Pentecost: The Coming of the Holy Spirit

June 5, 2022 Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday Readings for Today

Video And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.  Acts 2:2–4 Do you think there was really a “noise like a strong driving wind” at this first outpouring of the Holy Spirit?  And do you think there really were “tongues as of fire” that came and rested on everyone?  Well, there most likely was!  Why else would it have been recorded that way in the Scriptures? These physical manifestations of the coming of the Holy Spirit were made present for numerous reasons.  One reason was so that these first recipients of the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit would have concretely understood that something amazing was happening.  By seeing and hearing these physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit they were more properly disposed to understand that God was doing something awesome.  And then, upon seeing and hearing these manifestations, they were touched by the Holy Spirit, consumed, filled and set on fire.  They suddenly discovered within themselves the promise Jesus made and they finally began to understand.  Pentecost changed their lives! We most likely have not seen and heard these physical manifestations of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but we should rely upon the witness of those in the Scriptures to allow ourselves to arrive at a deep and transforming faith that the Holy Spirit is real and wants to enter our lives in the same way.  God wants to set our hearts on fire with His love, strength and grace so as to effectively live lives that effect change in the world.  Pentecost is not only about us becoming holy, it’s also about us being given all we need to go forth and bring the holiness of God to all those we encounter.  Pentecost enables us to be powerful instruments of the transforming grace of God.  And there is no doubt that the world around us needs this grace. As we celebrate Pentecost, it would be helpful to ponder the primary effects of the Holy Spirit in a prayerful way.  Below are the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  These Gifts are the primary effects of Pentecost for each and every one of us.  Use them as an examination of your life and let God show you where you need to grow more deeply in the strength of the Holy Spirit. Lord, send forth Your Spirit in my life and set me on fire with the Gifts of Your Spirit.  Holy Spirit, I invite You to take possession of my soul.  Come Holy Spirit, come and transform my life.  Holy Spirit, I trust in You. Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit Fear of the Lord: With this gift the Christian becomes keenly aware of anything that may hurt his/her relationship with God.  There is a holy “fear” of hurting this relationship and grace is given to avoid these things at all cost. Wisdom: With this gift the Christian is given a special grace to “ponder divine realities” in his/her speculative reason.  We are able to see the big picture and know how best to be an instrument of peace and harmony in our world. Understanding: This is the ability to have a supernatural assurance of the matters of faith.  Life makes sense.  We can make sense of the deeper parts of revelation, make sense of suffering and understand those things that tempt us to doubt.  With this gift we come to see how everything in life can work for good in accordance with God’s plan. Knowledge:  With this gift the Christian knows, more in the practical intellect, what God’s will is in this or that situation.  We know how to live, how to discern God’s will and what decision to make in our daily life.  It also enables us to learn from our past mistakes. Counsel:  With this gift the Christian sees him/herself as a link in a chain which makes up the entire Church.  God uses each one of us to help and support one another on our journey.  We know what to say and how to act so as to do our part to build up one another. Fortitude: Simply put, it is a firmness of mind and spirit to do good and avoid evil.  It’s a sort of Christian courage.  The Gospel will call all of us to a radical life of love.  Fortitude gives us the strength we need to follow through. Piety:  This gift enables us to first reverence and love God, but also to see the dignity of one another and reverence each other as children of God.

Jesus’ Hidden Life

June 4, 2022 Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter Readings for Today

Video There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written.  John 21:25 Imagine the insights that our Blessed Mother would have had about her Son.  She, as His mother, would have seen and understood so many hidden moments of His life.  She would have watched Him grow year after year.  She would have watched Him relate and interact with others throughout His life.  She would have noticed that He was preparing for His public ministry.  And she would have witnessed so many hidden moments of that public ministry and countless sacred moments of His entire life.   This Scripture above is the final sentence of the Gospel of John and is one we do not hear very often.  But it offers some fascinating insights to reflect upon.  All we know about the life of Christ is contained in the Gospels, but how could these short Gospel books ever come close to describing the totality of who Jesus is?  They certainly cannot.  To do that, as John says above, the pages could not be contained in the whole world.  That’s saying a lot. So a first insight we should take from this Scripture is that we know only a small portion of the actual life of Christ.  What we know is glorious.  But we should realize that there is so much more.  And this realization should fill our minds with interest, longing and a desire for more.  By coming to know how little we actually do know, we will hopefully be compelled to seek Christ more deeply.   However, a second insight we can gain from this passage is that, even though the numerous events of Christ’s life cannot be contained in countless volumes of books, we can, nonetheless, discover Jesus Himself in what IS contained in the Holy Scriptures.  No, we may not know every detail of His life, but we can come to meet the Person.  We can come to encounter the Living Word of God Himself in the Scriptures and, in that encounter and meeting of Him, we are given all we need. Reflect, today, on how deeply you know Jesus.  Do you spend sufficient time reading the Scriptures and meditating on them?  Do you speak to Him daily and seek to know and love Him?  Is He present to you and do you regularly make yourself present to Him?  If the answer to any of these questions is “No” then perhaps this is a good day to recommit yourself to a deeper reading of the Sacred Word of God. Lord, I may not know everything about Your life, but I do desire to know You.  I desire to meet You every day, to love You and to know You.  Help me to enter more deeply into a relationship with You.  Jesus, I trust in You.

