The Miraculous Medal: Emblem of Love in Action

I want to dedicate this entry to the blessing I received from wearing a Miraculous Medal.  Raised as an Episcopalian I was unfamiliar with the medal until I stumbled upon a copy of a book about Mary's intercession through Christ.  I have faced a lot of trauma and as I heal from that trauma I felt drawn to wearing the medal along with my cross as a reminder to follow after Christ's heart and to obey God as Mary did. 

What is the Miraculous Medal?
The medal was commissioned after St. Catherine Laboure had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1830 in the Chapel of Apparitions in France.  Mary instructed Catherine to create a medal to call people to the Immaculate Conception.  The Immaculate Conception is the belief that Mary was conceived without sin in order that she may remind stainless as a perfect vessel in giving birth to Christ.

The Blessed Virgin Mary instructed that the medal have a picture of Mary on the front with radiant light streaming from her hands - which symbolize the graces Mary gives, through Christ, to those who ask her for help.  This image reminds us of the fullness of mercy we are called to give as human stewards of Christ - both in flesh and spirit - it reminds us of Christ's never-ending love and the great love of Mary for her son and for his adopted children. 
The image is paired with the prayer: O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.'  I find this prayer calming because I am only human - and having Mary as a motherly example is a great peace as we realize the grace God Himself placed on Mary in carving out the plan for salvation.  God is at work in all of us - he is desperately waiting for us to call and accepting his help.

The back of the medal has the symbol of the cross and M interconnected as a reminder of the Immaculate Conception and Mary's love for her son, Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

The medal is said to have miraculous protective powers on those who wear it - but the protection does not come from the medal - but the message of hope and God's spiritual protection. The miracle comes from Christ's death on the cross and the resurrection.  Christ is always calling us into his flock and this medal is not only an outward sign of devotion -but a way we can invite others to engage in learning about our faith. 


I will follow up with a history of the medal and its purported miracles, but for the sake of this post I'll discuss my healing journey.  I know that in may traditions wearing a medal is seen as superstition but this is the same concept of wearing a cross - the Miraculous Medal is a living prayer from our hearts as we use this token to remember God's intercession and care in our lives.  The power is not from the medal, but the love of Christ HIMSELF - the medal is just an outward display of this grace.

History of Miraculous Medal link.

My Story:

Last week, my mother and I were robbed at gunpoint at a mall in Durham North Carolina.  Several masked thugs demanding our purses and threatened our lives.  This was a gang robbery that no doubt would have stolen our lives had it not been for God's intercession.  I also believe that while wearing the Miraculous Medal did not magically protect us - I do think it kept us spiritually guarded - our eyes set on Christ in this crisis situation.  I also believe that The Blessed Virgin Mary did create a wall of healing protective light - the gunman seemed unable to draw closer to us and I can only attribute that to heavenly help. 

I wear the medal every day as a reminder to stay close to Christ and my need for Jesus and all heavenly help to be my armor and protection.  The greatest protection we have is peace of the spirit - if we have peace of the spirit - even in difficult times - even unto death - we can rise out of the fear and allow God to take control.  We live in a broken world - but nothing is too broken for Christ.  Those who die in crisis - I still believe in God's healing grace and Divine Mercy.  I am so grateful to God and the Virgin Mary and St. Michael for the heavenly protection to fight against these snares of the night.  I pray for the robbers that they will repent.  The gunmen took a purse full of prayer cards - perhaps they can find healing from this - I hope they turn inward and stop the cycle of violence.

Being faced with the possibility of death - our heart can only turn inward and look into the core of our soul and feel compelled to trust in God and ask HIM for help.  Some lash out in this process - feeling God is not present in crisis, but God is always with us in Christ and though we may not like HIS help at the time - God's help is always the best help - I also think so many of us close ourselves off to God's goodness because we cannot trust - we feel wronged and cheated, abandoned.

God never abandons us - while he may lead us through difficult times, God will lead us through it - even if we must sacrifice the flesh in the process - God never forsakes a soul - thirsty for HIS mercy.

Mary is the mother of mercy, she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit - and bore the life of God incarnate - The Word made Flesh.  The Miraculous Medal - not only reminds me of the heavenly protection we have in the Blessed Mother as an intercessor of Christ - the medal reminds me that God calls the most unsuspected to partake in his purpose to fill the world with grace and light.  We all have a purpose on this earth and God is calling us into communion with Him.  When we get caught up in the snares of the world - we will never be full - we will never be fed - we will always hunger - the medal is an extension of grace - the power is not in the medal itself - but the spiritual depth it represents.

When you wear a sacramental, a devotional article, be it a cross or a prayer medal, it is not a dead idol, but rather a living prayer igniting the The Holy Spirits flame in an everlasting fire in our soul to keep us alive in the light of Christ even in dark places.

 Christ is my anchor in life's storms.  When I set my eyes on the Sacred Heart of Jesus I am at peace and able to navigate even dangerous situations with fortitude and faith.  I mention the Sacred Heart of Jesus because Jesus is our life force, Jesus's life pumped forgiveness, hope, love and second chances into the hearts of those who repent and seek the kingdom of God.

The flesh often forces us to forget Christ and his life-giving sacrifice - his life is a testimony of the glory of Living with God, while HIS death is a call for us to 'die' to our hang ups in the physical world and allow the Holy Spirit to invigorate us in the ways of eternal, guiding us in the ways of knowing God.  
 
Problems arise when I forget to cast out the anchor of Christ during times of turmoil - I instead clutch the anxious quaking fear and angst.  When we don't set our eyes on Jesus we lose sight of the beauty of of life and the perspective of our sojourn towards heaven.  This life is meant to be an amazingly beautiful experience, but life is also marked by darkness and despair.  We have to decide which wolf to feed; do we give into the fear of the flesh or do we rise up in the hope of the Spirit that is a light for the darkest of places?

