What are are you working on in your spiritual life?

[Patricia]

Read this today from St Pio so passing it on to you.
In darkness, at times of tribulation and distress of the spirit, Jesus is with you. In such a state you see nothing but darkness, but I can assure you on God's behalf that the light of the Lord is all around you and pervades your spirit. . .You see yourself forsaken and I assure you that Jesus is holding you tighter than ever to His divine Heart.

Thanks Martin and thank you Padre Pio! How reassuring are the Saints words of comfort that  touch our hearts even today.

Patricia, forgiveness doesn't necessitate allowing someone to stay in your life who repeatedly hurts you, verbally or otherwise. You can forgive someone and set your boundaries.  That's self-respect.  thumbs up

You're right , Bailey. I've been told to be more assertive, but this person is a close family member and an elderly person. He is not verbally abusive , quite the opposite , its the secretive scheming ( money, accounts etc ) that gets  to me. Also emotional manipulation and I know I will have to speak up firmly at some point. I could tell him off, but it would just cause unnecessary drama and tears which I'm trying to avoid for the sake of the whole family.

[Shin]

As for progress in these areas I sometimes feel I’m not making any headway but looking back over the months I can see yes that there has been improvement and it usually starts with a new awareness of my sinfulness that I see more clearly the need to do something about it.
 We discussed before Shin about TV and I put it down to the help of St Joseph that I was able to see it for what it was and as you said about making such a difference to your spiritual progress I can totally identify with that. Now I can see it even more clearly with the passing of time just how big a waste of time it was and the rewards for this small act have so out-weighed the sacrifice that I blush even to call it a sacrifice.
At Mass this morning (being the feast of St Catherine of Sienna) the priest invited the congregation to come forward after the final blessing to receive a blessing with a 1st class relic of  the Saint which he had obtained. What a most holy woman she was.
I feel such an affiliation with you all on this forum who take their faith so seriously.
The presence of the saints here is almost tangible. 

The beginnings of the Communion of the Saints I pray!  Certainly they should be more present where so much of their work is.

I was reading about the Purgative, Illuminative and Unitive way in the Catholic Encyclopedia briefly the other day and reminded again of the giving up of the television.

[Brigid]

Read this today from St Pio so passing it on to you.
In darkness, at times of tribulation and distress of the spirit, Jesus is with you. In such a state you see nothing but darkness, but I can assure you on God's behalf that the light of the Lord is all around you and pervades your spirit. . .You see yourself forsaken and I assure you that Jesus is holding you tighter than ever to His divine Heart.

Thanks Martin and thank you Padre Pio! How reassuring are the Saints words of comfort that  touch our hearts even today.

Patricia, forgiveness doesn't necessitate allowing someone to stay in your life who repeatedly hurts you, verbally or otherwise. You can forgive someone and set your boundaries.  That's self-respect.  thumbs up

You're right , Bailey. I've been told to be more assertive, but this person is a close family member and an elderly person. He is not verbally abusive , quite the opposite , its the secretive scheming ( money, accounts etc ) that gets  to me. Also emotional manipulation and I know I will have to speak up firmly at some point. I could tell him off, but it would just cause unnecessary drama and tears which I'm trying to avoid for the sake of the whole family.

My (personal) experience with an elderly relative was that that sort of thing became much more prevalent with age. I had to learn not to take anything they did personally (hard for me - especially since this person was dear to me) then finally tell them what I'd seen without feelings being apparent. It had been years, even a couple decades coming and I was totally fed up. They weren't used to me saying anything negative to them and did (even at 97) change. I'll pray for you in this.

[Bailey2]

(I agree with Brigid above)

Well everyone, speaking of worrying.  Todays gospel!  "Do not worry......"   Then, a person doing work for me says, "Don't worry...."    Then, I find a book on amazon, which has St. Jane Francis Chantal's direction advice by St. Francis de Sales.  What is on the "look inside this book?"  Why a lecture by St Francis to St. Jane Francis about her worrying too much.

OK, do ya think God is trying to tell me something?   

[Brigid]

(I agree with Brigid above)

Well everyone, speaking of worrying.  Todays gospel!  "Do not worry......"   Then, a person doing work for me says, "Don't worry...."    Then, I find a book on amazon, which has St. Jane Francis Chantal's direction advice by St. Francis de Sales.  What is on the "look inside this book?"  Why a lecture by St Francis to St. Jane Francis about her worrying too much.

OK, do ya think God is trying to tell me something?   

Yup  , and maybe telling many reading the posts here?

[Patricia]

My (personal) experience with an elderly relative was that that sort of thing became much more prevalent with age. I had to learn not to take anything they did personally (hard for me - especially since this person was dear to me) then finally tell them what I'd seen without feelings being apparent. It had been years, even a couple decades coming and I was totally fed up. They weren't used to me saying anything negative to them and did (even at 97) change. I'll pray for you in this.

Thanks, Brigid. I must give him the benefit of doubt because of age. He is 70. Considering that I  may get senile by that age and have my near and dear ones complain about me, you never know.

Well everyone, speaking of worrying.  Todays gospel!  "Do not worry......"   Then, a person doing work for me says, "Don't worry...."    Then, I find a book on amazon, which has St. Jane Francis Chantal's direction advice by St. Francis de Sales.  What is on the "look inside this book?"  Why a lecture by St Francis to St. Jane Francis about her worrying too much.

OK, do ya think God is trying to tell me something?   Roll Eyes

Do not worry. Sums it all up.

[Bailey2]

Francis De Sales, Jane De Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)

I tried to cut and paste a line or two from the public section on Amazon but of course it won't let me.  I highly recommend you go to amazon.com and punch in the title above.  There is a "look inside this book" and it has a few pages of St Francis's advice to a woman (not St Jane as I originally thought).  When reading it I thought of Maryslittleflower and you too Brigid because of some posts.  But I think it is a well worth read for all; they have about 3 pages to see and it is rich, rich, rich.

[Patricia]

That's a good one , Bailey. It would be worth buying the book.

[Brigid]

Francis De Sales, Jane De Chantal: Letters of Spiritual Direction (Classics of Western Spirituality) (Paperback)

I tried to cut and paste a line or two from the public section on Amazon but of course it won't let me.  I highly recommend you go to amazon.com and punch in the title above.  There is a "look inside this book" and it has a few pages of St Francis's advice to a woman (not St Jane as I originally thought).  When reading it I thought of Maryslittleflower and you too Brigid because of some posts.  But I think it is a well worth read for all; they have about 3 pages to see and it is rich, rich, rich.

That looks really, really good! I'll look for that.

[Bailey2]

That's a good one , Bailey. It would be worth buying the book.

I did.

I'm impulsive in case you didn't notice!   

[Patricia]

I'm impulsive in case you didn't notice!   Roll Eyes

We love you, Bailey, impulse, spunk and all.

[Shin]

That's a good one , Bailey. It would be worth buying the book.

I did.

I'm impulsive in case you didn't notice!   

Reminds me of St. Teresa of Avila and St. Joan of Arc! 

[Bailey2]

Reminds me of St. Teresa of Avila and St. Joan of Arc! 

Oooo Shin, Joan of Arc?  Do you know how she ended up?!   

I'll stick with Teresa Avila, thank you. 

[Patricia]

Oooo Shin, Joan of Arc?  Do you know how she ended up?!   speachless

 

[Brigid]

Does He want resignationto His Will or does He want acceptance of His Will? And if the latter is the case, then does that need more humility or more trust than humans normally have (except some children with terminal illnesses that people hear about)? 

[Patricia]

What is the difference between resignation and acceptance of His Will? I seems to me the same.