thethreefoldcord-blog

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So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock    and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly    and you will eat dust    all the days of your life. And I will put enmity    between you and the woman,    and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,    and you will strike his heel.”

-Genesis 3:14-15

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What is your strongest experience of God?

I struggled to find an answer to this. Awhile back I would probably have given examples of the time I was prayed over or the many tears of anxiety/relief/happiness shed in the safety of the ado room. But strangely enough, I now find that these emotionally charged experiences aren’t as salient as they once were to me. I’ve come to realise that God’s presence in my life is characterised by a deep, abiding sense of peace that accompanies certain difficult decisions I’ve had to make, and a quiet contentment with life that allows me to largely accept the things that come my way.

But on hindsight, it is precisely this relationship with God that is the source of much frustration and turmoil. I have to admit that sometimes I feel like my faith is a burden, or rather that I have additional responsibilities that wouldn’t exist if I weren’t a believer. And it is only because some part of me wants to do what pleases Him most that I find myself torn between what (I think) I want and what I think He desires of me. Sometimes it does seem that life would be a lot easier if I didn’t have to care about what this God thinks of me and my choices. 

Perhaps this tension is a fundamental part of Christian living. After all, we are called to be in the world but not of the world, and the confluence of the two inevitably gives rise to conflicting goals at times. Perhaps it is an indication that God is still very real to me; why else would I be concerned about aligning my will with His? 

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This is the characteristic of the Christian consciousness: a constant awareness of God as a presence behind the world, by the power of a faith that we know is flowing into us from beyond ourselves, which we might lose at any moment, but for that very reason assures us that God is there. The authentic Christian consciousness is therefore marked by joy and gratitude, which are the twin fruits of the experience of being loved. Even when these are not consciously felt or adverted to, they remain as a kind of subconscious substance in our souls for as long as faith continues to be alive in us. The joy, ecstasy, and serenity that we sense at the end of (the book of) Revelation, in the final vision of the City, is precisely this: the fruit if a faith so intense that it has dissolved all but the last veil between ourselves and the throne of God.

Stratford Caldecott Magnificat Meditation, 26 Nov 2015

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Cleansing Our Own Temple

But more essentially we need to reclaim anger for its proper purpose. It is always a waste of good anger to get annoyed with other human beings. Instead we should turn our anger precisely against our thoughts and against the demons who deploy them... In this way we shall be using anger in accordance with its true nature, to clear a way through the thoughts which swarm all around us, so that we can gradually come to a clearer perception of what it is all about. Thus we move from a fairly blind lashing out against whatever seems to be getting in our way to a position where we are fighting in the daylight. The desired goal of this whole exercise is a state in which we are no longer at the mercy of inappropriate reactions. And this is a profound state of balance and harmony. - Fr Simon Tugwell, OP Magnificat Reflection, 20 Nov 2015

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In friendship…we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years’ difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another…the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting–any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,” can truly say to every group of Christian friends, “Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another.” The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.

C.S. Lewis (via observando)

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Many of us know people in same sex relationships of authentic love. We have come to understand that love, fidelity, and mutual commitment are worth being grateful for, regardless of the genders involved. We know the real hardships our loved ones suffer on account of not having the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts – whether through actual discrimination on the part of the government or through internalized perceptions of inferiority and worthlessness. We can, and do, celebrate the relief and affirmation they are experiencing right now.

For those who support it, yesterday’s ruling is against injustice and for equality. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, against religion and for immorality. And there’s a danger if religious voices continue to react as if advocacy for same-sex marriage is in itself a form of religious persecution. It simply is not. The motivations don’t match religious persecution, and neither does the end result. To equate what many perceive as correcting an injustice with religious persecution is to invite that persecution. It also encourages the church to act out of fear, rather than out of love born from the subtle urging of the Holy Spirit – and only bad things can come of acting from a place of fear.

