Unanswered Prayers

It is very typical to hear people ask "Why doesn't God answer my prayers?". When ever I hear someone say that I always reflect on a thought. God does answer all prayers. He knows our hearts and knows what is best for us. He answers us in His own timing and in His own way. It is important to know that we don't get what we want in this life, we get what we need. If you offer up your will to God then you also get what you want. You get what you want because it's in line with what God wills for you. The salvation of your sou is the important thing here.

Imagine this:

You are in the kitchen with a most innocent and adorable child who has asked you to make them a sandwich. He asks for a specific kind of sandwich and you know that the child deserves a better kind so you tell him to sit down and you turn to start making this sandwich. You put all the fixing into it, make it to his liking, with ingredients that are healthy and wholesome and good and not to mention delicious. Now you have prepared this sandwich on a most beautiful plate with some chips, I mean it's all decked and you KNOW this child is going absolutely love this lunch because it is no longer just a sandwich you've gone all out. You turn to give it to this most precious child and as you turn.....

this child is holding an enormous butcher knife in his hands. He has gotten a hold of this knife and is holding it really close to himself. What do you do? do you tell the child to go ahead and eat this lunch you have prepared as he holds this knife that could harm him or others and let him eat while you go about your business?

OR

Do you put the plate down and run to him to remove this knife that can harm him and others?

I think any parent, any person would do everything in their power to take the knife away make sure the child is safe, and then sit him down to eat his delicious meal. Wouldn't you agree?

That is how our Lord and Father is with us. We ask for something and God does us one better and it may or may not coincide with what you asked for because God is preparing you the best answer you could ever imagine! But what happens is that the state of our souls are in peril and in danger from our sins. God is going to save us first from damnation before He gives us those things we are requesting. He is going to run to us so that we may repent, and remove ourselves from danger and sin. He cares FIRST about our salvation and nothing else. He wants us to enjoy things as well but he must first remove the "knives" we hold up to our souls and to other souls. We belong to God and are meant to be with Him for all eternity!!

When I don't receive something that I pray for, and rarely do I ask for much because I know God will give me what He wills. But when I do and I don't get my request I know it's because I am not ready to receive what I am asking for or God has something way better for me in store. Our duty, is to wait patiently and be grateful to the fact that we have a most merciful and loving Father who does everything for the salvation of our souls. He gave us the most precious gift we could ever need and that was His Son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. What more could I possibly ask for?

I need patience, perseverance, faith, courage, hope and above all LOVE in my soul and those things are things I KNOW God will provide and those are the things we need to ask for. In the end it will be you and Him. I pray that we all ask for the things that matter the most and that we look deep within to see if we too are holding a knife and are in danger. And even most important are we allowing our Father to remove these dangers by following His will.

Pax
Maria

Dissection of A Soul

When I see people around me, all I see are souls. Oh the soul!! So unique, we cannot recreate the body or the soul. We have what we are given and we should always continually look for ways to perfect them both. But sadly enough, the soul more than often, is left behind while we tend to those things that satisfy the desires of the flesh. Our poor neglected soul. She longs for God and we keep her away by selfish impulses of the flesh. What to do?

We are in a spiritual sense fighting for the salvation of our own souls and must remember that we are trying to maintain a steady course "home". We cannot look at this world as it is. We must look beyond what the eyes see and go DEEP within ourselves. Find your soul, reach out to her, get her out of the mud she is stuck in. Pull her out!!! Bring her up for air and nurture her. GIVE HER GOD!!!! Clean her from the sin she has been lying under and give her to Jesus. COMPLETELY. Let her see the light and love that fuels her and gives her new and eternal LIFE. Don't keep her away from Her Creator. We were made to love God and God alone. The soul belongs to God. We own nothing, and we owe everything to our God for all is His creation. All is His.

Our bodies, our miserable bodies how I loathe the body, the flesh. Selfish that it is, thinking always on a quick fix to quench the thirst of being needed. What do we need?? We have God. He is everything we need. He provides only the best quality maintenance for our souls. How easy it is for us to tell God what works best for us. How incredibly ignorant. Really. It's as if we tell God "You know what God? I got it from here. I know you want me to do it this way but I got it from here.. I know what I'm doing." Does that not seem odd to you? Telling God "you have your life under control?" Kind of ridiculous when you think about it really.

Yet that is what we do when we don't conform to His will. When we take our souls away from His sight by sinning. When we choose darkness over light. The enemy's lying to our Fathers TRUTH. Our souls will be what stands before our just Father. Eternally made, our souls, will have to agree with all that is laid before her when our judgement day comes. Because what will be laid out before her will be the truth of all actions she has done by her own free will. Let's hope we have united our free will with that of what God wills for us to do daily.

Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Mother, intercede for us that we may ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us and that we may continually seek that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be deep within our souls bringing them home to our loving Father for ALL eternity!!

Pax
Maria :)

Changing Over A New Leaf

I was sitting outside enjoying a most beautiful autumn day. Sun is out, skies are blue and no clouds in site. As I was looking at the trees I noticed how all the leaves have turned to their orange and yellow colors. And I could feel a gentle breeze making these leaves fall one by one. I was mesmerized by these leaves in its full colorful splendor as they fell and leaving the branch bare. I immediately thought of how God also sends a gentle breeze in our souls and allows everything that needs to fall away simply fall. How we are left bare for the winter as we prepare in anxiousness for spring when once again we flourish with new growth.