I have straddled the fear and hate of my flesh - the lingering doubts in faith and the trepidation - My soul wants to move closer to Christ and let go of the chains of unworthiness, fear of lack, fear of abandonment, fear of failure, the list of fears I have could be infinite....yet so often I have fallen into despair even though I knew Christ was reaching out - if I just let go of the fear and taken the steps closer to HIS loving heart and fullness of HIS mercy then no matter how treacherous the turmoil - I'd be able to have the strength to endure any obstacles in my path. 


With my hectic job working in customer service,  I often feel overwhelmed when I came home from work.  I have dealt with toxic people over the past six months - as the conditions at work worsened I turned more deeply in prayer and out of this chaos my life is on a path towards healing.  I believe that God allowed this trial to occur - to push me into a deeper prayer life.  God knew I needed his loving care more than what I accepted.  It took things being so bad at work that all I could do was turn to my heavenly Father's loving arms.  In this process I have grown tremendously in faith and resolve - particularly with the help of the rosary.

I wear the medal as an outward show of praise for God's work through the human race for reconciliation and healing. God's calling Mary into HIS service to be a mother to HIMSELF is glory and might of God's search for communion with humanity and Oh what sweetness and fair love that the Virgin Mary gave up the flesh to serve God.

So whether or not the medal offers miracles worthy of the 5 o'clock news - realize the miracle of the forgiveness of sins and our ability to communion with God and God's faithfulness to us - even in times of uncertainty.  The fact God loves us even in our unworthiness - is the greatest miracle of all!

 

Robbed but not Broken

This is a personal testimony of the power of prayer and God's protection in the chaos of assaults in life's storms.  

On Sunday night my mom and I decided to go to a late movie at an area movie theatre attached to a high-end mall.  The movie theatre is in the midst of a deluxe outdoor shopping area with a Cheesecake Factory, Urban Outfitters, West Elm and Crate and Barrel.  I had a gut feeling earlier in the day to pray the St. Michael Chaplet.  I pray it daily before bed, but my intuition said to pray it at 3 p.m. about 9 hours prior to when this incident occurred.

Upon leaving the movie theatre, my mom and I were robbed at gunpoint by a gang - all I had in my purse was a wallet with no money and about 10 prayer books: St. Jude, Infant Jesus of Prague, St. Michael and Marian Devotions.  I said the rosary before the movie as we enjoyed the summer air on the pavilion.  

I have been working through the dead weight of a lot of trauma in my life and as I was walking to my car before this happened, I could only think about how fat I am and what a failure I have been - I asked God to untie the knots and open me up to healing, but all I felt was disgust for myself and a desire for Christ's healing.

In the midst of this we were barraged by the gang and held up - I gave them my purse and by God's grace alone with the intercession of St. Michael, St. Jude and Mary we were saved.  The gang members were almost frozen in place as they tried to grab us - all they could do was take the purse and run.  They had knives and guns and they grabbed my purse and ran with fear after taking it - this was a miracle.  I have no doubt that God intervened and had St. Michael and our guardian angels protecting us with Mary.  Jesus was there. 

And as we ran back to our vehicles all we could say was PRAISE God, the money did not matter - what mattered was our life and the beauty of life.  The lesson of my heart - showing me how much God cares for me and my mom in this broken fractured world - and how even in times where evil attacks us - Christ is there.  Even when people are murdered I believe Christ is fighting hard to stop the violence - and he gives watch over those injured souls - Christ fights for our souls...so even if death comes from the evil of the world as it did to God Himself, God is bigger than the world and HIS love is both personal and universal - all of the hardships - the pain of the past melted away - I saw the beauty and grace and infinite mercy of God.

I prayed to St. Anthony for intercession that if it be God's will my purse would be found so they could identify the culprits and give the police a lead so they could protect other people from being harmed.  I also hoped if caught the young guns of this gang would have a chance at rehabilitation.  While I understand the reality and I do not absolve them of the darkness - I recognize the factors in living in an area where the culture is gang activity, drugs and violence.  This will not stop until the culture changes.  

A miracle occurred when I received a call from a landscaper at 8 a.m. on Monday saying he found my wallet and prayer cards.  He found a friends number in my wallet and through them I was able to connect to the landscaper - this Good Samaritan cooperated with the police who had to pick up my things (I could not go back to the area as I live in a neighboring town).  This Good Samaritan is a son of a pastor who said he had to do the right thing.

The real beauty in the story though is the landscaper has been going through a hard time, a horrible time and he found my prayer cards - a handwritten one I wrote and it gave him hope and to him that was a Guardian Angel - bringing him peace.

Even in a robbery and the evil of that act - God used it for mercy and grace.  God's light always overcomes evil.

I prayed for the gunmen and still do - because while they have chosen to do evil - I see broken, fractured souls in need of Christ and His healing - poverty, drugs, anger, greed are symptoms of a world not in communion with God, a world more in fear of darkness than of the light - and in the darkness they assume their is no healing - rather life is hiding - who we are and acting out the evils that test our hearts.  I pray they will harm no one else.  I saw these as young kids - initiation into a gang and that cycle of violence must be something we stop on an individual and societal basis - we must invest hope into hopelessness, love into forsaken hearts, peace into the battered, quiet into anger and a refuge for those in the cross fire. 

This is not easy - to cure a dis-ease so rampant - especially with the bacteria is an evil at war with God, but God will fight for us and with us - we need to open our hearts - even if it is a small act of mercy and active prayer to help heal our communities and the world.

In North Carolina a majority of gang activity is a result of poverty from a lack of jobs after voids in Textile industry and poor government infrastructure and investment in communities - desperate people look to a system to make money - they become addicted to drugs and the system preys on those who are weak and in most need of healing.  Yes there are some sects who are pure evil - drug lords and serial killers, sociopaths and psychopaths - but in many communities the crime is more a reflection of our not working to heal human hearts and fighting the root cause - which is abandonment, despair, inner turmoil, anger, PTSD and other factors. 

There is no perfect model for fixing the fractured infrastructure of society itself when so many underlying factors exist - but I think we must try to stop the epidemic one person at a time.  Of course for this to succeed it needs to be a mass movement - but until we look to value the life of every person as God values us while also looking at the greater societal needs - we will never find lasting solutions to problems rooted in human dis-ease.  

