Illegal Catholic Hermit: Always Turn to God's Living Word

Just put on some holy water, making sign of cross and added some to my Benedictine Crucifix that I wear as my sign of hermit vocation.  (My late spiritual father "wed me to the Cross" years ago; and the blessing of his memory is a treasure to keep!)  I then read Psalm 10.  Scripture dispels nastiness and evil that is always around but usually does not strike until we are least expecting or when at weaker level of one type or another.

Am too physically in pain and tired to do the small bit of manual labor I am striving to "work back into," so will pray and read and ponder the Lord in His brilliance and omniscience!  The devil is smart and tricky, but God is most of all and beyond all, greatest of all and easily conquers demonic assaults and devilry no matter the earthly host source that the devil often uses to cause disruption.

My attempts to see if the one who has issues with me, might cease and desist if I capitulate, have been proven otherwise now.  Nothing will assuage the one, and probably especially not if I become a CL603 hermit, not that it would matter either way.  The issues the one has regarding me are not only to do with externals; it has to do with some type of obsession, need of control and superiority, involves pride and an odd if not a strange envy.  As my spiritual father said (as did my late Spiritual Da for years had said of the nemesis):  the devil is involved there. 

So I have no need to even scan what the one writes.  The last couple of weeks I decided to do as Jesus ultimately did when accused and defiled:  He faced Caiaphas the High Priest as well as Pontius Pilate, as well as the jeering crowds (of which I have perhaps just the one person and couple of that person's internet buddies).  I now know there will be negativity regardless what I write, so I will simply write and prayerfully keep turning to Christ far more.  But I will continue striving in being genuine, honest, and the human-but-spiritual child of God created and wills...

       and for now, as an Illegal Catholic Hermit!  Praise God in all blessings!

In times of weariness and trouble, in times of feeling the oppression of evil, turn to Scripture!

Psalm 10:

"Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
     Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble?
In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted;
     Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire,
     And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD,
The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance,
     does not seek Him.
     All his thoughts are, 'There is no God.'
His ways prosper at all times;
     Your judgments are on high, out of his sight;
     As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
He says to himself, 'I will not be moved;
     Throughout all generations I will not be in adversity.'
His mouth is full of curses and deceit and oppression;
     Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
     In the hiding places he kills the innocent;
     His eyes stealthily watch for the unfortunate.
He lurks in a hiding place as a lion in his lair;
     He lurks to catch the afflicted;
     He catches the afflicted when he draws him
     into his net.
He crouches, he bows down,
     And the unfortunate fall by his mighty ones.
He says to himself, 'God has forgotten;
     He has hidden His face; He will never see it.'
Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand.
     Do not forget the afflicted.
Why has the wicked spurned God?
     He has said to himself, 'You will not require it.'
You have seen it, for You have beheld the mischief
     and vexation to take it into Your hand.
          The unfortunate commits himself to You;
          You have been the helper of the orphan.
Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
     seek out his wickedness until You find none.
The LORD is King forever and ever;
     Nations have perished from His land.
O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;
     You will strengthen their heart, 
          You will incline Your ear
To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,
     So that man who is of the earth
          will no longer cause terror."


God bless His Real Presence in us!  God is Love and loves at all times!

Catholic Hermit: God's Testimony

Holy Scripture, God's Living Word, is always a major benefit in taking into our eyes and our souls, our bodies, minds, and hearts what is Truth, Beauty, and Goodness of God.  I never cease to be uplifted and also oftentimes amazed all over again, at some statement that has not particularly impacted me in some way or other, next time read or heard or pondered--impacts in new ways!

I considered this morning, again from 1 Letter of John (5:7-13), the powerful impact of hearing "the testimony of God" and again, "Now the testimony of God is this...."  My mind made a loop-back!  What?  What is God's testimony?  Sounds simple enough, but of course, we humans are complicated, and simplifying is often a complicated endeavor in itself.  However, God's testimony is for each of us, and requires our love, our belief in Jesus Christ, to possess the Son of God, to believe in Jesus' Name.

"Now the testimony of God is this, that He has testified on behalf of His Son.  Whoever believes in the Son o fGod has this testimony within himself.  Whoever does not believe, God has made him a liar by not believing the testimony God has given about His Son.

"And this is the testimony:
God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son.
Whoever possesses the Son has life;
Whoever does not possess the Son of God does not have life.

"I write these things to you so that you may know
that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God."

Yes, so that we may know that we have eternal life--the Apostle John writes these words to us--those of us who believe in the name of the Son of God!

In my on-going quest of love of God in Himself, of union with the Holy Trinity, all that I can learn and of which to be reminded in the Living Word of God, helps and is so very positive.  I'm also at a major point in my life and circumstances, that expunging negativity and filling in with positivity is a focused effort of which I'm trying to be prayerfully aware and to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance in decisions and interactions, in sensitivity to others' moods, attitudes, desires, needs.

I did make the two largish decisions the other day.  Both are quite positive--choice and movement in positivity, and the one in particular in making another's life be more positive.  The lesser but major choice as for my circumstances and effort involved, can be a positive very much so, in that I am trying to bring in more positive to my daily life since the pain and suffering have been so great in the past year, and there have been some negative aspects that I must avoid, for they are not of God.  However, I have no idea if the positive potential of my lesser decision will end up being possible as it requires effort on my part.  However, I decided it is a risk to take, and there are always ways out of temporal decisions if we try and they turn out we over-estimated such as physical stamina.

But what is always a decision of which the doors of love and positivity always open, and the Lord there to always greet us with love and peace, with mercy...and promise of eternal life, we always have assurance that God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit are decisions that rely only on our faith, our belief, our daring to believe and to hope in God, and to love His Real Presence, the Holy Trinity!

God bless His Real Presence in us!  Little children, let us love one another, for God Is Love!