Christmas Day has passed and the opened presents
are there for the viewing. Earlier this week when looking at the wrapped
packages under the tree I reflected on some of the “gifts” I had received from
God this past year.
On March 30th our daughter delivered
a very healthy pre-mature baby girl weighing in at 6.5 pounds. She had a
high-risk pregnancy, which had her taking special medicines and shots to keep
the baby inside. The neonatal specialists were amazed she hadn’t delivered early
- as it was, she gave birth just one month before her due date. The little baby
has grown and thrived and her life has brought healing graces to our family as we journeyed with our daughter through the divorce process this past year.
In October another daughter delivered a baby boy, Blaise Emmanuel. She had two “normal” deliveries prior, so our only worry
was she would go past due which would limit our cuddling time before our visit
would come to an end. She did go past the due date by a week, and she delivered
a baby with his bladder on the outside. The New Jersey hospital prepped right
away to send Blaise to John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD – renowned for
such a condition. My husband and I watched the siblings while my daughter and
her husband hurried off to Baltimore. They were met by the specialist letting
them know Blaise has a “great” bladder and they would be able to take care of
putting it back inside the next week. The doctor sent them home to await the
surgery. My kind coworker told me to
stay another week, which I did. So we enjoyed having the newborn home, and all
was normal except for wrapping the bladder in saranwrap after each diaper
change. Meanwhile we were looking up the patron saint for bladder conditions
and discovered it is St. Blaise! We
felt like this was a hug from God letting us know He was taking care of
everything. Plus, we were then able to condescend to the fact the family’s move
to New Jersey last January was another one of God’s gifts, since they are close
to Baltimore where their baby will be spending a lot of his time with future reconstructive
surgeries. Other gifts included the family getting a room at the hospital
housing unit, and the other grandma being free to stay the 5 week term of
recuperation to help out, and that little Blaise was able to get out of
traction after the minimum period of 4 weeks.
God’s gifts are sometimes wrapped in ways that I
do not always see them as treasures but rather as tragedies, burdens, and
frustrations. I need to allow Blessed
Mom to help me see God’s goodness in all events. For she accepted God's gifts of a donkey ride while 9 months pregnant, and fleeing her home while
being chased by soldiers who wanted to kill her baby. She trusted, awaited, and
loved. I cannot do that on my own, but perched in her merciful arms, she can
trust, await, and love for me and through me.
So how about you? What gifts did
God give you this past year?
"The conviction that everything is 'given' to us, that everything is a gift, can be born on the foundation of the truth about God's unceasingly bestowing love and the truth about ourselves as people who need everything from this bestowing love."
S.C. Biela, TheTwo Pillars, (Ft.Collins, CO: IAMF, 2006), 7.
***********************************************************************
A note from our bloggers:
We offer our prayers that you feel the Christmas
joy, love, and peace
that Jesus brings every day when we open our hearts to
Him.
We hope for a most blessed New Year for each and every one of you
- full
of God’s merciful gifts in 2016 ~ the
Jubilee of Mercy!
If you're at all interested in knowing . . . the Catholic Dogmas . . . that we *must believe* to get to Heaven . . .
ReplyDeleteWe list it on our website > > > www.Gods-Catholic-Dogma.com
The Dogmas have in fact ... been hidden from you.
The Catholic God knows . . . what we think and believe . . .
Catholic writing of Romans 1:21 >
"They ... became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened."
Catholic Faith (pre-fulfillment) writing of Job 21:27 >
"Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against Me."
The fact that "islam" is not a religion is on Section 113.1 of the site. Mohammed in the "koran" wrote exactly the opposite of the Old Testament Prophets.
Proverbs 30:4 > "Who hath ascended up into Heaven ... what is the name of His Son."
koran - maryam 19:35 > "It is not befitting ... Allah that He should beget a son."
For your consideration.
ReplyDeleteDear Catholic Crusader,
ReplyDeleteFive hundred years ago in 1517, Martin Luther made public his 95 complaints against the Roman Catholic church (hereafter, RCC). Today, we shall do likewise, with another 95 reasons. However, in this critique, we will exclusively fixate on the nucleus of all Catholic doctrine called, Transubstantiation. This teaching is built on the premise that when the priest utters “This is my body” over bread and wine that the “combustible” syllables of these four words ignite with such power and energy that, unbeknownst to our cognizant senses, the substance of bread and wine miraculously change (“by the force of the words” says the Council of Trent; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1375). They are then abruptly replaced with something else entirely; namely, the very body, blood, soul and divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ in some mysterious form which leaves only the outward appearance of bread and wine (i.e., the color, shape, size, taste, weight and texture -- or "accidental" properties, remain unchanged in objective reality). It is claimed that the supernatural power that creates this miracle on a daily basis, 24 hours a day in Masses worldwide, “is the same power of Almighty God that created the whole universe out of nothing at the beginning of time” (Mysterium Fidei, 47). The question is: does the sacred rhetoric of Jesus lead us to conclude He intended it be recited like a magician recites his incantations? (Reason 6, 74). That at the recitation of these four words, the world is obligated to be transfixed on Transubstantiation???
We should think that a rollercoaster of 95 reasons against this doctrine should at least pique your curiosity, let alone make you wonder if, like the calmness of a ferris wheel, you can so calmly refute them. The issue is far from inconsequential, since it’s claimed our very eternal destinies are at stake. So while sensitive to the fact that many are captivated by this doctrine, we are persuaded that the theological framework of the Bible conveys a persistent and vigorous opposition to this theory. God's word tells us to, "study to show yourself approved" (2 Tim 2:15) and we have indeed done just that.
The almost “romantic fidelity” to Transubstantiation springs forth from the opinion that consuming the “organic and substantial” body of Christ in the Eucharist is necessary for salvation (CCC 1129 & 1355; Trent, "Concerning Communion", ch. 1 and “Concerning Communion Under Both Kinds”, ch. 3; Canon 1; Mysterium Fidei, intro). Our burden here is to safeguard the gospel (Jude 1:3). If a religious system professing to be Christian is going to demand that something be done as a prerequisite for eternal life, it is vital to scrutinize this claim under the searchlight of Scripture and with “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). Proverbs 25:2 says, "the honor of a king is to search out a matter". We shall do likewise.
Determined to test all things by Holy Writ (1 Thess 5:21; Acts 17:11, 2 Cor 10:5), the following 95 reasons have been compiled to an extravagant length to provoke you to consider the cognitive complexities of this doctrine which we conclude are biblically unbearable. We are so convinced the Bible builds a concrete case against this superstition, that we will not allow the things we have in common to suppress the more urgent need to confront the differences that divide us, such as Transubstantiation. We are told this issue directly impacts our eternal destiny, so it must not be ignored. The Lord Jesus came to divide and conquer by the truth of His word. He said, "Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division" (Luke 12:51-53).
For the full essay of 95 reasons, kindly e-mail me at
Eucharistangel@aol.com
halodoc
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We have entered the "age to come" foretold by Jesus in Mark 10:30, the Glorious Manifestation of Our King, Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ. (the Harmonious Gospel of Saint Mark, chapter 10, verse 30)
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