tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29612813681678922842024-03-16T23:24:39.830-07:00Christian ChildloveAffirmations for Christian Childlovers. Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-78904420406364179752014-12-21T10:15:00.005-08:002015-04-14T09:02:40.093-07:00Advent Reflection III: Joy in Chastity <div style="text-align: justify;">
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This Advent season, as we make "room in our hearts" for the coming of the Christ Child on December 25th, we <a href="http://christianchildlove.blogspot.com/2014/12/advent-reflection-ii-kingship-and.html">continue our discussion</a> on the importance and blessings of practicing chastity as followers of Christ who also happen to be childlovers. (For more on what Advent is, <a href="http://christianchildlove.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-first-sunday-of-advent.html">see this post</a>.)</div>
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Chastity is often regarded as a labor, and it really is. It's ultimately a labor of love. But just because it's a labor doesn't mean it is devoid of joy. Like all virtues when we set ourselves out to practice them, chastity actually becomes a means toward a more fulfilling joy. Remember, chastity is a school not just of knowledge of God, but also of self. Indulging in or trying to avoid sexual desire completely is an escapist fantasy from God and from the self, but as I've come to learn, you won't come to truly know yourself until you begin to manage your desires. Christ reminds us very potently that God has not come to deprive of anything but to give us everything that is good for us. <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full"</span> </b>(John 10:10). Can you honestly say that you're currently having life to the full? Are you maximizing your potential? Are you making full use of your talents and gifts? (I don't know if I am.) If not, remember, Christ isn't the one stopping you. Chastity is the road upon which you come to become the great thing God wants you to be, not a highway where He "robs" you of something.</div>
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Praise of God and remaining faithful to His law always carried with it a dual benefit throughout scripture. When David sought to honor God and build a temple for the Lord, God reminded him that He was not a god like the other nations had, who could be confined to a temple made with hands, for He had made the universe itself (<b>"Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?"</b> (2nd Samuel 7:5b)). Nevertheless, even though there was nothing David could've done to add to God's honor, God was still honored by David's earnest desire<i> to</i> honor Him, and in return, though David was not to actually build the Temple, God honored David and established a "house" for <i>him</i>: <b>"The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you"</b> (2nd Samuel 7:11b). Because David had sought to honor the Lord's name, God honored David's name: <b>"I will make <i>you</i> a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth"</b> (2nd Samuel 7:9b). In this story, we learn that all it takes on our part is an earnest <i>desire</i> to honor God and His righteousness, and that it is God who is more than capable of returning the favor a hundredfold, and not just for us, but also for others because of us. And so Solomon (who actually built the Temple of the Lord) was <i>also</i> blessed because of David's desire to do so, as the gentile king Hiram noted: <b>"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace for himself"</b> (2nd Chronicles 2:12). Note here how the two things go hand and hand. You can not build a "palace" for yourself without building a Temple for the Lord, but you also can't build a true Temple for the Lord without also ending up building a palace for yourself, for it's God who allows you to build both.</div>
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But what does all this really mean in light of the advent of Christ? It means that the Temple in ancient Jerusalem was only a foreshadowing for us, for it could not really contain God, as King Solomon wisely remarked: <b>"But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!"</b> (1st Kings 8:27). And yet what we celebrate at Christmas IS God <i>choosing</i> by His own Goodness to "dwell among us," in taking on our flesh that we might be able to take on His, so that OUR bodies may become "temples" wherein the Holy Spirit can dwell. Now if the Holy Spirit dwells in such a temple as "you," St. Paul reminds us, how ought you conduct yourself in reverence of this fact! <b>"Do you not know that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies"</b> (1st Corinthians 6:20). The mystery of all of this was present when the Blessed Mother gave her fiat to God that she would bear the Christ Child within herself. God literally came to "dwell" within one of His creatures to show us how we are to give our fiat as Christians and also "bear God" within ourselves. Foreshadowed by the desire of King David, God is not requiring that we build a home for Him, but that we allow Him to come build a home <i>within us</i>, just as He did in the Blessed Mother.<span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head"</span></b> (Matthew 8:20). He may have been born in someone else's stable, but He makes a permanent home for Himself in our hearts when we follow His example. </div>
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So if the Temple of God in the Old Testament was given such high esteem even though it could not truly contain God, how much more so is the temple of the human body where God literally DOES choose to come to dwell, and therefore how much more it should be held in reverence! <b>"Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never!"</b> (1st Corinthians 6:15). How often then do we treat the body of Christ even less worthily than those who unknowingly crucified Him? We <i>knowingly </i>crucify Him all over again by sinning against our own bodies with unchaste living! And so, as St. Paul writes: <b>"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body"</b> (1st Corinthians 6:18), and by that, not just one's own body, but the Body of Christ as well. But is it really enough just to "flee from sexual immorality?" Doesn't that sound like such a "sex-negative" idea? Doesn't it sound like God is trying to "break in and steal" something from us or take something away from us and leave us with nothing? Doesn't it sound like God is trying to "rob us" of something we think should be ours? Many think so, but it isn't true. As Christ and the whole of scripture tries to explain: <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and <u>have it to the full</u>"</span></b> (John 10:10). But how can this be so? By expressing our sexuality in ways that allow us to have a fullfilling life, rather than waste it on our isolation. </div>
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Remember, being chaste <b>is an expression of sexuality</b>, just not a "genital" one. There are many expressions of human sexuality and many ways this "sexual energy" we have can be used for the good of ourselves, others, and the glory of God. While the genital expression of sexuality (all forms of genital stimulation) is ordered toward procreation, other forms of it are ordered elsewhere. "Sexual immorality" then is nothing more than the disrespect showed toward that natural order of genital sexuality. All other forms of self-expression outside the genitals would not therefore be "immoral." The sexual energy within us doesn't have to be wasted (and in fact shouldn't be), but can and <b><u>must</u></b> be used in non-genital ways that bring glory to God and love toward one's neighbor. And that's a good thing, because it takes great energy or "grace" to do these acts of charity or creativity, and so we have a choice. We can either waste that energy on ourselves or jump into action and give it to others. Sexuality therefore becomes no longer a curse but a blessing and gift that we can give it to others. It becomes a "talent" of ours that we can go invest elsewhere to bring it back with interest to the One who gave it to us, as in the parable of the talents: <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more"</span></b> (Matthew 25:16). Then sexuality becomes something we must not try to "bury" or "hide away," or else we are in danger of the penalty imposed on the man who tried to bury his talent in the ground: <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"His master replied, 'You wicked and lazy servant!" </span></b>(Matthew 25:26). We can use the sexual energies that we have and expend them on a healthy exercise regimen for example, or we can spend them in giving our time and resources to charity, perhaps children's charities or outreach programs in our community (for childlovers, this seems like it would be a worthy calling!). Where is the "no" from God in any of these things? Indeed, apart from what does us or others harm, God is telling us: <b>"All things are yours..."</b> (1st Corinthians 3:21). </div>
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<b>"Nathan replied to the king, "<u>Whatever</u> you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the Lord is with you" </b>(2nd Samuel 7:3). </div>
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If we do this, we will find that the virtue of chastity has brought into our lives a greater abundance than we would've ever had in a thousand lifetimes of merely pleasuring our bodies and indulging our instincts. In seeking to honor God and build his temple here within yourself, God also builds you a "palace." This is not a reward though, no more than the good servants were "rewarded" for their diligent handling of their master's talents: <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'"</span></b> (Matthew 25:23). If anything, it would seem like more work was required of the good servant after he had shown himself to be faithful, but being able to share in God's work is what we were made for, and why we can only share in His happiness by partaking in that work. There is no true happiness for us outside of being a co-worker with Christ for the love of neighbor and Glory of God. There's a reason why charity produces profound happiness whether we believe in God or not (<b>"God is love. <u><i>Whoever</i></u> lives in love lives in God, and God in them" </b>(1st John 4:16)), and it's because charity is God's work. All other work is vain and will pass away. Laboring for that which is fleeting is needless toil, as the Teacher explains:<b> "And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person's <u>envy of another</u>. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind"</b> (Ecclesiastes 4:4). On the contrary though, laboring for God is an eternity of meaningful work, as the psalmist declares: <b>"It is vain for you to rise up early, To retire late, To eat the bread of painful labors; For He <u>gives to His beloved even in his sleep</u>"</b> (Psalm 127:3). In this way Isaiah prophesies what the "New Heavens and New Earth" will be like: <b>"They will not labor in vain..."</b><span style="background-color: #fdfeff; color: #001320; font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> </span>(Isaiah 65:23). </div>
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If despair is the result of toiling in vain, then the result of toiling for God ought to be a great inner joy, even in the midst of all sorrows. It is possible to be sorrowful but still hope in the Lord, but it is <u>impossible</u> to truly have hope and yet toil in vain. Chastity is a labor of love, but ultimately it bears fruit in the spirit, which is the essence of the "abundant life" Christ promises to give us. <b>"All is vanity, all is meaningless!" </b>(Ecclesiastes 1:2), and yet <b>"God first loved us" </b>(1st John 4:19). Now if that is not cause for <b>"good tidings of GREAT joy"</b> (Luke 2:10) then literally nothing is. </div>
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<b>"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through <u>his Spirit in your inner being</u>, so that Christ may <u>dwell in your hearts</u> through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may <u>have power</u>, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—<u>that you may be filled</u> to the measure of all the fullness of God" </b>(Ephesians 3:16-19). </blockquote>
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<b>"I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand; It is I who say to you, “Fear not, <i>I will help you...</i>" </b>(Isaiah 41:13). </blockquote>
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What else do we do during Advent but ask for His help to renew our joy: </div>
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<i>"Emmanuel, Emmanuel, come and live in our midst. </i></div>
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<i>Emmanuel, Emmanuel, come make a home in our hearts." </i><br />
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-66541636826716209332014-12-07T09:38:00.003-08:002014-12-07T21:41:53.212-08:00Advent Reflection II: Kingship and Chastity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This Advent season, as we make "room in our hearts" for the coming of the Christ Child on December 25th, we <a href="http://christianchildlove.blogspot.com/2014/11/advent-reflection-i-chastity-for.html">continue our discussion</a> on the importance and blessings of practicing chastity as followers of Christ who also happen to be childlovers. (For more on what Advent is, <a href="http://christianchildlove.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-first-sunday-of-advent.html">see this post</a>.) </div>
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Christ came wearing three hats. That is, He came as "Priest, Prophet, and King." He is our High Priest in that He offers sacrifice for the people (Himself), which is the main thing a priest does. He is the Prophet in the sense that He is the "Word" of God spoken through all the prophets and yet He Himself also proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God. And He is also King for two reasons: one is in fulfillment of God's promise to King David through his "son" <b>"your throne shall be established forever" </b>(2nd Samuel 7:16), but also because He exemplified the "kingship" that is chastity and self-mastery over Himself. He didn't come simply to "lord it over us" all these traits of His, but to be our example, that WE also may become "priests," "prophets," and "kings" along with and through Him. </div>
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We are priests with Him when we follow his example and offer sacrifices in our own lives for others. We are prophets with Him when we follow His example and proclaim the coming of the Kingdom. Most importantly for our discussion on chastity, we are kings with Him when we practice self-mastery and judicious kingship over all our various desires, thoughts, and deeds, following His example. None of these actions could merit any benefit for ourselves or others if He hadn't come, but since He came, He made it possible for the first time that we may also be "priests," "prophets," and "kings" with Him. Scripture paints King David as a prefiguring of the "priest-king" in 1st Chronicles 16:2-3 (as a king who offered sacrifices on the altar, blessed the people, and even gave bread to them during a sacrificial meal). This is no longer a duty reserved for men of high esteem like David though, but for <i>every one of us</i> in Christ. It was of the coming of the Christ Child as the most humble of kings that Isaiah prophesied: <b>"...and a child shall lead them"</b> (Isaiah 11:6). <i>"Hark! the herald angel sing! Glory to the newborn King!"</i><br />
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Israel actually had a number of "boy kings" throughout its history. Some were children and others were teens. Aside from David for example (who was anointed king in his youth), his son Solomon who built the Temple of the Lord (1st Kings 6:1) was probably in his adolescence when he became king, and Joash, who later repaired the Temple of the Lord, was only <b>seven</b> (2nd Kings 12:5)<b>!</b> Isn't it interesting then that Jesus, the infant Boy-King adored by the heavenly hosts, the shepherds, and the Magi, came to BE the definitive Temple of the Lord and made each of us "Temples" of the Holy Spirit along with Him? And just as we live in the Kingdom of God here on Earth among each other (<b><span style="color: #990000;">"the Kingdom of God is already among you"</span></b> (Luke 17:21), we ourselves are our own "kingdoms" within ourselves and we are "kings" over ourselves in Christ. This is important, because chastity ultimately is this "school of self-mastery" (as the Catechism teaches), and what is self-mastery but a form of kingship? But we can not truly be "kings" apart from Christ, who is "King" in essence, so we are more like vassal kings, but still rulers nonetheless.<br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">A study of Israel's kings reveals that there are two basic kinds of kings. There are good kings and bad kings, and they are very easy to distinguish. The good kings are those who do what is "right in the eyes of the Lord" and the bad kings are those who "do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord." By doing what is right in the eyes of God, good kings usher in times of peace and prosperity. By doing what is evil in the eyes of God, bad kings usher in times of upheaval, war, and famine. If we are to be understood as kingdoms within ourselves, we are being asked, over ourselves, <b>are we being good kings or bad kings?</b> Are we doing what is right or are we doing evil in the eyes of God? Are we governing our passions and desires and mortifications in justice and moderation, or are we tyrants simply "lording" over ourselves, imposing our own will despotically? Are we at peace or are we at war with ourselves and others? Are we in abundance or are we in spiritual famine? In this, each of the kings of Israel can teach us something about ourselves as we try to live chaste and therefore "kingly" lives. </span>Here are a few examples from scripture to orient us on how to govern ourselves justly when pursuing a life of "kingly" chastity.<br />
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<b>Example: Despotic Kingship </b><br />
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<b>King Rehoboam</b>, the son of King Solomon, is depicted in the book of 1st Kings as a despot and a tyrant. Taking after the bad example left by the later days of the reign of his father King Solomon, King Rehoboam says:<b> "My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions!'" </b>(1st Kings 12:11). Far from keeping the kingdom united by this, his ruthless and unjust style <u>precipitated</u> the division of the kingdom and caused the warrior Jeroboam to revolt and declare himself king in the north, a split with disastrous results. Who is King Rehoboam like? Rehoboam is not a "chaste" king. He doesn't govern his passions with justice, but seeks his own justice only to exterminate all "internal rebellion" by force, rejecting the words of the elders who tried to advise him: <b>"If today <u>you will be a servant</u> to these people and <u>serve them</u> and <u>give them a favorable answer</u>, they will always be your servants" </b>(1st Kings 12:7). Rehoboam rejected this advice (1st Kings 12:8). In other words, Rehoboam is like someone who tries to violently suppress his internal passions (sexual desires for instance) with a kind of tyrannical approach, and rather than keeping the kingdom (or the self) together, ends up tearing it in two. In living a chaste life, don't be like King Rehoboam. </div>
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But even as harsh as King Rehoboam governed, at least he still made an attempt at preserving unity, even if it was bound to fail. Later on came the reign of <b>King Manasseh</b>, a king so wicked and obstinate <u>against</u> the Lord that he didn't just divide the land but brought about its complete destruction and exile. Manasseh waged a war against God similar to that of the Pharaoh during the Exodus. <b>"Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel"</b> (2nd Chronicles 33). He erected idols in the Temple, ordered that they be worshiped, and slaughtered his own people mercilessly (including the prophet Isaiah, who tradition tells us he had publicly <b><u>sawed in half</u> </b>like many of the Jews who loved the Lord (Hebrews 11:37)).<br />
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What Manasseh was doing was waging a war against his own father, the good <b>King Hezekiah</b>, who had previously sought the Lord and reintroduced worship of the Lord back into Judah (2nd Kings 18). Manasseh sought to overturn and dismantle everything his father loved, in a vengeful, spiteful, retaliatory and ultimately self-indulgent way. Later, scripture tells of how Manasseh "came to his senses" and repented of the horrors his wrath had unleashed (2nd Chronicles 33:12-13), but the damage was already done to Israel. The Lord, despite hundreds of years of patience, finally forsook the Kingdom of Judah and they were captured by the Babylonians. Who is King Manasseh like? He is the one who revels in his sin, doesn't govern himself with justice, and don't even seek justice, but just total retaliatory self-abasement. In living a chaste life, don't be like King Manasseh.</div>
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<b>Example: Chaste Kingship</b><br />
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How should we be though? Ultimately, we know <b>King David</b> and his story prefigures the Kingship of Christ. Both came up out of poverty. Both were pursued by a wicked king who sought to put them to death (for David it was King Saul and for Jesus it was King Herod). David revealed what mankind was and our need for God's mercy in his temptation and sin. Jesus revealed what mankind can be under God's direction in His temptation in the desert and how He resisted it. David was "a man after God's own heart." Christ WAS the Sacred Heart. <b>"After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do'"</b> (Acts 13:22).<br />
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Where <b>King Saul</b> was stubborn and steadfast in <i>his way</i> like someone who tries to decide when and how <i>he</i> wants to be chaste (and only when <i>he</i> wants to be), David (though imperfect) always sought repentance for his sins and went the Lord's way. Meanwhile Christ IS the way (John 14:6). <b>"This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" </b>(Matthew 3:17). There are many other parallels that can be drawn, but ultimately David represents for us the best example of a king who governed with justice and ushered in a time of peace and the blessing of a dynasty after his name, even to the point where Christ Himself is referred to as <b>"son of David"</b> (Mark 10:47). In living a chaste life, be like King David, who was "like Christ" (aka. "Christian"). This is another way of saying, "be like Christ." And how does Christ say we should be as kings? Like He is, humble:</div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">"Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted"</span></b> (Matthew 23:10-12). </div>
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Socrates once said, very wisely, <i>"Let him who would move the world first move himself."</i> It takes great humility to govern anything, especially ourselves! Chastity is not about suppressing desires, nor is it about merely indulging them, but is about learning how to govern them with justice and moderation. It is the "full integration of sexuality within the human person." Being a tyrant over them will only cause internal rebellion and division. Being in rebellion though will only bring about one's calamity and destruction. The chaste person governs his passions moderately and without sin, that is to say, with true justice. He keeps his <b>"hands clean and his heart pure"</b> (Psalm 24:4). Like David, he acknowledges his internal struggles before the Lord and draws strength from God to persevere and to guide his steps (<b>"The Lord is my shepherd..."</b> (Psalm 23). And then after he has done these things, he puts his energies and talents to good use for the SERVICE of others.<br />
