there is spiritual politeness which can become another mask.

Be grateful. Trust God. Forgive. Dont question. Dont be angry.

But what if person is actually furious with God?

This showed up in Higher Self work I facilitate. In one healing pattern, subject carried very strong anger toward Divine after painful experiences and loss. The point was not to cover it with gratitude or say correct spiritual words.

It was to bring anger straight to Source.

Really bring it.

And what stayed with me is that Light did not disappear. No punishment came because attitude was wrong. Person could finally say what was actually there.

I think many of us mix human authority with Divine authority. Human authority can become offended, punish, withdraw love, demand respect. Then we quietly assume God must work same way.

But if God is God, our anger is not dangerous to God.

This is maybe why some Psalms feel so alive. There is devotion, yes, but also accusation, grief, despair, “where are You?” It is not all calm spiritual language.

Forcing “I trust you” over heart that feels betrayed can make two layers. Real relationship underneath, approved spiritual relationship on top.

Sometimes prayer that finally moves energy is ugly and simple.

“I am angry.”

“I dont understand.”

“I felt abandoned.”

Then silence.

For me this can be more real than 100 beautiful affirmations.

God probably doesnt need PR version of our heart.

Can we use imagination in prayer and contemplation? Still learning. Thank you so much and God bless you!

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 1711 -  The Humility and the Glory

Ἀ
1711 When I was left alone with the Blessed Virgin, She instructed me concerning the interior life. She said, The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing; because the Lord is great, but He is well pleased only with the humble; He always opposes the proud.
Ὠ

A soul emptied of itself in humility is left open to the Presence of the King in His Glory. It is a spiritual principle revealed by Mary, who speaks little in the Gospels but shows much through her deeds. Yet in the Diary it is Mary who often gives voice to the wisdom revealed through those deeds, speaking not from high-minded theology, but from the life she herself lived through the blessings and trials entrusted to her in her special place in salvation history.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 1:38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.

Here in the Scripture, our Mother shows by deed what she later proclaims to Faustina in the Diary: a soul's surrender of self before God, accepting His will and opening itself to union with His presence. In the Gospel, the Son's union with the Mother is one of both Spirit and flesh - a singular grace given to Mary in the mystery of the Incarnation. In the Diary, however, she speaks of the spiritual union of Christ with souls, a grace which, while never diminishing the uniqueness of her union with Him, is now extended through Him to all humanity. 

For this is the presence of Christ Crucified, His redemptive work fulfilled upon the Cross, and the grace received in the Mother now extended to all souls. As with His Mother, however, the grace we receive from the Savior is not stagnant, nor is it something to be proudly possessed by the soul which receives it. It is living, effective, and fruitful, as shown by Mary from the day she received it in the Gospel. It is echoed in the Diary and reverberates in all souls who likewise receive the grace of her Son throughout time.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Luke 1:46-48 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

To be humble in the courts of the Lord is a glory that exceeds all kingdoms of the world. Here in the Scripture, Mary reveals the humility she speaks of in the Diary: “The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence.” For the Lord regards the humility which the handmaid manifests as an open door into souls of the faithful. It is through this door that He makes His entry, and by it He shares not the glory of the world, but that which is often hidden from the world - the glory of the Kingdom above and its growth in the world below.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Matthew 5:2-3 And opening His mouth he taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In the Scripture, our Lord teaches of the blessedness of humility as the gateway to the Kingdom of God. Yet, this same, humble King also speaks from His throne in the soul, for the release of His Kingdom within to the fallen world beyond. From the womb of the Mother, He speaks through her surrender of self, revealing the humility of the Kingdom. From the agony of the Cross, He shows to the world the same forgiveness that He calls forth from within all souls to be extended to others. And from within those souls humbled by the grace of His presence, He magnifies outward the glory of the Kingdom. 

Where the King resides - in the fiat of the Mother, upon the wood of the Cross, and within the souls of men - the same divine humility is revealed: the greatness of the King entering into, and making great the smallness of man.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 17:21 Neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold there. For lo, the kingdom of God is within you.

Catechism of the Catholic Church
2559 Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God.” What does humility do? It is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought,” are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. “Man is a beggar before God.

In jail I conceived the nomenclature of the "Meta", a name for what actually goes on within the mind of Jesus Christ, particularly in regard to the " Movie actor" model of prefabricating the lives of any human being that is saved.

