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markdohle

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  1. Advent Trust is essential in our waiting “One of the essential paradoxes of Advent: that while we wait for God, we are with God all along, that while we need to be reassured of God’s arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming, we are already at home. While we wait, we have to trust, to have faith, but it is God’s grace that gives us that faith. As with all spiritual knowledge, two things are true, and equally true, at once. The mind can’t grasp paradox; it is the knowledge of the soul.”― Michelle Blake We live in a time of doubt. In a world where ‘seeing is believing’ though we go through our days believing mostly in what can’t be picked up, weighed or stored away. We believe in justice, love, compassion. Have you tried to weigh those realities? We believe that others are aware and see us, understand us, yet their awareness cannot be seen but only experienced. We have to ‘trust’ in their reality and the deeper that trust and the less fear there is, the more profound our human experiences of the ‘other’ is and grows and takes deep root in our souls. Something else that can’t be seen poked or owned actually is our deepest selves. For our very selves is a gift from what we call God. That “other” is our fellow men and woman as well as the “Other” who has come in the flesh. We await the coming of Christ, yet he has already arrived. We have faith, yet we have to also accept this gift, to believe in the love revealed in Jesus Christ. This takes trust and the less trust we have, the more poverty stricken our faith, or we will have none at all. Grace calls us to become children, true children, fearless in the face of fear, to love in a loveless environment, to have faith when all seems dark. Being childlike is to be lead by the fierce of God’s love through the fire and trails of life. –Br.MD
  2. I am not against you, just don't understand you. Peace Mark
  3. Ok got it, perhaps you should start a thread on this subject. Good luck. Peace mark
  4. Look, it is obvious you are an atheist or agnostic coming here to play with us......if not, well good luck here.
  5. I find myself scratching my head so often here that I may go bald....wait, I am bald....well if I was not I surely would. Peace mark
  6. The word "Trinity" is not in the New Testament, but a central doctrine of the Christian faith. Jesus talked about the Father and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Since the revelation of Jesus Christ led to this insight of the nature of God's inner life, it is obvious that to love God with your whole heart, mind and soul is in fact, the love of the Trinity. However, not all Christians are Trinitarian. Peace mark
  7. Advent, waiting for the encounter Advent is an invitation “to sobriety, to not be dominated by the things of this world, Pope Francis said Nov. 27 in St. Peter's Square. “If, on the contrary, we are conditioned and overpowered by them, it is not possible to perceive that which is much more important: our final encounter with the Lord."—Pope Francis Is death truly the end as many believe? Or is it an encounter with what the human heart longs for from its deepest center? Is all of our seeking to escape from the prison of ourselves in frantic activity or the acquiring of things and people, a way to keep us from truly understanding the purpose of our lives? What is it we thirst most for? Is it not to be ‘seen’ fully beyond words and understood without the need to explain or defend ourselves? In society, we are told what the purpose of life is. We can be reduced to being consumers, belonging to some statistical group and then manipulated, or to some political or special interest group and herded along by those who seek to shepherd us along a certain path. In other words, we become ‘thing’, or an ‘object’, the antithesis to the very thing we desire. Things and objects are used, placed and then discarded when finished with. If we are truly moving towards ‘the encounter’ with the Lord, should not this give our lives depth and purpose that goes way beyond what are culture wants from us? Should we not seek to become what we desire most… which I believe is love. Jesus says that if you love me you will keep my commandments which are rooted in the reality of love for others. To truly see others with the eyes of Christ is to understand the meaning of our lives, which is much different than what is expected of us by our society today. Love of a different nature from what is presented to us in art, movies and literature and yes by magazines and television. O Lord come and teach us what is true, what we are made for in the depths of our hearts, to seek to become ‘You’ beloved so as to touch others, to become vessels of grace for your children, filling us with your Spirit.--Br.MD
  8. Since Christ Jesus is the 'Word' the creator of the Universe, in whom we live and move and have our being, I think it is obvious that, yes, he does live in everyone, the tragedy is that many do not respond to his grace when offered and as far as their relationship is concerned they remain strangers, but to the Lord, there are no strangers, all are seen known and loved. For God wills the salvation of all and that they come to the truth. I suppose when the people passed by the Samaritan they told themselves the same thing, this man is not one of us, God does not live in him........yet I was hungry and you fed me, in prison and you visited me etc. For many, the only way they can experience God's love in Christ Jesus in through us. We are God's grace incarnated when we put on Jesus Christ. Peace Mark
  9. Yes, my friend. The more the life of Jesus is pondered and how he treated all, even non-Jews can help us to understand how we are to treat others. The Good Samaritan is a great story, a man, an outcast despised by the Jews, helping a Jew who was injured. Not sure the any Jew of that time would want it, yet help was given. For me it is a lifetime of learning, failure, confessing and starting once again with an ever deeper trust in God's love not only for me but for all.
