..:contro:..
from latin: contra
adv: against, adj: counter
"You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones." - St. Augustine
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…the person who is about to come to prayer should withdraw for a little while and prepare himself, and so become more attentive and active for the whole of prayer. He should cast away all temptations and troubling thoughts and remind himself so far as he is able of the Majesty whom he approaches and that it is impious to approach Him carelessly, sluggishly, and disdainfully; and he should put away all extraneous things. This is how he should come to prayer, stretching out his soul, as it were, instead of his hands; straining his mind toward God instead of his eyes; raising his governing reasoning from the ground and standing it before the Lord instead of standing.Origen
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People were created to be loved, things were created to be used; the reason why the world is in chaos right now is because things are being loved, and people are being used.
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Went to the adoration room last night… Was prompted to bring my bible and somehow this particular bible passage came up…
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
- Isaiah 40:1-11
I was feeling particularly down yesterday, and I prayed to God for clarity, for strength, and for him to show me what he wanted me to do. Doubts seemed to consume my entire being, and I was feeling rather stifled with fear, with this reluctance to move, with this contentment with the status quo.
Of course, this was not meant to be…
When I prayed over this passage, I felt oddly comforted at the end… What shall I cry? “Here is your God!” Your God, like a shepherd who forgives, who has a deep compassion for his chosen people: “Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, do not fear!”
I was reminded of the loving mercy of God, of him, the Shepherd and I the sheep.
God, I pray that I be as docile as a sheep, totally dependent on your guidance and protection. Help me to surrender my pride, to level my mountains and lift my valleys, to make straight the way. I know you can come to me any time you wish to, but this making straight the way is for me to go to you easier and smoother… Amen.
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1) Listen without interrupting (Pro 18:13)
“If one gives answer before hearing, it is folly and shame.”
2) Speak without accusing (Jas 1:19)
“You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger”
3) Give without sparing (Pro 21:26)
“All day long the wicked covet, but the righteous give and do not hold back.”
4) Pray without ceasing (Col 1:9)
“For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”
5) Answer without arguing (Pro 17:1)
“Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.”
6) Share without pretending (Eph 4:15)
“But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”
7) Enjoy without complaint (Phil 2:14)
“Do all things without murmuring and arguing”
8) Trust without wavering (1 Cor 13:7)
“It (Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
9) Forgive without punishing (Col 3:13)
“Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
10) Promise without forgetting (Pro 13:12)
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” -
True followers of Christ; Be prepared to have a world make jokes at your expense. You can hardly expect a world to be more reverent to you than to Our Lord. When it does make fun of your faith, its practices, abstinences, and rituals-then you are moving to a closer identity with Him Who gave us our faith. Under scorn, Our Lord “answered nothing”. The world gets amusement from a Christian who fails to be Christian, but none from his respectful silence.Bishop Fulton Sheen
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One of the hardest things in life is to let go of old hurts. We often say, or at least think: “What you did to me and my family, my ancestors, or my friends I cannot forget or forgive. … One day you will have to pay for it.” Sometimes our memories are decades, even centuries, old and keep asking for revenge.
Holding people’s faults against them often creates an impenetrable wall. But listen to Paul: “For anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation: the old order is gone and a new being is there to see. It is all God’s work” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). Indeed, we cannot let go of old hurts, but God can. Paul says: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not holding anyone’s fault against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). It is God’s work, but we are God’s ministers, because the God who reconciled the world to God entrusted to us “the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:19). This message calls us to let go of old hurts in the Name of God. It is the message our world most needs to hear.
Henry Nouwen
