catholic blogs and do a good deal of the radio interviews, etc., we see deeply committed Catholics, so grateful for their conversions, that they really want to share.
Dec 22, 8:28 PM
Ruth (Guest): Yes, Dawn, that is why it is recommended that we go to Confession often, perhaps every other week. God wants to give us ALL the graces he has in store for us, and to help and heal us. Reconciliation/the Sacrament of Penance is one precious means of giving us to those graces.
Dec 22, 8:29 PM
Dawn (Guest): it is a precious gift
Dec 22, 8:34 PM
Dawn (Guest): so, no. 4 asks Why with the grace of the sacraments is this pursuit of divine love still so seemingly difficult?…..I think it has to do with our self will, and actually going. saying Yes! and preparing. also, being destracted by daily life and situations can inhibit and make it make it more difficult. it truly is about choices I think.
Dec 22, 8:35 PM
Ruth (Guest): It is normal that one time we may find it more powerfully impacting our lives, another time perhaps less so — or we do not SEE what he is working in us. EVEN when a priest is not what WE feel to be a “good Confessor” (I had one literally verbally abuse me! And so loudly it could’ve been heard outside the Church building! I probably should have reported it to the Bishop; but I knew that a lot of other people had also, already reported him.) STILL, Jesus Christ can and does work through the Sacraments —
Dec 22, 8:35 PM
Dawn (Guest): no. 5…I don’t think I will have passions in heaven. maybe I don’t understand the question
Dec 22, 8:35 PM
Ruth (Guest): even when the priest is what we might call “counter therapeutic.”
Dec 22, 8:37 PM
Ruth (Guest): You are right Dawn, our preparation is so important. And it is so easy to be distracted.\
Dec 22, 8:38 PM
Dawn (Guest): having also had a questionable experience, not verbal abuse but other things. But God can and does sometimes work in that situation, not only for our good but for the good of the priest! Amen
Dec 22, 8:40 PM
Dawn (Guest): I am going to sign off here, and will look for you over there God bless everyone viewing and a Blessed Christmas to all
Dec 22, 8:41 PM
Dawn (Guest): Oh, did we finish no 5?
Dec 22, 8:41 PM
Ruth (Guest): As to heaven, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, what God has ready for those who love Him.” I think by “passions” SFdS means “movements of the soul” LOVE, JOY Or how about that uplifting experience when we hear great music? It is a “foretaste” of the “heavenly choirs.” Or think of breathing deeply when the air is fresh and clean — a “foretaste.” Or looking into the eyes of someone whom we love and who loves us. Or the smile of a child.
Dec 22, 8:42 PM
Ruth (Guest): Laughter! Free, happy laughter, not derisive.
Dec 22, 8:43 PM
Dawn (Guest): thank you, this clarifys “passions”. where do you think yours will be?
Dec 22, 8:43 PM
Ruth (Guest): I don’t know what heaven will be like. I sure want to learn. . . Sometimes I can even be a little impatient . . . But, hey, all in His good time!
Dec 22, 8:45 PM
Ruth (Guest): A blessed Christmas to you Dawn. When I looked back at the questions, I saw you had sent me an e-mail. I’ll get back to it. Peace, my dear friend, and joy fill your heart this Christmas and always.
Dec 22, 8:45 PM
Dawn (Guest): In the fore tastes you mention, maybe as close as we can know now. Jesus does tell us it is paradise
Dec 22, 8:46 PM
Dawn (Guest): Peace be with you my friend.
Dec 22, 8:46 PM
Dawn (Guest): Good night, talk soon.