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Perhaps God is calling you to be a good king over yourself that you may be a servant for others, perhaps for children this holiday season. Here's a practical suggestion for how to do it: <span style="text-align: justify;">Instead of spending time within the various message boards and internet communities for Childlovers prattling on as you know they always do,</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> set time apart to donate to some cause for needy children instead, even if it's just some food for the local church or community collection. Or go buy a toy, a blanket, or something comfortable for a child in need and donate it to the local church or community collection, or make it an anonymous gift to a family and just </span><u style="text-align: justify;">leave it at their doorstep!</u><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">"Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the <u>servant of all</u>." <u>He took a little child</u> whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."</span></b>(Mark 9:35). </blockquote>
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Remember, Christ's "hat" (His crown) was not made of gold, but of thorns. What is yours made of? <i>"Poor men want to be rich, rich men want to be kings, but a king ain't satisfied 'till he rules everything."</i> -Bruce Springsteen ("Badlands")<br />
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What rules you? </div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-34494488512557152362014-11-29T21:10:00.000-08:002014-11-29T21:48:39.251-08:00Advent Reflection I: Chastity for Childlovers <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What chastity should feel like.</td></tr>
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It's the beginning of Advent, a season we as Christians should be preparing a "room in our hearts" for the coming of the Christ Child on December 25th. This Advent, we're going to be doing this by exploring how the blessings of practicing chastity can bring glory to God, serve our neighbor (especially God's precious ones), and enrich our own lives. (For more on what Advent is, <a href="http://christianchildlove.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-first-sunday-of-advent.html">see this post.</a>)</div>
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Chastity gets a bad rap. Our culture (and the majority of Childlovers) try to convince us it's impossible, that it's self deprivation, that it's confining, and that there's no good that can come of it. It's often depicted in terms of having to wear "certain devices" or long lists of "Thou Shalt Nots" that seem arbitrary, but most of these misconceptions are fed by <u>very incorrect</u> ideas of what chastity is. If you're pedophile, you probably know how flimsy and false "popular misconceptions" are when it comes to the complexities of human sexuality. On the contrary to these, chastity is a <b>virtue</b>, one cultivated under perseverance. Far from being self-deprivation, chastity is a school for how to live an abundant life. You will not succeed or receive the graces needed to persevere in chastity without leading an abundant life, nor will you truly live an abundant life without persevering in chastity. Where do you get in on that circle? Christ is the way in. God gives the grace to be chaste. Without it, we can not be chaste, nor can we have the fullness of life. </div>
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Chastity does not mean simply "repressing" one's sexual desire or pretending it isn't there. Attempting to do such is not only contrary to God's design, it is also spiritually and psychologically damaging and doomed to failure (as the history of such false "puritanical" ideology attests!). According to the <a href="http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s2c2a6.htm">Catechism</a>, chastity is <i>"the successful <b><u>integration</u> of sexuality</b> within the person and thus the inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being."</i> (Catechism par. 2337) </div>
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<i>"Chastity includes an <b>apprenticeship in self-mastery</b> which is a training in human freedom. The alternative is clear: either man governs his passions and finds peace, or he lets himself be dominated by them and becomes unhappy." Man's dignity therefore requires him to act out of conscious and free choice, as moved and drawn in a personal way from within, and <u>not by blind impulses in himself or by mere external constraint</u>. Man gains such dignity when, ridding himself of all <b>slavery</b> to the passions, he presses forward to his goal by freely choosing what is good and, by his diligence and skill, effectively secures for himself the means suited to this end." </i>(Catechism par. 2339) </blockquote>
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If that sounds too heady, we can always go back to the scriptural source of it: the words of Christ Himself, who taught on the necessity of practicing chastity: <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her <u>in his heart</u>"</span></b> (Matthew 5:28). Once again, Christ didn't annul the Law, He came to fulfill the Law, and He teaches here that the meaning of the Commandment against "Adultery" actually has more to do with the lust of the heart, learning self-mastery, and ultimately, respecting the dignity of other human beings and the fact that they are created in the image and likeness of GOD. Lust takes apart what God has joined together, and that is why lust is a sin, and why Christ exhorts us all (if we are to be His followers) to abandon the lust of the eyes before it turns into a corruption of the heart. </div>
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<b>Not a "List of Nos"... One Big Yes!</b></div>
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But for a pedophile, simply "giving up" one's sexuality is not so much a virtue as a necessity. It's not so hard to imagine that "giving in" for us would entail very real consequences (a literal "hell" on earth), but far more, it would constitute spiritual death, and very serious evil. Most pedophiles practice a degree of chastity if they want to stay out of jail, but simply "giving it up" (and that includes lust and masturbation!) does not confer any virtue. In fact, abstaining from one's sexuality is not at all what chastity is. Chastity is not mere abstinence or even self-denial. Chastity is a means of sexual expression. But how can that be?</div>
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So you're a pedophile who wants to follow Christ and practice chastity. That's good. The first thing you need to understand is that we will never eliminate our sexuality (unless God wills), nor will repressing our sexuality ever yield spiritual fruit. Christianity is sex-positive, but it's also sin-negative. Sin has destroyed the beauty and healthy thing that sexuality is. Much like St. Paul writes <b>"Be angry, but don't sin"</b> (Ephesians 4:26), God essentially is telling us the same thing in the school of chastity: "BE sexual, but don't sin!" There's a difference between attraction (appreciating the beauty of a child) and lust (desiring to use the child sexually for one's own pleasure). There are many ways of expressing one's sexuality, and only one of them involves using the genitals. Sexuality is what gives us our energy and passion. We have only spend it for the benefit of those we love rather than waste it on ourselves, and we will be following the Lord's design. It's hard, yes, but so was CALVARY. Commit to never giving up! </div>
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<b><b>"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope"</b> </b>(Romans 5:4). </blockquote>
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<a href="http://davidanthonyporter.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55043abd08834013487851525970c-320wi" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://davidanthonyporter.typepad.com/.a/6a00e55043abd08834013487851525970c-320wi" height="143" width="200" /></a>But that is not the end of the struggle, that's the beginning. Remember, chastity is a "school" where you never stop learning things. After you commit to never giving up, you have to come to understand yourself and what God wants from you and for you through this perpetual struggle. You have to realize that what the Church calls "objective evil" and "mortal sin" are really also psychological problems as much as moral ones. In other words, there are psychological reasons that are keeping you in the masturbation/porn/impurity lifestyle. They are numerous and perhaps multifaceted within you, and most likely their genesis wasn't your fault (perhaps they are leftover issues from childhood that need addressing). The point is, it doesn't matter where they came from, because with God's grace, you can change them. </div>
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They can range from a kind of self-loathing/depression, loneliness/shyness, anxiety/fears, anger issues (and pedophiles have plenty to be upset about), and even an inflated super-ego that seeks to repress and eliminate one's sexuality (which is also tied to self-loathing)... all for which masturbation and impurity in general has most likely become a self-abusive coping mechanism for you in some way. It's important to recognize that while the world (and the CL communities) may want to confirm you in this self-abuse by saying "it's all good," Christ and His Church wants to heal you of these maladies (which are side effects of the fallen world) inside and out. Continuing in sin without repentance is the true path of avoiding these issues and continuing to be marred with them (resulting in spiritual death). Practicing chastity is the path of opening up and resolving the issues (resulting in the fullness of life). Don't believe the naysayers. It is not "impossible," and many Saints throughout the history of the Church <a href="http://christianchildlove.blogspot.com/2014/08/honoring-st-augustine.html">can testify to this</a>! </div>
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In order to be one of them, one has to realize that the biggest enemy against chastity is a failure to accept the reality of our situation. This can take two forms. One form is a kind of sexual "libertinism" (an "inflated id" or "anything goes" hedonism) that ignores the reality of the need for moderation in all desire, and particularly in those desires that are most essential to our nature. This form is often the result of a kind of self-loathing that seeks to destroy the dignity of oneself and others by turning children (the objects of our desire) into objects. The other form is the reverse, a kind of sexual "puritanism" (an "inflated super-ego" or sexual repression) that ignores the reality our sexual nature and tries to either impose a non-human "purity" upon it, ignore it completely, or extinguish it. This form is also a kind of self-loathing that seeks to destroy what is actually vital in our God-given nature (our sexuality). It's no wonder that Christ and His Church teach a much more middle-of-the-road understanding where we both ACCEPT that we are sexual creatures (as God made us!) and DO need to express ourselves sexually, but ALSO recognize that we need to do so with modesty and charity, respecting the dignity of ourselves and others, and within the boundaries of the natural law.</div>
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Once we grapple with these concepts there's a few things we can do to try to practice chastity. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Clean hands and a pure heart." <br />
--Psalm 24:4</td></tr>
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1. <b>Do express your sexual nature... just don't sin.</b> Like the saying in scripture: "Be angry but don't sin," expressing our sexual nature is very similar. Namely, there's a difference between sin and sexuality. Chastity does not mean the absence of something... it is not merely "abstinence." Chastity is an expression of sexuality. There is such a thing as a "chaste sexuality." Sexuality does not need to be genitally expressed in order for it to be "expressed." Everything we do as sexual creatures expresses a sexual character, from the clothes we wear to the way we walk and talk and think. When this expression is modest and controlled (not "repressed", but managed) within the boundaries of the natural law and morality, then it is chaste. Our first inclination is always to think we have to "ban" our sexuality, but that is often the result of the very self-loathing that causes us to fall into sin to begin with. Express your sexuality in how you carry yourself as a dignified man (or woman), and be a role model for children, and you'll be expressing a sexual nature that is chaste. </div>
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2. <b>Accept that thoughts will happen, they aren't sinful, but don't sin by entertaining them.</b> Don't fall into unrealistic expectations. You will have sexual thoughts and desires. Don't consent to them for the purpose of gaining pleasure for yourself, but don't stress out if they happen or even happen frequently. Thoughts in and of themselves are NOT sinful... but they can be made sinful when they are purposely sought out (because doing such perpetuates psychological damage). On the other hand, don't simply try to put them out of your mind constantly or you're just going to think about them more and still end up avoiding the deeper issue. Instead, try to figure out why you're having them and ask the Lord for help in doing that. That may be why you're having them to begin with. Better you just let them come and let them go... like the waves at the beach. It's only when you dwell on them for the purpose of dosing yourself with pleasure that you're falling into lust, which is sin. </div>
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3.<b> Remember, attraction is not the same as lust.</b> As far as I've read, it's perfectly natural and not even sinful to be attracted to beauty in others. It is only a sin when it is sought for its own sake. When you find yourself attracted to someone, offer it to God in thanksgiving and praise that He has made such beauty in the world. If you try to repress your natural human desire for beauty, you'll be missing out on opportunities to praise God, who is the author of all beauty. Just don't make "beauty" itself a god (which is what lust does). </div>
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4. <b>Be honest with yourself and with God.</b> Once again, don't harbor unrealistic ideals. If God didn't want you to have any sexual desire whatsoever, ever, then He would've made you an angel. You're a human, so your sexuality is part of who and what you are and can't be merely avoided or merely indulged in without restraint. When you pray, ask God to give you the strength to endure temptation... don't ask to merely stop being tempted. Nobody can stop being tempted. Even Christ Himself in His human nature was tempted. You're not an angel. Just be honest with God and say "You have made me a sexual creature God, and I find beauty in the things that your hand has made. Praise be to God. Let me appreciate what you have made without falling into sin." </div>
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5. <b>Don't repress desires, 'sublimate' desires!</b> Repression inhumanly buries desires that then come bouncing forth in "binges" of sin at unexpected moments, especially during times of boredom, loneliness, emotional upset or anxiety. It is not healthy because it's not what we're designed for. Our sexual desires DO need an outlet, and God in His wisdom has given us more than one outlet for these desires. Sublimation is a psychological process by which the energy of a desire is used towards another end. If we are restless bundles of sexual energy, that energy can be put to use in non-sinful ways, perhaps creatively or by doing some kind of charity, or perhaps just by having some good clean fun, and just as masturbation spends that energy toward our demise, creative projects or charity spends that energy toward our good and the good of others. Hobbies are essential. </div>
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6.<b> Intimate friends are still needed, don't sell yourself short!</b> Once again, don't be unrealistic. Remember, Christ was celibate, but even He held the Beloved Disciple John to his breast on the night He was to be killed (John 13:23). He did this as an example for us. All human beings need intimacy of some kind (even those with autism need it!). Once again I think a basic rule applies. It's okay to be intimate or "close" with someone, just don't sin. There's certain acts that can only morally be done within marriage, but that doesn't mean that one has to be a hermit if one isn't married (this kind of self-loathing induces rather than eliminates the masturbation/porn habit). It's very important to have close personal friends that one can be intimate in the sense of having a genuinely fruitful friendship, for support and guidance and help in the path of life. These can be of either sex or any age group. If however the "friendship" is exceeding its boundaries, you have to know when to moderate it, or else discern whether or not it's a call to Matrimony (in the case of it being someone of the opposite sex). Don't assume it is. Don't assume it isn't. </div>
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There's more that can be said about the virtue of chastity, whole books. But there's a few insights I've picked up over the past year. Remember, sexuality is powerful simply because through it God has allowed us mere creatures to share in His divine creative ability. This is something even the angels will never be able to do! Sexuality is not a shameful thing. Just don't use it purposefully as an occasion to sin, and praise God that you have this grace. Never give up. Keep confession. Keep at the Sacraments. Eventually God will bring you out of the habit. </div>
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Next week, I'll continue this little series on chastity and try to come up with some practical steps pedophiles can take to live chastely and with the "abundance of life" that Christ promises He will lead us into if we follow Him. For now, meditate on the words of our Blessed Lord. He is no thief. He robs us of nothing. He gives us everything we really need.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and <u>have it to the full</u>" </span></b>(John 10:10).</blockquote>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-11092133707504729142014-10-11T01:28:00.000-07:002014-10-11T02:48:08.622-07:00Open the Eyes of My Heart<div style="text-align: center;">
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A ten-year-old autistic blind boy sings "Open the Eyes of My Heart."<br />
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Open the eyes of my heart, Lord<br />
Open the eyes of my heart<br />
I want to see You<br />
I want to see You<br />
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To see You high and lifted up<br />
Shinin' in the light of Your glory!<br />
Pour out Your power and love<br />
As we sing holy! holy! holy!<br />
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holy! holy! holy!</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-64616107420564325022014-08-28T08:08:00.002-07:002014-08-29T19:25:27.125-07:00Honoring St. Augustine, the "Great Sinner" <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today in the Church we memorialize one of the most influential thinkers in the history of the world and a Saint whose battles with sin ought to be especially present to childlovers who also battle. His life gives us an example of overcoming the odds within ourselves by the grace of God.<br />
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St. Augustine is known as the "Great Sinner," for he lead half his life in 4th century Algeria in the shadow of his own vanities and despair, lusts, drunkenness and excess, self-centeredness, thirst for power and the unresolved issues against his parents (mostly his father, whom he ended up following into a life of similar dissipation anyways). He was "restless," according to his own later description, always looking for happiness in all the wrong places, seeking and never finding. This "great sinner," not unlike each of us, was a creature of pleasure-seeking and habit who sought a rhetorical kind of self-advancement over truth and often faced the consequences of such. He was even a part of the Manichean religion at one point, a very dualistic path that emphasizes the "evil" of the created world and the passions. He was indeed a very divided, despairing, and ultimately fruitless man in his youth. He even famously wrote on how his prayer life was something along the lines of: <i>"God, grant me chastity and continence, <u>but not yet</u>." </i>(Confessions)<br />
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So why is he now among the greatest minds who ever lived? Why do we reverence such a man? How much different was he than any of us? The point is he wasn't. In short, he came to know God, came to confess Christ as savior, became a priest, founded an order of monks, became the bishop of Hippo, wrote a lot of influential books and died defending his order and fellow believers from vandals. He has since been canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church for his life and writings. These are all very impressive things, but the greatest gift this man gave out of his own life was completely God-given. It was the eternal wisdom of God. </div>
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Very much like ourselves as childlovers, St. Augustine struggled with bad habits, but came to understand by the grace of God in his life that simply struggling with sin is not what makes us, for all struggle under various sins. The difference between a mere sinner, or even a "great one," and a saint is that a mere sinner is ultimately hurt by his sin while a saint overcomes his sin by the grace of God. But how does this happen? How do we overcome our bad habits? St. Augustine wrote much of his own life in the long prayer to God that is his book <i>Confessions</i>, saying that: <i>"Because <b>my will was perverse, it changed to lust,</b> and lust yielded to become habit, and habit unrestricted became necessity. Thus I came to understand how the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh."</i> (Confessions)</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your choice defines you.</td></tr>
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Taking the cue from the writings of St. Paul (Galatians 5:17), automatically is set up here for us two different "wills," the perverse and the holy. The perverse will encounters lust, for example, feels its feelings, consents to them, acts on them, and feels the consequences in some way (and death results, ultimately). A holy will encounters the same lust, feels the same feelings, doesn't consent to them, <u>doesn't fear them</u>, but <b>uses them</b> for the glory of God instead, and then feels the blessings that result after time and perseverance, as St. Paul writes: <b>"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope"</b> (Romans 5:4). The perverse will can not become holy on its own (how can it?) and the holy will likewise can not become perverse, for the perverse will pursues lust exclusively for its own sake, which produces sin (and death, a "wage of sin"), and the holy will makes use of lust for the glory of God, which produces righteousness (a gift of God... Romans 6:23). </div>
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But there is no battle between these two wills over the destiny of our souls that we are merely caught up in and can't do anything about, only choices and how we respond to the things we feel and see. We need not fear lust, nor pursue any gift or blessing, but always seek the will of God in all things. Just like the "desire" and "intention" to pray does not equate with prayer, but only the consent and action of prayer does, the mere "desire" and "intention" toward lust does NOT equate with "sin," but only the consent and action of lust, which is born in the "heart" (as Christ spoke in Matthew 5:27-28). Therefore, the mere feeling of "lust" is like all things a neutral feeling and NOT inherently "evil" (as the Manicheans believed), because a perverse will will use it as an opportunity to sin (as we all do at times), but a holy will will use it as an opportunity to pray and practice charity, which is righteousness. How can that which <i>can</i> be used to provoke righteousness be inherently evil? With a holy will, it can't. This St. Augustine came to understand. </div>