Each person has value - we must actively work throughout the day to sow mercy and the salt and light of goodness and grace to others that cross our path - and when in times of extreme terror we must always remember God's presence.  Even if rescue seems so out of reach.  Remember God is with us - Christ HIMSELF died by the cross, yet HIS SPIRIT rose above death of the flesh - life is precious by relationship - love and mercy.  God always commands His angels to keep watch over us.  How can we love our neighbor as God loves us?



There are times in life when we cannot control the world around us - things fall apart and the center cannot hold.  Innocent people often get hurt by another person's sin and corruption of heart.  I have never been an advocate for worrying about dangers and snares of all the evil that can come my way.  At the same time I have always tried to be vigilant in recognizing the reality of crime.  We have to have a balance - Christ wants us to be aware that we are in a real spiritual battle with evil every day - but although satan might win this battle, God through Christ has won the war and we are armored by his protection.  This protection is a protection of the soul and the flesh.  

So why do innocent people get harmed when they are vigilant in prayer and wear the armor of God.  Jesus is protecting us always...however the law of free will means that our life is intersects with others who do not heed God's call and accept His healing SPIRIT.  God protects us - unfortunately our flesh lives in a world of where evil is at war with God's goodness, we as faithful members of HIS Holy Hope get caught in the crossfire. Evil searches to destroy the light - all the while knowing that darkness cannot fully destroy the light - it can dim the light, but the LIGHT of the world is Christ and Christ has already won the war.

We must never despair in this though - for Christ died in the flesh but the evil of the world.  He is our triumphant king.  Christ loves us every single living soul with His Sacred Heart - as if there were only one of us - while loving all of us in communion - what a great blessing.  So while we must strive to chart our own path and be removed from the world and detach ourselves from the world - we are also to be of the world - by working to spread the communion of Christ by breaking the bread of MERCY and sharing mercy.  MERCY is an antidote to evil, which is merciless.  Mercy is simple and complex...it feeds our souls and unties the spiritual knots that keep us chained in darkness.  Mercy is forgiveness and justice.

We live in a fractured world, where greed and corruption, addictions and anger have left many communities fighting systemic infections of evil and the consequences of the merciless acts of evil.

I use the word merciless but evil is the antithesis of mercy - it is a corrupted seed of darkness.  Evil knows it cannot overcome the light so it tries to chain us to the fear of darkness.  Darkness covers the light by stealing our peace through a merciless dagger of darkness into the light.  Evil wants us to focus on fear, hate, self-loathing, poverty of spirit and material worth in the flawed currency of the world.  It breaks down the spiritual infrastructure of faith and hope by turning our hearts to our deepest fears and caverns - in doing so we are distracted by the beacons of starlight in our souls and the eternal flame of the Holy Spirit always ready to heal and guide in trauma, injury of spirit, death of flesh and heartache.

Sometimes we cannot win the war on this physical plane.  Millions die of starvation, disease, drought and gang violence, drug addictions and countless other MERCILESS acts of sin.  Sin is not an arbitrary act of disobedience - it is a breaking of a contractually moral code built on the needs of the human spirit and our relationship with God and also each other.  Sin is a poison because it divides us not only from God but from communion with our neighbor and divides our own heart and corrupts our true self.  Sin is toxic - Sin takes on many forms but sin is most potent in our objectification of humanity and humanity's self-destruction of self through greed, violence and addiction.

Sin is the driver of the evil of the world because it misses the mark on how we should care for ourselves and each other.  It misses the mark by placing the ego above the conscience and true self of the SPIRIT of our Soul.  

Sin is something that is a dis-ease of the soul and many forms of sin are enacted because of a disease in the soul - particularly driven by fear and self-hate, envy and mental issues.  Until we look to stop the crimes of sin by the root cause - the sin becomes a disease so strong and potent it is incurable by human hands - it morphs into a state so sinister and systemic that the only solution is killing the system itself.  

I ask everyone who reads this post to look inward and search the darkest caverns of your heart with the light of the Holy Spirit and ask that knots are untied and repent your sins and ask for healing.  Pray for healing for all the world.  Seek small yet important ways to be a light in the darkness for those in despair - even if it is just leaving a prayer card or a message of hope on a stranger's car - or buying a meal for a homeless person or listening to a co-worker vent - life is full of opportunities for danger - but in the danger will we fall by the sword of fear or fearlessly rise in the MERCY of Christ.
 

Infant Jesus be my Guide

In the crisis hours of life, where human flesh is exposed to turmoil left to corrode in weakness and hunger, the soul is haunted by doubt and desire for the light of God's fire.  These moments of forsaken abandon cut the soul like a sword, the pain tearing apart the facade of our pride - demanding to the highest heavens 'Where is God?'  We echo in rage to stars and search for God's face in the craters of the moon - we wander in our anger and sorrow - lost - desperate for God's intercession.  In truth when we ask where is God we are not as anxious for material relief as much as spiritual succor.  

It is in our wilderness flight we are pulled in a tug of war - warring against ourselves, aching towards proverbial Egypt - the comfort of the world - and yearning for the spiritual hope of the promised land.  The Promised Land is more spiritual in nature than a physical place in our modern day sojourn as we work to live in the world while building God's kingdom on earth.  Earth is already God's - He created the heavens, earth and the universe's infinite beauty and mystery.  Still we break our backs desperate for the material control of things that have never belonged to only to human hands - We want to sculpt our lives without consulting God until the rope has run out and we realize we are so utterly lost in ourselves there seems no where to turn.

Where are you God?

I had a minister who said 'I know God exists because when you look at the infancy of a child, the miracle of birth and life and the trust and love within there is God in creative action.'

In my own recent trials as I move forward towards career goals and the anxiety of financial worry - I have been drawn to contemplate the innocence and power of Christ's infancy.  So often we question God's grace - yet God carved out HIS very being to become the Incarnate Word in Christ through human flesh - Christ in His infancy was so weak and dependent on the world.  In Christ's infancy the tables are turned, God who has always cared for the world put Himself through Jesus into our hands.  In the infancy of Jesus we see a God completely dependent on human hands to feed him, love and care for him.

