Inspiration for your journey to God!

Month: October 2015 (Page 3 of 10)

Contemplation

Someone recently shared with me an awesome app – it’s called Pray as you go and it’s free.  You can get it on your iPhone, ipad and I believe any other “smart” device.  As I was navigating through the app, I came upon a section called Imaginative Contemplation Exercises.  I was so excited to see it because I remembered the first time I did an exercise like that – it was in my old parish during a women’s retreat – the nun in charge asked us to close our eyes and imagine being in the story she was about to read.  It was the Road to Emmaus – and as I sat with my eyes closed, listening to the story, imagining myself in the story,  the tears began to fall down my face because I truly felt the presence of Christ!  What an experience.

So if you are interested in growing closer to God and feeling the presence of Christ, I would definitely recommend that you download this app onto your mobile device.  There are many more resources attached to the app as well.  Take a look.  If you do not have a mobile device or do not wish to download the app, you can access the website here.  I would  recommend taking a look at the website even if you do download the app because there are so many more resources that will help you go deeper in your relationship with God.  If you would like to access the contemplation exercises directly from the website click here.

I’m so excited to be sharing this information with you.  If you have a chance to check it out, let me know what you think!

The Blind Bartimaeus

They came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a sizable crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind man, the son of Timaeus, sat by the roadside begging.  On hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, son of David, have pity on me.”  And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent.  But he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”  So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage; get up, he is calling you.”  He threw aside his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?”  The blind man replied to him, “Master, I want to see.”  Jesus told him, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”  Immediately he received his sight and followed him on the way.  (Mark 10:46-52 New American Bible translation)

This Gospel is so rich in symbolism:

Blind man:  Spiritual blindness; Call to Jesus:  persistence in prayer; specific request: confidence and trust in the Lord; asking for pity:  contrition.

The blind man can be compared to a form of lack or spiritual blindness in our lives – lack of faith and/or lack of trust in Christ.  We see Bartimaeus persevere in his efforts to reach out to Jesus despite others’ attempts to discourage him.  He was persistent and Jesus heard him.  We also see in Bartimaeus a high level of confidence and trust in Jesus.  He knows Jesus will accomplish a miracle in his life.

The message here is that no matter how far we stray, Jesus is never too far off!  Come to Him with a contrite heart and don’t be discouraged by people or circumstances in your life that cause you to doubt the power of prayer.  Be persistent, know that Jesus hears and answers, as long as we have confidence and trust Him in ALL things.  It is only when we have confidence and trust that we persevere in faith, it is then that He makes our path straight!  He says:  Go your way, your faith has saved  you!

Happy Sunday!  God bless you!

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