Monday, March 31, 2014

Lent Day 27 - Hardening of the Attitudes

"The world's most deadly disease is 'hardening of the attitudes." Zig Ziglar 

Last weekend I was speaking with a local consecrated individual regarding some frustrations I am experiencing within our local diocese. This person's frame of mind was, "It may not be right, but this is just the way it is. You have to accept this is never going to happen." My response? "Well, I believe God can do anything. Don't you?" Their response? A quiet head shake in agreement. This Lent I have been praying hard for patience. But when it comes to "hardening of the attitudes," I still find myself to be very impatient . . . and I'm ok with it in this case. Because I believe Jesus is calling us to act with a sense of urgency in reclaiming His Church here on earth. I believe everything Jesus says in the Bible and in the Volumes. He is with me through every frustration, every joy, every pain. I am willing to go through anything for Him. God has a plan . . . 



In todays Gospel (John 4:43-54), I can imagine Jesus thinking . . . another sign? Really?

At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee. For Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place. When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves had gone to the feast.

Then he returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, who was near death. Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” The royal official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and left. While the man was on his way back, his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live. He asked them when he began to recover. They told him, “The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.” The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he and his whole household came to believe. Now this was the second sign Jesus did when he came to Galilee from Judea.


In Volume Five, Jesus puts it all together very clearly for me:


"Now I wish to tell you about something that concerns Me. There are many who claim to be My followers. Some follow My lead, but others do not. They follow their own will, but do so behind a guise of obedience. The reason this obedience is a guise and not a genuine obedience is because they have rejected My Church in that they feel they have a greater wisdom than the soul whom I chose to represent Me. Children of God, you are accountable. Do you think that I made a mistake when I asked this current man to be My earthly Vicar? Well then you must take that up with Me upon your entry into My Kingdom. That will be the appropriate time to discuss what you may feel are the mistakes I have made. Until that time, I am calling on you to be respectful, obedient, and supportive of this man, your Pope. Priests, in particular, are not serving Me when they lead others to doubt the Holy Father. Souls feel that priests have a greater wisdom than others, and if a priest is following My voice, this is usually true. But priests who are following My voice are not behaving in a disobedient and disrespectful manner toward the leader of My Church, even if they do not always agree with how this man is leading. The true spirit of God does not manifest in cynicism, dear souls, so when you see cynicism, you may be assured that I am not present and I am not directing the conversation. This will increase in your world. I do not like to tell you this but I must. You must be alert always for these signs. I would like you to respond with quiet firmness in the face of cynicism. When souls criticize My Church and its leaders, you must direct them to Me. They should never spread disunity among My
followers."

Lay apostles, do you believe God has limitations? Or, is your God a God of limitless possibilities? God is still as powerful as the day He parted the Red Sea or the day He rose from the dead. It may be time to have a spiritual checkup . . . if you find you have hardening of the attitudes, go to Jesus for the cure!

Thank you, Lord, for giving me gumption to overcome obstacles thrown in my way by Your enemy. 

God bless,
Bonnie

P.S. Thanks to my love Jay for helping to edit this . . . he softened it up a bit!


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