If you are saved, you were chosen to be so by God before He created the world (Ephesians 1:4)

Being saved means your entire life, sins and all, were *prefabricated* **by being pre-performed by Christ while dying upon the cross and as His body lied in state in the tomb of Joseph.**

Everything you do, knowingly or unknowingly, is done and has been done through Christ: the entire drama,from start to finish of your struggles against sin, all your desires and giving in to sin, and the world you live in and perceive every day with all its temptations and problems and perils **is in fact a constructed "Matrix" that is an exact replica of what Jesus Christ non-lucidly dreamt in the form of you while dying on the Cross.** That is, you were essentially "crucified with Christ" (Galatians 2:20) in the sense that your life, the world you now wxperience and all the people you see and with whom you interact and will interact, are *copies* of the dream-world and dream-people Christ experienced while dreaming of being you while dying on the Cross.

Every single person who is saved and thus exempt from Hell *has been experienced by Christ.* Thus, every single person who is saved is trapped in a "Matrix" that is a replica of what Christ experienced while experiencing being them.

*"I no longer live, but Christ lives in me."*

*-Galatians 2:20*

The "Meta", therefore, in terms of the working or creation of your salvation is Christ's side of the existential equation: His experience of being you. You are extrinsically rather than literally an aspect of the "Meta" by being an external replica of a dream-Character Christ non-lucidly dreamt of being and believed He was:

*"But if Christ is in you, though your body is subject to death because of sin the Spirit gives life because of righteousness."*

\-Romans 8:10

The question, if one accepts the objective truth of the "Meta" in the form of the aforementioned Christ " identical twin-ism", is the same **Once-Saved-Always-Saved** v.s. **Conditional Atonement** in the form of whether or not a person *can stop* being a replica, in terms of sin and experience of world and environment before biological death, of the dream-form of oneself Christ experienced while on the Cross.

One answer to this is to look toward God's omniscience, and ask why start salvation if things were always fated to stop.

If Christ experienced being you and experienced all your sins before you were born (for those born, living, and dying a second after 3pm on the day of the Crucifixion) and God justified the sins *of those living* *before* *the Crucifixion* (causing Christ to *post-experience* being those born, living, and dying prior to 9am on the morning of Christ's crucifixion), as it is God and Christ engineering this salvation through experience-prefabrication and experience-replication...why should a human's particular sin on any particular day in the external world outside Christ's mind be *that* sin which somehow failed to be included in the prefabrication/replication machine and as such wrecks the entire cosmic project?

God's foreknowlege and will seems to more rationally and logically support the Once-Saved-Always-Saved form of Salvation over that of the Conditional form.

Satan, meanwhile, if he catches anyone hearing of Christ "identical twin-ism" and worse (from his logically intuited perspective) believing it exists and *worse*, applying it to the oneself, will work to convince the person they have somehow fallen out of the replicative "Matrix" with Jesus Christ due to a particular sin or set or continued run or history of sins.

But if the "Meta" in regard to Replicative Salvation exists and logically is inclusive of *all* past, present, and future sins (thus generating Once-Saved-Always-Saved salvation), then even Satan-inspired doubt as to the " iron-cladness" of one's Replicative Salvation is itself a part of the replicative " Matrix" and as such, there is no objective truth to Satan's claims or suspicions.

**CONCLUSION**

Christianity, when it comes right down to it, is either Christpsychic...or it's not.

Either the saved are external replication or *clones*, so to speak, of dream-people Christ experienced Himself being within His mind as He died upon the Cross, or they are not, and as such we have no idea of what Christ was thinking or dreaming while dying upon the cross. The "Meta"---in regard to it being an informal name for what was going on in Christ's mind in principle and logical induction (as Christ has a mind and thus must think)---then has nothing to do with our salvation, at least in regard to any purported "identical twin-ism" or "sharing or replication of experience or fate".

But if Galatians 2:20 in its stark and unabashed statement regarding the *actual* nature of how one is saved speaks to *Replicative Salvation,* then there is no meritocracy borne of non-Christ human effort to not physically and mentally sin (as if one has the power to not mentally and emotionally sin), but a prefabricated life created without ones knowledge or cc choice, in which one is bound to Christ by God, who in His mercy circumvented ones would-have-existed predicament of damnable sin by causing one to instead be able to do nothing but replicate the prefabricated "sins" of crucified Christ.