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But how do we make the leap between the "downward" spiral (or bad habit) of a perverse will occasioning sin encouraging a perverse will...etc, to the "upward" spiral (or good habit) of a holy will occasioning prayer and charity encouraging a holy will...etc.? And especially, how can it be done if the one can never lead to the other by natural, logical, or human means? For that we need super-natural means. For that we need Jesus Christ. Not just His Teaching, but Jesus Christ Himself. But how is this leap accomplished? Paradoxically,<b> it is occasioned in the very experience of imperfection itself</b>, the one thing common to the experience of <i>every</i> will whether "perverse" or "holy." The "lust desire" on its own, like the inclination to sin itself, is the ONLY common variable, the only common experience between the upward (holy) cycle and the downward (perverse or "vicious") cycle. So just as this point is where a holy will can become perverse by inclination (temptation) and lead to sin and the downward cycle, it is also the point at which a perverse will can become holy by inclination (God Himself) and lead to righteousness and the upward cycle. </div>
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Basically, when one encounters a lust desire, or any sin, one can make the choice to use the occasion as a call to sin and declare "party time!" or, one can make the choice to use the occasion as a call to righteousness and declare "prayer time!"<br />
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"Party time" pleasures the body immediately but is ultimately full of consequences that end up ensnaring and enslaving us or at least making us unfruitful both immediately and in the long run (by the creation of bad habits). "Prayer time" often deprives the body but causes fruitfulness and avoids the consequences by establishing good habits wrought in labor and devotion and the love of God and neighbor. </div>
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The good news St. Augustine teaches in his writings is that of Christ, namely that: <b><span style="color: #990000;">"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world"</span></b> (John 16:33). This is especially emphasized in Augustine's book <i>City of God. </i>His great contribution to the history of human thought is that ultimately the choices before us are a gift from God and that they influence our will, which in turn influences our choices. In the moment we feel lust or any fleshly desire, no matter how intense (and often because of its intensity!), both wills become available to us and the action is what is chosen and the result is what is in the judgement of God. Our experience of any inclination to sin and how our choices affect us are unchosen and unchangeable, but our will and our action is <i>always</i> chosen and changeable.<br />
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Let us echo the words of Augustine in our prayers: <i>"[Lord] You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find rest in You"</i> (Confessions). Remember, lust and desire for sin is an opportunity <i>permitted</i> by God for you to choose righteousness (like He permitted the "fruit of knowledge" to be in the garden so man could have a choice), not a thing to be feared or to run away from. So use it for good! Desire it! And thus, the life of St. Augustine, and our own lives, bring to mind the words of the teacher in Ecclesiastes, the eternal wisdom of God: </div>
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<b>"However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all. But let them remember the days of darkness, <u>for there will be many</u>. <u>Everything to come is meaningless</u>. You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, <u>but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment</u>. So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for <u>youth and vigor are meaningless</u>. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them" </b>(Ecclesiastes 11:8-10, 12:1). </blockquote>
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St. Augustine, pray for us. </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-64485212809978731692014-08-14T14:22:00.000-07:002014-08-14T14:34:52.323-07:00Praying for Children in Iraq and GazaFor the children suffering in the crises in the middle east:
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<b>Heavenly Father bring relief, comfort and peace to the Iraqi children and families and to other persecuted innocents in Gaza and Israel, Nigeria, and other places; pour out Your Spirit and protect them from harm, give them strength in adversity, wisdom to act and react in Your love and grace. Also Father, bind the sight of the enemy, confuse their minds so they falter and fail in their attacks, and may see the great evil of their way and turn. For those children and families who are forced from homes in Iraq or deprived of their homes, security, nourishment, and who suffer life threatenning and vunerable evacuation, we pray in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen</b></blockquote>
Learn more about the <a href="http://www.unicefusa.org/stories/mission/emergencies/conflict/iraq/5-things-know-about-iraq-crisis/17376">humanitarian crisis in Iraq here</a>. Help support <a href="https://secure.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.9164083/k.948B/Iraqi_Childrens_Relief_Fund/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?_ga=1.28278396.1731086486.1408049789">Save the Children humanitarian aid in the region</a>. Help support <a href="http://www.warchild.org.uk/what-we-do/iraq?_kk=iraqi%20child&_kt=fa5229cf-2f49-4622-88e4-81bcf88e3e82&gclid=Cj0KEQjwvLGfBRDfkrr19KDS-7YBEiQA8CoFJ5aM1a-lkVEEW_ERVeJeVg6-VcMkg47Q18ML-mX4wVQaAhj88P8HAQ">War Child in the region</a>. Learn about and help support <a href="http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6153151/k.5AE1/West_Bank_and_Gaza_Strip.htm">Save the Children humanitarian aid</a> in Israel and the Gaza strip.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-46903503452367067672014-08-03T10:57:00.004-07:002014-08-06T05:15:01.050-07:00Satisfying the Hungry Heart<div>
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<b>Opening Prayer</b> (<a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/145:8" style="text-align: start;">PS 145:</a><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/145:8" style="text-align: start;">15-16</a>)</div>
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The eyes of all look hopefully to you,</div>
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and you give them their food in due season;</div>
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and satisfy the desire of every living thing. <b>Amen.</b></div>
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<b>Greetings!</b></div>
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Would God ever ask us to offer up something for Him that He considered to be "evil" or "bad?" Didn't God always ask us to give the best and first parts of ourselves? Those parts that were "without blemish" and "first-fruits" to be set aside and consecrated to Him that we may be filled in every other way? Why then would God ask us to offer up our sexual desires in the virtue of chastity, as childlovers, if human sexuality and desire was in itself an "evil" thing? On the contrary! God, if we are so disposed (as many of us are), asks us to offer up to Him our most holy gift, our sexuality, our faculty that allows us to share in His creative power, both so that He may empty us of it and so that He may fill us with Himself. Therefore, our lives of toil and anguish without sexual fulfillment are spent as a gift, a sacrifice, because ultimately God wants to be the source and summit of all our fulfillment. </div>
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<b>Readings and Discussion</b></div>
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At church I often can't help but notice families with children and feel a deep desire in my heart for a child of my own to love and to guide. This is something I do not have, only because the Lord hasn't blessed me in such a way. There are two lines of thought one can think in this situation. The first is the "me-focused" route: <i>"Why should I have to stand here alone while others get to be everything I want to be toward a child? Why should I be denied the ability to exemplify the charity of God and "pour myself out" for another as He did for me? Surely, the Lord must want this for me, and knows that it would make me happy, and if the Lord was all-loving, He would want me to be happy."</i> I say this is the selfish route for obvious reasons. It's all about "me" and there's no question why I'm unable to find happiness in it. But there's another route, the "Christ-like" route: <i>"I am happy that God has dealt such with those families and blessed them with children, may they serve them as faithfully as God is faithful. God has dealt thus with them, and He hasn't dealt thus with me, but I am thankful for all His judgments, for He knows what each soul needs, and has given both them and I what we need. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord."</i> In this way, there is abundant happiness to be found. </div>
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In saying this, we can't help but remember the words of Job, but remember, Job labored with intense soul-searching as any of us would when we feel we're being cheated by God. Let us consider Elihu's reprove of Job for trying to justify his own interests ahead of God's: </div>
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">"Yet you ask him, 'What profit is it to me, and what do I gain by not sinning?' I would like to reply to you and to your friends with you. Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? <u>Your wickedness only affects humans like yourself, and your righteousness only other people.</u>" </b>(Job 35:4-8)</blockquote>
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Remember that nothing we "do" or "don't do" gives or takes anything away from God, but that, as St. Paul writes, <b>"All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose"</b> (Romans 8:28). Therefore, as Matthew Henry explains in his Concise Commentary <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/mhc/job/35.htm">on the above verse</a> in Job: <i>"We have no reason to complain if we have not what <u>we expect</u>, but should be thankful that <u>we have</u> better than we deserve." </i>And how much better we certainly do have it than what we deserve, thanks be to God! If we expect "justice" from God, He will give us our "justice." He will give us what we deserve! If we however acknowledge His mercy, He will give us freely what we <b>don't</b> deserve, His mercy, and abundantly! But how do we truly live this out and acknowledge His mercy? </div>
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As childlovers it can sometimes seem like we are given the gift of a sexuality only for our perpetual torment, that we must "burn with passion" (as St. Paul writes) simply because (for many of us) the vocation to matrimony is not an option. But consider this, if sexuality truly were an evil visited upon us for our torment, it would neither be for God's glory or our own benefit to abstain from it, just as there is no benefit from simply "not sinning." We know that apart from God, all sacrifice is in vain, but with God, all sacrifice is for our own good and His glory. Sexuality and desire is not an evil thing then, in itself, because God would never ask us to work in vain, but it is our <i><u>heart</u></i> that is convicted by the words of Christ against <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">"adultery in the heart"</span></b> (Matthew 5:27-28), that it is the <i><u>lust of the heart</u></i> that is an evil. What we as childlovers should do in response to the Lord's mercy is <u>cease from sin</u> (pornography, masturbation, unlawful sexual practices...etc.), because it is fruitless, but more importantly <u>live for God</u>, not in perpetual torment, but in perpetual sacrifice, offering up that part of us that is <i>inherently good</i> (our sexuality), because ultimately doing that is fruit-<i>full</i>. The meaning of the virtue of chastity is not a <i>"no, you can't be sexual, you can't use this good gift God has given you,"</i> ...instead, it's a <i>"yes, you can live to God, and you can use this good gift God has given you, for His sake, for the Kingdom."</i> And so we come to the promise God makes to each and every one of us, as spoken from the pen of the prophet Isaiah in today's reading: </div>
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<b>"Thus says the LORD: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; Come, <u>without paying and without cost</u>, drink wine and milk! <u>Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy?</u> Heed me, and you shall eat well, </b><b>you shall delight in rich fare. Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life. I will renew with you the everlasting covenant, the benefits assured to David."</b> <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/55:1">IS 55:1-3</a></blockquote>
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Note just what God promises, that His benefits He gives without cost on our part, for they are freely given. How often though do we tax ourselves with anguish and turmoil by simply failing to acknowledge the gifts that He has given us? We hunger and thirst for things He hasn't given us, which causes us despair and unnecessary, unfruitful anguish, and yet neglect to FILL ourselves on the things that He HAS given us in abundance! What has he given us though? Many things, and all the opportunities the present moment offers for us to do His will each and every second, more than we could do in a million lifetimes. One thing He's given us IS our "sexuality," which a good thing, not that it be "put to no use" and "discarded," but that we may USE it as a sacrifice at every moment of our lives in union with His own sacrifice, saying along with Christ as He gives up His Body for us: "Now this is <i>my body</i>, which is given up for <i>You</i>." </div>
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We read in Paul's letter to the Romans that in this nothing will separate us from the love of Christ, in fact, Paul reminds us that not only does our anguish of total self-giving <i>not</i> separate us from God, but actually can be used to draw us all the closer: </div>
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<b>"What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us."</b> <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/romans/8:35">ROM 8:35, 37-39</a></blockquote>
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And lest we think we need "great things" from God in order to be satisfied, He teaches us in His Holy Gospel how he was able to satisfy the hunger of five thousand men (along with many women and children) with only five loaves and two fish. Indeed, it is in the <u>small things</u>, the everyday things, the things we probably overlook, the little random acts of kindness, that God is able to use for our eternal satisfaction both in this life and the next if we cooperate with His grace regardless of our state of life. What He gives to us freely in His mercy is more abundant than anything we could ever "ask for" or "desire," and He gives it all to us every second: </div>
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<b>"Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. <u>They all ate and were satisfied</u>, and they picked up the fragments <u>left over</u>—twelve wicker baskets full."</b> <a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/14:13">MT 14:13-21</a></blockquote>
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Let us as childlovers say along with King David: <b>"Lord, You <u><i>alone</i></u> are my portion and my cup..."</b> (Psalm 16:5), and <b>"...my cup runs over"</b> (Psalm 23:5). </div>
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Remember... there were always "leftovers."</div>
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<b>Closing Prayer</b><b> (</b><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/145:8" style="text-align: start;">PS 145:</a><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/145:8" style="text-align: start;">17-18</a><b>):</b></div>
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The LORD is just in all his ways</div>
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and holy in all his works.</div>
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The LORD is near to all who call upon him,</div>
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to all who call upon him in truth. <b>Amen.</b></div>
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Grace and peace be to you. </div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-64395284003430045632014-06-29T10:11:00.000-07:002014-06-29T10:22:55.400-07:00Made Perfect in Weakness: Sts. Peter and Paul <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://oneyearbibleimages.com/apostles_peter_and_paul_jpg_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://oneyearbibleimages.com/apostles_peter_and_paul_jpg_1.jpg" height="320" width="231" /></a>Today we're honoring two great Saints, Peter and Paul, and what their lives can teach us about what it means to be made complete or "perfect" despite our various inclinations and weaknesses and feelings of being "incomplete" as Childlovers. St. Paul once wrote on how the Lord had told him that <b>"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness"</b> (2nd Corinthians 12:9). Both Peter and Paul were made to understand their weaknesses, and yet both were then exalted in the Lord because of them in ways they couldn't have foreseen. What can their lives teach us as Childlovers about relying on God to "fill our gaps" and make us more "complete?" </div>
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Like Childlove, Christianity is often misunderstood, whether due of ignorance or malice. Christianity often gets a negative reputation among those who misunderstand it for focusing so much on weakness and "guilt" about shortcomings. Ironically, it also gets a negative reputation from the degree of "self assurance" it provides people who are notoriously faulty. Simply put, it is all too easy to condemn it outright for being one or the other of these opposite things without understanding that what it actually teaches us is somewhere down the middle. And just as we all find ourselves at the "cross" between these opposing forces, we also find Sts. Peter and Paul. It is in the union of this opposition that we all find completeness, and nothing says "Godliness" like completeness, for God is Completeness itself. </div>
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We can not be complete without both our strengths and our weaknesses, which often run opposed to one another and keep us from being complete as God is complete. But God has a way of turning our weaknesses into strengths in ways no human being could fathom beforehand (neither Simon Bar Jonah or Saul of Tarsus would've believed you if you told them what they would go on to do as "Peter" and "Paul" respectively). God can do this with whatever tempts and weakens us, be it LUST, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, over-zealousness, or anything that Childlovers often struggle with. Often Christianity gets a negative reputation for focusing so much on one's weaknesses, but as the lives of the Saints teach us, there is no greater strength than one that is humbled by God, and no greater weakness than one that is self-exalted, and we see that weakness breeding a common "fruitful humility" in the lives of these rather opposite men. </div>
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St. Paul, as we all ought to know, could be said to represent in his life
and mission the "dynamism" of the Church and Christian faith in general,
while St. Peter represents for us the "structure." To St. Peter was given the "keys of the Kingdom" by Christ (Matthew 16:19) and to St. Paul was given the mission to the Gentiles (the non-Jews) as its most energetic spokesman. In one amazing sense
though, neither of these twin peaks of Christianity, gifted in many
ways, were innately qualified to become what they eventually became, and neither would've done what they did of their own ability, as
we'll see, but through them God shows us how much greater He is than we
are by ourselves and therefore how much more complete we can be with
Him than without Him. God doesn't merely want to play to our strengths but to fill our gaps, so that we have reason to praise and be thankful and not count upon our own abilities but only count upon that which He grants. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saul humbled.</td></tr>
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Becoming complete is a hard lesson to learn though because it goes against everything we're accustomed to, everything our hearts are telling us, but consider where both Peter and Paul started and where they ended up by the grace of God. Paul became the dynamic force of the early Church, bringing in the gentiles, debating doctrine, ruminating and constantly seeking new frontiers. He was a creative powerhouse, constantly adpating to new environments and conditions and making the best of what he had wherever he was (even if it was from a jail cell). This is the Pauline way. Peter became the "Rock" of the Church, one of the "pillars" (as Paul referred to him once), the source of structure, the guiding force, the shepherd of the flock, the great pastor dealing with the matters from within. This is the Petrine way.</div>
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Yet neither of these great men could attribute these feats to anything but God, just judging by how they started out. In fact, God couldn't have assembled two <b>lesser qualified</b> people for these roles than Simon Bar Jonah and Saul of Tarsus. Simon (Peter) was a simple fisherman, and not even a great one at that. He was a divided heart, "there with you" one minute and <b>gone</b> the next, wishy-washy, lukewarm, prone to "please men" at one minute and be over-zealous for God the next, but God saw the <u>genuineness</u> of his resolve wherever his heart might've taken him and said "I can work with that!" Saul (Paul) on the other hand, was completely the opposite. Raised at the feet of the great teachers of the Law, he was devoted to the Law, to discipline, to structure, even to the point that he had lost his "heart" for his fellow man and was persecuting the Church he saw as a threat to the established order. But God saw his <u>love for the Law</u> and the Word and said "I can work with that!" Both men allowed God to work with them in unexpected ways. </div>
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You'd think then that God would make the man of "heart" (Simon) the dynamic force and make the man of knowledge (Saul) the "pillar," but then either man could've claimed these offices were the result of their own abilities. Instead God, wanting to show His power made "great in weakness," turned each man's weakness into a strength greater than that of their own. Thus He made Peter the "Rock" of the Church and made Paul its greatest, most affecting and dynamic preacher. He sent the former fisherrman out to be the shepherd of the Jewish flock and sent the former Pharisee (a shepherd for the Jews in a way) out to be the "fisher of men" and bring the masses to the Mass. He who was strong in following his heart for the sake of men was made stronger for the structure of God, and he who was strong in structure for the sake of men was made stronger for the heart of God. Neither was this accomplished for their own sakes or by their own power "lest any man boast," but by the power and for the sake of God, so that their boast could only be in the Lord. Both were made complete by compliance, as God wills for every one of us.</div>