What greater joy can we find in the true purpose of God's hope in relationship that witnessing the infancy of Jesus and His bond particularly with Mary and Joseph.  The infancy of Jesus - God putting himself into human hands in the form of the most fragile and most wondrous miracle in humanity - is a manifestation of God's desire for communion and relationship with us.  God does not need our love, we on the other hand need HIS love...yet God desires our love more than anything - because God is love itself.

In meditating on God placing the Infant Jesus, His infant self, in the hands of the world for protection where He is born in a stable, hunted down and force to flee to Egypt before returning home - makes it look as if God is weak - at least in the eyes of the agnostic - yet God's greatest strength in human hands comes in weakness.  Jesus relied on his family on earth to protect him - even though the road was tortuous - Jesus trusted and grace after grace appeared protecting the child.

How many times do we complain about obstacles or mazes - I am beginning to realize some obstacles and labyrinths are simply the right detours or road blocks to allow us to draw closer in faith and also to avoid a situation.  Often times the worst situations we fall prey at first appear to be diamond jewels.  I think about my goals of being in the music industry.  While I still have regrets - I now see the grace of God intervening to prevent me from getting involved in dangerous situations - even though they appeared to be the 'jackpot'  Jesus trusted, Jesus loved.

That is why I loved the Infant Jesus Novena.  In the next few blogs I will detail the history of the Infant Jesus of Prague and the devotion to the Infant Jesus.  

What is a Novena?:  A Novena is a nine-day prayer cycle drawing us in closer to God's grace through petition and thanksgiving.  A novena is a powerful method to contemplate God's work and the life of Jesus while also working towards a deeper spiritual life.

The Infant Jesus Novena is nicknamed the Storm Novena because of its powerful intercessory help through Christ.  

The Infant Jesus of Prague Novena recently yielded me a wonderful miracle from Christ - allowing me help to alleviate some financial worry and more importantly - Christ's advocacy in untying spiritual knots.  

The great gift of this particularly novena, which is a direct invoking of scripture - is it's reminder of Jesus's promises and our need for active faith even when it seems darkness has won the war in our lives.  

This novena reminds me that Jesus was in His weakest and most vulnerable state as a baby - a baby marked by Herod, a baby who had to flee with his parents to Egypt, a baby when presented at the Temple was told 'he would be the rise and fall of many in Israel**' (paraphrased from Luke) - Jesus can understand our urgent requests and help nurture our fears because Jesus too was a baby lost in His mother's arms - completely dependent on HIS father and the Blessed Mother.  Jesus understands our needs and in contemplating His infancy we are reminded that we too are completely dependent on God for all of our needs.

We need to come to Christ as children, completely dependent on HIS mercy...honoring our Heavenly Father for the bounty of creation, our preservation and our life.  Our Father will not forsake you - even in trial - God is every present for we are HIS children.

I will be writing a series of blogs on the Infancy of Jesus in gratitude for Jesus's grace in answering my prayer and the hope of continued help.  I have learned to turn over my need for control in this process to God and in doing so I am finding the joy of childlike abandonment in the Father's love.

Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague in Urgent Need(To be said for nine days or nine consecutive hours)

O Jesus, Who said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock
and it shall be opened to you," through the intercession of Mary, Your most holy Mother, I knock, I seek, I ask that my prayer be answered.  (Mention your request)

O Jesus, Who said, "All that you ask of the Father in My Name He will grant you," through the intercession of Mary, Your most holy Mother, I humbly and urgently ask Your Father in Your Name that my prayer be granted.  (Mention your request.)

O Jesus, Who said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My word shall not pass," through the intercession of Mary, Your most holy Mother, I feel confident that my prayer will be granted.  (Mention your request)

Amen

 

The Infant Jesus of Prague is venerated in the Catholic Church as an icon.  An icon is different than an idol as an icon is merely a remembrance to help venerate the life of a saint and/or life of Christ.  The prayer to the Infant Jesus of Prague is not a prayer to the statue - but to the Spirit of Christ in commemoration of the statue's miraculous background...the miracles of this statue are not to be worshiped - the worship is of Christ who heals all wounds and answers prayers. 

Prayer I wrote to Infant Jesus

Infant Jesus be my prayer, be my guide, light the footpath to your mercy

Guide me to your holy home - I ask you to enter my heart and embolden it with childlike confidence in your spirit.  I trust in your miracles of love and mercy and I ask that I too may be a miracle of mercy for other souls in this life, especially those wandering - searching for a new life, a new life we can find in the infancy of your holy birth and childhood.  Praise be to Christ, for what greater gift is it than for all the power in the universe to humble Himself to be made man and enter into communion with us.  Infant Jesus be my guide.

 

A Case for the Saints: Candles at our Feet

 

Coming from an Episcopal background, our faithful tradition venerates the Saints and Angels with feast days and lectionary readings, as well as teaching their life stories as lessons as a guiding hand in our own faith journey.  However since the Protestant Reformation, the Anglican Church no longer recognizes the values of praying directly to saints for intercessory prayer.  In fact many Protestant churches, including the Presbyterian parish I attended growing up completely called the practice of veneration in the pattern of Catholic faith an act of heresy.  To discuss the span of the issues and origins of the various arguments for the Saints and their place in the various denominations of Protestantism and the Catholic Church would take an entire college level curriculum to analyze and the complex doctrinal issues on the branches of faith.  

As a blogger searching to share my own faith journey as a beacon, I will keep this simple.  My purpose of this entry is not to stir a debate as much as to light a candle in the case for our need of the Saints in the Church and in our lives.  

By Saints I refer to a tree of sorts rooted in the love of Christ and his mission, life, death and resurrection. A saint by definition is a follower of Christ in principle - a saint in vernacular and in Catholic veneration is a faithful person who is so empowered by the Spirit of Christ that they are a beacon - a light, similar to John the Baptist - leading others to the heart of Christ.  Saints I argue also can be those among us, particularly those who find resilent hope in suffering and still pour out mercy in the world.  i think of mothers walking miles to find water for their children.  I think of school teachers giving extra hours to tutor a child, or a friend showing compassion.  Often times the greatest 'miracles' of saints is not the healing of the impossible - it is the simple grace of love that pumps life in the world.  We are all called to be saints.

