What a week it has been.
First, my husband and I had to cut our daughter's godfather out of our lives after he brought over his new "girlfriend" to our home last Saturday to introduce her to us, and she turned out to be a prostitute that he picked up in a convenience store parking lot (he lied to us about where he met her too!). The whore also stole some cosmetics and brushes from me after we let her in to use our bathroom. I didn't realize what had happened until after he left to go home with the prostitute and I was cleaning up the bathroom since she'd been in it. Ironically, the stolen items weren't worth much monetarily. The cosmetics were ones I hardly used and was planning to dump, however the brushes were my favorite and I used them regularly. Though I filed a police report about the robbery, my husband and I were out for blood. I was very angry that I'd been robbed (it always hurts worse when someone close to you is the perp), but my husband was even more furious at his former friend because he'd stood as our daughter's godfather at her Baptism and swore an oath to uphold the teachings of the Church, which he had now thrown away for a lot lizard; blaspheming the Holy Ghost. We've blocked him from communicating with us after sending off angry messages telling him what happened and to stay away. I don't think I will ever forgive my daughter's former godfather for this incident.
Fast forward to Thursday, when we went to noonday Mass at the Cathedral across the street from my husband's clinic where we'd gone to get his biweekly supply of medicine. My husband suggested the venture and while I was reluctant to go, we had nothing planned for the afternoon and since we were in the area, why not? In spite of my reluctance, it was clear almost from the moment we set foot on the property that the Lord wanted us to be there that day. We met a pious young woman who was new to town and saw some old faithful friends from our other church too. And the cherry on the blessing sundae? The sermon was about not casting pearls before swine, and that some people will just never accept the Lord no matter how hard you try and inspire them to do so. That really resonated with us because we tried so hard to bring our daughter's godfather, my husband's former friend, back to the Catholic Church. We'd encourage him to come to church with us (and he did on many occasions), pray more often, to cut toxic people out of his life, he was the Best Man at our wedding, and when I became pregnant, we offered him the position of being our child's godfather if he would come back to the Church by going to Confession and start receiving Communion regularly again. He finally did go to Confession during Holy Week and took Communion on Easter, but he was never as committed to being a good Catholic after that.
Today at the other church, we got another reminder about how real the Devil is. There was a disruptive parishioner who set my demon meter off the minute I laid eyes on him. I suspected he was mentally ill and lacking for treatment, but something else didn't sit right about him. Interestingly enough, he disappeared during Communion and was not seen again for the rest of the Mass. Then after Mass, while my husband and I were fellow-shipping with our friends and fans, one of our good friends there told us about how she'd been attacked by demons with unexplained scratches, bruises, and bites appearing on her body after she'd gotten her life straightened up following a divorce and end to a toxic relationship. She told us how she had to seek relief from the torment by having the diocesan exorcist pray over her, and a trip to his monthly healing service where he does special prayers and lays the monstrance on people who are spiritually under attack. Our friend reported that the exorcist's church was full of devils, and some people claim to have seen Satan himself in the chapel. My husband knew the church where this exorcist served because his late best friend/dope dealer belonged to that church and that many dope dealers frequented this church, bringing the demons of their trade with them. It may seem paradoxical that a Catholic church should be full of demons, given that people seeking exorcisms usually go to a Catholic exorcist first. But, keeping in mind that demons are more attracted to something/someone more sacred, it makes perfect sense. There is a parable my husband told me before we were married that does a pretty good job of illustrating this situation, which I will include as a footnote at the end of this post.
It is said that only God can take a bad situation and bring good out of it. My prayer life, while never particularly strong, has been lacking for some time. He was using the robbery and subsequent fallout to remind me that it's not a good idea to take His protection for granted, and that I need to step up my prayer life more. October, being the month of the Rosary, is a good time to do that.
Have a blessed week, and take care everyone.
***
The parable of the two churches: A seminarian had a dream in which an angel showed him two churches on opposite sides of the road from each other. One church was immaculately neat with a manicured lawn, wealth, well-dressed parishioners and well behaved children, a choir in tune and nice cars in the parking lot. The other church was more run-down, impoverished, with poorly dressed parishioners who were smoking during Mass and talking about football while the priest gave his homily. Demons swirled around the parishioners and the priest in this church, tempting them with thoughts about money, sex, murder, etc. What cars were in the parking lot were jalopies and the choir could barely keep a tune. The angel then asked the seminarian which church was saved-the middle class church or the run-down church?
The answer: the run-down church. It was saved because the people had faith, which was why the demons were swirling around and attacking everyone there so viciously. The absence of demons at the middle class church was because the people there had no faith. Thus, there was no reason for the demons to be present and attack people there.
