**One Spirit, One Flesh**

Good morning and may God bless you, I pray that your sleep was good and that His spirit infilled you with your first wakened breath. This morning I share with you the link for today's mass readings and a reflection by Oswald Chambers. They are not written for each other but in a way it seems the good Lord has put them together for today. The readings have to do with our connectedness with God and how He has brought us through much and our connectedness with each other, namely, marriage between one man and one woman. I would ask you to please take note of Jesus' response to being questioned about divorce. How He politely refers back to how things were set up in the beginning, that man and woman would merge and become one flesh (and God is the glue). Please also notice that Jesus makes it plain that some are able to accept marriage and some are not because they are born that way, made that way through others and some that have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Jesus does not spell it out but to me He is stating that we are not all made the same. But, for those that are joined in marriage there are blessings to cover the joining of man and woman (please look to the commentary "They are not two but one flesh") at the end of the page of the gospel, it is a blessing to be said over a couple at the altar. A marriage blessing.
I would encourage those of you that are married to print out that blessing and just before hitting the print button, place your name and your spouse's name inside of the blessing and put it up somewhere that both of you can look at it each day. Maybe once a week stand together and recite the blessing to each other and speak out your names to each other. It is a way to reconnect spiritually with each other and with God in the joining of the one flesh.

In the reflection of Oswald Chambers he reminds us much like the first reading that God has brought His people through great and impossible things. He has chased out enemies of His chosen people using nature's creatures and performed mighty deeds in separating large bodies of water many times to put obstacles between His chosen people and their enemies. God has taken from those He has not called and given blessings to those He has called. Some may stop and think this is unfair to the other people, that they deserve a place to live also. Well, to that I can tell you this, He is the creator of all things therefore He is the owner and provider of all things and He is the judge of who gets what. If it is God's decision to revoke blessings given to people who now spit upon His Holy Name and who war against His holy people, His chosen ones then sorry but He is not like the Obama Administration, He will not fund the "other side" and allow them to rule unjustly over His chosen people. If they want to make war on His Holy People then they can do it on their own land with their own food and their own houses....oh...wait....they never created anything for themselves because in order to do that they would have first had to make the Dirt that from that dirt was formed all matter of living things on the earth. Sounds like ownership trumps being fair, God is fair, if they can make their own stuff then they can have at it and they can spit on His name "from over there" but if they cannot create life on their own, make a their own planet to live on...oh....wait...that would require having their own solar system too....oh boy this stuff is getting complicated and complex. Well, we will leave it there.

Oswald makes a point that for those who do trust in God and His mighty works in their own particular lives, those who without a doubt can point to a significant time when all seemed lost but almost overnight the tide turned and they give all credit to Almighty God, for them they have a reason to believe in God's ability to move mountains. The mountains in our lives and the mountains that seem to block our way of life. Oswald states that those who draw from their confidence in God through easy times will also draw from the same well of confidence during the most stressful times and it is then that others will seek them out because of their steadfast confident composure. Allow that steadfastness to make a home in you today. May your calmness of spirit be evident for others that do not seek the supplier of confidence. We can have times of worry too but as believers we do not let worry overtake us every hour of the day, we choose to remain before Him and trust that as He has done mighty and glorious things in the past, so shall He do more great things to come.

Peace to you.

Lou

August 12th.
	THE THEOLOGY OF REST
"Why are ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith?" Matthew 8:26 When we are in fear we can do nothing less than pray to God, but Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name His Name should have an understanding confidence in Him. God expects His children to be so confident in Him that in any crisis they are the reliable ones. Our trust is in God up to a certain point, then we go back to the elementary panic prayers of those who do not know God. We get to our wits' end, showing that we have not the slightest confidence in Him and His government of the world; He seems to be asleep, and we see nothing but breakers ahead. "0 ye of little faith!" What a pang must have shot through the disciples - 'Missed it again!' And what a pang will go through us when we suddenly realize that we might have produced down right joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in Him, no matter what was ahead. There are stages in life when there is no storm, no crisis, when we do our human best; it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to trust Him, the crisis will reveal that we will go to the breaking point and not break in our confidence in Him. We have been talking a great deal about sanctification - what is it all going to amount to? It should work out into rest in God which means oneness with God, a oneness which will make us not only blameless in His sight, but a deep joy to Him.

Daily Mass readings: http://www.dailygospel.org/main.php?language=AM&module=readings&localdate=20110812

 

May you have a Jesus filled day

He made himself poor....

Today I share a small part of the writings of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897), Carmelite, Doctor of the Church. I post it because in a few words she says so much.

Hidden treasure

The spouse of the Canticles says that... she arose to look for her Beloved in the city, but in vain; after having gone out of the city, she found him whom her soul loved! (Sg. 3,1-4).  Jesus does not will that we find his adorable presence in repose; He hides Himself... Oh! what a melody for me  is this silence of Jesus. He made Himself poor that we might  be able to give Him love. He holds out His hand to us like a beggar so that on the radiant day of judgment when He will appear glory, He may have us hear those sweet words: "Come, blessed of my Father, for I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I did not know where to lodge, and you gave me a home; I was in prison, sick, and you helped me,» (Mt 25,34-36). It was Jesus Himself who spoke these words; it is He who wants our love, who begs for it. He places Himself, so to speak, at our mercy; He does not want to take anything unless we give it to Him...