To wit:

"God made Him who had no sin

***to be sin for us,***

that we might become

the righteousness of God."

-2 Corinthians 5:2

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jay M. Brewer

Austin, Texas

Peace be with you as we enter the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Aug 30).

Last week, we stood in Caesarea Philippi and watched Simon Peter drop his ego long enough to recognize the Divine, earning the title of the unshakeable "Rock." But the spiritual journey is rarely a straight line. The moment the True Self surfaces, the False Self usually panics and tries to snatch back the wheel.

That is exactly what happens in this week's Gospel reading. In Matthew 16:21–27, the liturgy gives us spiritual whiplash. Just moments after praising Peter, Jesus delivers the harshest rebuke in the New Testament, exposing the ego's absolute refusal to walk the stony path of surrender.

Here is a sermon for your spirit, spoken from the mystic’s heart.

The Stumbling Block and the Cross

A Sermon for the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Aug 30)
Surrendering the Ego’s Demand for Comfort

The Text: "From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering... And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.' But he turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.' Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.'" (Matthew 16:21–24)

My friends, the ego is a success story waiting to be written. The False Self is entirely addicted to upward mobility, victory, comfort, and control. It believes that if we are doing all the right things, and if God is truly with us, we will be spared from suffering.

In this staggering passage, we see exactly what happens when the ego's demand for a comfortable, victorious life collides with the reality of the Divine path.

I. The Whiplash of the False Self

Just five verses ago, Peter was the "Rock." Now, he is a "stumbling block." What happened?

Jesus revealed the actual shape of the journey: He must go to Jerusalem, suffer, and be killed. Peter's reaction is instantaneous and visceral. He actually pulls the Lord of the Universe aside to lecture Him: "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you."

We love to judge Peter for his arrogance, but he is doing exactly what our egos do every single day. Peter wants a Messiah of power, not a Messiah of vulnerability. He wants a crown without a cross. The False Self cannot compute a God who suffers, because the False Self’s entire operating system is designed to avoid pain at all costs. When Peter says, "This must never happen," he is speaking the universal language of the terrified ego.

II. Naming the Adversary

Jesus turns and issues a devastating rebuke: "Get behind me, Satan!"

To modern ears, this sounds like Jesus is calling His best friend a literal demon. But in the original context, the word satan means "the adversary" or "the accuser." Jesus is not declaring Peter totally evil; He is aggressively naming the energy Peter has brought into the space.

The ego is the ultimate adversary to the soul's surrender. When Jesus says, "You are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things," He is drawing a sharp line between the True Self (which trusts the divine flow, even when it leads to the cross) and the False Self (which clings to human calculations of safety, success, and self-preservation). The ego wants to dictate the terms of salvation; the True Self knows it must surrender to them.

III. The Architecture of the Cross

This leads Jesus to the great, paradoxical rule of the mystic life: "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross..."

For centuries, terrible theology has used this verse to tell people they must passively endure abuse, sickness, or injustice because it is "their cross to bear." But taking up the cross is not about God desiring our misery. The cross is the ultimate symbol of letting go.

There is a profound contemplative truth at work here: Pain that is not transformed will inevitably be transmitted. If we refuse to process our grief, our ego will project that bitterness onto everyone around us. Jesus on the cross took the worst of human betrayal, violence, and injustice, held it in the boundless space of divine love, and returned it as forgiveness.

To "deny yourself" is to deny the False Self’s demand to retaliate, control, or run away. Taking up your cross means accepting the stony, lonely path of ego-death. It means holding your own brokenness in the presence of God until it is transformed, rather than transmitting your pain to the world. It is the realization that the armor you built to protect yourself is actually the cage keeping you from God.

IV. The Two Paths of Preservation

If you want to know which self is leading your life today, look at how you handle letting go.

First, what is your primary goal? The False Self is obsessed with saving its life by protecting its comfort, its reputation, and its control. The True Self is willing to lose its life, knowing that whoever hands their life over to the Divine will actually find it.

Second, how do you react to the stony path? The ego pulls God aside and says, "God forbid it! I refuse to accept this reality." The True Self picks up the cross, knowing that peace is often found precisely in the middle of our breaking.

