Spiritual Parenthood

Most men and women have an innate ability to care for children; women, generally speaking are nurturers, and men are providers and protectors. While it is the norm that most people marry and raise a family, there are people who have not been blessed with children of their own. Some are single who have yet to experience the joy of sharing their life with that one special person, chosen by God; others have lost their spouse to an unexpected death or abandonment; and others are married couples who despite their great desire for a family, remain childless for reasons unknown. People in all of these situations have a difficult cross to bear, however, God is good, and in seeing their sorrow gives them a special blessing – the gift of spiritual children.

People who possess a special love for children are spiritual parents by virtue of their love and generosity. God gives them the heart of a parent with the ability to love and care for the children He has placed in their lives: their nieces, nephews or cousins, their friends’ children, and for some teachers, their students. Those called to dedicate their lives to God in celibate vocations, in a very special way, become spiritual parents as well.

The role of the spiritual parent is not, (in most cases), to assume a major parental role, but rather to stand on the sidelines to love, support, and guide the children God has entrusted to their care with prayer and sacrifice. When God calls a man or woman to become a spiritual mother or father, He is blessing them with a special responsibility, the spiritual well being of another soul. The greatest gift we can give children is love; and the best way to love them is through prayer.  Though distance may separate children from their spiritual parents, they will remain forever in their hearts.

 

Transformation of the Soul

When people are afflicted with disease, they sometimes require a blood transfusion or a bone marrow transplant. In both instances the unhealthy blood or marrow is replaced with healthy blood or marrow. There may be times in our lives when our souls need a transfusion to purge out the elements of pride (vanity and self-righteousness), anger, weakness, and indeed anything that makes us hold fast to our own will.  Any thought, emotion or action that is not from God, is like a cancer in our soul. Like Cancer, these passions can rapidly take over preventing us from seeing the will of God for our lives.

If we allow God to give us that transfusion, He will fill us with an abundance of grace and replace the vices with virtues: vanity with humility, weakness with strength, animosity with love, and agitation with peace. With our hearts, minds, eyes, and ears fully opened, we will come to know His will for us and embrace it as our own.

The Strength to Stand

When you feel that God has taken everything away from you, as He sometimes does, and you fear that you will not be able to find your way back, turn to Him and offer up your nothingness and He will provide you with the strength to stand and move forward. Sometimes the simplest act of humility freely given restores Hope to your heart.

Thank you!

Dear Friends,

I would like to express my heart-felt thanks and appreciation to those of you who have visited, or are following my blog, and particularly for spreading the word to your family and friends. Our Lord gives us many blessings each and every day, and we sometimes forget to thank Him, as we should. Today, I thank God for the privilege to share my thoughts with all of you and hope to publish more posts in the days ahead. Please feel free to make comments by clicking on the link at the end of the each post.

Best wishes,

Marylee

A Voice From Behind You – The Guardian Angels

When we least expect it a thought suddenly pops into our head. It is a feeling so consuming that it permeates our soul. Something about this feeling is different from our usual thoughts or daydreams. It is a voice that we know is not our own, yet it becomes our own. This is the voice of God delivering a message to us through our guardian angel. “While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: “This is the way; walk in it,” when you would walk to the right or to the left (Isaiah 30: 20-21). The guardian angels are very powerful and can be of immense help to us if we recognize their presence and invoke them often. St. Josemaria, the Founder of Opus Dei, always encouraged us to address the angel of a person we were trying to reach, “Win over the guardian angel of the one you want to draw to your apostolate. He is always a great accomplice”. (The Way, Point #563.) When we find we are at a loss for words, we can rely on our angel to place the Holy Spirit’s words on our tongues.

The angels are a wonderful gift bestowed upon us by our loving Heavenly Father. We should thank them often for their constancy and devotion.  How reassuring and comforting it is to know that we all have these wonderful friends to guide, encourage and protect us throughout our lives.

Recommended Reading: The Way, by St. Josemaria Escriva, My Angel Will Go Before You, by Georges Huber. Both books are available from Scepter Publishers: http://www.scepterpublishers.org.

 

Forgive, Forget and Begin Again

Many of us have suffered the pain of separation, or even estrangement from a loved one: a parent, a sibling, a former love, or a friend. Maybe we desire to mend these broken relationships but feel it is too late because the damage has been done. We have all met people who will admit that they haven’t spoken to their parents or siblings in years. It saddens me so to hear these words for it is a very heavy burden that they bear. However there is Hope, for God has given us a beautiful gift – the ability to forgive others. As He forgives us, we are to forgive one another. Regardless of the reason for the separation: an unresolved argument, a difference of opinion, a misunderstanding, miscommunication, or a betrayal, there is a way back. With humility and love we CAN forgive, forget, and begin again. Some find it easy to forgive but find forgetting more difficult. However, in forgetting the wrong, our souls are set free from the chains that bind them. Of course this beginning again is not a literal beginning, but rather a turning of one’s heart. It is a desire and resolution to forget the pain of the past and start again with a renewed outlook and positive spirit; and it is NEVER to late to begin again.