A saint is a soul lit afire with the Holy Spirit.  We are called to be a light for others, we must be willing even in the brokenness of our sin to give up ourselves for Christ...breaking bread with a stranger, listening to a friend in need...we are all sinners - and yet by the grace of Christ's life, death and resurrection we are living temples of the Holy Spirit - and conduits of the kingdom of Christ - and the sacred oil I think of Christ and all the saints is love - and forgiveness, hope in desperation and chastising without condemning, a call for reconciliation and peace.

The canonical Saints lead us closer to Christ - the veneration of a saint is not a worshiping of the saint, but viewing the saint as a living example of how the grace of Christ in action can transform sinners - healing and restoring.

Saints help give us an example of how to follow Christ, how to draw closer to His mercy.  We don't need Saints to approach Christ, Jesus's death on the cross allows us to draw close to His heart directly - and Christ does hear us and heal us directly.  The purpose of veneration of the Saints is to learn and grow in the faith and to draw closer to Christ. 

Protestants in studying St. Paul, are looking to a Saint to lead them closer to Christ. 

It took me years to realize the important in my own faith journey of the Saints as a guidepost to Christ.  The show is not about the saints, it is about Christ, but they help light the dark path of the world so we can make sure not to stumble - think of the prophets of the Old Testament - the prophet was not to be worshiped - rather they were conduits of the WORD and the Word is God

Intercessory prayer with the Saints is something I turn to often to in my prayer life.   It is something I did not come to through my upbringing. In fact I chastised my Catholic friends for 'praying to the Saints' until I was out of college.  I began to discern through prayer to the Holy Spirit that praying for intercession to the saints is not worshiping the person - but is simply asking the saint to pray for you to God, the Saints pray with you, in praying to the saint - you are praying to Christ - but while contemplating the life of the faithful and how their life can draw you closer to God.  The saints each have unique talents and skills and God uses their gifts of intercession to serve us as friends - it is heavenly support and a trust in the fact that Christ death ensures resurrection for the faithful.

I came to my reliance on praying novenas to Christ through the intercession of the saints in a time of trial and God answered my prayers.  Studying how the Saint(s) I prayed with endured their tests and continually sought Christ helped my own faith journey and has drawn me closer not to the Saint - but to the one GREATER - Christ our Risen Lord.  I find these doctrine of praying with the saints in the doctrine of Jesus promising that when two or more are gathered together in prayer that He is with us.  I know the entire choir of heaven serves God even on the other side of the veil...All prayers are directed and answered directly by Christ.  

In praying to Saints - in the Catholic tradition - you must use great discernment.  Each canonical saint has undergone extensive research and had miracles attributed to the Saint through Christ's will.  Christ is the wonder wonder - saints are merely extensions of his light leading the way to HIS kingdom and helping us build it on earth and in heaven.

For those who continue to wrestle with or argue the case of praying with the Saints...I ask that you do not harden your hearts to exploring their life biographies and studying their commentary - a great method of Bible study and inspiration for enduring tests and trials.  

How can you actively be a 'saint' in this world - how can we all act under the banner of Christ without fear of failure, fear of ridicule and shame - how can we abandon the world's constraints in unbridled faith in Christ?

I will continue to feature stories of the Saints and how we too can be modern day saints - working as Cross Healers - healing through small acts of mercy in ordinary ways - yielding the extraordinary hope only love rooted in the light of Christ can ignite.




 In Catholicism The Blessed Virgin Mary is a great advocate and inspiration - she was filled with grace and love and faith - Mary reminds us of true service to Christ and also dependence on HIM.

 

Desperate Times - Lean in on God

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  I think for many the most desperate groveling act of their humanity is prayer.  Humans like to be in control.  We like to fix problems; truthfully our fixing problems more often means ignoring problems - we like to be comfortable to elevate the status quo - to ignore the desperate needs of others and to build up houses on sand and ivory towers.  Humans are so fragile and that fragility scares us - so we hunger for Babel instead of heaven.  

 

I make this point because even in the course of my relationship with God I have often failed to thank Him for the simplest of gifts and most extraordinary of graces - as a human I get caught up in the spinning wheels of the world - the greed, the corruption, fitting in...I have found myself lost so many times desperate to fit into the world's status quo - instead of being content to be different - content to go against the powers of the world - my soul hungers for the bread of heaven - still instead of going to the storehouses of my Father in heaven, I knock on doors that will never open.  

I have spent a good deal of my life frustrated that while I work hard and have navigated the perils of the socioeconomic knots of this world - I remain lost - out of place, destitute because when we try to conform our souls to the world's standards we lose our light.  When I refer to the 'world' I don't mean the goodness in the earth and hard work ethic and innovation.  I refer rather to the corruption, the fear, the bitterness, the every man for himself while paradoxically demanding uniformity.

So when in our desperation, particularly in financial difficulties Christ's answer is not always the answer we desire.  Christ is concerned for your soul.  While having a good job and being in the world and contributing to it with your talents is a blessing and praise of Christ living in YOU - when we are more concerned about the temporal gains of the world and value the flesh more than God's eternal kingdom, we will always starve even if we have enough to eat.

Jesus knows what it is to hunger and he will provide for our material needs, but putting those needs before him and allowing fear to drive you instead of faith is a point where Christ often forces us to look inward.  If you are willing to let go of the facade of the house you are building on sand and are willing to lay your cornerstone in Christ - not only will he grant the desires of your heart, he will heal your brokenness and fill you with the bread of everlasting life and cup of mercy and salvation.

The problem is too many of us first demand physical manna - we want to see the material answer to our prayer or situation instead of accepting God's healing power and HIS perfect timing.  I look at the story of the paralytic in the Gospel.

Jesus seeing the paralyzed man instantly says 'Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.'  