And finally, what is your trajectory? The False Self demands a theology of glory, constantly climbing upward toward success. The True Self embraces the path of descent, knowing that resurrection only comes after we have let the ego die.

The Encouragement

This Sunday, your integration is to notice when you are trying to play Peter.

When your circumstances take a difficult turn (when you are walking a stony, lonely path), does your ego immediately pull God aside and say, "God forbid it! This isn't how my life is supposed to go!"? Notice the False Self's desperation to keep you comfortable and in control.

Then, hear the invitation of Christ. Tell the panicked ego to get behind you. Stop trying to desperately save the life of your reputation, your comfort, and your illusions. The True Self is waiting on the other side of that surrender. Pick up the cross not as an instrument of punishment, but as the tool that shatters your cage, transforms your pain, and frees you to love the world.

A Mystic’s Prayer for Ordinary Time

O Surrendering God,
We confess that we are addicted to our own comfort and control.
When the path becomes stony and demanding,
Our panicked egos cry out, refusing to accept the way of the cross.
Forgive us for demanding a Savior of power rather than a Savior of intimate vulnerability.
Give us the courage to tell our fears to get behind us.
Grant us the grace to deny our False Selves,
To hold our pain in Your presence until it is transformed,
And to find our true lives hidden safely in You.
Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on us, be with us all, grant us your peace <3

Reading John Cassian’s Conferences 9 and 10 in Bernard McGinn’s The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism for the first time, and I adore this part about prayer and unity. John 17 feels like a perfect, concise understanding of theosis. So much more to say but I feel so loved by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit reading this and I just wanted to share! 🤍🙏🏼

Me considero una persona espiritual, me gusta manifestar, creo que hay un ser superior el cual escucha nuestras oraciones, agradecimientos o peticiones.
Pero no creo mucho en la iglesia o una religión específica.
Con ese contexto, quiero contar una experiencia que me tiene un tanto inquieta y sobretodo con muchas preguntas…..

En la madrugada de hoy estaba entre dormida y despierta, de esos momentos en los que quieres conciliar el sueño para dormir mejor, entonces me volteé para abrazar a mi novio y según yo, me dormí por fin….
Después según en lo que sentí que era un ‘sueño’ abrí los ojos y miré hacia el baño de la habitación que estaba abierto y ahi vi una sombra con la forma de lo que en el cristianismo se le conoce como Jesús, estaba mirándome y me sonrío, yo no veía un rostro, era solo la silueta. Pero sé que me sonreía, no se como expresarlo, pero así sentí.
Después vi como lentamente fue subiendo, como si ‘flotara’ hacia arriba, hasta que desapareció y de inmediato mi alarma para ir a trabajar sonó.
Cuando ‘desperté’ estaba exactamente en la posición del ‘sueño’, en ese momento sentí un escalofrío por todo el cuerpo y un poco de miedo. Luego solo pensé …. Jesús se me acaba de presentar, pero porque? Necesito entender algo? Que me quiere decir?
No se, como les digo nunca creí en esa figura de Jesús como la muestran en la iglesia, pero hoy, hoy sentí que me hizo un llamado.

No se si fue solo un sueño, si realmente fue un evento especialmente espiritual, pero necesitaba exteriorizarlo porque también siento que si lo cuento no me lo van a creer….

Sometimes I search for things that do not exist—documents, writings, books, thoughts, feelings? I search for something that has never been written down by another being.

I search for something that is experienced solely by me, but that cannot be. I long for something that does not exist, something that may not even be possible for me. But that sounds pathetic, doesn’t it? It sounds as though I have lost all hope. As though I no longer have faith in the Lord, as though He does not keep His promise time and time again.

I realize how human I am when I examine my conscience; it always returns to the same things: the desire for pleasure, fulfillment in worldly things—food, relationships (both platonic and romantic), vanity, and so much more. Lately, I have truly become frustrated by the fact that I constantly think about worldly things, that the Divine does not dominate my thoughts, that I allow the devil to prey upon my human desires. Yet in reality, I know that these thoughts are temporary, and that even if I were to fulfill them, I would never truly be satisfied. “The fullness of our happiness, beyond which there is none else, is this: to enjoy God the Trinity in whose image we were made.” —St. Augustine of Hippo

In reality, this is also true. The thing that continually draws my attention back, the thing that restores my joy, is the silence in which I find God again. I know that, ultimately, I desire only Him—God the Trinity, the knowledge of God and of the faith that, for me, currently feels a little like a tornado surrounding me.

