Lamb of God.

O gentle Lamb, our glorious King,

Who made the sound of freedom ring.

O Lamb of God, who for our sake

Came down to earth, us new to make.

O tender, pure, most selfless Lamb,

You died to save beloved man.

I've always loved the the image of the Lamb of God. I was really thinking about it last night, wrote it down and just ended up writing this short poem. I always feel like I need to keep going and write longer things but I think I like it the way it is. I might add to it later but for now I like it :)

This morning I read this blog : http://catholicyoungwoman.blogspot.com/2011/08/where-has-beauty-gone.html and I really loved the phrase the writer used - "soul-refreshing". That's exactly how I feel when I go on walks in beautiful wooded areas,around lakes,beautiful churches,adoration..etc. Today I was walking on a wooded path around a lake. The wind was gently blowing and everything was just so peaceful. Everything was just so beautiful. I think "soul-refreshing" is the perfect way to describe it. It's a time I can rest and no matter what my worries are it always refocuses my mind on God.

My other blog:

www.thelifeyouvegivenme.blogspot.com

After reading this blog post The Catholic Young Woman: Dressing Like Mary .. I came up with this.

MARY INSPIRED by shortandsweet featuring navy flat shoes

I'm not too sure why the white shirt over the skirt is messed up tho :/

A wonderful testimony.

 

I thought this was really awesome. I had been watching this fashion/make-up guru on YouTube for awhile with no idea she had any belief in God. I came across this video of hers and I thought it was really awesome she'd give such a strong,powerful testimony on YouTube and wanted to share it.

Matthew Mayfield - Now You're Free

"Don’t give up now
Don’t give up now cuz we’re already here…

Sing til you mean it
And love til you feel it
Cuz I still believe in your heart
Don’t let the waves push and pull you away
Now you’re free and it sets you apart
Now you’re free and it sets you apart."

Love and Prayer

"This is the only way to get to know Jesus: speak to Him! You will always find in Him a Father, a Friend, an Adviser, a Helper in all the noble deeds of your everyday life. And getting to know Him will give rise to Love."  
- St.Josemaria Escriva (The Furrow,662)

So often I go about prayer the wrong way. I turn it into an obligation. I feel like I have to do certain things to prove my love for Him. When I try it this way my prayer usually sounds emotionless like I'm just rattling off compliments or things I know to be true but not taking the time to understand and full mean them.

It's so much better when I just take to time to really talk to Him. Let it all out. I have lots of times where I just feel lonely. I think God allows me to have these feelings so I will turn to Him and pour it all out.

I often think of needing to earn things from God...His love,"time",mercy. But nobody can earn these things. When I feel so completely unworthy of His love and think He couldn't possibly want me to approach Him because I don't deserve it I have to just stop and trust. I know He wants me to come to Him - I mean,look at the book of psalms! God is called our refuge,shelter and strength countless times. He loves us so much...

Just a thought.

I went to confession at the Fest yesterday and it was the first time I've ever had a priest talk to me for a long time during confession. He was talking about how it's good to have a quote or saying to repeat to yourself when you're feeling down. He said his was a short prayer thanking God for the wondrous creation of himself. When he said that it really surprised me. At first I thought it sounded really prideful. But when I was thinking about it, it obviously isn't. Each and every person is a creation of God's and therefore is wonderfully made. To say otherwise would imply that God carelessly created a person or just created at random which be an insult to God. Today I found this verse and thought it went along really well:

"I praise You, so wonderfully You made me; wonderful are Your works!" - Psalm 139:14. 

If every time I felt bad about myself I thought of that I think it would help me do something constructive (like praying) to better myself rather than giving up and doing something destructive.

On Humility

"The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it."
--Saint Vincent de Paul

 

"Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance. "
--Saint Augustine

"Humility is to the various virtues what the chain is in a Rosary. Take away the chain and the beads are scattered; remove humility, and all virtues vanish."  