I don't know about you but if I was expecting a healing of paralysis I would be angry because my fear, my obstacle at that moment is my inability to walk...however Jesus sees a much deeper problem that needs healing...it is the man's soul - it is paralyzed by fear, doubt, sin...Jesus in my own life trials has shown me time and again that before he heals the temporal issues he has to fix the spiritual root cause - otherwise the illness of the pain, the hurt, the fear will linger and I will continue to place my confidence on the temporary obstacle and demand God's help instead of being able to walk fully in the confidence of faith and praise.

This is an example that God through Christ is a psychologist and deeply aware of human nature and physiological needs.  You can train a child to follow the rules by giving them a cookie, but what happens when the cookie is gone - they don't have the depth of understanding and complex ability to move past that obstacle and to grow.  Christ understood that being physically paralyzed on this plain of existence - was not a long term issue - the body dies and has illnesses - the flesh is weak and decays - the spirit lives on - Christ was looking at curing the soul because the soul is eternal.  What an amazing perspective to think of eternal love in the moment of our present trials.  Christ will fix these temporary road blocks (or at least give us courage to endure them) but if we focus only on manifesting the right here, right now manna we will always starve and thirst.

Spiritually and physically the man was paralyzed.  Sin paralyzes us and when we conform to the fleshly desires of the world and allow sin to control us we become paralyzed by desperate fear


Matthew 9: And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.” 3 And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.” 4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? 5 “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and walk’? 6 “But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” 7 And he got up and went home.

In our deepest despair we often find ourselves in between the rock of faith and hard place of fear.  Fear breeds doubt.  When we are are most desperate, the moments we are left hiding in the darkest caverns of ourselves we often find the only light for our soul and flesh is prayer.  This is our foxhole - the place where we feel we can no longer ignore God because if God is not able to help us we are doomed to be forsaken.  It is a state of metaphorically drifting at sea unable to drink any water - parched and dying.

Unfortunately many of us choose to ignore God and listen to the flawed ego.  There is a difference between ego and confidence, pride and esteem.  God wants us to have confidence in our abilities and in that confidence turn to HIM, dependent on all our needs.  Contrary to the old adage, God helps those to help themselves, God does not want us to help ourselves - when we think we can do things apart from God and we can figure out everything on our own - then we have lost sight - we are blind and our soul is burning out of oil.

So many times I've seen myself as a failure because I did not meet the expectations of the establishment...I don't have an Ivy League degree and I am not a CEO...why should God care about me?  I feel that my failing in the material ambitions is a reflection of my not pleasing God because I have not 'helped myself' enough - in these failures how can I ever ask God to heal, let alone sweep up the brokenness?  How can I ask God for help when I cannot help myself.

It was actual through a late night television spot for St. Jude Children's Hospital in which Christ opened up a door to internal healing in my soul.  I have dealt with PTSD from childhood abuse which impeded progress at certain critical times in my life; along with the economic collapse of 2008 - the year I graduated from college, I felt like I was in a pit.  I knew God cared about me and I trusted His promise of salvation - but I failed to trust he really would help me up in desperate times - 'that's my job,' I thought and 'I'm doing a lousy job.'  In this depression I also was so eager to help others - I am diagnosed as an empath - which means I am highly sensitive and want to help others with their problems - I care deeply and trusted God's healing for others and sought to actively engage in even small mercies for others...however when it came to me - I felt lost, forsaken...I felt that I was failing God by not accomplishing anything.

St. Jude in a midnight ad about Danny Thomas gave me a desperate hope to trust again, not to trust the world and seek refuge in those who hurt me but to turn instead to the Creator of all things, the mender of broken hearts, the Great physician - Christ our King - God our Father - Holy Spirit our light.  

Why did this midnight ad ignite a fire of hope?  The simple grace and miracle of God in action and his constant will to heal, even the most forsaken of causes - and his care in what to others may seem the most trivial.
 
Danny Thomas, a devout Catholic, as a struggling actor prayed to St. Jude for help with his career.  Danny Thomas had a family to raise and little money - he wanted to be an actor but it would take a miracle if he was to pursue his dream.  He prayed to St. Jude - the saint of desperate causes to help him with is dream of being an entertainer, in turn promising to do what he could to build a Shrine to St. Jude.  Danny Thomas prayers were answered by God through the intercession of St. Jude - and Danny Thomas faithful to his word embarked on the most important tasks of his career - setting up a world renowned children's hospital and research center - which has cured countless children suffering life-threatening diseases and offering healing and desperate hope to even the most terminal of cases.

Hope - Christ is a living hope and we need Christ's hope to fill our soul.  We only have two hands.  God has the world and universe in his fingertips - God has given us everything - including life - we need God - we are desperate without HIM and most importantly:

WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT PRAYER HEALS.  Prayer heals our soul and in God's goodness prayer can also work to heal lives in countless other ways - think of all the people who were saved because Danny Thomas gave what he had to God and trusted God - God not only helped him have a wonderful career but also used Danny Thomas to help build a hospital and fund science and research.  We only have two hands but in prayer and active grace we can turn desperate situations in to wondrous opportunities.

While not every prayer is answered like the miracle of Danny Thomas - God is always at work and when we trust He is doing the best work for our soul - then we don't have to fear the world.  Fear of God is a different fear, an empowering fear of trust.  And when we trust God we use our hands for his will.  Suddenly the desires of our heart are not so myopic - but filled with a call to mercy and a fire of grace to pass like bread in the Holy Eucharist and water in Baptism.

St. Jude is an advocate to emulate in our desperation because he always kept Christ in 'his hands' - St. Jude's image is shown carrying Christ - understanding that all things come of God and when we put our life into His hands with can sow the seeds of the kingdom of God with a light to shatter the darkness.

If you are looking for an excellent charity for an annual contribution I heartily encourage a meaningful life-changing gift to St. Jude Hospital.  

