Pat and Nancy putting Gus' shoe on that came off in the mud puddle a week ago.
Fall is in the air around here with the pace picking up for the men. Today and yesterday they spent the day in the trucks - hauling in corn from the bins as they make room for the crop they will be taking out in a week or so. I got up early to make Pat a lunch pail to take along in the truck with him for the day, and we shared some of the things that are on our hearts in the dark kitchen this morning. Sometimes I feel like I should be taking notes as Pat speaks to me so eloquently from his wisdom. Today the topic was Pope Francis, and how he is taking the Truth that Blessed John Paul II and Benedict taught us and showing us how to live it! I came across this quote put on facebook by my wonderful relative/friend/priest Fr Craig Timmerman - "Brothers have no fear of men's sin. Love a man even in his sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love & is the highest love on earth." - Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov This seems to be the struggle with the recent lengthy interview by Pope Francis... that he speaks of our loving and forgiving the sinners in the midst of sin! There seems to be a fear that in doing this he is opening the door to sin and accepting those things - abortion, homosexuality, contraception, sex outside of marriage - that the Church finds sinful and wrong in our journey of following HIM. I received a lengthy blog post saying that in this loving forgiveness pose of Pope Francis that a woman, who was undecided in having an abortion, went ahead with it due to his stand. I, on the other hand, pointed out that maybe this woman, who had no faith and was legally in the right by world's standards, took to heart that she was doing something that required loving forgiveness in taking the Life of her child, and much like the Samaritan woman at the well, saw her life as sinful and repented and came into the LIGHT of Truth... choosing LIFE for her child!
Looking at the LIFE of Christ and how He was during His Ministry - the only time He was firm and critical was when he was dealing with the Pharisees! When He was in the midst of the sinful lost people He was doing what he is asking the Apostles to carry forth in the Gospel today..."Take nothing for the journey, neither walking stick, nor sack, nor money"..."He gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.... Then they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and curing diseases everywhere." Luke 9:3-6 One big issue with the Holy Father is that he refuses to live in the Vatican apartments, but in a more modest place saying that there are so many poor where he comes from in Argentina, as there are poor everywhere around the world, and so he shuns the pomp and richness... a powerful witness and in keeping with Christ! Jesus here is telling the Apostles to do likewise - it really helps Pat and I to realize that the main underlying part of Pope Francis is to live as Christ asks of us. Although loving and forgiving - Jesus always proclaimed the Kingdom of God - the Truth! He did not deal with a woman, who had an abortion in his time or those involved in homosexual relationships, but we do see him in John dealing with the woman taken in adultery and deserving to be stoned - Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. John 8 Reminding us that we are in no place to judge as we are all sinners! And finally he tells her to "go and sin no more." If that woman were stoned to death - how would that have made a difference? Scared some other women from the thought of adultery - knowing that they would be stoned to death if discovered? But for this woman and her eternal soul - she would have been lost to hell, more than likely. Here armed with forgiveness - she can change her life and come to her Faith and share that widely most especially in her domestic Church/family and raise LIGHTS into the world that go forth from generation to generation! A pebble dropped into the pool with ripples that reach out wider and wider! The fear of retribution of the Church has been taken away, yet those that have been loved into forgiveness of self and the damage of sin - can become Christ's friends/disciples and go forth changing the world returning the LOVE and Mercy they have been shown! The bottom line of all of this is LOVE! This is the point of Pope Francis, and of Christ! Sharing with some priest friends about some people in the Church that are angry and saying many negative things - "This is not Catholic, and not what the Church is about. We are called to be loving and forgiving."
Once again stunned by two wonderful friends sharing that they are thrilled about marriages of two women they have attended in the last few days. Talking to John this morning as we prayed together - he reminded me that what is most disturbing about this is that marriage has been attributed to this union of two of the same sex - "making marriage less than it is in the eyes of God." Yes, that is the sad part, and just because something has become legal does not make it right. But there is no confusion in what is right and wrong and the LIFE issues upheld by the Church will never change, but maybe with LOVE and Forgiveness we can make a difference in this world. The Truth has gone to gray in a lot of places, yet in the Church it will always be black and white! As Pat said forcefully this morning in the dark kitchen - "The Truth must be passed on to our children by parents! That is where the responsibility lies - we know that premarital sex is a sin, we know that living together is a sin, we know that we need to go to mass every Sunday as we show our LOVE for our maker and receive HIM, we know that we are called to follow after HIM and not the pursuit of selfish desires, we know that artificial contraception is wrong, we know that taking the LIFE in abortion is wrong, we know that some have homosexual tendencies and are called to a life of celibacy and prayer as a result to keep away from sin... the Church stands for these things and many more and it doesn't have to be preaching these things constantly - it is the parents' role to instill the Truth in their children!"
Jesus, there is so much this day filling us with the challenging call to LOVE and serve you as YOU would have us. There is such a tremendous need for our domestic Church be just that a small Church in which our family grows and shares the Way, the Truth and The LIFE! We can dwell there and find great Peace and JOY in a small slice of Heaven here on earth. Maybe back a few generations there was a woman taken in adultery, who was saved by YOU from being stoned and found your unconditional forgiveness and Faith in YOU... when you told her to go and sin no more - she then shared Your LOVE and Mercy with those in her Family/domestic Church and raised up LIGHTS to the world. Now generations down the line her legacy of LOVE/LIFE/LIGHT is being experienced by me and my domestic Church/Family! We "see" with eyes of Faith the Way, the Truth , and the LIFE! We too experience the unconditional LOVE and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation as we lay our burdens at your feet and find freedom to in turn show Mercy to those we come in contact with. "I am called to those that are sick not to those that are well." Dear and Glorious Physician, Jesus Christ, come and dwell within me and show me how to instill your Truth in those that YOU have given me in my LIFE - most especially those in my domestic Church/family! Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barb
"I have always been immensely moved at reading early on in Mark the following account of the vocation of the Apostles: 'And Jesus went up into the hills, and he called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach.' This initial apartness high in the hills with Jesus of a tiny handful of men, this utter freedom of election according to Jesus' mysterious desire, this spontaneity and immediacy of response by the Apostles, and above all this intention of Jesus that his Apostles should simply first be with him and share the fullness of his person and day-to-day existence as the basis for all subsequent apostolic activity. What could better define discipleship as being at bottom a radical friendship with the incarnate Word, Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God and Son of Mary?"
Brother Simeon
A little 16 month old girl, Rose Ida, soon to be a big sister and being raised with LOVE and Faith in her domestic Church/family. She is being raised to be a LIGHT!
Pursue Me by Danielle Rose
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