  10. . To let others know that our lives are important and that God pursues us for a reason “How many times do we hear: 'Come on, you Christians, be a little bit more normal, like other people, and be reasonable!' This is real snake charmer's talk: 'Come on, just be like this, okay? A little bit more normal, don't be so rigid ...' But behind it is this: 'Don't come here with your stories, that God became man!' The Incarnation of the Word, that is the scandal behind all of this! We can do all the social work we want, and they will say: 'How great the Church is, it does such good social work." But if we say that we are doing it because those people are the flesh of Christ, then comes the scandal. And that is the truth, that is the revelation of Jesus: that presence of Jesus incarnate.” ― Pope Francis, Encountering Truth: Meeting God in the Everyday The Word become flesh is a belief that is truly a scandal to many. It is so ‘unspiritual’, unenlightened and yes even mundane when looking in from the outside. Yet we are called to see Christ Jesus is all we meet, especially in those who challenge us, make us stretch and deal with our ingrown prejudices. To truly see the other as a child of God is to ‘heal’, for labels drop away and the worth and the depth of the so called ‘least among us’ is truly seen. The true scandal I believe is that the world is the way it is because we Christians (myself included) have yet to understand the reality of ‘Christ with us’ in all of its intimacy and love. Though there is no doubt many exceptions to this; I sad to say am not one of them. We are told not to judge but to love. To speak the truth in gentleness but to get to the heart of the matter without seeking to dominate, or control, is how we are called to share with others. To show the world that sin is a reality and the true pain of our souls, as well as its prison masquerading as freedom. To let others know that our lives are important and that God pursues us for a reason, for if we do not respond to God’s grace, we shall only have ourselves for eternity, a state of alienation from all others and hatred of God. Many do not want to face this reality, the deep significance of their lives and their everyday choices in how they love or do not love others. In the end we are called to let go of judgments of others, a truly heavy burden that also does harm to the soul; for as Christ says in judging others we are in reality judging our own reflection. Only Christ can judge and his judgments are true, based on love and true justice, our judgments are often based on prejudices and an attempt to not look at ourselves. True humility leads us to love and have compassion on our fellow human beings who Christ Jesus gave his life blood for. In prayer we touch all, in that we truly live out our vocation as a priestly people---BrMD
  11. Beautiful Yowm, well said and written. Peace mark
  12. All who hope in God Mary’s song of praise in the Magnificat “is the canticle of the People of God on the journey, and of all men and women who hope in God, in the power of his mercy.” Pope Francis +++++ Advent is a time of hope. For Jesus Christ is God’s mercy in the flesh and Mary in her joy over this deep mystery and actual reality praised God in her “Magnificat” ”My soul magnifies the Lord And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid; For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed; Because He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name; And His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear Him. He has shown might with His arm, He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and has exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever”. To live in hope is not easy, it takes courage, for we live in a world of suffering, injustice and the seeming triumph of evil in the world. In the Incarnation we see a reversal of our world, a reversal so profound that many cannot bring themselves to believe, for it seems too grand to be true. Yet the Lord Jesus was lowly. He was from a poor family, from a town of no importance and even showered with contempt…..yet Christ Jesus was born in such a town. He identified with those on the fringe, those hated by the religious establishment, with tax collectors, who were in reality, to put if mildly; scum. Yet Mathew, one of his Apostles came from such a group. He showed love for the powerful as well, but he used a different approach, he told them of their alienation from God, for which he was hated. Yet after the resurrection many converts came from those he so roundly berated The journey is hard yet our faith can be a light that leads us deeper into the love of the Father who shows his face in Jesus Chris our Lord. Yet faith sometimes has to be chosen over and over again so as to deepen it. For God’s ways or not ours…when we think we understand God’s ways that is when we can let go of our hope in God’s love and Word. The ‘cross’ is no respecter of person…we either carry it or it will drag us.—Br.MD
  13. In the midst of chaos and pain, the Lord is our refuge Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.—Ps 16: 1-2 One way of learning about oneself on a deeper level, is to pay attention to the stream of conscious thoughts that goes through the mind just before coming to full awareness in the morning. When this becomes a regular practice, the understanding of how primitive instincts and impulses are still very powerful becomes obvious. It is good to know what they are. If not, they may come exploding out when least expected. I believe that ‘war-like’ attributes’ are more present than many people will fill comfortable with. Yet to understand the contents of one's unconscious, even if it is only a small tip of a very large iceberg, will still be helpful. This morning, as I was waking up a scene came up from my younger days and it was not very pleasant. When I came to full awareness I felt disturbed and shaken by the power of the experience. Yet I knew from past occurrences there is nothing to fear, but lots to pray over and to integrate into my seeking to allow the Spirit of the Lord to take deeper hold of my heart. As I was getting the coffee ready for the retreatants, the thought came to me how important each moment is, for they come only once and then most of them drop into oblivion someplace in our vast inner world. Still there but hidden from conscious awareness. Even though in the mornings I do pretty much the same routine, it is not an excuse to act like a robot and lose the joy of being present to whatever I am doing. For some reason, it was very strong, this intuition of the importance of even our most mundane actions. Time is precious even though I can kid myself that I have plenty of time left…..which as I age is getting more and more difficult to do. I am very aware of how fast the days go by and soon, no matter if in 20 years, I will be getting off the ‘life-train’ and moving on to something ‘other’. Self-acceptance is important, though presumption I believe, is dangerous. In prayer, I learn of the loving presence of the “Other’, the ‘Infinite’, beyond comprehension, yet revealed in Jesus Christ and in that is my hope that I will not be swallowed up by my often chaotic fragmented inner world. In the end, it is always love that leads to healing. True love… a love stronger than death, which in the end is the only real love….the love manifested in Jesus Christ who overcame death for love of us all of us; shows each one of us that love. This morning during ‘Vigils’ we chanted Psalm 16 and the first verse jumped out at me:“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.