Prayer:
God by your infinite mercy you light the torch of a Living Hope within us by the flame of your Holy Son Jesus in the Spirit of Truth.  Thank you for the example of St. Jude who never gave up hope in you and put His life into Your hands and allowed YOU to use his hands and his life to bring hope to the desperate and light to dark spaces.  Call on St. Jude to be our help in leading the way to a closer life in Christ - igniting a path down the narrow road of hardship to see heaven on earth even in great despair.  Praise be to Christ 

Saint Jude: Active Hope in Desperate Times

 
The Epistle of St. Jude is dear to my heart.  St. Jude is one of my patron saints.  As an Apostle of Christ, Jude Thaddeus served Jesus with a fire of perfect charity and a resilient heart to all the message of the Gospel to pump through is soul - preaching in the most desperate of circumstances the hope of Christ even int he midst of persecution and times of what appear to be utter abandonment by God.  St. Jude in Christian tradition is an advocate before the throne of God as a help for the hopeless.  He was a disciple who always saw the beauty even in suffering and believed that no crisis is too broken, in Christ all can be healed.  St. Jude is an example of discernment in action, and the call to persevere with Christ even in our weakness, suffering and pain - Christ heals and Christ is with us.








St. Jude is one of the 12 Apostles of Christ, we will continue to focus on his life and ministry in future posts.  St. Jude is often seen carrying Christ in his hands because Jude actively sought to carry out the teachings of Christ and spread them to the message to the world - which hungers for the bread of Christ, the bread of heaven.

I have a special affinity for St. Jude because time and again as I suffer doubt, the desperation of being forsaken by the world, questions of God's presence, St. Jude is a testimony of Christ's healing presence even in the most unexpected of circumstances.  St. Jude shows me that while Christ created heaven and earth with God, the Father and the Holy Spirit - he raised Lazarus from the dead, and fed the 5,000....often times our relief from God isn't a parting of the sea sort of moment...often times we find St. Jude, like Christ in a simple embrace of a friend, a funny greeting card, a morning cup of coffee and a sliver of blue sky in a storm.

I am going to run a series of blogs on St. Jude and hope in desperate times.  St. Jude has led me to Christ's mercy time and again, even when I felt unworthy and inconsolable.  Simple mercy is tremendous grace.  St. Jude was a sinner yet he trusted in the healing of Jesus, his friend, his God, and his Rabbi - St. Jude is like us, a person who had to face danger, pain, suffering and all the temptations of the flesh - yet he persevered in faith - not always perfectly - but he learned from battles and never gave up hope. 

There are many battles and desperate situations in the world today - from famine to war, toxic environments, abuse, vice and sin running rampant, but I like St. Jude - see the light even in this darkness - it shines bright in the darkness - because when we have Christ we have mercy, when God is for us the world make beat us, even kill our body, but our soul survives.  I see the beauty of God's creation and the immense glory of God's healing hands even in the most desperate situations.

It can be easy to fall away in faith when times are so much of a struggle and we feel we have no control over situations - how can we fix things that are so broken?  

I know I try to fix everything myself - St. Jude's example showed me that I need to be strong in hope - but my hope comes from Christ.  When we give God our hands and offer up small but important acts of mercy in active ways then God magnifies that - God is our help - God is in charge - Christ is our helper - we are His servants, But it is a relief to know that Christ, who cares for us, is our Master Builder.  

It can be impossible at times to see the mercy and grace of God in desperate situations.  We feel like a boat tossed in a storm, a warrior without a shield, a sojourner lost with no solid ground beneath our feet.  At the moment of our birth in Christ's grace, the baptism of our souls into the union of His Divine Majesty, Protection and Life-giving Hope - we are imbued with the wonder and mystery and awe of God and a call to surrender the will of the flesh to the will of the spirit.  

As a child it is easier to trust God's grace and fully submit to God's will and listen in the intrepid, yearning exploration of our hearts to God's call - it is a way a call to adventure, charting our imagination to bridge the gap of intuition and analytical depth.  By imagination I don't mean taking fairy tales as fact, but rather the childlike abandonment of trying to control everything in the world and trying solve every problem without relying on Our Father.  A child knows how to trust while also being eager to learn, eager to explore, and ready to eat when they hunger.  

I think it is also critical to note the limitations of our inner child, because as children sometimes we trust too me, or we become selfish-unwilling to share, sometimes we think the world centers completely on our current state of consciousness.  

As we grow in faith and also in communion with the world we realize not only our limitations but we begin to mistrust because the world is a corrupt place where betrayal of trust occurs on a daily basis.  We find ourselves in a constant state of fighting against the world and conforming to it.  How many times do we try to exert our own sense of authority against the world, working to separate our own soul from the chaos of our surroundings - however in this break, we often fail because we turn our gaze so far inward to the desires of the temporal flesh or the current state of affairs we become islands without any life-giving force.  

An island can be a rock, a sturdy place but a rock without water or vegetation leaves us like stone.  I know I am guilty of trying to fix my surroundings and when I cannot fix the environment I distance myself and I forget to help my neighbor.  It is a defense mechanism, but it is not the appropriate way to forsake the world, because in isolating ourselves and having the ego to believe we can be independent in life - we fail to see the necessity for God and the grace of Christ in all of our affairs.  We become cold, bitter and angry - or at the best detached, detached from the world, but also detached from God.  

Conformity is another road we often travel, we know our Spirit is restless in this world, hungry for the bread of Life, which is Christ and the eternal manna, but we feel so overwhelmed by the current mood of the times that when God does not seem to answer our prayers the way we want Him too - we decide to play the games of the world and in doing so, forsake God.

The most dangerous void is when we try to conform to the world and also serve God.  As I broached earlier - Christ is the master builder, we are workers - and as workers God makes us aware of His plan, but we are not called to rule the world, this is our temporary home, and this planet though routed by sin and darkness - is God's creation - he is owner of the fields and harvests.  In this modern age of technology and science, we fail to remember the blessings that God gives us - the simple blessings are often the most powerful - like a drink of clean water and a mountain stream in summer...God also is the blessing behind our technology - yet instead of wanting to use these gifts for good, men get greedy - chasing after their own ambitions - and abandoning God.  

You cannot abandon God because God is the ruler and creator of the universe.  God is gracious and just - but in that mercy he will not tolerate humanity building modern day 'Babel' not for the good of humanity and the earth (i.e. electricity is a blessing but not when we scourge the natural resources for short-term profit instead of using the brains God blessed us with for alternative cleaner energy) - we have taken God out of the equation.