Letting go of all the things that we have held on to and has produced anxiety, distress and despair. We simply stand there in our essence and allow God to gently strip away that burden KNOWING that He will give us new life in Christ. That we are taken care of leaf by leaf, worry by worry. We are in good hands, the hands of our Creator, our Father our EVERYTHING.

My hear and soul is overjoyed with love and gratitude to God in knowing that such a small tree that I am in on this planet and yet he prunes me and takes care of me in every detail. How can I not love Him? How can I not give thanks and praise to such a wonderful God. Moments like these I feel a surge of love that I cannot explain. A love that as flawed and imperfect as it is is overflowing within me. I want to just give it to all who come my way and even go out of my way to give it. I have this treasure of emotion that I want to share even if it involves suffering. Even if it means rejection, or apprehension on the part of others who do not feel this way.

Nothing this world could give me could ever mean more than this love, this wanting to give my soul to God to use as He so chooses. I have seen the miracles in my life, the paths of others crossing mine and knowing that God has orchestrated it all for His divine plan and will. So as autumn is here and the leaves are changing over and falling away, I remember how I too need to prepare for my own winter. Where I take all that has happened so far this year and keep the good and let God's gentle breeze remove the things I need not carry with me in my heart. Leaving more room in my soul to give to him and dedicate to serving Him.

All glory, honor and praise is yours Almighty Father for ever and ever. Amen.

Love,
Maria :)

Leave It To A Good Book.......

i have started to revisit a book I had read a few years back The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis. I tell you, it is imperative to seriously look within our souls and pluck out our distorted attachments to creatures and things that we have in this world. It is not a bad thing to love others and serve them but to be fully involved with them and forget your own soul's salvation...now that is not good. I am redirecting my focus, my desires, my soul, my heart and most importantly..my will to that of God's will for me.

This book always has brought such a sense of logic and understanding that goes straight to my heart and soul. How can I even doubt what God is asking of me? Why the confusion? It is spelled out so clearly everywhere I turn to, in all I read and all I feel when I am deep prayer. I realize that our existence here on this planet is limited and short. We must focus on the higher meaning of it all-on the Kingdom of God. We must be looking to the salvation of our souls and those of others. Not that we have anything to do with that directly as we are just creatures here but through God's grace we can do it. I am just so incredibly blessed to be a Roman Catholic and have over 2000 years of tradition infused into my heart to guide me. I cannot see where I could go elsewhere and get this peace and reassurance. Ours is the one true faith.

Every day I offer my will to the Lord. I know NOT what I need or want. How can I even fix my mind to ask God for anything when I know nothing and deserve nothing? I rather Him guide me where He needs me not where I feel I need to go. My heart loves, it's alive, it wants to give to others. I cannot stop that, nor do I want to. There are enough creatures on this earth who do not believe, or want to feel, or share or give...so I am here for those who need it the most as God sees fit. Nothing is mine, I own nothing, I am nothing in myself. I have no control and no desire to have control all I want is God's will to be done in my life..for Him always.

God is our Loving Father but also just. I cannot let my pride get in the way of fulfilling His will. I must be able to stand before Him and let it be clear and evident that in my lifetime here I have done everything to do His will. There are no excuses to be had when you are being judged...no alibi's, etc. I pray for God' s mercy on all of my sins. For I have offended Him time and time again. I pray that our Blessed Virgin Mary and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be on either side of me as my advocates when I face my Father. I depend on God's mercy and love. nothing or no one here on earth will save me. Only God's grace and Mercy on my eternal soul.


Maria :)

Leaving It All In God's Hands

Very recently I went through a situation that could have made me lose all hope in human kindness. It hurts when people lose sight of what is important and shut those who care about them out. It's hard not to take it personally. I feel as a Catholic, that we are called to bring our love and light to all those around us. Jesus asks us to do just that. When you bring that love to someone who's heart is closed it is incredibly difficult to understand why. It's amazing how skeptical people have become to human kindness and the origin thereof. I can't explain why I love people or why I want to bring this love to them, I just do. I believe that God would want it no other way.

I can't change those who do not see the need of this in their lives. As much as I want to show them a new perspective on what love is and love of neighbor is, I just can't force it on anyone either. What I have learned or seen is that God in His love and mercy has sustained me in perfect tact from this new realization I have recently encountered. Left to my self I would have taken this very hard and would have been crushed. I think I have learned not to see people in such a way that I remember always that they too have flaws and things that need to be worked out in their souls.

Not only that, but here recently God has put some very wonderful souls in my life who live the Catholic faith quite like I do! It helps to know that I am not alone with not only how I feel towards by fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, but also in my beliefs regarding our duty as Catholics. In the end, if I just leave it to God. If I leave it all to Him, with my whole heart and soul, then I know that I will be ok. I will find peace, hope and love in my heart at all times. We cannot depend on others to bring us that happiness, it comes only from God. i have learned a lot about my heart, strength, friendship,love,sacrifice,and the human nature of it all.

I am so incredibly blessed to have a loving Father who at all times knows what I need and takes care of me. No matter what I have gone through, I will love just the same. That love is in me and I cannot put it away. We are called to love no matter how many times we are pushed away.

Pax
Maria :)