Ponderings

I have an upcoming talk on discernment of spirits for the Charismatic Renewal of my Archdiocese. I didn’t need any reminding of it due too the spiritual warfare I am having to put up with this week. The enemy would rather I put a sock in it. It did get me thinking though about what people might be expecting versus what I intend to talk about.

In regard to my recent post on the unborn child in the heavens, the plot thickens.  If you are willing to see with the eyes of faith there is more in this constellation, a lot more.

For those who have eyes to see, God has left signs in the heavens (Luke 21:25-28) that mark the history of humankind and God’s gaze upon us. Many of these have only been accessible through available technology  in the present era – arguably our darkest hour, but one where the light of God shines more brightly. I recently took the photo shown of the Crescent Nebula

I was recently struck by a teaching of the foundress of the Focolare movement, Servant of God, Chiara Lubich. This teaching proposes three types of Christians – all sinners. The first kind repents after a fall but does not begin again. The second kind repents after a fall and begins again but without focus on eternal destiny.  The third kind begins again and races for the finish line with a gaze fixed on heaven. It’s the third kind that becomes a saint.

The charisms of the Holy Spirit are essential for the building up of the heavenly Kingdom and still remain painfully ignored in the life of the Church. I find it helpful to return to the body as an organism, analogous to the the mystical body of the faithful on earth to see why. One often hears the dialectic, that the most important thing are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, and the Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, as an

It has been my experience that as I journey in faith on my pilgrimage to God, my own sense of sin and complete “otherness” to
God only grow also. The seeming impossibility of ever arriving at the goal of heavenly transfiguration is a constant specter which can either haunt me like a ghost and cause discouragement or it can become a source of increased spiritual poverty and a deepening of a primeval inner crying out to God.

One of the most painful things to witness in regard to the war in Ukraine is the support Vladimir Putin is receiving from the Orthodox hierarchy for the annexation of Ukraine. That and the context of the
“religious mission” surrounding it. This gets closer to the root of what’s happening which is a spiritual war in the heavenly realms, manifested in physical carnage and destruction.

With war raging in Europe this has become a peculiarly unique Lent, but one in which, nonetheless, there are special graces
 available if one can accept them. Death has become more real in these times for many and offers,  a new way to look at life, or maybe and truer way – revisited in times of conflict.

In the Image of God “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” Gen 1:26 Resolution Test Please leave this field empty Subscribe For Latest Post Email Address * We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info. Please check e-mail to confirm subscription You will receive an email to confirm your […]

In regard to becoming possessed by the Holy Spirit, which in the words of St John Paul II, is the goal of the Christian life, there is no better writing on this then the treasure of the Orthodox Church from St Seraphim of Sarov.