The scary thing is too often God is used to justify this evil acts and the way of the flesh - something St. Jude's Epistle warns of with such clarity and rebuke - it calls us to look inward at our faith - and question 'are we doing this because of God?'  I see so many churches where congregants discuss business more than faith and use church doctrine to spread lies about why we should not pass certain laws or protect national parks...this is a product of sin but when we start to see religion and faith as a facade to prop up our ideology instead of being transformed by Christ...we are conforming Christ to our worldly pleasures and opinions instead of being transformed by the spirit.

Christ is king and is perfection - Christ is God - the Father in Him and Jesus is in the Father...it is a blasphemy to discount God in hateful words as it is to be a person who claims to be faithful then twists Christ for their own agenda.  No one wants to hear this - it is a problem we have faced since the early church and a problem St. Jude so eloquently illuminates:

  The Epistle of St. Jude warns of this with a passionate plea:
¹⁰ But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam's error and perished in Korah's rebellion. ¹² These are hidden reefs^[e] at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

"Hidden in love feast"  How often do we prop our own desires of the flesh - arguing for their justification under the banner of Christ and the communion of the church.  

Justification by faith - we are sinners and only in Christ's grace can we be truly redeemed, but we are not given a license to distort Christ's mission and build his kingdom on the fractured selfish ideology of the world.  An example of this is a minister who also worked in real estate and finagled a land grab over a Christian college in hopes of eventually turning the school into a for-profit institution and then using the land for high-development potential - all of this was not done under as a way to help support the mission of the church - but was a way to use the church to support human ambition.  

Sometimes we get lost as we cross the bridge of abandoning the flesh to the Spirit - we need food - yet Jesus is the bread of life, we have bills to pay, yet we are told not to worry about what we will eat or wear...It is a conundrum at times.

So how do we not get ensnared by these 'hidden reefs' - prayer and the Spirit of the Word.  Christ will never leave us empty if we come to him with open ears and hearts.  Often times to hear we have to leave our ambition at the door and also turn our anxiety and fear of the world over to God.

St. Jude through his Epistle and life account (through tradition) is a call for us to Hope in God's Grace through Christ even in desperate circumstances.  St. Jude calls us to both active faith and active service in God's kingdom.

In faith we must realize that God in charge of this ship, so when it seems like we are being tossed at sea and left unaided, we must persevere in prayer and thanksgiving that God is in charge and our soul is secure, even if the flesh succumbs to the waves.  Faith that is tossed by the sea to the point we lose sight of God's healing care and ability to carry us through storms - turns into a vicious desperate doubt.  Even in the most desperate cases St. Jude calls on us to remember that Christ died for us, suffered yet death did not overtake Him, Christ rose again.  St. Jude witnessed these miracles and understood sometimes it takes desperate situations to transform a faith into a fire of persevering inextinguishable light.  St. Jude, leads us closer to Christ to see beauty and the blessing of life even in the midst of the brokenness of the world - to cling close to the promise guaranteed of everlasting life - so that we might not lose sight of 'soul work' in this life.

It has taken me many years questioning God and demanding answers to realize God's ways are higher than my ways.  God's primary focus - and the purpose of Christ is abundant everlasting life in the spirit.  So often we demand where is God now instead of remember all the amazing gifts He has given us - we lose sight of the fact this world is a battleground between light and dark and even in the depths of darkness the light of God reigns strong - our lives here matter tremendously but we cannot feel so empowered by the material temporal world that we would about God for the bread that decays - even the manna int he desert turned to waste at night - we need to set our hearts on the everliving Christ and trust that his path is better - even in storms and tempests and testing - than our road - because the narrow road of Christ leads us home to St. Jude and all the Saints and Angels in heaven.

Hope always even in desperate circumstances - even when God seems silent - he is there - He is guarding your soul and you just need to draw closer to His light and allow the flame to light a fire of hope and trust - in your soul.

Prayer:
O God by the power of the Holy Spirit you overpowered Mary, the Blessed Virgin who chose to say 'Yes' to YOUR plan for salvation even when the road was to be met with suffering, scorn, ridicule and constant fear - she turned away from the world and put her Trust in YOU and Her Son Christ.  We Thank You for Christ as an example of how to live in this temporal world - where your creation shouts praises in rainstorms and endless skies of blue - where storms renew and the bow of your hand is always set on renewal and paths to salvation.  Thank You Jesus for calling forth Your disciples.  Each disciple had a special gift and tool to help spread the WORD and Your Holy Spirit throughout the earth.  We thank you for St. Jude who even in the dark nights of the soul, amid political upheaval, persecution, toil and doubt - he sought your healing presence and Holy Spirit and burned for the oil of infinite hope your Soul, Christ provides.  Teach me to follow the example of St. Jude and ask St. Jude to incercede with me in all my desperate needs.  St. Jude through Christ give me an undying flame of love for Christ and petition to the Holy Spirit to fill me with wisdom and hope to not only persevere in persecutions but also to be an active merciful hand to all those in need - help us to build up ourselves in the most holy faith of Christ, praying int he Holy Spirit.  Teach us St. Jude by your example to always keep ourselves as willing conduits for the mercy of Christ and in that mercy leading others to the life-giving source abundant of the Spirit of Christ's love.  My we snatch unbelievers out of the eternal destroying fire, instead building them up in grace and love - showing them the mercy of Christ and praying that they may be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. 
Praise be to Christ our King who reigns, show us St. Jude that our king suffered death was crowned in thorns - yet in this suffering He was not broken.  Christ reigns.

I will continue to post on St. Jude and miracles attached to his intercession.  Saints continue to act in heaven as wonder workers for Christ - leading us closer to HIS call and His kingdom.  We are all kingdom builders, but remember we are not the architect - Christ is and what a hope that is that we don't have to carry our cross alone!

The Shrine of St. Jude does a great deal of outreach and is a source of abundant information on St. Jude's call to help heal through mercy with our hands in building the kingdom and turning our trust in prayer completely over to God: