The Ugliness of Sin

Hieronymus Bosch, Christ carries the Cross, 1515-16

Whenever I see this picture I am struck by the sheer ugliness (as I'm sure was the artist's intent). Jesus, You became that? You dwelt among that? Wow. Good works can make us feel that we are becoming worth of God. They can trick us to thinking that we could be His equal. This picture is so humbling. How could we, in this sin filled world, be worth of He who is most pure, good and lovely? How could we ever earn such a selfless Love? 
Look at the picture. 
O, if only we could see how truly disfigured we are by sin. Sin tears us away from God who is the source of all Goodness, Truth and Beauty. How can anything posses those qualities without drawing near to the source? The world was dark and ugly but our most gracious Lord entered it humbly and was victor over sin and death. He not only gave hope for redemption but He remains with us on earth. Visit often our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and speak to Him in prayer for He is the Light in this dark world, Beauty in the face of sin, Hope for the hopeless, and the truest Love we shall ever know :)

Holy Mother Mary, pray for us.

For purity of mind:

                 Hail Mary...

For purity of body:

               Hail Mary...

For purity of soul:

               Hail Mary...

You are my Mother. I entrust myself to you protection and prayers. Teach me to serve our God and imitate you in faithfulness, devotion and humility. 

*sigh* Paradise

Meditation Nine - The Choice of Paradise (reflection 4)

"Jesus Christ looks down from Heaven in love upon you, and calls you tenderly. Come, O my beloved, come to eternal rest within My loving arms, which are waiting for thee with immortal pleasures and unfailing love. Behold with thy spiritual sight the Blessed Virgin watching thee with a mother's love. Be brave, my daughter, despise not the longings of my Son, nor the sighs which I pour out for thee, desiring thing eternal salvation. Behold the Saints warning thee, and millions of holy spirits watching thee, desiring ardently that thou mayst join them in praising God forever, and pleading that the heavenward path is not so difficult as the world would fain make thee believe. Be of good courage, they repeat: whoever will consider the pathway of devotion, by which we have arrived here, will see that we attained this happiness through a sweetness far greater than any the world can give."

- St. Francis de Sales An Introduction to the Devout Life

Meditations & Nosegays

Lately I've been reading St. Francis de Sales' book Introduction to the Devout Life which has been a great help. At the end of each meditation he says to form/gather a spiritual nosegay. I have never seen the word "nosegay" in my life so I looked it up and found out that it was a flower. After reading somebody else's thoughts on the subject, I wrote down this little definition:

  Spiritual Nosegay - as one would carry flowers to perfume a place full of horrid smells so should we carry points of meditation in our mind to sweeten the sinful world in which we live. 

St. Frances de Sales wrote these meditations to be read in the morning and instructs the reader to hold on to that morning's devotion through out the day. I think it's a wonderful idea :)
 The first meditation I read was on creation and it has helped me so much. Meditate on the fact that we did not have to be brought into existence. We were non-existant. Not waiting around to be born or just some souls sitting around somewhere. We were not. God willed us to exist from nothing. He would not have done that just for the heck of it. Every person was made with incredible care and purpose. Each soul has it's own "mission" to fulfill for God's greater glory. He did not create randomly. Whenever I feel discouraged I just think back to that meditation and know that He has a purpose for me and I would not exist if He didn't. 


*sigh* it's so hard to fit all my thoughts about this into words but I hope my rambling made some sense. Never let the devil convince you that you're pointless. If that were true, you would not exist.

From the Prayer Journal

Jesus, You have given me the ultimate proof of Love; You have died for me. But still I second guess it "How could You love such a sinner? Such a fool who is so cold towards You?" Do I think You didn't know my flaws and  my failings when You died? You, who know everything? You care so deeply about me. You love me and You want to free me from sin. You hate infinitely more than I do what sin turns me into because You know what I was meant to be and what You can accomplish in me. You love me. I run back to You, flinging myself into Your arms! I am sorry for my doubt of a fact You went through such pains to prove. I surrender completely to You and trust in Your mercy and kindness.You are my Best Friend. You will never shun me for my struggles. You want the best for me and will always come to my aide.
i love You, my King.

This past week, my school took a trip to the Museum of Divine Statues and I took some photos. I thought I'd share some of my favorite shots with you all :)

A bible quote & some thoughts

"...so He became their Savior in every affliction.

He will come to our rescue no matter what. He will save us from every temptation without fail but, we must ask Him. Every aspect of our lives is important to Him and should be lived for His glory. If we just let Him in He, our gracious loving Lord, will save.

It was not a messenger or an angel, but He Himself who saved them,

He could have sent another, but that would not have satisfied His deep love for us. He gave us Everything; anything less would not have been enough. O, if we only knew how truly loved we are..

Because of His love and pity, lifting them and carrying them all the days of old."

He is our support and our security. He shall never fail us :)

Isaiah 63:8-9

O, how good He is to us...

When you feel overcome by your own unworthiness, when you are faced with temptation after temptation, do not be shaken. Our God treats us with the utmost kindness and will never allow us to suffer uselessly. Every temptation, ever struggle is a gift and a chance to greatly benefit our souls. If you ever feel so discouraged by your own inability, do not fear, but instead have Joy that God has given you the grace to be humble. Do not waste precious time being worried and depressed. Instead with courage and resolve renewed praise God for the gift of humility and vow to serve Him.

"Would such a transformation ever happen were man left to his own devices? Would man himself willingly descend from the lofty pinnacles of pride? Would he have been ever cured of his haughtiness? Would the illusory clouds of vanity have been dispelled from his head and heart without this divine remedy?"

AMAZING.  This quote is ( once again ) from Dom Lorenzo Scupoli's book The Spiritual Combat and a Treatise on Peace of Soul. It is an incredible book and I would highly recommend it.