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At the same time, the Lord doesn't cause our natural strengths to go unused (why would He give us any strength or faculty that we couldn't use?), but rather completes them and allows them to thrive even more abundantly than they would have had we relied solely on them. You have to imagine that Paul's gift for knowledge of the Law and for discipline and structure obtained from his former life as Pharisee found its service for the Lord in greater abundance as he applied it towards the edification of the gentile churches. Likewise you have to imagine that Peter's gift of a genuine resolve and heart allowed him to better understand the heart of his fellow man when it came to his pastoral guidance within the Church, allowing him to better be the "pillar" upon which everyone turned for leadership. Thus each man also filled in each other's weaknesses with their own strenghts in a way that only God could "join together." No one could tear it asunder! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Simon Peter humbled.</td></tr>
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God completes us. God tells us Childlovers to go do and not do what we are most unwilling or unable to do or not do, and whatever our weaknesses tell us we can't do, and says <i>"Just go do it. I know you don't think you're able or worthy, but guess what. It's not about what you <b>feel</b> or what you <b>know</b>. It's about what I command."</i> Sometimes we can feel so unworthy of God that we fail to let him fill our weaknesses or humble our strengths, but this is no less prideful than if we presumed upon our worthiness. Both deny God the opportunity to "work with us." Both Peter and Paul were unworthy as men and deeply flawed, but both of them knew it, and both knew that God was ultimately greater than their weaknesses and so consented to be filled and to do what they were previously unable or unwilling to do. Because they gave that much, God was able to give them everything else. Because they gave God their weaknesses, God humbled their strengths and exalted their weaknesses beyond all reckoning. </div>
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What are your strengths and weaknesses? Are you prone to lust? Anxiety? Depression? An over-emphasis on maintaining order or too divided in heart? Are you lead by your feelings and deny responsibilities, or are you lead by responsibility to the point of denying your feelings? Whatever it may be, God wants you to go beyond yourself, which is the essence of all true spirituality. Go beyond "you," even if it causes you anxiety, or despair, or even the pain of death or a life of self-mortification and solitude. Lose the "I" (that is ego), lose the "want" (that is desire), and what you are left with is exactly what the Lord is prepared to GIVE you: "peace," "rest," "truth," "friendship," "companionship," "completeness"...etc. All things that He alone IS. The fact is we all want to be God, but none of us are because none of us are complete like He is. The spirit He gives us is willing but our flesh is made weak. But God says to each and every one of us: <i>"Admit the flesh is weak, and I can work on your willing spirit. Only then can I make that flesh like unto MINE." </i></div>
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Sts. Peter and Paul, pray for us. </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-66031875303701684512014-06-15T09:10:00.000-07:002014-06-16T10:58:32.968-07:00The Importance of "Fathers"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJt7v9fFpPiE2Z7_9509ZS3RywLzFHe2GEuhJE0cIsLOMysmQRy2cgnr5-c8m4lbsPf4mZ9yZ2-ijz9jVw8OVxXCSwe4Q-KSioLBrptWnBn-4J0GQiDbYWnrCFNBK8P46teSLrz9I-JBf2/s1600/FatherAndSon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJt7v9fFpPiE2Z7_9509ZS3RywLzFHe2GEuhJE0cIsLOMysmQRy2cgnr5-c8m4lbsPf4mZ9yZ2-ijz9jVw8OVxXCSwe4Q-KSioLBrptWnBn-4J0GQiDbYWnrCFNBK8P46teSLrz9I-JBf2/s1600/FatherAndSon.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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Father's Day should hold a special kind of emphasis for Christian Childlovers because it should remind us first and foremost about our heavenly Father, who loved us before our earthly father ever knew us. God leads us by example like a father, and so He's given us His example through His Son. Christ emphasized over and over that that He and the Father are "one," and that <span style="color: #990000;"><b>"nobody knows the Son except the Father, and nobody knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him"</b></span> (Luke 10:22).<br />
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Christians are all called to become adopted "sons of God" right along with Christ Jesus, <u><i>the</i></u> Son, who even calls us His "brethren" (Hebrews 2:11) when we are "begotten by God" in this way in baptism (this is what it means to be <span style="color: #990000;"><b>"born again by water and spirit"</b></span> John 3:5). The Spirit we receive is the Holy Spirit. If we are begotten of God, then he is our Father, and we should let Him lead us as His children, trusting in His judgement as children that He will always love us and provide for us. <span style="color: #990000;"><b>"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to
those who ask him!</b></span><span class="p"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>"</b></span> (Matthew 7:11). </span>God established earthly "fatherhood" to show us kind of what the Fatherhood of God is like, but obviously God's Fatherhood is infinitely greater. In fact, <b>"eye has not seen" </b>it (Isaiah 64:4; 1 Corinthians 2:9). </div>
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God first revealed Himself as "Father" and in doing so invites us to ask ourselves as Christian Childlovers what kind of "father" <i>we</i> are being in our daily lives if we are living by His example as His children? When we look at a crucifix, it should be our example, especially if we have been graced by God with "adopted sons and daughters" of our own ("young friends"). Are we also laying down our lives, our ambitions, our <b>desires</b> for them as He did for us? Are we drawing on the example our Father in heaven gave us in His son on the cross that through Him <i>we</i> may be a better example for those God also loves? Jesus the Son even says, in His typically stark terms, <span style="color: #990000;"><b>"call no man on earth your father, for you have one Father, and He is in heaven"</b></span> (Matthew 23:9). Truly, we <u><b>can not</b></u> be good fathers on earth until we first recognize that <u>we<i> </i>are sons</u> of our Father in heaven.</div>
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What does God do as Father and Son? The Son inspires us to "love" the Father, and the Father tells us to "love" His Son (<b>“This is my beloved Son; listen to him!"</b> (Mark 9:7)). The Holy Spirit is that "Love" they share together. So we have to do as He did. One of the ways we can inspire the "love" of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in our young friends is to be good "father figures" for them... not so much for our own good, nor even specifically for theirs, but in the knowledge that when they look at you and see the "good father figure" in you, that by your loving example and personal sacrifices for them they will later know the meaning of that <u><i>Most</i> Loving Example</u> and that <u><i>Most</i> Personal Sacrifice</u> of their Heavenly Father, who is God. That will always be for their ultimate good, and yours. When they see you, do they see the love of God poured out on the cross? If you don't provide the example of a father's love first, how will they ever know their heavenly Father's love?<br />
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<a href="http://www.fcaministers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/father-and-son.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.fcaministers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/father-and-son.gif" height="182" width="200" /></a> <b>Just Like My Daddy</b></div>
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<i>God, I bet you are really big and strong, just like my daddy.</i></div>
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<i>God, I bet you sing happy songs, just like my daddy.</i></div>
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<i>God, I bet you cheer for me when I get to first base, just like my daddy. </i></div>
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<i>God, I bet you have a smiling face, just like my daddy.</i></div>
--Author Unknown<br />
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It should be no surprise that "fatherhood" (whether by blood or by spiritual adoption in some way) is so demoralized and under-appreciated in everyday life and why so many who call themselves "Childlovers" go so easily astray when they tempt children into lives of sin, because Satan knows how important a father's love is and <u>will do anything to destroy it!</u> So don't let it be so with you. Even if you don't know any children, just be a good man for children in the world, and so be moved to imitate the loving relationship of the Triune God, who is Love Himself poured out among Himself, sacrificing Himself for those He loves whether they receive it or not, and then go pour that out for others by your own example and sacrifices, especially your young friends or children in general, so that because they know a father's love, they will know their heavenly Father's love, which is Love. </div>
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Grace and peace be to you. </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-84461885436472318692014-06-02T23:13:00.002-07:002014-06-03T08:03:05.241-07:00A Childlover's Encounter with God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://escapetoreality.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/prodigal_son.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://escapetoreality.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/prodigal_son.jpg" height="185" width="200" /></a></div>
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I was fighting back tears when I stepped into the confessional with the father. </div>
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"Bless me father, for I have sinned." "Tell me your sins my son." </div>
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"I have been dwelling on impure thoughts, not always of a sexual nature but for the purpose of arousal nonetheless. They've been ... mostly about minors, and last night they even caused me in and of themselves to climax. It's not something I wanted to happen, but it happened anyways. I also ... aside from that ... I also told some small lies and wasted or misused some equipment at work. That's about it." </div>
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I was a pedophile in the midst of a church. To the outside world I was the most vile predator wounded in the cage of his captors and waiting to be put to sleep, despite the fact that I had never done anything to inappropriate with a child in my life. The world hated me for what I was, not for what I'd done (since I'd done nothing), and for who I loved, and had they known they surely would've put me out of it for sure, and violently too! All the same, other childlovers didn't care so much for what I was (a christian) and who I loved either (God), so I felt trapped on all sides. Looking left and looking right, I saw so little support, so I looked up. </div>
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Hanging above me that morning in the seat as I knelt was a statue suspended on a wire. It was Christ on the cross, with his arms outstretched like he was going to give me a great big hug. Surely such a man in such a state wouldn't have been able to understand the guilt of rejection I felt. Surely he wouldn't have felt like I did with my hands unable to move, unable to so much as dry a tear or a loving embrace for those I loved like the kind others could so freely give any time they wanted, and yet his hands were also pinned and dangling. Nor would he know what it was like to have to "hold it in" and be restrained, never being able to go after the desires of my heart and desire on foot, and yet there were his feet, also nailed to a plank. </div>
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<a href="http://www.eyeofthetiber.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Confessional.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.eyeofthetiber.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Confessional.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a>Surely he wouldn't know the shame, rejection, life-long loneliness, agony of defeat, abandonment, and mockery from people who had done far worse in their own lives than I had ever done, and yet he also wore a crown of thorns given to him so to mock the misunderstood love he also had within him for others. What did I do to deserve any of this then? Surely he couldn't know the pain of carrying around the burden of these unfulfilled desires on a daily basis while carrying that heavy cross to his death, having done nothing to deserve it. Surely he wouldn't know how it felt to be "seemingly forsaken" as he lead the people in King David's repentant psalm of praise in the midst of the sharpest anguish a man can feel: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Who hasn't said that at some point? </div>
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How could this man have known my pain and troubles, the fresh wounds of my childhood and the brokenness that lead me to become a pedophile in the first place? And how dare he then insist I put away the last few pleasures I still had like the broken toys they were? Broken toys were better than no toys at all! Was he out to spoil my fun or to heal me? He was only long dead because I was also long dead, waiting to live again. </div>
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"What will you give me Lord? What will heal me?" "I am all you need." He said. </div>
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After my confession, father smiled. "Well let's thank the Lord for the grace that once again brings you to this sacrament of love. It's not hard to confess these things as you've done, but the point is the journey you've taken to be here, and God wants to show the abundance of His love to any who seek it out. If these sins have hurt you in any way, and from the looks of it they seem like they have, and if you feel sorry for them, you can now just say your act of contrition." </div>
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I recited: <b>"Heavenly father I am heartily sorry for having offended thee and detest all my sins because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend thee, my God, who is all good and worthy of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace, to confess my sins, do penance, and amend my life. Your Son Jesus Christ suffered and died for me and the sins of the whole world. In His name my God, have mercy. Amen." </b></div>
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Father lifted his hand over my head and closed his eyes. "Then through the ministry of the Church may God give you pardon and peace, and I absolve you from all of your sins in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Go in peace." He drew the cross in the air on top of me at the invocation of the Trinity. </div>
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"That's it?" I asked. </div>
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<a href="http://www.spiritualbridge.org/default/cache/file/8AAD6283-65D1-4120-9EFB1D71BEFFDB51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.spiritualbridge.org/default/cache/file/8AAD6283-65D1-4120-9EFB1D71BEFFDB51.jpg" height="133" width="200" /></a>"That's all there is to it. Thank you for coming in today __" (he called me by name). Smiling, he said, "The roads are slippery out there, be safe driving. I'll see you on the 3rd for your Confirmation. If you need Godparents, I'll be more than happy to set you up with this very nice couple from the parish... " He was delighted just to see me. </div>
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That was all there was to it. The weight was lifted off my shoulders. Christ was alive and well indeed, working in the world still even after all these years. "God is love," the Apostle John wrote, and now I know why. Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-26898486190680929782014-05-06T21:23:00.003-07:002014-08-14T14:35:04.373-07:00A Prayer for the Nigerian Girls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeI-f9PjGhbiuv64BSAz9fgrfBGlrjxmwOiwBTdud-Yd27cx6VR7KPgzlFs6jQwTo6h7J8ZGNfyRLx9yHYE5zv1x0pymyiMlVUjMy868-Q8v_akxivzyRpay_MlXbcDaAZ7GWb4LCMCp1_/s1600/Bm4wlowCYAEU9SB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeI-f9PjGhbiuv64BSAz9fgrfBGlrjxmwOiwBTdud-Yd27cx6VR7KPgzlFs6jQwTo6h7J8ZGNfyRLx9yHYE5zv1x0pymyiMlVUjMy868-Q8v_akxivzyRpay_MlXbcDaAZ7GWb4LCMCp1_/s1600/Bm4wlowCYAEU9SB.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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Last month over <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/story/2014-05-03/kidnapped-nigerian-school-girls/">200 Nigerian girls were kidnapped</a> by the Boko Haram extremist militant group for simply attending school (a right of all children). They have vowed to sell the girls into prostitution instead. This sadly happens to so many children every day around the world, but the number and the sheer wickedness of this act ought to call our attention to this crisis and those like it, and so we offer this prayer: </div>
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<b>Merciful Father, you teach us through your Son that all are precious in your sight, especially your children wherever they are suffering in the world, and have placed your Word in our hearts that "blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted," and have given us the consolation of your mercy through your divine Son. So we ask you, our Father in heaven, that you may bring out safe these children who have been brought into captivity throughout the world, and especially these schoolgirls in Nigeria, that they may be returned to their families and neighborhoods according to your will, that their captors may experience a change of heart because of your grace and repent for their deeds, and that the families of those missing may be comforted in this time of their great loss. We ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, who by his own death and resurrection has "lead captivity captive."</b> <b>Amen. </b> </blockquote>
Try to give something up in the coming weeks for the sake of these children.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-34024731519632751682014-04-18T19:58:00.000-07:002014-06-03T08:06:57.198-07:00A Childlover's Lenten Reflections<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq17-fFinyMXo5PgeRwua2PG03fuG6Qcj1f7yGZ73YVYUIscWEK0ZPj9z177R3RUZyf5hZSRqWEDh5J2r0Fy68LPab6jetTmiIbTD8Yw19T-p1WQaWHFbnVT_W5l1Of87f-gA9AH89FunP/s1600/545815_418919198127904_100000294814209_1543306_422695910_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq17-fFinyMXo5PgeRwua2PG03fuG6Qcj1f7yGZ73YVYUIscWEK0ZPj9z177R3RUZyf5hZSRqWEDh5J2r0Fy68LPab6jetTmiIbTD8Yw19T-p1WQaWHFbnVT_W5l1Of87f-gA9AH89FunP/s1600/545815_418919198127904_100000294814209_1543306_422695910_n.jpg" height="320" width="249" /></a></div>
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First I said, "God I shall be alone and live for you!" Then He gave me a Church. So I said, "God, I shall be with others and live for them and you!" So He told me to pray in the secret place, alone. <br /><br />I first asked, "What will you have me do, Lord?" and I feared His response. Then when I had done it and felt I could do anything, I asked, "What will you have me do now, Lord?" and I feared His silence. <br /><br />I asked "What will you give me Lord? That I remain childless?" And His silence told me, as I saw Christ laid down on the cross, "Haven't I given you enough?" <br /><br />I first said, "Let me lust Lord, you'll forgive me!" He didn't. Then I said, "Then take it away Lord, I shall have no sexual feelings at all!" He didn't. Then I said, "Lord, you must know something I don't."<br /><br />I said, "God, I am no saint..." My humility was my pride. Then I said, "God, I will be a great saint!" My pride was humbling. Then I said nothing. <br /><br />God made me a pedophile for the same reason He makes anyone anything: for His glory. It's not about me doing my will. It's not about me doing His will. It's not about me, period! It's about Him doing His will. It's about Him and what He wants for me, which is ultimately for my own good. What does He want me to do for him? Usually the very thing that scares me the most.<br /><br />God made me want, so God will make me wait. Sometimes it seems if God isn't pushing me anywhere, He's fighting to keep me where I am. Who am I to argue with what is best for me? The Lord knows what I have need of, and He's prepared to give it to me, but only if I will receive it.<br /><br />God may want me to be alone, but He does not want me to be lonely. He has given me what I need to be happy, it's just that I have so often rejected it because it wasn't what I wanted. I've been the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+10%3A17-31&version=ESV">rich young man</a> too many times. <br /><br />God made me a sexual creature for good. It's time I got used to it! God said I shall not have the object of my desire, nor should I sin. He said "My grace is sufficient for you..." God made me a compassionate creature wanting nothing more than to nurture children. God said I shall not have the object of my desire. He said "My grace is sufficient for you..." God made me for Him in total, not in part. <br /><br />My sin is of no consequence to God, but it is everything to me. My contrition is everything to God, even if it is often of no consequence to me. He waits for me to stop condemning myself under the boulder of sin before he forgives my burden with the ease of His breath. <br /><br />It's not about perfection, it's about stumbling and getting back up. Stumble a million times, just so long as you get back up a million and one times. That's the way of the disciples. It would sure be easier if I could lust and lie and boast and spout off, but goodness is hard. It would sure be easier if God would just take away my lustful, lying, boating, wrathful heart at my command, but goodness is hard. The Narrow Gate is harder to find than I thought. He never said it would be easy, He just said it would be worth it. <br /><br />God needs me to be who I am, despite what I am. First he had to show me what I am and then who I could be in order that I may be more like who He is. What I am is a sinner, a saint is what I could be, but who I am is a journey from here to there with Him. That's why He said "Come follow me." Who I am is His child. That's why He said, "Trust me."<br /><br />Grace and peace be to you. </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-87712320085218503532014-02-10T10:04:00.003-08:002014-06-03T00:54:39.943-07:00Taking One for the Team<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Opening Prayer</b> (<a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/psalms/112:4">PS 112:4-5</a>)</div>
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Light shines through the darkness for the upright;<br />
he is gracious and merciful and just.<br />
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,<br />
who conducts his affairs with justice. <b>Amen.</b></blockquote>
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<b>Greetings!</b></div>
