Monday, February 25, 2008

A Disciple With Flowers

A couple of years ago I read a very interesting book about the Shroud of Turin ,  (The Shroud of Turin: The Illustrated Evidence by Ian Wilson and Barrie Schwortz…..unfortunately it is out of print and usually not inexpensive on the used book market because it has been mentioned prominently by other major authors like Robin Cook.)

Now if it turns out that the Shroud of Turin has nothing to do with  Jesus, my world is not going to be shattered. But after reading this book, I am convinced that it is more probable that the shroud is the burial cloth of Jesus than not. I think of it as the burial cloth of Jesus. In any case, because the image is of a beaten and crucified man and I cannot see the shroud and not think of Jesus. So I purchased a high quality print of the shroud and hung it on the wall at the foot of my bed.

Obviously, it easily calls to mind the very high price that was paid for my redemption by Our Lord. But it is a detail that I learned of the image on the shroud from The Shroud of Turin, that got me the most teary when I read the book. The image on the Shroud of Turin bears the distinct imprint of flowers. It had just never occurred to me that those disciples that took charge of His Body and His burial, would have included flowers with the linen, and spices, and aloes. I would love to have heard Jesus on the hillside for the Sermon on the Mount. I would love to have been present at the Wedding at Cana. There are any number of events miracles in the Gospels that I would love to have been present for, but most of all I think, I would like to have been among the disciples that brought Him flowers on that day.

I can’t take back the sins that made it necessary for Him to die. I just want to bring Him flowers, to let Him know how sorry I am and to say “Thank you.”

Have you brought Jesus flowers today?

Posted by Red Neck Woman at 23:35:06 | Permalink | Comments (6)

Prayer Has Nothing to Do With the Animal Part of Us

We said prayer is the lifting of the heart and minid to God. Notice we said noting so much about emotions. Why not? Because prayer really does not have very much to do with sensations or emotions or feeling. It’s not a feeling in the stomach. Just as it is not a pain in the stomach. It is not a capricious feeling, something that makes us purr on the inside. It has nothing to do with the animal part of us. It is not in the glands. It is in the intellect. It is in the will. It is in the heart. As embracing a love of Truth which belongs to the intellect and also a resolve and a determination to grow in love which is one of the acts of will. We do not therefore pray because we feel like it. Sometimes our prayers are much better when we do not feel like praying. St. Francis de Sales said “An ounce of desolation is of greater worth a pound of consolation.” Very often in prayer we do not have a sense of the presence of God. I say ’sense’ referring it to the biological or emotional part of our lives Really we are very much like children that are carried in mother’s arms. If we are carried in Our Lord’s arms, we rarely see His Face. We know it is there. Prayer then is an intercourse between the created spirit and the uncreated spirit which is God. It is a communication, a conversation, an adoration, a penance, a happiness, a work, a rest, an asking, a submission. ~Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Posted by Red Neck Woman at 01:56:30 | Permalink | No Comments »