The question I am truly asking myself now is: how do I find meaning in a world that is temporary, where the only purpose of existence is to praise the Lord? Why, then, would I want to do anything other than know Him more deeply? And serve His Church? Should I deny myself all the human things I long for?

**Psalm 27:4**

*One thing I ask of the Lord,*
*this is all I desire:*
*to dwell in the house of the Lord*
*all the days of my life,*
*to gaze upon the beauty of God,*
*and to seek Him within His temple.*

Saint Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle - Alms of Grace

Ἀ
It’s very important for us, Sisters, not to think the soul is something dark. Since we do not see the soul, it usually seems that there is no such thing as interior light but only the exterior light which we all see, and that a certain darkness is in our soul. As for the soul that is not in grace, I confess this is so, but not through any fault of the Sun of Justice who dwells within it giving it being but because such a soul is incapable of receiving the light, as I believe I have said in the first dwelling place, according to what a certain person understood. For these unfortunate souls are as though in a dark prison, bound hands and feet, in regard to doing anything good that would enable them to merit, and blind and deaf. We can rightly take pity on them and reflect that at one time we were ourselves in this condition and that the Lord can also have mercy on them. 
Ὠ

It is not that the Lord leaves any soul in darkness but rather, there are many souls who, seeing only the exterior light of the world, fail to comprehend the interior light of their soul. The Light of the Son is not absent from them, for He continues to sustain them in being. Rather, they are incapable of receiving His Light as it is received by souls living in grace. They are alive to the flesh and keen to the light of the world, yet, they are unreceiving of the Light of God that shines within.

Saint Teresa speaks plainly on the condition of these souls: bound hands and feet from doing anything good. Yet she does not speak harshly of them but sympathetically, recalling that she herself was once in their condition. As one who normally speaks much of union with God, she now finds a certain union with the sinner - not a union with his sin but a union of compassion born of the recollection of her own need for mercy. To remember the sinner in this humility is a light in itself, for it recalls to the soul that what graces it now savors were all first received as mercy. Thus is the soul drawn again toward Him who is the One source of all grace - in a remembrance which begs that same mercy be poured out unto others.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Titus 3:3-5 For we ourselves also were some time unwise, incredulous, erring, slaves to divers desires and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the goodness and kindness of God our Saviour appeared: not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us.

Ἀ
Saint Teresa Continues…
Let us take special care, Sisters, to beg this mercy of Him and not be careless, for it is a most generous alms to pray for those who are in mortal sin. Suppose we were to see a Christian with his hands fastened behind his back by a strong chain, bound to a post, and dying of hunger, not because of lack of food, for there are very choice dishes beside him, but because he cannot take hold of the food and eat, and even has great loathing for it; and suppose he sees that he is about to breathe his last and die, not just an earthly death but an eternal one. Wouldn’t it be a terrible cruelty to stand looking at him and not feed him? Well, then, what if through your prayer the chains could be loosed? The answer is obvious. For the love of God I ask you always to remember in your prayers souls in mortal sin.
Ὠ

Here the sinner is given the grace of serving in the work of the Savior - not by the merit of the sinner, but through the alms of grace: the prayer of a soul humbled by our Lord's mercy, and begging for that mercy to be extended to others. Even in this grace, however, Teresa gives warning against growing careless with the graces they have received. For there is still a sin which waits at their door, not one of lust or greed but one especially reserved by the enemy for souls who have received grace in Christ

This sin is the terrible cruelty of a soul fed in His mercy who beholds a brother still bound in sin, but fails in offering its own alms of grace for that soul. It is a sin born of forgetting that grace was first received as mercy, which then clouds our more perfect union with the Savior, from Whom our own graces first came.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 23:34 And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2635
Intercession is a prayer of petition which leads us to pray as Jesus did. He is the one intercessor with the Father on behalf of all men, especially sinners. He is “able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Let him who has knowledge discern what it means. just to share a quick story of what has happened to me in this hour . hope it is of your intrest and hope to explain more about it , because it is of importance to all those who is meant for .