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Sometimes we got to "take one for the team." Childlovers are often not given (and indeed can't have) children, the very objects of their desire (whether it be a sexual desire, emotional desire, or even a truly loving desire), because sometimes God in his purpose wants the childlover to desire God first and foremost. We actually become idolaters if our love for children takes priority before our love for God. Christian Childlovers should love children for the sake of God, and if God's decision in their life is that they remain apart from children, then we express our love for God by living chaste lives and therefore "love children" as God would have us love them, even if it means being apart from them! We "take it for the team." This is hardship, but the fruits of it are God's perfect love in the world (the greater good than our own satisfaction, which is met in Christ). Christians are supposed to take it on themselves in order to be <i>"a light to the world,"</i> the <i>"salt of the earth"</i> (the very "preservative" of humanity) (Matthew 5:13), so we can't afford to have disordered, earthly attachments (even to children). We got to keep all things in perspective and relative to our love for God, especially if it literally "weakens" us to do so. </div>
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<b>Readings and Discussion</b></div>
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Some of the most cutting words the Lord gives are <b><span style="color: #990000;">"For surely, they have their reward"</span></b> (Matthew 6:2, and elsewhere). If this applies to you, which to some extent it applies to all of us at times, it means <i>"congratulations, you wanted something and you got it, but now that's all you're going to get."</i> In this respect, there is nothing worse than actually getting what we want all the time, because it means we can't receive anything else. People who have abundance have no need of anything, which is why Christ says <b><span style="color: #990000;">"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven"</span></b> (Matthew 5:3), because those who know they don't have something are the ones open to recieving whatever the Lord is willing to give, knowing that He can give all things. We have to give up what we want and can't have in the flesh (whatever it may be) in order to obtain the <u>greater gift</u> that we often don't really want (let's be honest) and yet <u>can have</u> (and do have already) abundantly in the spirit (which is God Himself). Thus, God's message to St. Paul was not the lifting of the "thorn in his side," but the response: <b>"My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness"</b> (2nd Corinthians 12:9). God therefore sometimes makes us weak and lowly by denying us the objects of our desire so that we may need Him all the more. </div>
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For the Christian Childlover, perhaps God makes us pedophiles so that we can't have the object of our desire, only so that we should desire God instead, so that His power may be made perfect in our weakness. When His power is made perfect in us, the response is always an outpouring of generosity, even if it's motivated by a daily struggle against impure thoughts and temptations toward selfish gratification. From the abundance of our weaknesses, God motivates us to "power through it" and become holy like Him. So many saints (St. Augustine for example) were not propelled not by some artificial "innate holiness," but by the sheer depth of their insecurities, sins, temptations, and brokenness. Their weaknesses are what compelled them all the more to become that <u>"shining city on a hill that can not be hidden."</u> And thus, as the prophet Isaiah describes, deep wounds provoke charity and the removal of all malice and lust, and that action then provokes holiness and Godliness (faith inspiring works): </div>
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<b>"Thus says the LORD: </b><b>Share your bread with the hungry, </b><b>shelter the oppressed and the homeless; </b><b>clothe the naked when you see them, </b><b>and do not turn your back on your own. </b><b>Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, <u>and your wound shall quickly be healed; </u></b><b><b><u>your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard</u>. </b></b><b>Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday."</b><b> </b><a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/58:7">IS 58:7-10</a></blockquote>
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The faith of the Christian Childlover therefore should inspire him to put away all uncleanness, all malice, all lust, all disordered covetousness (of children), and replace these desires with cleanliness, charity for children (feeding the hungry, sheltering the oppressed and the homeless...etc.). It is not these works that "heal the wound" (disordered affections for children), but the faith that inspires you to go and do them (otherwise, your faith would've been a "dead faith" (James 2:26)), and then it's that same faith that also heals of your "wound," which is the disorder (pedophilia). The result is not just the healing of the wound though, but the betterment of your very soul... the very thing that makes you "you." You become the person you were made to be (a saint), rather than the just fallen creature that you are. Your <i>"vindication will go before you"</i> (looking ahead) and the <i>"glory of the Lord will be your rear guard" </i>(keeping you from ever "looking back" or "going back"). In other words, the Spirit in your conscience will stop you from returning to any unholy way that is now dead to you, especially if it may be a daily struggle. </div>
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St. Paul knew that this work, inspired by faith, was more important than mere declarations of faith without the works to back them up. A Christian Childlover can claim to be a follower of Christ as the day is long, but if he has no contrition and no resolve to change his life of sexual lust or even just puts the love of children before the love of God, he's deceiving himself and not actually following Christ. I can sit here and write this entire blog out and it does me not one bit of good (and in fact, can actually become a curse for me) whenever I fail to follow Christ in the same manner. Thus, St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he did not come as a great rhetorical speaker and dazzle them with his own insights (even though he was a very learned man), but came and presented his <b><u>weaknesses</u></b> to them so that he could show the power of God to transform those weaknesses into holiness: </div>
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<b>"When I came to you, brothers and sisters, proclaiming the mystery of God, I did not come with sublimity of words or of wisdom. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. <u>I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling</u>, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of Spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God."</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/1corinthians/2:1">1 COR 2:1-5</a></blockquote>
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Likewise when a Christian Childlover presents his own weaknesses and failings (his lust, among others), he does so only so that power of God may be exemplified in just how far it was able to transform him from such a lowly state to a state of Godliness... once again, not by any power of his, but by that which comes in Christ by the Holy Spirit. By doing so the Christian Childlover fulfills the titles (Matthew 5:3) that the Lord gives to those who faithfully, even under weakness and constant temptation (and even through all the failings and fallings) execute under pain and hardship the vocation to chastity (which is self-discipline) and charity (which is love) that all people are tasked with: </div>
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<b>"Jesus said to his disciples:</b><b style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #990000;"> “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father."'</span></b><b> </b><a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/matthew/5:13">MT 5:13-16</a></blockquote>
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We may never lay our hands on someone and cure them of their ills, as St. Peter was able to do in the Holy Spirit for the lame beggar (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+3">Acts 3:1-9</a>), but if the Holy Spirit (given by Christ) indwells in us, we can be perfectly healed or made perfectly whole, which is no less a feat. And then those who see us, especially other Childlovers, will be more apt to give glory to God in Heaven that such a "miracle" could take place, once they see the "change" in us for the better. The change in us, from a sinner to a saint, is no less a miracle for God than the healing of the sick. Through that, even though we may stumble and fall many times throughout our lives, we are made to be the <u>"salt of the earth,"</u> and the <u>"shining city on a hill that can not be hidden,"</u> and the <u>"light of the world"</u> or the <u>"lamp set on a lampstand."</u> We are to do these acts in front of others, just as Peter did with lame beggar, not so that <i>we</i> may be glorified, but that God may be glorified through us. And thus St. Peter rightly said: <b>“It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see"</b> (Acts 3:12, 16b). From the depths of our God-given weaknesses come the height of our God-given holiness. That is how we become "Christ-like." </div>
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We are only the "salt of the earth" when we can say with total confidence, along with King David:</div>
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<b>"I waited patiently for the Lord,<br />and he inclined and heart my cry.<br /> He lifted me out of the muddy pit,<br /> out of the mud and the mire.<br /> And He set my feet upon a rock,<br /> and established my steps.<br /> He put a new song in my mouth,<br /> a hymn of praise unto God,<br /> and <u>many shall see</u> and fear the Lord,<br /> and put their trust in Him."</b> (Psalm 40:1-2)</blockquote>
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Let us also recall the words of the Blessed Mother: <b>"Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it be <u>done to me</u> according to Your will"</b> (Luke 1:38). And finally, the words of the Blessed Lord Himself, before he was to "take one for the team" and be sacrificed for the good of all others: </div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet <u>not my will</u>, <u>but <i>Yours</i> be done</u>" (Luke 22:42). </span></b></blockquote>
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">Closing Prayer</b><b> (</b><a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/psalms/112:4">PS 112:6-7</a><b>):</b></div>
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He shall never be moved;<br />
the just one shall be in everlasting remembrance.<br />
An evil report he shall not fear;<br />
his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. <b>Amen.</b></blockquote>
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Grace and peace be to you. </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-15509901824542723612014-02-03T08:10:00.002-08:002014-02-07T09:16:02.149-08:00A Child Lights Up a Room<b style="text-align: justify;">Opening Prayer</b><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span>(<a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/psalms/24:3">PS 24:3-4</a>):<br />
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Who may go up the mountain of the LORD?</div>
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Who can stand in his holy place?</div>
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The clean of hand and pure of heart,</div>
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who has not given his soul to useless things, what is vain. <b>Amen.</b></div>
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Nothing "lights up a room" quite like a child, as any parent or childlover will tell you! The occasion yesterday of the Feast of the Presentation (when Mary and Joseph presented the infant Jesus in the temple to be consecrated as their firstborn (Luke 2:22-40), gives us reason as Childlovers to not only reflect on the message God is sending us about the sacred dignity of all children, but also about the "cross" we bear, often because of them (told in Simeon's canticle: Luke 2:33-35). At the same time we see God's humility as He doesn't so much enter His temple but <i>allows Himself to be carried into the Temple</i> (as we are when lead by the Spirit, like Simeon) in the arms of one of His creatures (Mary and Joseph), we also see His glory "lighting up the room" and all who are in it. It's therefore fitting that even in the mighty Temple of Jerusalem (the "throne of God on Earth"), all it took was one small, meek Child, to bring joy to all who saw Him with the eyes of faith. When we see the Christ Child in every child, we learn how we are to love children.<br />
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<b>Readings and Homily: </b><br />
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It's not insignificant to remind ourselves that God became a human child for the same reason He became a human in general (to teach us humility in a way only He could and about the dignity of human life, including childhood). In His Childhood, God teaches us at different stages about not only the dignity of children in general, but also at different times, the virtues and gifts of humility, trust, obedience, and ultimately love (as at every stage of His life) to show us how to live at every stage of our lives. In the Presentation, He shows us in particular the importance of humility just by sitting in his mother's arms and allowing her to carry Him into the temple (as are we to rely on each other and be for each other the crutch). He was also there in the midst of those worshiping, foreshadowing His later words: <span style="color: #990000;"><b>"For wherever two or three gather together in my name, I am there with them"</b></span> (Matthew 18:20), and the Gospel tells us that despite His meekness and ordinary appearance, even then He didn't go unnoticed.</div>
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The gospel of Luke points out two elderly individuals in the temple who seemed to "know in whom they believed," and saw this Child for who He was. The first was an elderly man named Simeon, who the gospel tells us had been informed by the Spirit that he would not see death until his eyes had looked upon the Christ (Luke 2:26). He "came into the temple in the Spirit" (directed by the Spirit that is), and saw the infant Jesus and immediately took Him in his arms, and prophesied. We see in this man Simeon a type of "child-lover" as a man who was not the parent of the child but yet still loved Him for who He was, and we can draw a lesson from that and what follows. He first praised God, that he (like us) may "go in peace" after having encountered the Christ, and also called this meek little infant <b>"a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel"</b> (Luke 2:32). Jesus, like many children before him and after him, had truly "lit up" not just the room, but eventually the whole world. The Temple at Jerusalem was often seen as the "meeting place" of the whole world.</div>
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Then Simeon blessed the Child, and the words of his canticle blessing were like a second Annunciation (the first one was when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would bring forth the Christ), and while the first Annunciation brought about joy mixed with hardship, Simeon's prophetic words are no less joyful, but ultimately imply great a hardship not just to Mary (the first Christian for whom a metaphorical "sword would pierce" in this life of hardship), but to the whole of Israel (and later, the rest of mankind) because of this Child:</div>
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<b>"...Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother:<br />“Behold, this child is destined<br />for the fall and rise of many in Israel,<br />and to be a sign that will be contradicted—<br />and <u>you yourself a sword will pierce</u>—<br />so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/luke/2:22">LK 2:33-35</a></blockquote>
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Of particular note in these words of Simeon for childlovers is the reflection we can take on the "cross," because already we see this theme of "redemptive hardship" or "salvation by suffering" which would underscore Jesus's entire life, ministry, teaching, and sacrifice. Simeon says that Christ will be a "sign that will be contradicted," or "a sign of contradiction," (also translated as "opposition" or "spoken against"). In the word "contradiction" we get the imagery of two opposing forces coming together at a junction, like a cross. This is what the "Cross of Christ" really is, and when we are said to "take up our cross," what we are really doing is"taking up our contradiction." What is our contradiction? It can be many things, but basically, the contradiction of our souls is between everything that draws us toward God and everything that pulls us away from Him. In other words, it's everything that rejects us from the Earth (the ground), and everything that rejects us from Heaven (the sky), so we end up "suspended" as it were between the ground and the sky or "between heaven and earth," like Christ was on the cross.</div>
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In more practical terms, the cross (or "contradiction") is the "war" between the flesh and the spirit, as St. Paul describes: <b>"For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want" </b>(Galatians 5:17). For childlovers, this war between flesh and spirit can play out in many ways, but one of the most common is that between sexual desire and the desire to love children as God loves them (that is, with purity). As King David in the opening prayer psalm points out, <b>"who can stand in [the Lord's] holy place? The clean of hand and pure of heart..."</b> (Psalm 24:4). Obviously "clean of hand" can mean never actually harming a child or touching a child in an inappropriate way, and "pure of heart" means not just never deriving perverse pleasure even from <i>appropriate</i> touch (a handshake) but also not having perverse desires about children to begin with! Good luck with that!</div>
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Indeed, you may take the words of the disciples on your lips: <b>"Who then CAN be saved??"</b> (Luke 18:26/Matthew 19:25, emphasis added). By those terms, <u>no one</u> can stand in the sight of the Lord, for nobody is truly clean of hand, and certainly nobody is truly pure of heart (childlovers included), but that is what is required. <b><span style="color: #990000;">"Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God"</span></b> (Matthew 5:8). The Lord knows this conundrum and promises that we can <u>made</u> pure in heart, and in His mercy provides a way for us to become not only clean of hand, but also pure in heart (in Christ the Lord, our spotless sacrifice, the Lamb Abraham said "<i>God</i> will provide" (Genesis 22:8). When His righteousness was substituted on the physical cross for our iniquity, and when we join our continual sufferings on our spiritual cross (enduring temptations and loneliness) to His once-and-for-all sufferings, we achieve His continual redemption by His once-and-for-all action. As it says in the Letter to the Hebrews: </div>
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<b>"Since the <u>children</u> [believers] share in blood and flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the Devil, and <u>free those who through fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life</u>. Surely he did not help angels but rather the descendants of Abraham; therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every way, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest before God to expiate the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/2:14">HEB 2:14-18</a></blockquote>
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Who is being tested? All of us. Each and every day of our lives we are tested like Christ was in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11), and we are basically to apply His answers to each of the Devil's temptations and in doing so rely on His perseverance in hardship. Sexual desire is one of the strongest temptations there is and leads us into all sorts of very sordid habits (not just childlovers, but everyone). Childlovers feel tempted to sexually perverse behaviors no more or less than anyone else, but often have no other outlet for these desires. But just because there is no sexual outlet for the childlover does not mean there is no spiritual outlet which is infinitely greater. The childlover shouldn't be thinking so much of what they are saying "no" to (desires of the flesh), but what they are saying "yes" to (a life of holiness)! They should see not just what they are losing (the sexual desire for children) but what they are gaining in the process (redemption, for themselves and for others, that the will of God be done). God takes everything that leads to death, but He does not take anything that He doesn't repay with even greater abundance in life.<br />
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God is therefore asking us, "can you endure it?" Those who do receive the assurance of "blessings" and "justice" from his "saving God." Life may be hard, but chances are it was going to be hard for a childlover anyways (with or without God). The cross is there on our backs whether we acknowledge it or not. If we ignored the cross and went and inappropriately touched a child (God forbid), the cross is now our jail sentence. If we knew the cross and abstained from ever inappropriately touching a child, then the cross is the desire we must endure. This is the "sword" that pierces our heart just as it pierced the heart of Mary (as well as the lance that pierced Christ's side, "near his heart"), as Simeon prophesied. It hurts to accept the cross, but there can be no healing without hurting. We can try to "numb" our wound with sexual gratification (sex or masturbation), or we can let ourselves feel it, and "tell Him where it hurts" (in prayer), so that He may "kiss it any make it better" (in His parental love for us, his "children") and say "it's okay, you'll live." For indeed, <b><span style="color: #990000;">"it is not the healthy that have need of a doctor, but the sick"</span></b> (Mark 2:17). Abstaining from sexual desire hurts, yes, but so did the cross. At the end of the cross though is total healing and peace, not just a perpetual "numbing" of the pain.<br />
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Whatever our situation, enduring the cross we are dealt, whether fair or unfair, is what produces perseverance, and through perseverance, Christian perfection: holiness. <b><span style="color: #990000;">"...but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved"</span></b> (Matthew 24:13). Bear your contradiction to console the heart of Christ, and allow your suffering and His to be one and the same, and ONLY then you will be "Christ-like" in this life and beyond.<br />
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<i>Hang in there. </i><br />
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Grace and peace be to you, in all your joyful sufferings.<br />
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<b style="text-align: justify;">Closing Prayer </b><span style="text-align: justify;">(</span><a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/psalms/24:3" style="text-align: justify;">PS 24:4-5</a><span style="text-align: justify;">)</span><b style="text-align: justify;">:</b></div>
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The clean of hand and pure of heart,<br />
who has not given his soul to useless things, what is vain.<br />
He will receive blessings from the LORD,<br />
