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All posts tagged prayer
Sacred Silence, Gentle water –
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on June 11, 2014
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2014/06/11/sacred-silence-gentle-water/
…coming out of the closet…
Image@thelookingspoon.com
Lord David Alton
“Doing politics as if people mattered.”
David Alton’s talk ‘For such a Time as This’ packed out the pastoral centre at St Joseph’s New Malden recently, and the audience was not disappointed. What an inspirational speaker. He has the facts and figures at his fingertips regarding religious intolerance and in particular, Christian persecution. To get an idea of the kind of man he is, take a look at this BBC report.
This weekend, as Pope Francis visits the Christians in the Holy Land, and as a young, Christian woman faces the death penalty in Sudan for her faith, let us ask Mary to intercede for harmony, peace and justice around the world. Our Lady Help of Christians, pray for us!
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UPDATE: Pregnant Sudanese Christian mother sentenced to death
Thank you for praying for Sudanese Christian Meriam Ibrahim. Her death sentence for ‘apostasy’ was upheld on Thursday after she refused to renounce her faith. Her lawyers have 15 days to file an appeal. In the meantime Meriam is still being held in Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison along with her 20-month-old son, Daniel Wani. Please continue to pray for her.Christian Solidarity Worldwide has learned that the Public Order Court in El Haj Yousif Khartoum, Sudan, has confirmed Meriam Yahia Ibrahim’s death sentence for apostasy after she refused to renounce her faith. The court had given the heavily pregnant Christian mother until 15 May to convert to Islam, implying that her sentence could be annulled or reduced if she did so.
Mrs Ibrahim was arrested on 17 February 2014, and subsequently charged and sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery and death for ‘apostasy’ (leaving Islam) under articles 146 and 126 of Sudan’s Penal Code respectively, after Sudanese authorities were made aware of her marriage to a Christian man. She is currently detained in Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison along with her 20-month-old son, Martin Wani.
Meriam presented proof that she is a life-long Christian
Mrs Ibrahim testified before the court on 4 March that she is a life-long Christian, producing her marriage certificate where she is classified as Christian as proof of her religion. She was born in western Sudan to a Sudanese Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox mother. Her father left the family when Mrs Ibrahim was six years old and she was subsequently brought up as a Christian by her mother. Three potential witnesses from western Sudan who went to the hearing to testify of Mrs Ibrahim’s lifelong adherence to Christianity were prevented from giving evidence.
After the court confirmed the death sentence, Mrs Ibrahim’s lawyers asserted their intention to launch an appeal, a process which could take several months.
Prevented from receiving medical treatment during incarceration
Concerns about Mrs Ibrahim’s health and welfare continue to be raised. Mrs Ibrahim’s husband has complained that throughout her incarceration his wife has been prevented from receiving visitors and, more seriously, from accessing vital medical treatment. A family member said: ‘we are concerned for her wellbeing; it is not very safe for her to be in the prison with dangerous criminals’.
Mrs Ibrahim’s sentence is the latest and most significant in a series of repressive acts by the Sudanese government against religious minorities. If the sentence is carried out Mrs Ibrahim will become the first person to be executed for apostasy under the 1991 penal code, prompting concerns that the charge may increasingly be used against anyone who converts from Islam.
Article from CSR (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on May 23, 2014
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2014/05/23/coming-out-of-the-closet/
An angelic salutation.
The Hail Mary, sometimes called the “angelic salutation,” is the foundation for prayers such as the Rosary and the Angelus. It has inspired much fervent devotion to Jesus and His Blessed Mother.
This wonderful prayer has helped give people the graces, strength, and spiritual protection they’ve needed for hundreds of years.
The Hail Mary has also been the inspiration for some great musical settings of its text in Latin, most famously in the Ave Maria by Franz Schubert. It is as simple as it is elegant, in any language:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with Thee;
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Rosary beads
Blessed Alan de la Roche, a great champion of the Rosary in the 15th century, once said that “When I say Hail Mary, hope is made strong in my breast and the dew of consolation falls on my soul….the angelic salutation is a rainbow in the heavens, a sign of the mercy and grace God has given to the world.”
He also noted that “as all heaven rejoices when the ‘Hail Mary’ is said, so also do the devils tremble and take flight.”
Praying the Hail Mary or showing our devotion to her doesn’t mean we are putting her ahead of Jesus, as some might fear. When we pray to Mary we are also praying through Mary, asking her to intercede with God for us on our behalf.
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on May 10, 2014
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/an-angelic-salutation/
Tune in
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on March 16, 2014
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2014/03/16/tune-in/
I don’t see the road ahead of me…
Below is Thomas Merton’s infamous prayer . It speaks of surrendering to God, in every way. I am so moved every time I read these words. I am inspired both by Merton’s honesty and humility (and how much I connect with his words), as well as the graciousness of God that Merton points to. As a worker in God’s vineyard, I think this prayer is good to keep close at hand. This prayer expresses the peace that comes from knowing and trusting in God’s presence in a life with so many unknowns and irresolvable conflicts.
This prayer acknowledges that, despite our human tendency to think we know what life is about and how we can manage it, we really have no clue.
“The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” (Prov 16:9)
picture @googleimages
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
From ‘Through the year with Thomas Merton’.
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on February 10, 2014
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/i-dont-see-the-road-ahead-of-me/
Are YOU brave enough?
Image@cathypeasefacebookpage
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on December 18, 2013
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2013/12/18/are-you-brave-enough/
A new pathway to peace.
For many years have I used the Rosary to meditate on the life of Our Lord, particularly during Lent and during the months of November- The month of the Rosary, and in May – The month of Our Lady.
Until ten days ago I hadn’t experienced the intense consolation one receives from meditating on the different parts of Christ’s life. I’d always listened to those who have only praise for this method of prayer, feeling at a loose end because I didn’t feel the same way. Ten days ago we received a call from South Africa to say that my mother was on her deathbed. I had been praying the Rosary during November, so when I thought immediately of praying the Rosary I assumed it was just a knee-jerk reaction to pick up the beads again. I could not have been more wrong.
I lit a candle and earnestly prayed the Joyful Mystery: –
1. The Annunciation of the Lord to Mary
2. The Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
3. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ
4. The Presentation of our Lord
5. Finding Jesus in the Temple at age 12
I prayed the Creed with an intensity I had never known before. I prayed about my Faith. About what I believe from the depths of my being. It took on a new meaning for me. While in prayer I began to feel a deep sense of hope, as I grasped the enormity of what God has done for me, and more importantly, for my mother at this critical juncture of her life on earth. God sent His only Son for our Salvation, in order for us to have Life after death.
And so each day since then have I prayed the Rosary and received much consolation and reassurance in return. Read here to learn how to pray the Rosary if you haven’t done so before.
Each time the Blessed Virgin has appeared– whether it be to Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes; to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco at Fatima — she has asserted the importance, saving grace, and power of praying the Holy Rosary on a daily basis. Based upon her words, the Rosary is penance and conversion for sinners, a pathway to peace, an end to war, and a powerful act of faith in Jesus Christ.
Pope Paul VI presented the Rosary as a powerful means to reach Christ “not merely with Mary but indeed, insofar as this is possible to us, in the same way as Mary, who is certainly the one who thought about Him more than anyone else has ever done.”
The great Cardinal Newman, who wrote: “The great power of the Rosary consists in the fact that it translates the Creed into Prayer. Of course, the Creed is already in a certain sense a prayer and a great act of homage towards God, but the Rosary brings us to meditate again on the great truth of His life and death, and brings this truth close to our hearts. Even Christians, although they know God, usually fear rather than love Him. The strength of the Rosary lies in the particular manner in which it considers these mysteries, since all our thinking about Christ is intertwined with the thought of His Mother, in the relations between Mother and Son; the Holy Family is presented to us, the home in which God lived His infinite love.
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on November 25, 2013
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2013/11/25/a-new-pathway-to-peace/
The most deadly warfare.
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on October 26, 2013
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2013/10/26/the-most-deadly-warfare/
A ‘must-have’ read.
I purchased this book last year as a digital copy and then almost immediately purchased a hard copy because is is such a wonderful book to ‘have and to hold close’ (in your hands and in your heart!) This is a book I will be purchasing as gifts for friends and family.
THE BETTER PART, buy Fr John Bartunek
image@http://live.regnumchristi.org/
is a’ Christ-centred resource for personal prayer.’ It is changing my relationship with Jesus and is helping me through the most difficult time of my Journey to Christ to date. My prayer life is becoming deeper and more meaningful. I feel prepared and eager for a meeting with the Lord every day.
It’s the only book that has shared with me a 4 step structure to personal meditation, making my prayer life more intimate and meaningful for me.
Here are some titbits to whet your appetite:
- ‘ Jesus has made the appointment to meet with you in prayer’ – In other words it’s no accident that I am yearning to be closer to Jesus and that a deeply personal relationship is one that I want so much with Him, because he yearns for the same relationship with me. He is the one calling me to prayer.
- ‘ Among the most basic prayer commitments is one that can have more bearing on your life that any other, because is is more personalised: the daily meditation.’ – I do much spiritual reading to find out more about my Faith and my Lord and Saviour, I need to keep a daily meeting with my Lord for the sole purpose of getting to know Him better and to recommit myself to uncovering His will for my life. I realise that there is a difference between spiritual reading and meditation in that even the readings of the day can become spiritual reading, and not so much a meditative reading if I merely read them as part of a routine day in and day out. In order to get to know the Lord more intimately and to unwrap His will for my life, His messages for me alone, I need to excavate what’s in the Gospel with tenacity and purpose. This is done through meditation and prayer over the Gospels.
- ‘Prayer is similar to walking. To walk everyone has to follow the same principles of physics- friction, gravity, muscle propulsion, momentum. And yet, even though the principles are the same, everyone’s walk is a little bit different. When babies learn to walk, they start out clumsy and awkward, until they develop the rhythm and style proper to their body type, personality, and environment. Meditation follows a similar pattern: the same principles for all, activated uniquely by each. The Better Part can help you wherever you happen to be on the spectrum.’
If any one of you have read this amazing book please comment on how you have found it deepening your relationship with Jesus. I intend to post more on this book as I read on.
In the Story of Mary and Martha: Mary is doing ‘the better part’, listening to the Lord’s teaching.
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on August 2, 2013
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2013/08/02/a-must-have-read/
The Pope’s prayer intentions for August: Parents and teachers are important to Francesco.
Posted by 1catholicsalmon on August 1, 2013
https://1catholicsalmon.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/parents-and-teachers-are-important-to-francesco/
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