Jesus is a hidden treasure, an inestimable good which few find, for it is hidden, and the world loves what sparkles. Ah! if Jesus had willed to show Himself to all souls with His ineffable gifts, no doubt there is not one of them that would have despised Him. However, He does not will that we love Him for His gifts, He Himself must be our reward.

To find a hidden thing one must hide oneself; our life must then be a mystery. We must be like Jesus, whose face was hidden,» (Is 53,3)... Jesus loves you with a love so great that, if you to see it, you would be in an ecstasy of happiness... but you do not see it, and you are suffering. Soon, Jesus «will stand up to save all the meek and humble of the earth!» (Ps 76[75], 10).

What stood out for me was the sentence.."He made himself poor so that we might love him."

Isn't it just like Jesus to do that, to make Himself approachable for all? Think about it for a few minutes of your time. When we read about the world's wealthy we say to ourselves that they have everything, they lack for nothing. It was not any different in the time of Jesus on this earth, the very poor saw the rich and said the same thing to themselves. Jesus knew that he would be despised and shunned if he came looking like a wealthy socialite but instead He wanted to be able to reach the furthest into the sea of humanity and at least have a chance of someone accepting Him just as a person, someone sitting on the other end of that park bench, someone you would open up to and tell what is burdening your heart. Jesus wants us to care for Him and accept Him for Himself, not for what He may or may not do for us (isn't that exactly what we want too...acceptance).  Please ponder on this and let Him know how you feel about this, that He threw off all remnant of His position as creator and King to be born in a feeding trough. He did not do it to fool us or make a mockery of how we live, He did it because He wants to live as we live, to love as we love so that we will know that He understands us and why we do the things we do. He did it all for us, you and me.

Slaves Are Issued Weapons; Free People Own Them

The excerpt below is from a very good article posted on the American Thinker and written by William A. Levinson. It gives a very good and detailed overview of how ownership of weapons versus being issued a weapon are very different and how the former points toward an individual's accepted sovereignty while a slave or servant is issued a weapon with the intention that it would be later returned and the slave would return to their rank and file.

"We have been persuaded by some that are careful of our safety, to take heed how we commit ourselves to armed multitudes, for fear of treachery; but I assure you I do not desire to live to distrust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear, I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects."


http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/07/slaves_are_issued_weapons_free_people_own_them.html


This statement relates to Queen Elizabeth I as she responded to threats of being apprehended by armed guards.


Please read over and share this article. The concept of owning a firearm or some sort of means of self defense as well as a tool for food gathering is what seperates a free person from a servant. Throughout Holy Scripture I have never found a place where God clearly came out and said that as His children we are to never be armed. I have not found a place where God said it was a commandment to walk the earth leaving ourselves at the mercy of armed opponents. I have on the other hand read where God has said it is a sin to commit murder, a cold-blooded, calculated plan to bring another person to their demise. One instance that stands out for me is in Genesis where Moses sees an Egyptian guard beating a Hebrew. Moses looked for someone to come along and stop the abuse and possible death of this man but there was no one else around. Out of compassion for the slave, Moses found something for a weapon and struck the guard thus killing him as a result. Did Moses set out that morning to kill an Egyptian? We are not told that but at the same time it does not fit his character and behavior. Also, I noticed that God never spoke to Moses about the killing, God said nothing and in fact summoned Moses to His presence. When Moses arrived God did not say anything like, "Moses why are you covered with the blood of another?" God did not chastise Moses for what Moses did clearly in self defense of the slave. I am not saying that God did not care that a man was dead but I am saying that a man was being beaten to death and Moses sought to stop the beating in the only way he had at his disposal and the death of the guard was an unfortunate outcome but Moses only sought mercy on the slave.


We too can have it in mind that life is precious and is a gift from God and that what is formed by God, given by God and blessed by God is something to cherish. You my friend, who are reading this and wondering what I am trying to justify, I am not trying to justify but rather posing the argument that you are preciously made in God's sight and like each and every creation of God's hand is to be cherished and honored because it is a creation of God's own hand. This is where we see each of us has an intrinsic value to our life. People, including myself, at one time or another will ask the big question, "why am I here and what is my life's purpose?" It has come to me over years of seeking the answer that I am here out of God's good pleasure and my purpose is to live, love, grow and experience life as God intended so that I will feel free to express myself and show the world what sort of creation God made when He formed me. Will the world accept me? Will the world put out the red carpet for me? Hasn't happened yet but who knows, what I do know is that God makes wondrous and beautiful things and the same is said of what He forms out of the mud and breathes into their nostrils. I am going far and wide with this because life is treated so cheaply these days and for some, when they say that others should not be allowed to carry weapons, should not be allowed to raise a defense against hostility but that my wife or myself should allow ourselves to be abused or even killed so that violence will stop with me and not go on further, my spirit screams out that I am Holy made and I am Holy inspired and therefore the world needs me. The world needs Holy inspired people of all walks of life and all cultures and societies because we can be a reflection of God's love in this world. If you want to change the world you can start right where you are by being all that God intends for you to be. When you are doing that you will truly be a mirror of God 's love in your part of the world.


You will be like a precious pearl or a gift of great price that is worth piles of gold and tons if silver because you present the spirit of life to the dying in this world. You are not cheap my friend and you are not easily replaced by another face or another name, don't lose sight of your worth and protect what God is doing in your heart and life. Defense of your life is defending a creation of God. It is about defense and you have a right to it.