and justice from his saving God. <b>Amen.</b></blockquote>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-2430712100040598972014-01-22T07:17:00.000-08:002014-10-03T23:06:15.294-07:00Honoring St. Agnes - Patron Saint of Girls<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtesr5CjzWr4IsTLmCC9kEkJ5cq4rDTtAwunXn5VpJ_r6Rm515-KEVuLJ8tOrJ59vJYb6_eo_IKK-U7EUHEO_fi8JGk4eiym8VrVmC0zw94hrkW-GKPD5HGP5bAI3VYrvN5uMzPOP3sOSh/s1600/agnes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtesr5CjzWr4IsTLmCC9kEkJ5cq4rDTtAwunXn5VpJ_r6Rm515-KEVuLJ8tOrJ59vJYb6_eo_IKK-U7EUHEO_fi8JGk4eiym8VrVmC0zw94hrkW-GKPD5HGP5bAI3VYrvN5uMzPOP3sOSh/s1600/agnes.jpg" /></a>The reason we have a special fondness for children and why we don't want them to come to harm is because we see in them the value of a human life in all its true preciousness and meekness. We see how we would do well to extend this insight to others, because that is how God sees all of us. St. Agnes was only twelve (or thirteen) when she was martyred for her devotion to Christ. Her short and yet fruitful life was lived out during the persecution of Christians under the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century. She was said to be very beautiful, but she maintained her purity to the end, and so it is fitting that her name is Agnes (meaning "the pure one"). Along with being a martyr, she is also the patron saint of girls and rape victims. </div>
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Legend has it that she was walking home from school when she was approached by a man named Symphronius, who happened to be the son of the city prefect. He was aroused by her beauty and tried to win her over with gifts to seduce her, but she rebuked him. She did not consent to his advances and strongly asserted that it was because she was already "betrothed to Christ." She reportedly told him something to the effect of: <i>"With His ring my Lord Jesus Christ has betrothed me, and He has adorned me with the bridal crown" </i>(3. Ant., Lauds).</div>
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The man didn't respect her request and became very indignant. He went home to his father and reported her for being a Christian (an offense punishable by death in those days). Seeing her youth and her beauty, they tried to sway her into incensing a pagan sacrifice and to renounce Christ and marry the man, and she adamantly refused, saying: <i>"At my side I have a protector of my body, an angel of the Lord"</i> (2. Ant., Lauds). It was said that upon entering the prefect's house, a light enveloped her such that nobody could look at her and the pagan priests noticed this and had her tried for sorcery. A judge sentenced her to death at the stake. They lit the fire around her to burn her, but it didn't kill her, and she reportedly gave thanks to God: <i>"O You, the almighty One, who must be adored, worshipped, feared - I praise You because through Your only begotten Son I have escaped the threats of wicked men and have walked through the filth of sin with feet unsullied. I extol You with my lips, and I desire You with all my heart and strength." </i>Afterward, the prefect ordered her beheaded (or stabbed to death).<br />
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St. Ambrose later wrote on St. Agnes's martyrdom in the 4th century very eloquently and fully grasping all her death has to teach us about the value of personal purity and the dignity of children:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbzzI2bPctvQHA4p-0CjOqvky45leJOGRbGvTyY-tXFmN1tBq4BLKkJPAbwp21EX3OmeGVar5FnWKULT2x0nVNlxhzl0-FRXDlgmXdthPEd45rFAR2YMlqlB3ESXTgvCsIbatqMNXeafo/s1600/1_21_agnes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQbzzI2bPctvQHA4p-0CjOqvky45leJOGRbGvTyY-tXFmN1tBq4BLKkJPAbwp21EX3OmeGVar5FnWKULT2x0nVNlxhzl0-FRXDlgmXdthPEd45rFAR2YMlqlB3ESXTgvCsIbatqMNXeafo/s1600/1_21_agnes2.jpg" height="200" width="171" /></a><b>"The cruelty that did not spare her youth shows all the more clearly the power of faith in finding one so young to bear it witness. </b></blockquote>
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<b>"There was little or no room in that small body for a wound. Though she could scarcely receive the blow, she could rise superior to it. Girls of her age cannot bear even their parents' frowns and, pricked by a needle, weep as for a serious wound. Yet she shows no fear of the blood-stained hands of her executioners. ... She is too young to know of death, yet is ready to face it. ... She puts her neck and hands in iron chains, but no chain can hold fast her tiny limbs. </b></blockquote>
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<b>"A new kind of martyrdom! Too young to be punished, yet old enough for a martyr's crown... she shows herself a master despite the handicap of youth. ... What menaces there were from the executioner, to frighten her; what promises made, to win her over; what influential people desired her in marriage! She answered: "To hope that any other will please me does wrong to my Spouse I will be his who first chose me for himself. Executioner, why do you delay? If eyes that I do not want can desire this body, then let it perish." She stood still, she prayed, she offered her neck.</b></blockquote>
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<b>"You could see fear in the eyes of the executioner, as if he were the one condemned; his right hand trembled, his face grew pale as he saw the girl's perile, while she had no fear for herself. One victim, but a twin martyrdom... Agnes preserved her virginity, and gained a martyr's crown." *</b></blockquote>
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It was said that her youth and her beauty in the midst of such torture caused all the onlookers terrible grief, and that even her persecutors trembled and broke down in tears over what they had done to her. Let us pray for children, keeping in mind that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before they turn 18<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/sv-datasheet-a.pdf">*</a>. As Childlovers, we do well to pray for children who are abused and remind ourselves never to become like the man in this story. </div>
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<b>St. Agnes, patron saint of children, watch over the children of the world; keep them safe from harm; be with them in their hour of need; and always pray for them.</b></div>
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As a childlover, say a prayer for girls (and all the children of God), reminding yourself of the words of our Lord: <b><span style="color: #660000;">"If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea"</span></b> (Mark 9:42). May we truly grasp the meaning of these words. </div>
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*<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lib 1, cap. 2.5 7-9: PL 16 [edit. 1845], 189-19</span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-18136902642050537692013-12-28T07:13:00.000-08:002014-02-01T10:50:41.589-08:00Honoring the Holy Innocents<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9mGFtw29GbeGZ7CL0QB1Jmrut7kWyvwIyB_uhWQy5YyRC722edvPnnRyQunf3YqTOLpbfgrFtLy9dMJI3afClrrdFweZOJ7uxuSj7BgLTGx2O4HsE4JrcOBksOkPsuzBV1cR9axYvcSb/s1600/icon-of-holy-innocents.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9mGFtw29GbeGZ7CL0QB1Jmrut7kWyvwIyB_uhWQy5YyRC722edvPnnRyQunf3YqTOLpbfgrFtLy9dMJI3afClrrdFweZOJ7uxuSj7BgLTGx2O4HsE4JrcOBksOkPsuzBV1cR9axYvcSb/s200/icon-of-holy-innocents.jpg" height="200" width="168" /></a>Today we honor the small boys of Bethlehem slain by King Herod in his attempt to kill the infant Son of God and "newborn King." The Gospel tells the story simply: <b>"Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men"</b> (Matthew 2:16). We honor these boys by having in mind all the children who are killed every day all around the world and praying both for the living, that they be kept from all abuse, neglect, murder, and abandonment, and for those already in the grip of death, that they may be welcomed into the Lord's face without hindrance, wearing robes of white.</div>
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The practice of praying for and asking God to bless children should also be very redemptive and edifying for the childlover and part of our daily devotions, but especially on this most sad occasion as we remember and honor all the children martyred in their innocence. If you see any child today (or any day), make it a practice to say at least "God, bless this child." You can also say this prayer below, or any heartfelt prayer of blessing for children: </div>
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<b>Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, once You embraced and placed Your hands upon the little children who came to You and said: "Suffer not the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and their angels always see the face of my Father!" Look now with fatherly eyes on the innocence of your children, and bless them this day. In Your grace and goodness let them advance continually, longing for You, loving You, fearing You, keeping Your commandments. Then they will surely come to their destined home, through You, Savior of the world. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. </b></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTfnOcn8taQBzi96fDGSLyDB76ca_JcXaopHxEY8o1c_sEXj-RHtLd62R454xCsTsLUoB0f4-WVVWc3Lvd7RFZwMaIaND_7wp86QBwmuPs_XJ41Zduyq2T91lqu_jZ4xYKVUmFnwVD-Fz/s1600/4493061153_1ea0256c12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTfnOcn8taQBzi96fDGSLyDB76ca_JcXaopHxEY8o1c_sEXj-RHtLd62R454xCsTsLUoB0f4-WVVWc3Lvd7RFZwMaIaND_7wp86QBwmuPs_XJ41Zduyq2T91lqu_jZ4xYKVUmFnwVD-Fz/s200/4493061153_1ea0256c12.jpg" height="184" width="200" /></a>We become better Christians, better childlovers, and better people when we pray for children. If you know any children (young friends perhaps), you can also say this prayer to ask God to bless them, or any heartfelt prayer of blessing:</div>
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<b>O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, Who begotten in eternity yet willed to he born in time <i>as a child</i>; Who loves the innocence of childhood and lovingly embraced and blessed the little children who were brought to You: anticipate the needs of [this child/these children] with Your tender blessings, and grant that no evil may corrupt [his/her/their] mind, but that advancing in age, in wisdom, and in grace, [he/she/they] may live so as to please You always. You Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. </b></blockquote>
A small treasury of prayers for children is <a href="http://christianchildlove.blogspot.com/p/prayers-for-children-and-childlovers.html">being compiled here</a>. Suggest one!<br />
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Grace and peace be to you, and to all the little children.</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-27638021225362556462013-12-25T05:49:00.002-08:002013-12-25T05:56:48.020-08:00Emmanuel! (God is With Us)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: justify;">God became a child so that we could see the dignity of every child. </span><br />
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<b>"One night there went out over the stillness of an evening breeze, out over the white chalk hills of Bethlehem, a cry, a gentle cry. The sea did not hear the cry, for the sea was filled with its own voice; the earth did not hear the cry, for the earth slept; the great men of the earth did not hear the cry, for they could not understand how a Child could be greater than a man; kings did not hear the cry, for they did not know that a King could be born in a stable; empires did not hear the cry, for empires did not know that an Infant could hold the reins that steer suns and worlds in their courses. But simple shepherds and wise men heard the cry, for only the very simple and the very learned know that <i>the heart of a God can cry out in the cry of a Child</i>. And they came with gifts and adored, and so great was the majesty seated on the brow of the Child, so great was the dignity of the babe, so powerful was the light of these eyes that shone like celestial suns, that they could not help but cry out:</b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">"Emmanuel . . . God with us."</span>"</b><br />
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--Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen<br />
<i>"The Divine Romance: God's Quest for Man"</i><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">Merry Christmas!</span></div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-48611130450987277392013-12-23T08:56:00.001-08:002014-02-12T06:42:15.367-08:00The Fourth Week of Advent: Peace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The day of the birth of Christ is drawing near. This last candle we light before the birth of our Lord signifies <span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><b>PEACE</b></span>. We call our Lord by many names, including "Prince of Peace," but even as the angels heralded in the birth of the Christ child with anthems of <b>"peace on earth, goodwill toward men"</b> (Luke 2:14), Jesus was very clear that He did not come to bring "peace on earth" the way we often think of peace. <span style="color: #660000;"><b>"Do not suppose that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace on earth, but a sword"</b> </span>(Matthew 10:34). What Jesus is saying is not that He came to bring war, nor was He going to thwart all Israel's enemies (the Romans) and establish an earthly kingdom, but that the result of the gospel would inevitably cause division between the forces of good and evil. Indeed, the kind of peace that Jesus was going to bring was not one where good and evil were going to "go along to get along" with each other, but where good was able to <i>triumph</i> over evil for the salvation of all. </div>
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Had Jesus come to bring "peace as the world gives peace," then we would be doomed. For salvation, evil had to be put down and rendered unable to affect us, and the kind of "sword" we use to put it down with is the word of holiness in the gospel. Indeed, the kind of kingdom that Jesus was setting up was a spiritual kingdom where our common enemy (death and sin) would be thwarted, and in casting it down, only then could we have "peace on earth and goodwill toward men." Christ stressed all the more: <span style="color: #660000;"><b>"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives"</b> </span>(John 14:27). The kind of peace Christ established on earth was an inner peace, stemming from inner holiness, which would ripple out of the inward heart and affect the external world until all the earth was in peace. He was not going to "impose peace" (as the world does), for true peace can only come by will and from within. His peace comes from an inner peace which makes the exterior clean as well: <b><span style="color: #660000;">"Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and <u>then the outside also will be clean</u>"</span></b> (Matthew 23:26). </div>
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How do we Christian Childlovers find peace? Christ has the answer and it is (like all things) no different from the answer he gives to everyone. We do not find peace by "going along with the crowd" and "doing as everyone else does" or "approving of what everyone else does, just for the sake of keeping pace." <u>This is a false "worldly" peace!</u> We are to be "set apart" from the world for the gospel of God (Romans 1:1; Psalm 4:3). This means if all the other Childlovers are chasing after various lusts, we are not to join in with them because we are assured that they have no peace. St. Paul describes the Christian in these terms, comparing him to those who are "tossed about" in the turbulence of their desires: <b>"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming"</b> (Ephesians 4:14). On the contrary, we are assured by St. Peter that those who are tossed about by wanton desire, obeying its every call, have no peace (even if they think they do):<b> "These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm"</b> (2nd Peter 2:17). </div>
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Again and again in the Psalms and Proverbs we are implored not to envy or "walk in step" with those who chase after their lusts at every turn (as they often do in the BL and GL communities): <b>"Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them; For their minds devise violence, And their lips talk of trouble"</b> (Proverbs 24:1). This message was affirmed by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, when he said: <span style="color: #660000;"><b>"You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again?"</b></span> (Matthew 5:13). Christians live in the world (in peace), but they are not of this world, and so reject what the world values. Their values are the eternal truths of God, who does not have peace, but <i>is</i> Peace. One can not have God's Peace if he wars in himself or is torn between the lust of the flesh and the "lust of the spirit"...for these are constantly at war: <b>"For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want"</b> (Galatians 5:17). If we loose our flavor, or our own inner goodness (by "going along with the others and lusting and perverting and engaging in various revelries," even just to "get along with others"), then we have LOST our inner peace, and then there is no "peace on earth." </div>
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For a Childlover to have peace, they first have to live the gospel in truth (which is to participate in that "division" that Christ is talking about, even if it means dividing themselves from other Childlovers who live at war within themselves). But that doesn't mean we should go around the internet communities warring against our Chidlove brothers who disagree with our approach to inner peace (indeed, some will claim to find inner peace by their lusts), nor do we have to completely abandon them, especially if there is a remnant among them that can be helped. Instead we <u>should be among them</u> as examples of inner peace, praying for them, with our inner light shining before them that they may glory God: <b><span style="color: #660000;">"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven"</span></b> (Matthew 5:16). Then, Christ says, we will <b><span style="color: #660000;">"be the salt of the earth,"</span></b> which is to say, we will be <b><span style="color: #660000;">"perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect"</span></b> (Matthew 5:48). We can not settle for personal imperfection, for nothing imperfect can have peace, but we need to strive for absolute perfection which is in Christ Jesus. As the prophet Micah (5:5) wrote: <b>"And <i>he</i> will be their peace."</b> </div>
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We need to join our will to that of the Father (who is perfect) and therefore be the best of the earth and give the rest of the earth its "flavor." This is what the Blessed Mother and Joseph did when they consented to the will of God that they should be the parents of the Savior, despite all of its inconvenience for them. Indeed as the Apostle Matthew points out, <b>"<u>this is how</u> the birth of Salvation came about:" </b></div>
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">"This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such <u>was his intention</u> when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, <i>“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”</i> All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet </b>[Isaiah 7:14]<b style="font-weight: bold;">: <i>"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”"</i> When Joseph awoke, <u>he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him</u> and took his wife into his home." </b><a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/1:18" style="font-weight: bold;">MT 1:18-24</a></blockquote>
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Indeed, once we have <i>"cleaned the inside of the cup," </i>and conformed our will to the Lord's will, no matter how inconvenient it will be for us and our friendships with others (since everything about what the Lord was asking of Joseph and Mary was going to separate them from others), we are to project that inner good and God's will out on the world, and then the outer world will be made clean, and that outer cleanliness will be the <i>"peace on earth and goodwill toward men"</i> that the angels sang of at the birth of our Lord. Our Peace on Earth, and Salvation, always begins WITHIN. We nurture it in our womb, like the Blessed Mother, and when it arrives, it becomes the Salvation of all. </div>
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"Let there be peace on earth, and <b>let it begin with me!</b>" </div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">How beautiful is it when the boy starts singing?</span></div>
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Grace and PEACE be to you!</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-13980170376546748072013-12-19T08:44:00.004-08:002014-02-12T06:42:01.261-08:00The Third Week of Advent: Joy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This third week of Advent, we meditate on the blessings of <span style="color: #ea9999; font-size: large;"><b>JOY</b></span> that the coming of the Savior brings, which is what our rose-colored candle symbolizes (pink is not just for girls, although some would say it does indeed make for the "prettiest" vestments. Sorry boys, but there are no blue vestments!). The purple of the rest of Advent is both a royal color of reverence for the coming of the King, but it is also a penitential color reminding us (as Christ does) of all that we need to rely on Him to perfect in us before His coming. But this Sunday was "Gaudete Sunday," which means "Rejoice," and it's not hard to understand why. Certainly the coming of the Lord for your salvation ought to inspire joy, even if just because His grace is the only reason your penance can avail you anything. </div>
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How can the childlover have any joy though? It would seem everything about living a life set apart for the concern of children and often having no friends for whom to turn to would be devoid of joy and entirely about pain and suffering. Even more for the Christian childlover, who may look out and only see the condemnation of other childlovers for following so "rigid" a path. But even here joy is not only available, but abundantly so! We should be reminded that the coming of the Savior was not so ideal in the lives of both the Blessed Mother or her spouse Joseph, who were also simple and ordinary people tasked with a great burden (to bear the Son of God!). And yet, because they willingly took on this burden and rode that long, arduous, and crooked path all the way to Bethlehem by secular decree--over hills and streams and deserts, in the cold of the night and the heat of the day, they helped bring salvation to all of mankind, which is the source of all joy. This is what He wants for us:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #660000;">“I have told you this so that <i>my joy</i> might be in you and <i>your joy</i> might be complete.”</span></b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/john/15:9">JN 15:9-11</a></blockquote>
When we consent to live chastely and without recourse to sin, despite the very real daily STRUGGLE of it (for it can't be understated), we become like "little Bethlehems" in ourselves toward which the Lord makes His way. During this season of Advent, our joy that God is willing to come to us to save us should prompt us to, as John the Baptist did, "make straight" His paths for him, and put nothing before Him that would hinder His arrival. This is not to say that God can be "hindered," but that we hinder our own ability to receive the graces and joys He alone is always capable and willing to give. How can we truly receive His graces and feel the joy his salvation brings? Let's turn to Isaiah the prophet: </div>
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<b>"Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; with divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing." </b><a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/isaiah/35:1">IS 35:3-6A,</a></blockquote>
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This could mean that, as a childlover, it's time to clear out of your life everything that causes you weakness, or at least, everything you are weak to resist. If you are "made weak" by desires and lusts for a children or youth in pictures or in real life, turn your mind and heart away from such thoughts and desires as a way to "make straight" His paths. It only makes sense that "strength training" yourself against whatever your "weakness" is will only make you "stronger." Then, as Isaiah points out, your strength will cause you much joy and even singing: </div>