Been feeling so conflicted since the moment I found out about the SCOTUS ruling, but this article puts into words some of the thoughts that I haven’t been able to articulate. I spent some time poring through articles online with responses from various viewpoints, and so many people were arguing about the consequences of such a decision, the practical impact this will have on policy-making for gay couples, on the rights of children with gay parents etc. Of all the articles I’ve read, this article stands out to me for it highlights a particular tension that I believe many Catholics are struggling with right now. There’s so much more I need to sort through before figuring out what my stand is on the whole issue, but here’s a good start. 

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On the importance of adoration

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Job 1: 1, 8-11

From the heart of the tempest the Lord gave Job his answer. He said:

Who pent up the sea behind closed doors   when it leapt tumultuous out of the womb, when I wrapped it in a robe of mist   and made black clouds its swaddling bands; when I marked the bounds it was not to cross   and made it fast with a bolted gate? Come thus far, I said, and no farther:   here your proud waves shall break.

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Uncompromising

It never occurred to the Pope that he might want to tone it down to draw bigger crowds, or lower the bar so as to avoid putting off teenagers. That was the world’s job, not his. If he lowered the standard, he’d miss the chance to invite people to live lives of heroic virtue... He wasn’t alluring despite his challenges, but precisely because of them. If young people wanted someone to offer them an easy life, insulated by their own subjective moral values, they could have sat in front of a television instead of making an intercontinental pilgrimage and sleeping overnight with a million strangers on a dirt floor.

- Saint John Paul the Great, His Five Loves by Jason Evert

Makes me think back to WYD Madrid: all the planning that had to be done to make that trip possible, being dirty and sleeping on gravel, enduring 40degree weather, people EVERYWHERE etc. Also, I’m more convinced that truth and goodness are moral absolutes whether we admit it or not.

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Dedicate your time and effort, even your rest, to this Gospel. Do not be afraid that this is lost time, that you will not rest. This is exactly when you will rest the most, because man must rest with his whole being, both physical and spiritual, so that he may rest in truth and return having found himself.

Cardinal Karol Wojtyla

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I know that, alone, I cannot see, hear, or touch God in the world. But God in me, the living Christ in me, can see, hear, and touch God in the world, and all that is Christ's in me is fully my own. His simplicity, his purity, his innocence are my very own because they are truly given to me to be claimed as my most personal possessions. That is what Paul means when he says, "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:19-20). All the beauty of Mary comes from Jesus, yet she is so completely her own. All that there is of love in me is a gift from Jesus, yet every gesture of love I am able to make will be recognized as uniquely mine. That's the paradox of grace. The fullest gift of grace brings with it the fullest gift of freedom. There is nothing good in me that does not come from God, through Christ, but all the good in me is uniquely my own. The deeper my intimacy with Jesus, the more complete my freedom."

Finding Our Sacred Center: A Journey to Inner Peace, by Henri Nouwen

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http://instagram.com/brittzy

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Separation Anxiety

Still, my soul, be still And do not fear though winds of change may rage tomorrow.

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the realisation that this stretch of still waters, stability and comfort is more than half gone. Struggling to make sense of what I’m experiencing because for the longest time I believed myself to be at peace with the situation - yet to feel like this now unnerves me a little and I feel like I just need to catch my breath. How did 5 months pass by so quickly? Are 2 months all that we have left? My usual response to people has been that I can’t wait to see the adventures that God has in store in the coming months/years, but right now I’m just a kid who’s not ready for the first day of preschool. Wishing I hadn’t started counting, because in addition to dealing with my feelings, I now have to resist the temptation to be selfish with my time when it comes to others. Why do I find it so difficult at times to trust that He holds my tomorrows in the palm of His hand?

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Mercy makes a habit of giving others the benefit of the doubt. Mercy is not in the habit of sending deadly glares at people who are annoying. Mercy gives charitably, knowing that eventually someone will take advantage of his generosity. Mercy welcomes you, fully aware that this act may disrupt her own plans.

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// seek first