Do You Love Me?

June 3, 2022 Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter Readings for Today Saints Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs—Memorial

Video He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”  John 21:17 Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him.  Why three times?  One reason was so that Peter could “make up” for the three times he denied Jesus.  No, Jesus did not need Peter to apologize three times, but Peter needed to express his love three times and Jesus knew it. Three is also a number of perfection.  For example, we say God is “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  This triple expression is a way of saying that God is the Holiest of all.  By Peter being given the opportunity to tell Jesus three times that He loved Him it was an opportunity for Peter to express His love in the deepest of ways. So we have a triple confession of love and a triple undoing of Peter’s denial going on.  This should reveal to us our own need to love God and seek His mercy in a “triple” way. When you tell God that you love Him, how deep does that go?  Is it more a service of words, or is it a total and all-consuming love?  Is your love of God something that you mean to the fullest extent?  Or is it something that needs work? Certainly we all need to work on our love, and that is why this passage should be so significant to us.  We should hear Jesus asking us this question three times also.  We should realize that He is not satisfied with a simple, “Lord, I love You.”  He wants to hear it again, and again.  He asks us this because He knows we need to express this love in the deepest way.  “Lord, You know everything, You know that I love You!”  This must be our ultimate answer. This triple question also gives us the opportunity to express our deepest longing for His mercy.  We all sin.  We all deny Jesus in one way or another.  But the good news is that Jesus is always inviting us to let our sin be a motivation for deepening our love.  He doesn’t sit and stay angry at us.  He doesn’t pout.  He doesn’t hold our sin over our heads.  But He does ask for the deepest of sorrow and a complete conversion of heart.  He wants us to turn from our sin to the fullest extent. Reflect, today, upon the depth of your love for God and how well you express it to Him.  Make a choice to express your love for God in a triple way.  Let it be deep, sincere and irrevocable.  The Lord will receive this heartfelt act and return it to you a hundredfold. My loving Lord, You do know that I love You.  You also know how weak I am.  Let me hear Your invitation to express my love for You and my desire for Your mercy.  May I offer this love and desire to the fullest extent.  Jesus, I trust in You.

Lifting Your Eyes to Heaven

June 2, 2022 Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter Readings for Today Saints Marcellinus and Peter, Martyrs—Optional Memorial

Video Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me.”  John 17:20–21 “Lifting His eyes to Heaven...”  What a great phrase! As Jesus lifted His eyes to Heaven, He prayed to His Father in Heaven.  This act, of lifting His eyes, reveals one unique aspect of the presence of the Father.  It reveals that the Father is transcendent.  “Transcendent” means that the Father is above all and beyond all.  The world cannot contain Him.  So, in speaking to the Father, Jesus begins with this gesture by which He acknowledges the transcendence of the Father. But we must also note the imminence of the Father’s relationship with Jesus.  By “imminence” we mean that the Father and Jesus are united as one.  Their relationship is one that is profoundly personal in nature.   Though these two words, “imminence” and “transcendence,” may not be a part of our daily vocabulary, the concepts are worth understanding and reflecting upon.  We should strive to be very familiar with their meanings and, more specifically, with the way that our relationship with the Holy Trinity shares in both. Jesus’ prayer to the Father was that we who come to believe will share in the unity of the Father and the Son.  We will share in God’s life and love.  For us, this means we start by seeing the transcendence of God.  We also lift our eyes to Heaven and strive to see the splendor, glory, greatness, power, and majesty of God.  He is above all and beyond all. As we accomplish this prayerful gaze to the Heavens, we must also strive to see this glorious and transcendent God descend into our souls, communicating to us, loving us, and establishing a deeply personal relationship with us.  It’s amazing how these two aspects of God’s life go together so well even though, at first, they can appear to be complete opposites.  They are not opposed but, rather, are wedded together and have the effect of drawing us into an intimate relationship with the Creator and sustainer of all things.   Reflect, today, upon the glorious and all-powerful God of the Universe descending into the secret depths of your soul.  Acknowledge His presence, adore Him as He lives within you, speak to Him and love Him.   Most glorious Lord, help me to always lift my eyes to Heaven in prayer.  May I constantly turn to You and Your Father.  In that prayerful gaze, may I also discover You alive in my soul where You are adored and loved.  Jesus, I trust in You.

