O so merciful...
"What are you dreaming of to fear Our Lord has abandoned you! Will he, who has never abandoned you when you appeared to leave him, abandon you now that you seek him. Drive away the devil who suggests such things to you, it is a thought which outrages God's mercy, and do Our Lord the justice of believing him to be infinitely good, after all the proofs you have had of his infinite mercy."
-St. Claude de la Columbiere
God is so incredible! I really needed this quote. Lately I've just been struggling with this lately. Yesterday I was in adoration and for the first 2 decades of the rosary I was just really really angry at myself for always messing up and never doing what I'm supposed to do for God. For me the way I eat controls how I feel about myself. So when I get upset and eat alot it makes me feel worse and it's almost impossible at those times to do anything to improve myself because I feel like such a lost cause (hence my lack of posts on here). But I've been working on it...
ANYWAY!
Any of you who are on Facebook should check out my friend's page where I found this quote. It's named "In Te Confido" http://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Te-Confido/165164173570776
1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you."- John 15:1-14
ReplyDelete"54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever."- John 6:54-58
"10 ...that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."- Philippians 3:10-14
Never forget that, as you continue your life's journey, you are being pulled upward by God. All of the things we do to continually purify ourselves, to stop messing up, to follow God's will more perfectly, they are all dependent upon Christ pulling us into Himself. Through the Eucharist, Christ makes you His own every single week, and through Confession, He is continually forgiving you and imparting His grace to you. Along with St. Paul, we can say that we make eternal life our own because our Divine Spouse continually makes us His own, in an act of Spousal Love too deep for words. We receive this by the Eucharist and through Faith, which propels us forward in making this wonderful gift our own.
Never, ever forget that salvation is Marriage to Christ. When you get upset, think about that, fill your heart with that thought; read John chapter 15 to keep making the Intimacy and Love with which Jesus loves you, individually, part of your soul. You are Never a lost cause because Jesus Christ is continually uniting Himself to you through the Church and Her Sacraments, and when He looks at you, He sees His beloved daughter; He sees Mary Immaculate in your heart. No Good Husband loves their Bride only whenever they please Him, and then whenever they go through a rough time or eat too much throws them away; God is the Perfect Husband, and He loves His Bride, Mary, Perfectly, and he loves you perfectly in her and in Christ. That is one reason why identifying with the Blessed Mother is beneficial to salvation! :)
~Jonathan