Recommended reading: Christ is Passing By, and Friends of God, by St. Josemaria Escriva, the Founder of Opus Dei: www.opusdei.org, and Interior Freedom by Jacques Philippe, Scepter Publishers, Inc, www.scepterpublishers.org. 

"Ford Every Stream" – Discerning the Will of God

In the highly acclaimed movie The Sound of Music, Maria pondered the words the Reverend Mother sang to her: "Climb every mountain, search high and low, follow every byway, every path you know. Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, till you find your dream." (partial lyrics to Climb Every Mountain from: The Sound of Music, Oscar Hammerstein II, Composer: Richard Rogers) Beset with uncertainty, Maria searched deeply into her soul to discern God’s will for her life.

We too have dreams, but we know that along the way we may meet with many obstacles. In fact, that seemingly endless road may be filled with potholes and darkness, however, with perseverance and complete trust in God, we too will find our happiness.  Our lives may not turn out according to our plans, but as Maria learned, God’s will for us far outshines anything we could possibly imagine. If we persevere with patience and trust we can be assured that we will find our dream in the heart of God.

I highly recommend the books: The Trapp Family Singers, the true story that inspired the movie The Sound of Music; and its equally beautiful sequel, A Family on Wheels – Further Adventures of the Trapp Family Singers, both by Maria Augusta Trapp. 

Children – Blessings from God

We are all God’s adopted children says St. Paul in his letter to Galations 4:47. However, God loves us as His “real” children. He asks parents to love their children as He loves us. If God blesses a husband and wife with the gift of a child – biological, foster, adopted, or step; be they an infant, a young child, or a teen, He is asking them to love that child as their very own. It is not biology that makes a parent because the parent/child bond is built and based on love. It is love that makes that child your own – the love that comes from the heart of Christ. 

Finding Peace Through Humility

This morning I awoke with an eagerness to post a new thought on my Blog site. As the moments passed and no words came to my mind, I realized an agitation and unrest creeping into my soul. I recognized this familiar feeling and immediately resigned myself to the fact that inspirations would not be forthcoming today. We can only make progress in our lives when we are at peace. However God in His infinite wisdom knows how to bring positive from negative. Thus the topic of today’s Blog entry, Finding Peace Through Humility, was born from my agitated soul.

The key to achieving peace is to rid oneself of pride. Pride is a vice that plagues all of us, and in fact is an obstacle that clouds our vision. This vision of which I speak is the ability to see our lives as God sees them. We will only be able to see ourselves through God’s eyes if we seek to live the virtue of Humility. Humility is the virtue by which we acknowledge our “littleness” before God. When we can look deep inside and see that we are “not so great”, we learn that our greatness can only be found in God. Accepting ourselves as we are with humility and joy gives us an inner peace. There is a beautiful, simple prayer that has always been of immense help to me.

 Let Go and Let God

As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend, I brought my broken dreams to God because He was my friend. But then, instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone, I hung around and tried to help, with ways that were my own. At last, I snatched them back and cried, “How can you be so slow?” My child, He said, “What could I do? You never did let go.”

Language of the Heart - the Unspoken Word

When God speaks to us he often uses language that is familiar and easily recognizable. The words that just pop into our heads are usually clear, concise and direct. Other times, however, God’s message seems less obvious and is intertwined within our own thoughts. Somehow though, through the grace of God, one understands the message even without those clear words. God knows our hearts. Sometimes there is no need for words and He instills in our souls the ability to KNOW His message without the use of words. Frequently in marriage, the man and woman have no need for words because the language of the heart is unspoken, yet stronger, clearer and more penetrating than words or gestures alone can convey.

Pope John Paul II said in his book The Jeweler’s Shop, “Love can be a collision in which two selves realize profoundly they ought to belong to each other, even though they have no convenient moods or sensations.”  (Wojtyla, Karol, The Jeweler’s Shop, Ignatius Press, 1992.)

Marriage - a daily struggle

We are all gardens with weeds scattered amongst our beautiful flowers. Those weeds are our imperfections. Husbands and wives with God’s help, weed each other’s gardens. God unites one man and one woman together in Holy Matrimony to love, cherish, guide and support each other throughout their marriage. The two need not be perfect before they are joined but rather work to perfect each other in their daily struggle.

True Marital Love

God's love puts us on top of the world. True love between a man and a woman can only exist if it is total, unconditional, and sacrificial. It brings about a joy that words cannot express. Love like this is revealed through the glory of God. It is God who plants the longing for one another in each others' hearts. It is God who makes their presence felt in their hearts when they are far apart. This love is true because it comes from the heart of God. God brings a divine love to the hearts of a man and a woman destined to become one. That great desire for each other is God's love, and when God wills for two people to become man and wife that desire soars to the highest of heights. They are drawn to each other like two powerful magnets that cannot be separated. They can only fully live when they are joined because their fulfillment is found in one another.