Category: Free Will

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God’s Plan

“God’s plan is like a beautiful tapestry, and the tragedy of being human is that we only get to see it from the back, with all the ragged threads and the muddy colors and we only get a hint at the true beauty that would be revealed if we could see the whole pattern on the other side…as God does.”— Daredevil, (from Season Three of the series “Daredevil” on Netflix

One of three or four quotes that will appear here from the Daredevil Series, spoken either by Daredevil himself or Father Lantom. Daredevil, the blind Marvel Superhero who watches over Hell’s Kitchen, was raised in a Catholic Orphanage and constantly seeks counsel from Fr. Lantom. This quote was a sign to me. Evan and I used to watch Daredevil together, as well as Arrow, Gotham, and the Flash (the last 3 named I have not been able to watch since his passing). It just so happened that the night I was watching this episode, everyone else was in bed, so I had the volume down and captions on (something I hate doing, but wanted to finish watching the episode). Any way, without the captions on, I probably would not have caught the quote, or paid as much attention to it. I immediately stopped it, grabbed a notebook and pen, and proceeded to play it back, frame by frame to ensure that I could write down the quote exactly. What you read below is the inspiration that followed shortly after.

November 21, 2018—So there it is. God’s plan, in all its beauty is not made visible to us until the day we join Him and are called home to Him. All we are allowed to see are the various parts that make up the plan. It is beyond our comprehension. And these parts that we see, or live out, or are a part of, are just that…parts and pieces that come together to make the whole thing that is our life here. That is why at times we may question the events in our lives, our heartaches, loss of loved ones, or any other misfortune that we may encounter throughout our lives. That is when our free will becomes a major part in the roles of our existence. It is through these rough patches that our faith and beliefs are called into play, to make the decisions that we must, to choose how we are going to handle each situation. To have the belief that our Father is with us, right beside us, every step of the way. To have the faith that these occurrences are part of the plan laid out for us by God. To pray that we make the right decisions, to carry forth and live our lives for Him, with the help of the Trinity, Mother Mary, and all the angels and saints. To stand firm and accept our sufferings and offer them up to Christ. To move forward as we strive for our eternal rewards.

He holds the strands of thread and weaves them a certain way. We are part of that weaving process as well, altering His placement into the tapestry with our decisions and actions. We will not see the beauty of the whole picture until the work is complete.

Let us pray. Lord, as you weave the tapestries of our life, grant us the patience to accept the designs you add to it and accept that you are weaving it in a certain way, for the betterment of our soul. Grant us the strength that we need to remain in Your light and make the decisions that will continue to beautify Your work of art. Strengthen our faith through the Holy Spirit that we may continue to grow and mature in our love for You. In Your Name we pray. AMEN.

God Bless You All,

You are in my prayers

Scott

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Second Chances

“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” — C. S. Lewis

Everyday is a new beginning, a chance for us to make amends for our past transgressions and start down the true path of the Lord.  As much as we would like to, we cannot go back in time to change what has already happened due to decisions that we have made.  We can, however, use the knowledge we have gained through our experiences to learn how we should be living, and by the power of our free will, make sure we don’t make the same mistakes twice.  God granted us the gift of free will so that we may freely chose to follow Him.  He does not force us into following, but He does give us more than enough chances to make that decision on our own.   

Let’s take Saul of Tarsus (later to become known as Paul), as an example of this.  Saul was a major advocate of the persecution of the early followers of Christ.  He was the only person from the mob that stoned St. Stephen who was named in Acts.  From that point on, Saul became dead set on the mission to eradicate those who spread the news or followed the teachings of Christ.  His name struck fear in those who remained loyal to Jesus, as he went house to house in search of the early Christians, dragging them into the streets and putting them in prison.  His life took a turn while on the road to Damascus.  He was given a second chance, when Christ confronted him.  This became his chance to start over, repenting his ways and beginning a life spreading the Word of God throughout the land.  He could not change the decisions of his past, but this was his opportunity to change the ending of his story.  From that point on, he became one of the strongest followers of Christ and leaders of His early Church.

We also have the same opportunity as Saul.  There is no time like the present to take the step that he took.  We do not know how much time we have left before we are called home or when Christ will return.  The choice remains with us and that is why we are granted with free will.  God may give us signs or instructions, a little push here and there, but it is still ultimately left up to us.  It is our choice to decide how our ending plays out.  To quote St. Pope John Paul II, “The future starts today, not tomorrow.”  Don’t miss out on the chance to start anew.  The past is just that, the past.  It cannot be changed or altered no matter how hard we wish or want it to be.  All we have left is the time from this point moving forward. The challenge for us lies in our free will to make the decision to start fresh and change the ending of our own stories.  

