Being a member of the Militia of the Immaculata and having my Marian Feast Day just around the corner, I was intrigued to find a wonderful article titled "Thoughts on a New Knighthood", by The Most Reverend Charles J Chaput, O.F.M. CAP.
Scripture tell us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (PS 111:10). Wisdom-not merely the knowledge of facts or a mastery of skills, but wisdom about ourselves, other people and the terrain of human life-this is the mark of a whole person.1
It takes a lot of time, sweat and prayer to really know ourselves; even with a life time of soul searching most of us will fall short of knowing ourselves completely.
When I started my 33- day preparation for True Devotion Consecration to Mary, this time last year, the thought was put into my mind to pray to the Holy Spirit for the gift of self-awareness. I had enough sense to ask for this gift to come to me as the Lord saw fit, for I did not want to become so overcome by my sinfulness that I might fall into despair and loose hope. But God, in His omnipotent mercy, is answering my prayer.
Little by little, day by day, He continues to gently reveal to me areas in my spiritual life that I need to work on in order to better serve Him. This can be a very humbling experience, because there is so much inside that needs to change. So everyday I ask pardon from Him and continue the fight as a member of the MI.
If I were to ask myself what it means to be a Christian soldier, I would hear grandma say, “read the Sermon on the Mount”. Simply put, we are called to the service of others and we are called to lead others to Christ.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5: 13
As I begin my 33 day renewal of my Consecration to Mary I pray that the Lord might bless my spiritual eyes as I check my armor for holes and dents. I ask Him to bless all of you; your prayers and your comments help strengthen me, and they give me courage. May you and your loved ones grow in love for one another and in love for others.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen
1 The Most Reverend Charles J Chaput, O.F.M. CAP.
11 comments:
Wow. So frank and candid, I hope I can be so honest with myself when I begin my renewal, which is almost upon me. I pray for more inner silence to hear Him more clearly. Thanks for the inspirational post. k
Kam, your candid comments and posts are things I thank the Lord for on a daily basis. Peace to you and Helen.
Checking the armor for holes and dents-I love that!
I will definitely be praying for you as you begin your consecration preparation. I know that the Holy Spirit will be guiding you throughout this time and always!
I will pray for you as you journey on your consecration preparation. I am looking forward to reading Archbishop Chaput's article. Thanks for linking to it and thank you especially for a beautiful and heartfelt post. You are a blessing to me!
You will be in my prayers, DG, as you prepare for consecration. Your honesty in your posting is appreciated. God is good to reveal things to us about ourselves over time rather than all at once - it would be too much to handle all at once.
I want to know myself, too, but not all at once. I'm not sure I could handle the shock. Our human nature has fallen far from it's original state and I am thankful for God's mercy. Even if a person doesn't sin mortally and tries not to commit deliberate venial sins there is still a lot of yuck that needs purifying. It sometimes seems as if it never ends. Or maybe it's the fact that I was in such a low spot when I began my walk with the Lord that makes the purification seem so endless to me.
Your Grandma is right :) ! Joining you in prayer as you prepare for your consecration, aspiring...
Would you mind linking to my blog? I will add you to my links..
"Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom." Thanks for highlighting that for me. I had never focused on that phrase before.
Praying for you on your journey!
God Bless
I'm praying for you.
God bless.
Daily Grace, hi,
Me again. Will you stop by my place :) and consider offering your answer to a question I've raised in my Nov. 10 post?
With your permission, I invite your readers to do the same. The more the merrier? Well, the more the better maybe in this case :) .
Thanks, <3, aspiring...
aspiring,
I am all about the more the merrier! I will post my thoughts on the subject just as soon as I can. Thank you for posing the question.
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