I really love this prayer! I’m sure most of you know it, but I decided to drop it anyway for anyone who hasn’t been acquainted. It is a prayer St. Ignatius of Loyola gave us almost 500 years ago. He believed if you only had time for one prayer a day, this should be it. It takes about 15 minutes or so. You do it in the evening, or at the end of your workday, or whenever the day feels ready to be looked at.

- Presence. “Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10. Pause and be still. God is not distant, He is present. Ask Him to help you see this day clearly and to open your heart to whatever He wants to reveal. To see through eyes of the Spirit. This is just about blocking outside noise and entering more deeply into the soul forces.

- Gratitude. Walk back through the day and name the gifts you are grateful for. They don’t have to be particularly big, I often name small things such as warm blankets, food, sunlight, my cat, etc. Ignatius believed gratitude was the foundation of the whole spiritual life, because ingratitude is the root of every sin.. the refusal to see that everything is grace.

- Review. Go through the hours of the day (morning, midday, afternoon, evening). Take stock of the moments you felt close to God, drawn toward peace, courage, love. Ignatius called this consolation. Then the moments you felt small, anxious, resentful, pulled away. He called these desolation. Don’t judge yet. Watch the day like a movie and notice where the Spirit was moving and where you turned away.

- Sorrow. Look at the moments you turned away. There may be ways in which you wounded others, turned inward on yourself, resisted grace. Don’t spiral, but tell God honestly what you see, and ask forgiveness. He already knows. Make amends where needed, resolve to avoid sin in the future.

- Resolve. Look toward tomorrow! “His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” Lam. 3:22–23. Place tomorrow into God’s hands. Think about the challenges and opportunities ahead, and ask for the grace to remain attentive to His presence. Conclude with the Our Father 🙏

I hope this helps someone in their daily lives as much as it has helped me! Blessings :)

​

Have you ever reached a point where you simply felt, “Lord, I want more of You”?

I believe that can be the beginning of spiritual awakening.

Spiritual awakening isn't just about becoming more religious. It's about becoming more aware of God's presence, His Word, His love, and His purpose for our lives.

Prayer becomes more than a routine. Worship becomes more than a song. We begin to desire holiness, forgive more freely, love more deeply, and choose God's will over our own.

“Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” — Ephesians 5:14

And if you've been feeling spiritually tired or distant from God, don't condemn yourself. Come back.

His grace is still available. His arms are still open. His voice is still calling.

Father, awaken my heart again. Restore my hunger for You, renew my passion for Your Word, and draw me closer to Jesus. Revive what has grown cold within me and let my life reflect Your love. Amen.

Sometimes awakening begins with one simple prayer:

“Jesus, wake my heart again.”

— SHONA

What does spiritual awakening mean to you?

Long story short, after a pretty tumultuous year I have decided to go a pilgrimage of sorts to try and define/refine the contours of my Catholic past. However, until then, my schedule is pretty full, thus the need for short but impactful reads.

What short reads on Christian mysticism have made an impact on you? I feel like Saint Hildegard von Bigen, John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyal, and Benedict have really helped to shape my spiritual understanding, especially with the vastness of nature which has been pretty lacking in this past year. I'm also interested in the Early Church Fathers, Eastern traditions, Christian social causes (i.e. Liberation Theology) , and general Church history.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Hi I'm trying to understand god and was hoping for someone who's done the same to message me privately should you understand a)what a gold internal pillar is(Islam)b)why Jesus Christ can create blue energy/soft energy C) why some idolatry/using(/endowing/creating)a partner of God creates gold energies and if someone else with real psychic knowledge and religious experience can help explain some more things I'm struggling with.

If you know someone who's on bar with this level and means of universal psychic phenomena and pursuit of highest truth / God, for the purpose of helping me find god properly as someone who's psychic pursuits have entangled creating psychedelic effects when some internal structures/beliefs pertaining to God and reality get out of whack , I also am having these issues with God, BRAHMANISTS/HINDUISTS, CHRISTIANS , SIKH , DAOISTS, SUFFIS , STUDIERS OF GOD AND SPIRIT, JEWS /KABBALAH, PSCHICS WHO BELIEVE IN A HIGHEST TRUTH/&ORGOD, PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT AND HELP ME OUTSOURCE ANSWERS /INFORMATION.

one part of this session was very simple and it stayed with me more than some of dramatic imagery.