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<b>"Those whom the LORD has ransomed will return and enter Zion singing, crowned with everlasting joy; they will meet with joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning will flee."</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/isaiah/35:1">IS 35:10</a></blockquote>
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Then of course you might be wondering how this solves the problems and struggles that accompany a life of such "rigid self-denial" that may seem unfair, even as other people get to live lives of companionship and sexual practice. But this desire only represents yet another obstacle we must all rid from the path we want to make straight for the Lord, which is the desires of covetousness and envy (forbidden by the 9th and 10th Commandments: "Thou shall not covet..."). Surely, not everyone is born to suck the same juices out of the fruits of life, but all are guaranteed to find their own sweetness in Jesus Christ. Some people are diabetic and can't eat sugar, and we might think this is unfair as well, but whether that be the case, such people also have to "do with what they have been given." It is no different for childlovers, who may have desires that they can never fulfill in the ways that they want. It is the very inability to get what we want that causes us not to have joy, but this "wanting what we can't have" is entirely self-imposed, and can only affect us if we allow it power over us. In this life, no one can truly get "what they want," we can only receive what God gives us, and because this is true for everyone, we can find our companionship with our fellow men (and children) not by always getting what we want, but by our mutual wanting for <i>whatever</i> we are given. </div>
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St. Paul describes in such a perfect way what "true joy" really amounts to in this world, and that it is not in "wanting everything" and feeling miserable over what we "can't have," but in having nothing and feeling great joy over what we "do have." How much does this not describe the path of the childlover: <b>"Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; <u>sorrowful, yet always rejoicing</u>; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything"</b> (2nd Corinthians 6:4-10). </div>
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Obviously we will never have joy if we are wanting something we can't have, but joy is very readily available if we are instead wanting only for whatever we are given. What we are given is Christ. This means that our joy can never come by merely attaching ourselves to our own desires, but by doing the things that He desires and thereby accepting the gift that He gives, which is joy itself. What does Christ desire for childlovers? That we live chastely and justly and respect the dignity of children and give to their causes charitably and open our hearts to them and to those who care for them: <b><span style="color: #660000;">"And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me"</span></b> (Matthew 18:15). This gift though, which produces true joy, may be a long time coming, and we may have to wait for it and even endure long struggles before we attain it, but nonetheless our joy is and will be all the more "complete" when it comes, as James wrote in his epistle: </div>
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<b>"Be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You too must be patient. Make your hearts firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not complain, brothers and sisters, about one another, that you may not be judged. Behold, the Judge is standing before the gates."</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/james/5:7">JAS 5:7-10</a></blockquote>
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And our Blessed Lord Himself affirmed us of how valuable we really are before the Lord in these times when He has revealed Himself to us, and how worthy He has made us to receive Him, and therefore just why we should be so joyful. Indeed, as the one sent to prepare the way of the Lord, John the Baptist was the greatest man born of a woman just for having lived to announce the beginning of Christ's redemptive ministry, even greater are those who will benefit from that ministry, which Jesus is still carrying out in His Church right now in the Kingdom of God for you. How blessed are "you!" </div>
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<b><span style="color: #660000;">"This is the one about whom it is written: <i>Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way before you.</i> Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”</span></b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/11:2">MT 11:2-11</a></blockquote>
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We who are actually least in His Kingdom (us lowly sinners) are really greater than they who could only anticipate His Kingdom (like all the prophets and even the greatest of them all, the last of the Old Testament prophets John the Baptist himself), and so we only have all the more reason to be joyful, both that He came, and that He is soon to come again, all for us. </div>
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May the grace, peace, and joy of Christ be to you. </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-54540589505350014192013-12-11T02:31:00.000-08:002014-02-12T06:41:51.389-08:00The Second Week of Advent: Love<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMkHsLFXqu1mrjC7vOvBiJwNA8KIiOXUJ9eAV8WiyV67u0NATw4TEHH6dNJKXD9KWQ15uc2lzjUom6aiAObE5o6nA3YIWkuJAIRmBWAeCtq7cG1Wcf99zrQi6JP7nrr_c-aF0GsLPG_ku/s1600/Advent+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuMkHsLFXqu1mrjC7vOvBiJwNA8KIiOXUJ9eAV8WiyV67u0NATw4TEHH6dNJKXD9KWQ15uc2lzjUom6aiAObE5o6nA3YIWkuJAIRmBWAeCtq7cG1Wcf99zrQi6JP7nrr_c-aF0GsLPG_ku/s200/Advent+2.jpg" height="171" width="200" /></a>The second candle of Advent is lit, and this one should represent something very dear to the heart, and that is <span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><b>LOVE</b></span>. We may think we know how to love children and that whatever we do, it's okay so long as it doesn't hurt anyone, but what is true love other than God's love? It is said that God does not love, He <i>is</i> Love itself. When we love anyone, even imperfectly, we are already experiencing God to an extent (1st John 4:7), whether we recognize it as such or not, but we have all kinds of definitions of love that get in the way and create dishonest ideas of love that often involve ourselves and our own needs first and foremost. God's Love is the purest and truest form of love, and that is complete and total sacrifice of the self for others. What we really love we give our all to, and not just a part of ourselves. We may think we "love" children by lusting after them, and indeed, society thinks the same way about adults lusting after other adults, but there is no such thing as a purely-sexual love. On the other hand, love itself can exist perfectly fine without eros, and can be even more fulfilling. We just have to ask ourselves, how does God love children? and then do likewise. </div>
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There is much we could say about love in the gospel since it nearly pours forth from every page, but in today's gospel, we are reminded in a roundabout way of the true form of love that is not simply about saying "I'm a childlover," or "I'm a Christian," but about living truly for another. As Christ says, <b><span style="color: #660000;">"If you love me, keep my commandments"</span></b> (John 14:15). What are His commandments? Above all, <b><span style="color: #660000;">"love God, and love your neighbor as yourself"</span></b> (Matthew 22:37-40; Luke 10:27; Mark 12:30-31). You cannot love your neighbor without love of God, because when you love God, you know what God loves and you want to abide by it, knowing that God loves it most when you show love others as He loves them. John the Baptist reminds us here that in order to love God, you should be doing good works as evidence of your love. We are not defined by what we are or what we think we are, we are defined by what we DO, and if we are not actually showing God's love to children (directly or indirectly though charity), then we have no right to think of ourselves as "child-lovers." As a prophet, he gives a grave warning that those who don't turn and embrace God's charitable love now will soon find themselves without it, and will be unable to save themselves from the lack of love they had stored up in their soul:</div>
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<b>"When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? <u>Produce good fruit as evidence of your repentance.</u> And <u>do not presume</u> to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God can raise up children to Abraham from these stones. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore <u>every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down</u> and thrown into the fire. I am baptizing you with water, for repentance, but the one who is coming after me is mightier than I. I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand. He will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/3:1">MT 3:1-12</a></blockquote>
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Even the kingdom of Israel wasn't spared from their due justice, much less will any of us be who don't turn and become like little children. At that point, Israel had been brought to its knees time and time again due to unrepentant attachments to sin, and the once-great Davidic kingdom had been reduced to occupation and desecration with Jews turning against each other. The tree that had once stood so tall as a light to the Earth (the city of Jerusalem) had been effectively "chopped down," as John says here. Indeed, <b><u>every</u></b><u><b> tree that does not produce good fruit is going to be chopped down in like manner</b></u>. This is not because God is "wrathful," but because God can't help that which is unrepentant, which is what the teachers of the law were in their hearts. John even insults the Jewish leaders here as being a "brood of vipers," for they spread a kind of spiritual poison like a snake, despite being honorable in the eyes of everyone. John implores them not to simply be men-pleasers and come out to be baptized by him just to look good in front of the others, but to actually bear fruit worthy of the redemption that they were claiming to be seeking. </div>
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How does a childlover "bear fruit worthy of repentance?" One of the greatest of the prophets offers the first glimpses of the coming Hope that will be the hope of both Israel and anyone else who has also been "chopped down" by their own sin and desire: </div>
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<b>"On that day, <u>a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse</u>, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and of understanding, a spirit of counsel and of strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD, and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD... Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them."</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/isaiah/11:1">IS 11:1-10</a></blockquote>
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When Isiah says the "stump of Jesse," he is literally talking about the family of Jesse, who was the father of King David, of whose lineage the prophesy said the Messiah would be born from (like a small shoot from the stump) to restore the Davidic kingdom. He is prophesying about the future Messiah who would come to lead men by the gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord). He says that the divine teaching power of this future Messiah was going to have the effect of literally transforming the nature of the man who humbly received it from being like a "wild beast" to being one of humility, meekness, and loving generosity. For the childlover, Isaiah is essentially saying that the word of the Messiah to come (who we know now to be Christ Jesus), if accepted, is going to transform you from a self-focused "sexual deviant" (as the world sees you, and perhaps how even you see you) into a <b>human being</b> of overflowing love and generosity for children and a selflessness which is more befitting of the term "boylove" or "girllove." You'll become like a little child yourself in fact, and that little child in you, though meek and mild, will be able to tame all those wild, poisonous, and deadly beasts that once controlled you back when you lived impulsively on your sexual whims. Then you'll know what real love is. </div>
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Once more Isaiah emphasizes just how much the word of the coming Messiah will change those who hear it and take heed. The dominion of selfish desire, which so often speaks to us as the antithesis of love, will be so transformed that it can no longer harm you anymore, he says. God's people shall be so delivered once again not only from evil and sin, but also from the <i>fear</i> of evil and sin, that they will be like the child playing with the deadly snake and not being harmed by it or even frightened: </div>
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<b>"The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den."</b> <a href="http://biblehub.com/isaiah/11-8.htm">IS 11:8</a></blockquote>
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Let's also remember the words of the Lord: <b><span style="color: #660000;">"Unless you turn and become as little children, you shall in no-wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven"</span></b> (Matthew 18:3). What kind of love does a child love with? That is the kind of love you ought to love with. We all have to struggle with sin, but with Christ, we become truly a new creation and in Him and we are no longer harmed by that "serpent of old" (Revelation 20:2) and instead allow the "offspring of the woman" (Jesus Christ, son of the Blessed Virgin Mary) to "crush" the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15). We become capable of loving as He loved us on the cross. Otherwise, we are incapable of loving as God Loves. Both the Lord Jesus Christ and John the Baptist insist that we must "turn" and bear the fruits of charity in our lives, or else we can't say we have any real love in us. </div>
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Thus we will see a return of the Davidic faith, which David so profoundly described in his beautiful Psalm 23: <b>"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, <u>I will fear no evil</u>, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me"</b> (Psalm 23:4). Just as David didn't fear evil because of the Lord, neither will those who take heed of the teachings of the coming Messiah, according to Isaiah. He even describes what this new-Davidic "rod" will be in the new Messiah: <b>"He will strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth and the breath of his lips shall slay the wicked"</b> (Isaiah 11:4). Truly, Christ by His words and "breath" (which is also translated often as "spirit") did more to slay the wicked than anything else save for his sacrifice on the cross, and so truly Christ's "rod" and "staff" (His love and His spiritual graces) ought to be our greatest consolation and comfort, just as they were for David, and that is how the Kingdom of God (the "New Jerusalem" (Revelation 21:2) is built. It is built on God's love. </div>
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In this season of Advent as we prepare for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, our King, we should prepare a way for the Charity of God to enter our hearts so that we can love children as He loves children. First of all we have to realize and remember each and every day and whenever we are tempted that, as John the Baptist also said, "I must decrease, and He must increase."</div>
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May the Love of Christ increase in you. Grace and peace be to you. </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-27046692482294483302013-12-06T05:43:00.004-08:002013-12-06T06:09:47.984-08:00Honoring St. Nicholas, an Example for Childlovers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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St. Nicholas is one of the most celebrated saints in the western world, and though he would've never desired such recognition to overwhelm the birth of Christ during the holiday season, the celebration of his legendary generosity and his love for children has become the symbol of Christmas in the modern world and is still beloved by children and adults alike. Sometimes childlovers can feel like Santa Claus, giving what we can for children without any expectation of reimbursement, and sometimes even to very demanding young friends(!), but charity is what we should model at all times, especially to children, as is St. Nicholas a good model for us. Today is his feast day. </div>
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The real St. Nicholas, apart from his fame as "Santa Claus," was the bishop of Myra in the 4th century. He came from a wealthy family, the son of the archbishop of Myra, but he held the poor in his heart and was persecuted under the Roman emperor Diocletian. He was released by the mercies of God and the Christian emperor Constantine and became a bishop. He was always known for his generosity and his concern for the poor, and especially for upholding the dignity of children. </div>
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It is said that once there was a father who had lost his fortune and became destitute, and realizing he could no longer support his three young daughters, contemplated selling them into prostitution in order to make some money. St. Nicholas heard this man's intentions and instead of merely condemning the man, decided to come by night and secretly throw three small bags of gold through the window anonymously, thus allowing the man to avoid committing that horrible sin of child prostitution and defiling his own daughters. He became known for his giving, especially to the poor and to children. Although many children flock to his image and make out their lists of wants and needs, St. Nicholas the man lives on teaching everyone, including children, the virtues of generosity, kindness, helping the poor, and perseverance in hardship (he was imprisoned after all!). </div>
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For childlovers, the saint showed a compassion for children in jeopardy that is more than admirable and still more than needed in this world, and that is what Christian Childlove is all about. Often a childlover's good works for children go unnoticed and unappreciated, but St. Nicholas reminds us that charity is good work always and everywhere, and especially if we have it in our ability and power to go out and do something that will benefit our fellow younger friends. If you know any children, take time to consider whether you have ever been like the father in the story of St. Nicholas, and make the firm decision right now to be more like the man we celebrate today, who in giving what he could give to the poor and to the most vulnerable, was himself imitating our Blessed Lord, who gave us all the supreme gift of Himself, and who's birth and second advent we anticipate in this holy season of Advent.</div>
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<b>St. Nicholas, glorious Confessor of Christ, assist us in thy loving kindness. Grant by your intercession that children who are suffering abuse, maltreatment, or neglect, may experience the hope of Christ in the charity of another, through Christ our Lord. Amen. </b></blockquote>
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<b>Boy Bishops in honor of St. Nicholas - </b>It has been a custom since the middle ages and especially in England to elect a "boy bishop" to parody the real bishop on December 6th, in honor of St. Nicholas Day (the patron saint of children). </div>
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On this day, a boy is elected from the parish to wear the bishop's vestments, wearing the mitre (the hat) and crozier (the shepherd staff) and then to "preside" at the mass (even getting to sit in the bishop's seat!) with the blessing of the bishop, along with his friends dressed as priests and praying for him. Traditionally this is done each day for him until the Feast of the Holy Innocents on December 28th. What a way to inspire the spark of a vocation in a youth!<br />
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Grace and peace be to you. </div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-5977735507399221502013-12-02T00:26:00.001-08:002014-02-12T06:41:42.937-08:00The First Week of Advent: Hope<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpXchfqae6J4_ryM72uyS1iF5cYTkkINxSAnxgpo89S2N_uU3LIIWCNHkqNrHD7n4lAL837iMgFic2ncoT37UIx2jK5pci-KVNUSgKuvoMP66ookwejMQDtAx4ApZzWHO6fjnJmmr51uC/s1600/FirstAdventCandle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpXchfqae6J4_ryM72uyS1iF5cYTkkINxSAnxgpo89S2N_uU3LIIWCNHkqNrHD7n4lAL837iMgFic2ncoT37UIx2jK5pci-KVNUSgKuvoMP66ookwejMQDtAx4ApZzWHO6fjnJmmr51uC/s200/FirstAdventCandle.jpg" height="160" width="200" /></a></div>
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The season of Advent has begun for Christians, and so today remember to light a candle as a reminder that Christ is <b><span style="color: #660000;">"the way, the truth, and the life"</span></b> (John 14:6) who's <b>"light was the light of men" </b>(John 1:4). Most Christian Childlovers have at some point probably lived lives of excessive hedonism, completely blinded by lust and unfulfilled desires leading to depression, desperation, and bitterness against the world (I know I have!). Christ offers you Light in that darkness and may still be calling you towards Himself so that the prophesy of the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: <b>“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness--on them light has shined” </b>(<a href="http://ebible.com/query?utf=8%E2%9C%93&query=Isaiah%209%3A2&translation=ESV&redirect_iframe=http://www.patheos.com/ebible">Isaiah 9:2</a>). If God has shined His Light on you, it's time to be "a light" for Him shining in a dark world as its hope in Him. </div>
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The candle lit on the first Sunday of Advent is the candle of <span style="color: purple; font-size: large;"><b>Hope</b></span>, for in Christ we have our only reason to hope. As the Apostle John wrote: "<b>The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it"</b> (John 1:5), so if you have this Light in you, you can hope in the Hope that it will never be extinguished. This first candle of Advent is a reminder of Christ's special message of his Hope to many a lonely, disgruntled, worried, wrongfully-persecuted or weary Childlover, as well as to many a child in need of affection, outreach, an adult role model, or the basic kindness from a friend. It reminds us that all we need to do to find ways to bring these two things together in a dark world where they seem so separate is to Hope in God through Jesus Christ, who is the Light, and His ability to do it:</div>
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<b>"And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also <u>rejoice in our sufferings</u>, because we know that <u>suffering produces perseverance</u>; perseverance, character; and character, <u>hope</u>. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us"</b> (Romans 5:2-5). </blockquote>
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God has literally poured out His Love and if any of it has reached your heart, as a Childlover, persevere in the hope that He offers and the opportunities He is willing and able to give you to <i>extend</i> His hope to those who need it. You know it because it's the same kind of affection and kindness you already <i>want </i>to show to children. Rejoice in this Hope, even despite your daily struggles, and you will come to know the good character He wants to prepare in you this time of year especially as you prepare yourself both for the coming of the birth of the Lord (on Christmas) and His future coming in glory. Christ reminds us in his Church today that we must "stay awake" and be vigilant for His sake, for this purpose, because we know not the hour He will come again:</div>
