Entrapped in Darkness ♥ A Call for Aid

It's been a month since I've posted anything on this blog. To be honest, I've been struggling in the darkness of my life, occasionally finding my way into God's light, only to pulled back into the dark. And in that darkness, full of sorrow and hurt, anger and confusion, a small voice in my heart calls out to God, to come and save me.

When one..."has become a foreigner in his own house. True communion is gone. Every relationship is pervaded by darkness. To be afraid or to show disdain, to suffer submission or to enforce control, to be an oppressor or to be a victim: these have become choices for one outside the light. Sins cannot be confessed, forgiveness cannot be received, the mutuality of love cannot exist. True communion has become impossible.

...Everything loses its spontaneity. Everything becomes suspect, self-conscious, calculated, and full of second-guessing. There is no longer any trust. Each little move calls for a countermove, each little remark begs for analysis; the smallest gesture has to be evaluated. This is the pathology of darkness.

Is there a way out? I don't think there is — at least not on my side. It often seems that the more I try to disentangle myself from the darkness, the darker it becomes. I need light, but that light has to conquer my darkness, and that I cannot bring about myself. I cannot forgive myself. I cannot make myself feel loved. By myself I cannot leave my land of anger. I cannot bring myself home nor can I create communion on my own. I can desire it, hope for it, wait for it, yes, pray for it. But my true freedom I cannot fabricate for myself. That must be given to me. I am lost. I must be found and brought home by the shepherd who goes out to me."

Ref: The Return of the Prodigal Son. A Story of Homecoming by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Let's not wait...

In the many times when I find it hard to serve God, because I am feeling tired, I am down with sickness, I am in a bad mood, I am busy with other things....

Let this passage be a reminder for me:

2 Cor 6:1-10

As his fellow-workers, we urge you not to let your acceptance of his grace come to nothing.

As he said, 'At the time of my favour I have answered you; on the day of salvation I have helped you'; well, now is the real time of favour, now the day of salvation is here.

We avoid putting obstacles in anyone's way, so that no blame may attach to our work of service; but in everything we prove ourselves authentic servants of God; by resolute perseverance in times of hardships, difficulties and distress; when we are flogged or sent to prison or mobbed; labouring, sleepless, starving; in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness; in the Holy Spirit, in a love free of affectation; in the word of truth and in the power of God; by using the weapons of uprightness for attack and for defence: in times of honour or disgrace, blame or praise; taken for impostors and yet we are genuine; unknown and yet we are acknowledged; dying, and yet here we are, alive; scourged but not executed; in pain yet always full of joy; poor and yet making many people rich; having nothing, and yet owning everything.

Guest Opinion: Are You Really Catholic? - Catholic Online

Guest Opinion: Are You Really Catholic? - Catholic Online

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Indulgences ♥ Do we think of them?

I was going through a prayer booklet and came across indulgences promised for praying certain prayers. 300 days indulgence for this prayer, 500 days indulgence for another prayer. And I was just thinking to myself... how often do we go through life thinking about them? Myself? Barely... once a year at most (Divine Mercy Sunday).

An indulgence (in case you need to refresh your memory like I did) is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints. (Okay that was a bit long...it gets simpler from here onwards)

All sins entail an unhealthy attachment to our souls which must be purified either here on earth or after death in a state called Purgatory. An indulgence can be either partial or plenary—it removes part or all of the temporal punishment due to sin. 

While it is most important to gain the forgiveness of our sins, especially mortal sins, it is also worth paying attention to gaining indulgences—shortening our stay in Purgatory with the hope of avoiding it all together. 

So, we should all look out for these little "cheques" that the Church holds out for us to grab, and use them to pay off our time in Purgatory. We should especially look out for the big blank cheques (Plenary Indulgences) that pay off ALL the time we need to spend in purification before we meet God. So if we were to receive a plenary indulgence and die the next moment, we would go straight to heaven!

So here are a few quick "need to know"s in order to obtain these indulgences:

i) We must be in the state of sanctifying grace—no mortal sin

ii) We must have at least the general intention of wanting to gain the indulgences

- You can pray weekly, "Gracious God, I want to gain all the indulgences I can during this week and always"

iii) We carry out exactly, according to the time, place and manner prescribed, all the requirements the Church lays down for the gaining of any particular indulgence. 

- For partial indulgences, it can be as simple as reciting a certain prayer

- For plenary indulgences, there is the addition of these conditions

a) sacramental confession

b) eucharistic communion

c) prayer for the intentions of the Pope

d) attachment to sin, even venial, be absent 

A plenary indulgence may be gained, under the usual conditions for the recitation of the Rosary (5 decades are sufficient), in a church or public oratory or even in the family.

A plenary indulgence is also attached to The Way of the Cross.

It's amazing (yet so sad) how most of us go through our life missing all the "free goodies" the Church is handing out to us. Realizing this, go and tell your friends to seek to gain what is truly valuable. God Bless.

Ref: A Simple Prayer Book by the Catholic Truth Society

Ref: The Faith Explained by Leo J. Trese