First, my husband and I had to cut our daughter's godfather out of our lives after he brought over his new "girlfriend" to our home last Saturday to introduce her to us, and she turned out to be a prostitute that he picked up in a convenience store parking lot (he lied to us about where he met her too!). The whore also stole some cosmetics and brushes from me after we let her in to use our bathroom. I didn't realize what had happened until after he left to go home with the prostitute and I was cleaning up the bathroom since she'd been in it. Ironically, the stolen items weren't worth much monetarily. The cosmetics were ones I hardly used and was planning to dump, however the brushes were my favorite and I used them regularly. Though I filed a police report about the robbery, my husband and I were out for blood. I was very angry that I'd been robbed (it always hurts worse when someone close to you is the perp), but my husband was even more furious at his former friend because he'd stood as our daughter's godfather at her Baptism and swore an oath to uphold the teachings of the Church, which he had now thrown away for a lot lizard; blaspheming the Holy Ghost. We've blocked him from communicating with us after sending off angry messages telling him what happened and to stay away. I don't think I will ever forgive my daughter's former godfather for this incident.
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| My husband and his now former friend at our daughter's baptism. |
Fast forward to Thursday, when we went to noonday Mass at the Cathedral across the street from my husband's clinic where we'd gone to get his biweekly supply of medicine. My husband suggested the venture and while I was reluctant to go, we had nothing planned for the afternoon and since we were in the area, why not? In spite of my reluctance, it was clear almost from the moment we set foot on the property that the Lord wanted us to be there that day. We met a pious young woman who was new to town and saw some old faithful friends from our other church too. And the cherry on the blessing sundae? The sermon was about not casting pearls before swine, and that some people will just never accept the Lord no matter how hard you try and inspire them to do so. That really resonated with us because we tried so hard to bring our daughter's godfather, my husband's former friend, back to the Catholic Church. We'd encourage him to come to church with us (and he did on many occasions), pray more often, to cut toxic people out of his life, he was the Best Man at our wedding, and when I became pregnant, we offered him the position of being our child's godfather if he would come back to the Church by going to Confession and start receiving Communion regularly again. He finally did go to Confession during Holy Week and took Communion on Easter, but he was never as committed to being a good Catholic after that.
 |
| She wasn't too crazy about having water poured over her head either |
Today at the other church, we got another reminder about how real the Devil is. There was a disruptive parishioner who set my demon meter off the minute I laid eyes on him. I suspected he was mentally ill and lacking for treatment, but something else didn't sit right about him. Interestingly enough, he disappeared during Communion and was not seen again for the rest of the Mass. Then after Mass, while my husband and I were fellow-shipping with our friends and fans, one of our good friends there told us about how she'd been attacked by demons with unexplained scratches, bruises, and bites appearing on her body after she'd gotten her life straightened up following a divorce and end to a toxic relationship. She told us how she had to seek relief from the torment by having the diocesan exorcist pray over her, and a trip to his monthly healing service where he does special prayers and lays the monstrance on people who are spiritually under attack. Our friend reported that the exorcist's church was full of devils, and some people claim to have seen Satan himself in the chapel. My husband knew the church where this exorcist served because his late best friend/dope dealer belonged to that church and that many dope dealers frequented this church, bringing the demons of their trade with them. It may seem paradoxical that a Catholic church should be full of demons, given that people seeking exorcisms usually go to a Catholic exorcist first. But, keeping in mind that demons are more attracted to something/someone more sacred, it makes perfect sense. There is a parable my husband told me before we were married that does a pretty good job of illustrating this situation, which I will include as a footnote at the end of this post.
It is said that only God can take a bad situation and bring good out of it. My prayer life, while never particularly strong, has been lacking for some time. He was using the robbery and subsequent fallout to remind me that it's not a good idea to take His protection for granted, and that I need to step up my prayer life more. October, being the month of the Rosary, is a good time to do that.
Have a blessed week, and take care everyone.
***
The parable of the two churches: A seminarian had a dream in which an angel showed him two churches on opposite sides of the road from each other. One church was immaculately neat with a manicured lawn, wealth, well-dressed parishioners and well behaved children, a choir in tune and nice cars in the parking lot. The other church was more run-down, impoverished, with poorly dressed parishioners who were smoking during Mass and talking about football while the priest gave his homily. Demons swirled around the parishioners and the priest in this church, tempting them with thoughts about money, sex, murder, etc. What cars were in the parking lot were jalopies and the choir could barely keep a tune. The angel then asked the seminarian which church was saved-the middle class church or the run-down church?
The answer: the run-down church. It was saved because the people had faith, which was why the demons were swirling around and attacking everyone there so viciously. The absence of demons at the middle class church was because the people there had no faith. Thus, there was no reason for the demons to be present and attack people there.