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<b><span style="color: #660000;">"Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."</span> </b><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/matthew/24:37">MT 24:37-44</a></blockquote>
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Surely though, if we are awake and vigilant at all times by His grace, the promise of the coming of Christ is the greatest, surest hope we have, no matter what our struggles or difficulties. We can't hope in our lusts, or in our sexual appetites, or even in our own internal division, because these things followed to their inevitable conclusion will result in nothing but potential depression, anxieties, and inadequacy, or worse, imprisonment, or even worse, a child being physically and <b>spiritually</b> harmed, and that path is nothing but death because of that. We can hope that in dying to such lusts, as Christ also died so that all sin could be defeated, that we can defeat the temptations to sin in our own life, and then as Christ was reborn in a new glorified form, become reborn ourselves in a new glorified form, and walk the path of His Life that will find us truly LOVING children the way God intends for them to be loved, as it is His will. </div>
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St. Paul continues this message: <b>"Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to <u>awake from sleep</u>" </b>(Romans 13:11). He says that, as the long year comes to a close in our case, the night has passed away and the DAY is dawning anew, and implores us to walk in the daylight and no longer merely "sleep-walk" through our life and stumble around as we would in the darkness as we went following after whatever appetite or lust threw us this way or that and left us feeling lonely and depressed as a result. Live consciously, St. Paul says, and "keep watch" (as Christ also commanded the disciples at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:40): </div>
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<b>"Let us then throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and lust, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh." </b><a href="http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/romans/13:11">ROM 13:11-14</a></blockquote>
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In our preparations for the coming of Jesus Christ, our Savior, far more than merely lighting a candle, is to literally <u>become</u> "a light" shining in the darkness just as He is. Christian Childlovers are called to be "set apart" from the world (Romans 12:2), and particularly apart from other Childlovers, almost like a candle shining in the darkness. We are not here to run after the whims of various pedophilic lusts as many Childlovers may, but conform ourselves to the Light, as Christ prayed on our behalf: <b><span style="color: #660000;">"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world"</span></b> (John 17:15-18). </div>
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Be sent into the world, and in so doing <u>prepare</u> for the coming of the Lord, rejoicing in your struggles and persevere through them. Die to the self so that you may live for others this Advent! In living, try to truly "set yourself apart" this holiday season. Instead of spending time within the various message boards and internet communities for Childlovers prattling on as you know they always do in idleness, set time apart during Advent this year to donate to some cause for needy children instead, even if it's just some food for the local church or community collection. Or go buy a toy, a blanket, or something comfortable for a child in need and donate it to the local church or community collection, or make it an anonymous gift to a family and just <u>leave it at their doorstep!</u> Tell them why you have given it on behalf of Jesus Christ. If you know a family who is struggling to make ends meet, be a true Childlover and donate your time or financial support to give a family hope this Advent in preparation for the Hope that God has given you in the birth and coming of His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. </div>
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<b>Let us pray: Lord as we look to the birth of Jesus, grant that the light of your love for us will help us to become lights in the lives of those around us. Prepare our hearts for the joy and gladness of your coming, for Jesus is our hope. Amen.</b></div>
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May we receive God’s light. Grace and Hope be to you. </div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-8156951774762911072013-11-18T21:39:00.000-08:002014-01-22T07:18:04.006-08:00Happy International Men's Day!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijx_Cwr7fPHdO6e5mPQwOzHp-pag0SzDczF3Mjo5ZE7t8rUReIean8Zo3eKUATes2z-uMvlqrG5twYWFG80XREuSFyrVgCNJQqdy2K3rdYGu2-0X0dB9fBYI39h55-_USI-5_3l7YzKG0p/s1600/intermendays11small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijx_Cwr7fPHdO6e5mPQwOzHp-pag0SzDczF3Mjo5ZE7t8rUReIean8Zo3eKUATes2z-uMvlqrG5twYWFG80XREuSFyrVgCNJQqdy2K3rdYGu2-0X0dB9fBYI39h55-_USI-5_3l7YzKG0p/s200/intermendays11small.jpg" width="200" /></a>Don't listen to the naysayers out there who say such outreach is illegitimate or not needed, because every boy deserves the best start in life and every man who wrongfully suffers anywhere in the world is deserving of our concern, but all over the world there are men and boys dealing with violence, suicide, lack of scholastic achievement, lack of male role models, lack of security, higher rates of mental illness, imprisonment, and unemployment, and and who have no supports to turn to. That is why the issues concerning men and boys worldwide are observed every year on <b>November 19th</b>. This year, the theme is "<b>Keeping Men and Boys Safe</b>." Men and boys have a great number of issues that affect them, and so today is about spreading awareness on these issues.</div>
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The theme for 2013 is, <b>"Keeping Men and Boys safe"</b>. The nominated target areas are:</blockquote>
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<b><span style="color: #0b5394;">• Keeping men and boys Safe by tackling male suicide;</span></b></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">• Keeping boys safe so they can become tomorrow’s role models;</span></b></b></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">• Tackling our <u>tolerance of violence</u> against men and boys;</span></b></b></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">• Boosting men’s life expectancy by keeping men and boys safe from avoidable illness and death;</span></b></b></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: #0b5394;">• Keeping men and boys safe by promoting fathers and male role models.</span></b></b></div>
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The 2013 Press Release asks,<b> "People all over the world are used to relating to men as protectors and providers, but how often do we consider the actions we can all take to protect Men and Boys from harm and provide them with a safe world where they can thrive and prosper?"</b></div>
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Some other issues worth considering on this day: </div>
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1. Reducing male suicide (currently 80% of all suicides).</div>
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2. Restoring educational equity to our boys (who achieve 20% below their female peers).</div>
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3. Responding to the crisis in men's greater unemployment.</div>
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4. Decreasing the gap in reading and writing for boys worldwide. </div>
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5. Decreasing boys' infant mortality rates (which are greater than girls).</div>
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6. Decreasing men and boys' over-representation in addictions and mental health.</div>
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7. Eliminating the enormous cost of fatherlessness to children and society. </div>
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8. Eliminating the almost total lack of services for male victims of violence.</div>
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9. Stopping the exploitation, mutilation, and death of boys used as soldiers worldwide. </div>
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And here are some websites you should check out and spread on this day include: </div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/international.mens.day">International Men's Day (on Facebook)</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.internationalmensday.com/">International Men's Day</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.mensday.ws/en/theme.php">International Men's Day 2013</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.imd-global.org/">IMD Global</a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Give boys the best possible start in life! Spread the word!</span></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-87805940924491892482013-11-11T22:03:00.000-08:002014-08-14T14:35:21.808-07:00A Prayer for the People of the Philippines <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Merciful God, the natural world is both wondrous and terrifying. It can tear away homes, cause great loss of life, and leave lost and bereft those whose lives have been upended. Such is the case now in the Philippines. Throughout the ages, people have turned to You in times of devastation and heartbreak such as this. You always turned Your heart toward them and never abandoned them. </b></blockquote>
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<b>Let Your presence now be known by the men, women, and children who have lost so much in the face of this typhoon. Bring them comfort and relief and offer consolation in the midst of desolation by the works of your angels and protect and guide all those who will respond to help those affected at this time. We especially pray for the children who have lost parents or families that they may be made safe and offered emotional security in this hour of tragedy, heartbreak, and injury. Make those of us untouched by this disaster mindful of their needs and generous in our response. In the rebuilding that must take place, draw us together in mutual love and support for all those affected. In Your gracious Name, we pray. Amen. </b></blockquote>
<b>How to Help:</b> To assist in the disaster relief of the Philippines, please consider giving to the <a href="https://www.redcross.org/donate/index.jsp?donateStep=2&itemId=prod4650031">Red Cross Philippine Typhoon Appeal</a> or other related appeal.<br />
<b><br /></b>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2961281368167892284.post-86729746876666353172013-10-30T02:17:00.001-07:002013-12-19T14:53:56.307-08:00Gifts You Gotta Grab For<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Opening Prayer</b> (<a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/psalms/34:2">PS 34;19-20</a>):</div>
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The LORD is close to the brokenhearted;</div>
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and those who are crushed in spirit he saves.</div>
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Many are the troubles of the righteous,</div>
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but the LORD delivers him from them all. <b>Amen.</b></div>
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<b>Greetings!</b></div>
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How often do we think there's just no justice in the world when it comes to being a childlover? We may often wonder <i>"when do I get my reward for having to practice more self-control than anyone else I know?"</i> The truth is, whether we are Christian or not, the way of the childlover can not be separated from the way of the Christian. We are to suffer and go without while others get to partake. We are to be hated by everyone even as we wake up every morning trying to do the right thing by children in ways nobody will ever know or give us credit for. The fact is, we're looking for justice in all the wrong places -- in ourselves and for what we think we "deserve" rather than seeing ourselves as agents of God's justice working through us already. Inner peace with ourselves and others is what we want, but it takes a humble heart (without pride) to receive that peace. </div>
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<b>Readings and Homily: </b></div>
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When we see our own good works not as our own but as God's work, our own works reveal themselves for what they really are (all the lies, lusts, adulteries, and feuds we've had with people...etc), and far from seeing ourselves as being unjustly dealt, we see how <i>undeserving</i> we really are, and then how loving God is--that even in our <i>self-righteousness</i>, God has already made us agents of his mercy and justice in the world. We have so much to be thankful for, but we can only be "thankful" if we have received what we are thankful for, and we can only receive what is given to us if we are open to receiving it, and we can only be "open to it" if we are acknowledge that we are in need of it. It takes humility in prayer. At the same time though we may often be the favorite in our own minds, convincing ourselves of our righteousness and that we "deserve" or "have a right" to certain things (like respect from others), whether we are Christian or not, but Joshua ben Sira the wise wrote well when he said:<b> "The LORD is a God of justice, who knows no favorites"</b> (Sirach 35:12). No one is entitled to anything simply because they think they are deserving, and that means you, and me, and everyone. God will give to us what we <i>actually</i> deserve, and not what we <i>think</i> we deserve, because God is just, and we are not. </div>
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Despite this individual impartiality, God is not indifferent, for He hears the oppressed, the poor (in material things yes, but especially the "poor in spirit" (Matthew 5:3)), the sick, and those hungering and thirsting for righteousness (Matthew 5:6), but at the same time: <b>"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination [to the Lord]..."</b> (Proverbs 21:27). God doesn't hear the prayers of the wicked, or prideful, and those who think they have no need, not because He is cruel, but because He can't give to those who refuse to receive. On the other hand, He listens to those who are humble and know they are in need and are open to receiving whatever He's willing to give (whether it's what we want or not). Sirach goes on to say: <b>"The Lord is not deaf to the wail of the orphan, nor to the widow when she pours out her complaint"</b> (Sirach 35:17). The question then becomes, do we think of ourselves as needing the righteousness of God, or do we think we don't need God because we already have it <i>"in ourselves?"</i> Scripture is very clear about which one God hears: </div>
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<b>"The one who serves God willingly is heard; his petition reaches the heavens. </b><b>The prayer of the lowly pierces the clouds; </b><b>it does not rest till it reaches its goal, </b><b>nor will it withdraw till the Most High responds, </b><b>judges justly and affirms the right, </b><b>and the Lord will not delay."</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/sirach/35:12">SIR 35:16-18</a></blockquote>
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Does our prayer reach the clouds? Does it not rest until it reaches what it searches for? Does it not withdraw until the Most High responds? If such is the case, we should see ample evidence that the Lord has not delayed in answering. If not, and if for any reason we have rested our petition, our desire, withdrawn it, or put our trust in something else that is not capable of granting what we want from the Lord, then it's not that God is being unjust with us, it's that we have become receivers of God's justice, which means we get what we deserve. If we want to experience God's justice to our benefit, then we best humble ourselves and put off pride. If instead we find ourselves experiencing God's justice to our detriment, it's a calling to repentance, not condemnation. We condemn ourselves when we don't respond to the call of repentance from God (as Paul instructed Titus to ignore sinners who refuse to accept admonishment: <b>"You may be sure that such [divided] people are warped and sinful; they are <u>self-condemned</u>"</b> (Titus 3:11)).</div>
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We improperly judge ourselves, and that arrogance and pride will do a number on us, distorting (or "warping") and magnifying how we regard what is just for "us" to receive. We may feel like we're doing the right thing and therefore convince ourselves that we are "entitled to" more respect than we are receiving from others. As Christian Childlovers, how often do we find ourselves in among other childlovers who are "basking in iniquity" and consider ourselves "superior" to them? How often do we feel persecuted when both the outside world and our own fellow childlovers fail to tolerate our lifestyle choices, as if they owe it to us? Maybe the beginning of finding inner peace with ourselves and with the world comes from being able to not feel superior to anyone, as Paul also stopped short of condemning those who refused him: <b>"At my first defense no one appeared on my behalf, but everyone deserted me. <u>May it not be held against them!</u>"</b> (2nd Timothy 4:16). Notice he didn't chastise those who deserted him at his hour of need, but forgave them, which is a profound act of humility. Maybe all we need to do to start being at peace in a world that isn't giving us the respect we think we "deserve" is to stop thinking we deserve any respect from this world, so that we can then be grateful to God alone for the respect we do receive from the Lord, as Paul goes on to say: </div>
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<b>"But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the proclamation might be completed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil threat and will bring me safe to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen."</b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/2timothy/4:6">2 TM 4:17-18</a></blockquote>
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Once we stop expecting that God "owes us" something for the great "nothing" we have to offer Him in return, we start to realize just how much God has already given us, and how much we are in debt to Him instead. When we compare our righteousness to that of other childlovers (in our case), we make ourselves the standard of our own righteousness, exalting ourselves before God and making ourselves incapable of receiving what God wishes to give us: <u>peace</u> (NOT "<u>your</u> peace," but HIS peace: <b><span style="color: #660000;">"...<u>My peace</u> I give you"</span></b> (John 14:27). On the other hand, when we compare our righteousness to that of Christ's, Whom we should compare ourselves to if we really are "Christ"ians, we make <i>Christ</i> the center of our lives and see how lowly we really are by comparison, and therefore make ourselves capable of receiving His peace, which IS peace itself, <b><span style="color: #660000;">"not as the world gives"</span></b> so that we don't let our "hearts be troubled" (John 14:27). When we exalt ourselves before God, we are children throwing a tantrum before God Who then can't give to us the good things we need because we are cutting ourselves off from being able to receive them. When we humble ourselves before God, we make ourselves adoring, obedient children who can be given many good things, which pleases the Lord to do even more than it pleases a parent to give good things to their children (Matthew 7:11). </div>
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And isn't inner peace really what we are looking for when we go looking for the satisfaction of being on the "receiving end" of justice? We feel like we are due something for our efforts from a world that is unwilling or incapable of giving it, and so we don't feel at peace, but maybe we <i>would</i> feel at peace if we just stopped convincing ourselves that we "deserved" it and just received what we are given instead. We would have what we really want (the Lord's peace) if we could just stop wanting what we don't deserve (respect from men), and Christ tells us this:<b> <span style="color: #660000;">"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours"</span></b> (Mark 11:24). Notice, Christ does not say "believe that you <i>already have it</i>," (which would assume you were the source of the gift), but says "believe that you have <i><u>received</u></i> it" (from God), and <u>only then</u> is it "yours." In order to receive anything, you have to be open to receiving it, otherwise you will never receive it, no matter how much it is given. You have to humble yourself to realize what little you have and how much you need. </div>
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This parable of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke really speaks for itself, and prompts you to ask yourself: As a childlover, do I see myself as a noble person, beyond reproach and therefore having no need for mercy (a "pharisee"), or do I see myself as the lowest of the low, completely beyond hope and mercy and desperately clinging to wickedness at all times despite wanting forgiveness (a "tax collector")? Christ is very clear about who's prayer will get heard: </div>
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<b>"Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. <span style="color: #660000;">"Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself,<i> 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity -- greedy, dishonest, adulterous -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’</i> But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, <i>'O God, be merciful to me a sinner.'</i> I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for <u>whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted</u>."</span></b> <a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/luke/18:9">LK 18:9-14</a></blockquote>
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In this spirit, pray right now and always <b>"Oh God, have mercy on me, a sinner,"</b> and be merciful to someone you would never think to be merciful towards (even your worst enemy), and then know that if your prayer is genuine, God WILL be merciful to you, and grant you the peace that you will have only in Him--a peace you do not "deserve," but one He is willing to give anyways. You will notice and value the respect you already do have from other childlovers and the world so much more when you stop trying to measure it against the respect you think you "deserve." The humbled will be exalted. </div>
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Grace and peace be to you. </div>
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<b><b>Closing Prayer </b>(<a href="http://new.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/psalms/34:2">PS 34:17-18</a>):</b></div>
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The LORD confronts the evildoers,</div>
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to destroy remembrance of them from the earth.</div>
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When the just cry out, the Lord hears them,</div>
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and from all their distress he rescues them. <b>Amen.</b></div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14835018457629824500noreply@blogger.com0