 

What Is Your Biggest Regret In Life?

Jean-Marie Valheur

political aficionado & former journalistJan 13

What is your biggest regret in life?

When my uncle saw the first picture of me and her together, he cried. He said: “That’s what love looks like. That’s what love is SUPPOSED to look like.” He cried because of the way she looked at me, and the way I looked at her. It was beautiful to him. My mother saw it, too. My grandfather saw it as well. Everyone saw it. Everyone felt it. We had something beautiful.

She made scrap books with our photos together. Cooked me my favorite meals. She did so many amazing things that I just… didn’t appreciate as fully as I should have. Now I regret it. Because I feel like I let her down. And losing her I feel like… I did not make the most of our time together. Did not cherish the times enough. I never realized how short it would be. How could I have known?

You think “forever” means “forever”. Til death do us part. But it was me. I did us part. Now that loving look, she gives it to another man. Those hugs, another man gets them. She walks by a beach and it’s not me she walks with. It’s him. Because he appreciates her in ways I failed to do. I can make excuses. Excuses are easy to make. None of them undo my actions. None of them make up for it. Let alone turn back the clock. It’s done. I’m done.

And I still write and I still try to contribute to the world. But sometimes I feel like I am done for because the most beautiful, special, meaningful thing that was ever given to me… I broke it. It was her heart. Everything she did and I did not enjoy or appreciate fully. Every mean word. Every casual dismissal. The messes I’d make and not fix. The dirty sinks. The clothes, thrown around. The evenings out drinking while she had to fend for herself with the kids.

She was so young. I was, too, but it’s no excuse. We’re so clueless, before. Things broke to a such a degree that nothing could mend those cracks. Things broke. Hearts broke. Our marriage broke. And she deserves it, you know? Her freedom. She deserves it. To make the most of it. To make the most of her life. And to be loved, again, by someone else. It’s okay. It’s okay it’s over. It’s alright. I accept it. Fully.

And yet, as much as I accept it? I regret. Regret the things I failed to do, the mistakes I made, and above all… my lack of appreciation. My lack of being “in the moment” as much as I should be. Because I should be. I should live in the moment. I should live in the moment. I should really, truly, live. You know, here on Quora, I am escaping things again. I am writing, when I should be out, living. I am waiting. I am distracting myself. I don’t want to do that anymore. I’m tired, of not doing the things I know I should do. I’m tired. In general.

This just started off as an answer about what I regret most in life. But I think, I need to do a little more than just write. I need to act. That is what I need to do. That is what I will do.

Time is going by so quickly and I am NOT well, at all. I will be, eventually. Life goes on. The world keeps turning. Whatever happens, that I know. But right now? I cannot write. I cannot. I need to be with my loved ones. I need to hold them close to me and I need to hug them and I need to tell them I love them. Moving abroad, I will not see some of them anymore. I will miss them. They may pass away when I am half a world away. Others, we will drift away from one another. Take different roads, different turns in life.

And I am done writing for a while. I am done being on my phone. I am done being behind a laptop screen. I am done burying my nose in books. Or downing beer, after beer, after beer, telling jokes, making people laugh… entertaining people… knowing it is all, ultimately, pointless. Knowing that, when the visitors leave, the friends go away, I am left alone, awake, sad, and feeling even emptier than before their visit.

She gave me a look of love, once, a look I did not deserve. A love I did not deserve. She gave me three beautiful children. Children who I did not deserve. The title of father, of husband, which I did not deserve. Now I have to go out into the world and earn it. I want to be forgiven for my sins. I want to do good works. I want to live a life that is meaningful, not one of empty debauchery and pleasure. I want to deserve that love she gave me… in retrospect. So that one day, when I meet her again, when I am old and grey, perhaps, she can be proud of me. She can smile at me. And we can hold each other. And I will be the man I needed to be.

The man my family and loved ones thought I was. Well guess what, I wasn’t. Thank you all for reading my answers, Quora followers and casual readers. I am glad you went on a little journey with me. I am glad you read my answers. Our interactions were meaningful and beautiful and worthwhile. I enjoyed my time here but right now? I just can’t. Right now I need to listen to gloomy lyrics, contemplate in silence. Be there for those I love. And… live.

Once my uncle cried, because he recognized a love that long eluded him. A love I failed to appreciate. Now I’m the one crying, because I lost it. And I don’t want to be the person I am right now. I want to be more. Better. In the background, Elton John sings “Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen”. He’s right. They are the sweetest eyes I have ever seen. Seen them nearly every day of my life for eight years. I cannot in good conscience remain here another second when I still have a few short days left to look into them, and here I am tooting my own horn, worshipping at the altar of my own awesomeness, when I’m not. I’m a fraud.

So I guess this is my goodbye. I cannot stay here and be here and steal another second off my precious time. Goodbye, everybody. You will read from me again. But not now. Now I am too sad. I have people to hug. I have people to spend time with. Time is limited. Love is so fleeting. Don’t hold it in, okay? Cherish every second. You cannot avoid regret, but please try your best sweet people. I love you all.

Jim and Amora: How A Three Legged Shelter Dog Saved A Suicidal Veteran

Jim Brakewood Jr. might look like kind of a scary dude. At 6’2”, loaded with muscles, long, wild hair and a beard a to match, he cuts a pretty imposing figure. It’s as if a Viking decided he wasn’t ready for Valhalla just yet and decided to pay Instagram a visit instead.

He has a soft spot for dogs, though. In particular, his Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Amora.

Jim has seen war. In two tours in Iraq he has been in battle, he has been wounded and he has lost friends. During his second tour, Jim was shot in the head in Mosul, but somehow survived and made his way back home. He earned a Purple Heart, but was diagnosed with PTSD and like many of our veterans he turned to drinking and thoughts of suicide.

His warrior spirit wouldn’t allow him to just give up, though.

Jim realized that he was headed down a dangerous path, had been making poor choices and was determined to make a change. After some time, he felt that a young puppy might help with his PTSD training. He recalls the day he went to the humane society to adopt a puppy and met Amora, a three-legged Staffordshire Bull Terrier,

“On the way back to go check out the puppies I walked by Amora. She just had her surgery to amputate her back right leg, she had her cone [on] and her bandages/stitches were still fresh. She tried with all her might to get up and meet me and I could see how much it hurt her but she didn’t care and I fell in love right there.”

Photo by Joseph Gianetti of @photographingstrength

As we all know, Pit Bulls often get a bad rap. Marked as an “aggressive breed”, they make up 40% of the 1.5 million dogs euthanized in shelters each year. Even looking like a Pit Bull breed can mean a long stay in a shelter kennel for a dog, or worse, being euthanized immediately. However, Jim wasn’t concerned. Moved to tears at the little pup in her surgery cone, he decided to take her home. She settled in, climbed into his lap and fell asleep. Jim marked the occasion with a photo – Amora asleep and him with a happy smile, even with the tears in his eyes.

The moment Jim captured in the photo turned out to be a huge one,

“I knew my life had changed. I couldn’t kill myself anymore. I knew I had to stay alive to protect her and make sure she was ok. She needed me. I needed her.”

Photo by Joseph Gianetti of @photographingstrength

Amora arrived at the shelter after being in a car accident. Her leg was injured to the point that it couldn’t be saved and was removed just before she met Jim. She isn’t a “service animal” or “therapy dog” in the way that we typically think of one. Jim says:

“I have trained Amora in almost no way. She comes when I call her and that’s about as far as I have taken it… She doesn’t have the official designation of ‘service animal’. She cuddles next to me when I need it and I don’t even ask, she knows when to give me space somehow, she gives my life purpose and direction.”

Photo by Joseph Gianetti of @photographingstrength

“She keeps me company, gives me a best friend… I don’t think I can emphasize enough how much she means to me and how much she has helped me. I wake up in the middle of the night if she stops snoring.”

“…she gave me the will to live. A 5-year relationship ended, I was a complete and utter isolated shut-in outside the gym and my PTSD and TBI symptoms and issues were just getting overwhelming. I couldn’t enjoy things anymore, I had no motivation for much of anything…”

Photo by Joseph Gianetti of @photographingstrength

“…and somehow she changed all that.”

“It’s hard to explain … when I brought her home I just knew I had to protect her and give her the best life I can. And I couldn’t be selfish and kill myself anymore, she needs me.”

Photo by Joseph Gianetti of @photographingstrength

Update: Shortly after Jim shared his story with us, he lost Amora to a tragic accident. She is missed every day and remembered fondly as a bright spot in his life. He continues to rescue Pit Bulls, and saved Logan shortly after losing Amora.

https://g2a-ltc.com/2021/13/jim-and-amora-how-a-three-legged-shelter-dog-saved-a-suicidal-veteran.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Jim+and+Amora:+How+A+Three+Legged+Shelter+Dog+Saved+A+Suicidal+Veteran&utm_id=1&utm_term=110

Golden Retriever Saved Mans Life Who Broke Neck And Left To Freeze To Death

Joe KahloJune 21, 2021, 1:03 pm51.3kViews

Meet Kelsey, a golden retriever who is proving exactly why dogs are truly our best friends.

His human, Bob from Michigan, slipped on ice one day and broke his neck just outside his house.

“I was screaming for help but my nearest neighbor is about a quarter-mile away and it was 10:30 p.m.”

It seemed that Bob was in quite the pickle, but luckily for him, he had his furry guardian angel by his side, “but then my Kelsey came and saved me. By morning my voice was gone and I couldn’t yell for help, but Kelsey didn’t stop barking.”

On the freezing cold winter night, Bob was only in his long johns, slippers and a shirt as he only planned on stepping out of his house to get a log for his fireplace.

Instead, this turned out to be a 20-hour ordeal, where Bob lay paralyzed in the snow. If it wasn’t for his furry friend, he would of most likely frozen to death.

Bob explained: “She kept barking for help but never left my side. She kept me warm and alert. I knew I had to persevere through this and that it was my choice to stay alive.”

In the 19th hour, Bob, unfortunately, lost consciousness, but Kelsey didn’t give up just yet!

“She was letting out this screeching howl that alerted my neighbor. He found me at 6:30 p.m..”

Finally, after his neighbor found him, he was taken straifght to the local hospital to undergo emergency surgery.

He is now fully recovered and hails Kelsey as his hero for saving his life.

Surviving This World

June 1, 2022 Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Readings for Today Saint Justin Martyr—Memorial

Video “I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the Evil One. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.”  John 17:14–17 “Consecrate them in the truth.  Your word is truth.”  That’s the key to survival!   Scripture reveals three primary temptations we face in life: The flesh, the world and the devil.  All three of these work to lead us astray.  But all three are conquerable with one thing...the Truth. This Gospel passage above specifically speaks of the “world” and the “evil one.”  The evil one, who is the devil, is real.  He hates us and does all he can to mislead us and ruin our lives.  He tries to fill our minds with empty promises, offers fleeting pleasure, and encourages selfish ambitions.  He was a liar from the beginning and remains a liar to this day. One of the temptations that the devil threw at Jesus during His forty day fast at the beginning of His public ministry was a temptation to obtain all the world has to offer.  The devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the Earth and said, “All these I shall give to you, if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.” First of all, this was a silly temptation given the fact that Jesus already was the Creator of all things.  But, nonetheless, He allowed the devil to tempt Him with this worldly enticement.  Why did He do this?  Because Jesus knew we would all be tempted with the many enticements of the world.  By “world” we mean many things.  One thing that comes to mind, in our day and age, is the desire for worldly acceptance.  This is a plague that is very subtle but affects so many, including our Church itself. With the powerful influence of the media and the global political culture, there is pressure today, more than ever, for us as Christians to simply conform to our age.  We are tempted to do and believe what is popular and socially acceptable.  And the “gospel” we are allowing ourselves to hear is the secular world of moral indifferentism.   There is a powerful cultural tendency (a global tendency due to the Internet and media) to become people who are willing to accept anything and everything.  We have lost our sense of moral integrity and truth.  Thus, the words of Jesus need to be embraced more today than ever.  “Your Word is Truth.”  The Word of God, the Gospel, all that our Catechism teaches, all that our faith reveals is the Truth.  This Truth must be our guiding light and nothing else. Reflect, today, on how much of an influence the secular culture has on you.  Have you given into secular pressure, or the secular “gospels” of our day and age?  It takes a strong person to resist these lies.  We will resist them only if we stay consecrated in the Truth. Lord of all Truth, I do consecrate myself to You.  You are the Truth.  Your Word is what I need to stay focused and to navigate through the many lies all around me.  Give me strength and wisdom so that I may always remain in Your protection away from the evil one.  Jesus, I trust in You.