-- St. John Vianney

"Don't permit your misery or defeats to depress you. Rather let them be steps by which you descend the deep mine where we find the precious gem of holy humility". 

-- St. Paola Frassinetti

note to self..

Today was just one of those days I needed to take it slow & concentrate on what I know is true no matter what I'm feeling.

He loves me.

He doesn't think I'm a waste of time.

He wants more for me..He made me for a reason.

The only reason I'm existing now is His will.

He wants me to come to Him.

He will never be too busy for me. 

I will never ever be "too much" for Him.

He will always protect,love&help me if I just let Him.

He will always be there.

from "The Way to Christ. (spiritual exercises)"

"Let us consider what God says and what He wants to give me. He wants to draw me into His love and enfold me in Himself - and He is love itself. He wants to give Himself to me. This is very wonderful." 

 - Pope John Paul II

"Maxims for Attaining Perfection" by St. Alphonsus Liguori

1. To desire ardently to increase in the love of Jesus Christ

2. Often to make acts of love towards Jesus Christ. Immediately on waking,and before going to sleep, to make an act of love, seeking always to unite your own will to the will of Jesus Christ.

3. Often to meditate on His Passion.

4. Always to ask Jesus Christ for His love.

5. To communicate often, and many times in the day to make spiritual communions.

6. Often to visit the Most Holy Sacrament.

7. Every morning to receive from the hands of Jesus Christ Himself your own cross.

8. To desire Paradise and death, in order to be able to love Jesus Christ perfectly and formall eternity.

9. Often to speak of the love of Jesus Christ.

10. To accept contradictions for the sake of Jesus Christ.

11. To rejoice in the happiness of God.

12. To do that which is most pleasing to Jesus Christ, and not to refuse Him anything that is agreeable to Him.

13. To desire and to endeavor that all should love Jesus Christ.

14. To pray always for sinners and for the souls in purgatory.

15. To drive from your heart every affection that does not belong to Jesus Christ.

16. Always to have recourse to the most holy Mary, that she may obtain for us the love of Jesus Christ.

17. To honor Mary in order to please Jesus Christ.

18. To seek to please Jesus Christ in all your actions.

19. To offer yourself to Jesus Christ to suffer any pain for His love.

20. To be always determined to die rather than commit a willful venial sin.

21. To suffer crosses patiently, saying, "Thus it pleases Jesus Christ."

22. To renounce your own pleasure for the love of Jesus Christ.

23. To pray as much as possible.

24. To practice all the mortifications that obedience permits.

25. To do all your spiritual exercises as if it were for the last time.

26. To persevere in good works in the time of aridity.

 27. Not to do nor yet to leave undone anything through human respect.

28. Not to complain in sickness.

29. To love solitude, to be able to converse alone with Jesus Christ.

30. To drive away melancholy [gloom]

31. Often to recommend yourself  to those persons who love Jesus Christ.

32. In temptation, to have recourse to Jesus crucified, and to Mary in her sorrows.

33. To trust entirely in the Passion of Jesus Christ.

34. After committing a fault, not to be discouraged, but to repent and resolve to amend.

35. To do good to those who do evil.

36. To speak well of all, and to excuse the intention when you cannot defend the action.

37. To help your neighbor as much as you can.

38. Neither to say nor to do anything that might vex him. And if you have been waiting in charity, to ask his pardon and speak kindly to him.

39. Always to speak with mildness and a low tone.

40. To offer to Jesus Christ all the contempt and persecution that you have met with.

41. To look upon religious Superiors as the representatives of Jesus Christ.

42. To obey without answering and without repugnance, and not to seek your own satisfaction in anything.

43. To like the lowest employment.

44. To like the poorest things.

45. Not to speak either good or evil of yourself.

46. To humble yourself even towards inferiors.

47. Not to excuse yourself when you are reproved.

48. Not to defend yourself when found fault with.

49. To be silent when you are disquieted.

50. Always to renew your determination of becoming a saint,saying, "My Jesus, I desire to be all Yours, and You must be all mine."