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” — J. R. R. Tolkien

Let us pray.  Lord, we ask that You help us today in making the changes that we need to in order to start our new life with You, thus enabling us to change the ending of our story.  Help us to see the things that we must change and grant us the strength to make those changes and the perseverance to stick with those changes.  We do this for Your Greater Glory.  In Your Name we pray. AMEN.

God Bless You All

You Are in My Prayers

Scott

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The Battle Rages Daily

“There is no neutral ground in the universe.  Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God, and counterclaimed by Satan.”              —C. S. Lewis

If you are starting to see somewhat of a pattern in quotes being used by C. S. Lewis, here is the reason.  On my last retreat at Manresa (2018), I purchased A Grief Observed and The Problem With Pain, both written by Lewis.  I was already a big fan of his from reading The Chronicles of Narnia (all 7 books) which I also had the pleasure and delight in sharing them with Evan when he was in 7th Grade.  They are wonderful stories for kids as well as adults.  The message of Good vs. Evil, repentance, 2nd chances, and faith all parallel with the Word of God in the Bible.  For those who don’t know, he has also written a few Catholic/Christian books for adults.  Since the retreat, I have read more of his works and found many quotes that have sparked my inspiration to write and share, hence, the reason for using his quotes thus far.  

(Back to the quote itself)

There is a constant battle being waged between God and the forces of evil led by Satan.  That battleground is comprised of the human souls, not only here, but those who have perished and currently remain in Purgatory.  Satan will o all that he can within his power to temp and persuade you to turn away from God and a life of Christ.  He is constantly trying to use all means necessary to defeat the goodness within us.  He plants those seeds of doubt and fear in our lives, playing on our emotions, looking to expose the tiniest crack in our faith and use it to his advantage.  He wants to get to us and ruin our lives, not necessarily in this world, but for the world that awaits us to come.  That is why we must take action now.  A call to arms to all soldiers of Christ.  

The time is now, for we do not know the time of His return, but from the direction the world appears to be heading, it may be sooner than we think.  There are weapons available to us to help withstand this onslaught of evil.  There are things that can be done in preparation, tools that have been within our grasp the majority of our lives.  It is up to us, by way of our free will, to choose whether or not we want to use these instruments to fight for God, or just give in to the evil plans of Darkness.

First and foremost, the ultimate weapon for our offensive against evil is prayer, the strongest of that being the Holy Rosary of Our Blessed Mother Mary.  A daily Rosary, 15 to 20 minutes out of our 24 hour day is a perfect way to battle.  “I will put enmity between you and the woman…”— God to the Serpent (Genesis 3:15)   We can always turn to Mother Mary for protection from evil.  Throw in some morning and evening prayers, prayers before sleep, whenever you can fit them in.  Just find time to pray. 

Secondly, take some time to open up the Bible and read the Word of God.  Psalms. Proverbs. The Gospels.  To use a quote inscribed by Evan to his cousin in the Bible he brought home for her from Rome, “If you make the choice to read the Scripture, I recommend  that you read the four Gospels first.  The Gospels are where you will find the truth, and the truth makes the world a better place.”  Skip around and find what ever may catch your interest.  Close your eyes and open it up.  See what message the Lord may be sending you.

Third, try to attend Mass regularly, not just Sunday Mass and Holy Days of Obligation, but Daily Mass.  I know it may be hard for most to do so with work.  I have the advantage of working shift work so I am able to attend Daily Mass fairly often.   It is rewarding to start the day off with mass before having to dive into the duties of adulthood.

Those were the means of offense.  There are also defensive tactics as well.  These include our Faith as believers in the Holy Trinity and Our Mother Mary.  Righteousness, in the form of living a Christian life to the best of our ability, through humbleness, acts of kindness and mercy, and fairness to others.  Salvation in the form of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by His death and Resurrection.  The Truth of the Word of God.  Our trust in Jesus.  Our daily prayer regimen.  All of the above help in the defense of our souls against evil.

I do plan to expand on these weapons and defenses in future posts.  I wanted to get them out there now.  It is time to make changes in our lives.  Small changes or large ones, the choice is up to you as to which you choose.  It is our free will, our daily choices that will determine the outcome of these battles. 

This is the challenge before us.  There is no better time than Advent to start making these changes.  Just as we celebrate the upcoming birth of Christ, we must also welcome Him into our hearts and our lives.  I will end this post with a quote from another favorite author of mine. 

“The greatest adventure is what lies ahead.  Today and Tomorrow are yet to be said.  The chances, the changes are all yours to make.  The mold of your life is in your hands to break.”—J. R. R. Tolkien

Take that chance.  Make that change.  Break that mold.

God Protect You Brothers and Sisters,

You are in my Prayers,

Scott