—Ps 16: 1-2”. I have learned that all that is good in me is because of the healing that comes through my relationship with Jesus Christ. What I give that is mine is my deep inner conflicts and self-destructive desires that seek to block me from trusting in the Lord’s compassion and love. In prayer grace leads me to trust and to cling to the Lord’s mercy and compassion…..in that am I healed. A pure gift is our salvation, which draws us deeper into the mystery of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
  14. Many people don't understand that "trust" is a choice, a response to grace, a death to an old way of life and fear. I will look up what you recommended. Peace Mark
  15. Many people don't understand that "trust" is a choice, a response to grace, a death to an old way of life and fear. I will look up what you recommended. Peace Mark
  16. Thank you Neighbor, I will look up the music fo Fernando, perhaps he will become one of my favorites as well ;-). Wonderful comment. Peace Mark
  17. I have found that many people have a lot of shoulds about what they should be feeling what emotions they should have, as if they had some sort of complete control over their inner lives. Grace, the love of God works in it all bringing all things to the good as St. Paul says about those who love the Lord Jesus. The older I get and the deeper I go into the love of God, the less I know that I don't understand, for who can understand infinite unconditional love? I have been through many dark times, but the light of the Lord always breaks through and I am embraced with his love. People will turn to God when the understand the love that is offered them they will turn to the Lord. Hearts melt when they experience the look of Jesus his compassion and understanding. Peace Mark
  18. When life feels cold and dark and I am naked and shivering within (When I am afraid, I put my trust in you)---Psalm 56:3 Sometimes I feel fear. It is when I become strongly aware of the suffering that goes on around me. On how common it is to have sick friends, people I love who are dying and my own aging as well. It is as if everything I tell myself about my faith and hope drops away and I am left shivering in a cold dark place. I do not like it ‘here’, but I also know that it is just like every ‘place’ my inner self finds itself at. It says nothing about the truth of my faith, for if God’s ‘Yes’ in Jesus is true then there is nothing that can separate me from the love of Christ Jesus. All inner states pass. The warm ones, the happy ones, the sad and horrible ones and the ones that can show me how much of life is ‘cold’ and ‘dark’. Yet it passes like a storm on the sea….it is when I forget that I can flounder. When I remember the love and mercy of the Lord, I get out of the boat and walk towards Jesus Christ who beckons me not to fear. For He has over come the world, the flesh and the devil…..in Him is my trust and hope and my fear drops away, or if not, I do not ‘fear’ my fear.
  19. Advent season and the Pro-Life movement “[W]e are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the “culture of death” and the “culture of life”. We find ourselves not only faced with but necessarily in the midst of this conflict: we are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life.”---Pope John Paul II People like to say that religious people lock step and are not able to think critically. I do not believe that is true. During Advent we are called through our reflections to draw deeper into the freedom of the Children of God. Soon we will be singing “A Child is born to us”, the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. The life of the infant Jesus was precious, just as all life is. To be Pro-Life is to be aware of the sacredness of all people, that no matter who they are, they are Children of God and beloved. Life is sacred from the moment of conception until natural death; any interference is in reality ‘evil’. It takes away from life; it diminishes the reality of the deep mystery of the ‘other’. Those who are Pro-Life need, to always see their fellow human beings as beloved by God and in living this, our capacity to be present for others deepens and expands. To say one is Pro-Life and is indifferent o the sufferings of those around them only show their lack of commitment to seek to lessen the need for the needless taking of life. Cultures have a life of their own, a life span, they are born, grow strong and eventually they will die. If we are dying or not only history will tell, yet we seem to be in a free fall at this time. Today many allow their consciences to grow quiet when it comes to being pro-life or not. While we can’t stop abortions, or the executions of prisoners (no doubt some are innocent of what they are accused of), we can continue to spread the message by word and deed of the importance of each life. –Br.MD
  20. You could say that the more loving and compassionate someone is, the more they suffer. Good loving parents, suffer more for their children than those who are not. We often I believe use our 'harsh' emotions to protect us from the pain, struggle, and suffering of those around us. Judging saves us from bearing others burden. Sin is an escape from the pain of life, but in doing so we cause more pain. That is why many of our judgements are sinful because they are based on a fear of seeking to understand others more deeply. Jesus by not running from life, accepting the pain that comes from love, he took on our suffering and died for us. This is a mystery I am still struggling with. I believe it, get some small insight and then it hides again. I do know that Jesus Christ knows the suffering of each man woman and child, he knows their hearts, and I am thankful that in the end, he is the one we stand before and not some other Christian. Good post-Wayne, thank you. Peace Mark
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