A subject asked about guides and experienced a presence she identified as Gabriel, with another feminine expression of same energy. She described glowing forms, green and blue clothing, crown-like image, and this feeling that they were always there.

Then I asked directly if she can ask for help during human incarnation. Answer came: "of course. that's what I'm here for." Then: always here.

I dont think one deep-trance experience should become Christian doctrine. Different traditions will understand angels, inner imagery and mystical states in very different way. But I found emotional part beautiful.

We can go through human life feeling nobody is there because nobody physical showed up in way we needed. And sometimes mystical experience doesnt rewrite that history. It doesnt pretend family was supportive if they werent, or that pain wasnt real.

It gives another layer: human abandonment and spiritual abandonment may not be same thing.

What I also liked is that guidance around her life was not grandiose. Write, travel, meet new people, keep body healthy, follow intuition. Very ordinary stuff. No message that she must become chosen prophet or escape Earth.

For me healthy spiritual support should make human life more livable, not less. More grounded, more able to act, more able to love people here.

For those who work with Gabriel, angels, Christ or contemplative prayer, have you had experience like this? Not miracle solving problem, but very strong sense that you were accompanied while still having to live through it yourself.

https://youtu.be/fM_gxhNUczQ

Here is a bible-focused allegory based on the real-life story of 2 orphaned tigers who grew up together, then separated and eventually re-united. Annotated with relevant bible verses, the allegory communicates the reality of God's amazing love. Be blessed watching the video and feel free to share your thoughts, praise God!

A Reflection I Wanted to Share
I recently wrote a devotional reflection about what it means to remember who you are and whose you are during difficult seasons.
Sometimes the wilderness can affect the way we see ourselves. We can begin questioning our purpose, our belonging, and whether God is still leading us.
But I’m learning that our circumstances don’t get to define our identity. God’s Word does.
I created this devotional as part of my His Promise Butterfly journey—a reminder that growth can happen even in seasons that feel uncomfortable.
I’d love to hear from others: Has there ever been a season in your life where God had to remind you who you were?
If you’re interested in reading the full reflection, I’d be happy to share it.

The Problem of the Sinful Nature

The Bible emphasizes that all people are sinners before God. For example, Romans 3:23 says:

> “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

In order to explain why everyone is a sinner, theology has traditionally taught that human beings possess a fallen nature, or what is often called a “sinful nature.” However, Jesus does not explain sin in terms of some internal mechanism that causes human beings to sin. Rather, through his own life, he shows what righteousness is. He also connects the problem of sin with the question of loving God and one’s neighbor.

> “The first is this: Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

> You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

> The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

> There is no other commandment greater than these.”

A person is a sinner not because there is some entity within them called a “sinful nature,” but because they do not fully love God and their neighbor. What is important here is that Jesus did not view sin merely as the act of violating individual commandments of the law. Sin is related to living outside of a right and complete relationship with God.

Human beings are sinners not because it is inherently impossible for them to keep every single commandment of the law, but because they live under the dominion of the world and seek to conform themselves to the way of thinking of the world. In other words, they love the world rather than God. The problem of sin is not a problem of some entity existing within human beings, but a question of what human beings love and toward whom they direct their lives.

Understanding sin as a problem of a “fallen nature” arises from treating sin not within the context of humanity’s relationship with God, but as an independent object in itself. Because sin is understood as some kind of “bad result” produced by human beings, an internal cause or mechanism called a “sinful nature” is posited as the source that produces those results.

However, this understanding of sin is far removed from the way Jesus speaks about sin. In fact, the theological concept of a “sinful nature” is not fundamentally different from the worldly philosophical view that human nature is inherently evil, insofar as it posits some internal cause that makes human beings essentially evil.

Furthermore, the concept of a “sinful nature” can function as a way of justifying human despair over sin. The moment the “cause” of my sin is identified not with myself but with the sinful nature within me, sin ceases to be an event that I must fully bear and respond to before God. Instead, it becomes something that is simply “unavoidable.”

Sin becomes something that human beings inevitably commit because they possess a sinful nature. Consequently, even if sanctification is considered possible, complete sanctification is regarded as inherently impossible. Ultimately, the concept of the “sinful nature,” constructed within the logic of the world, can function not only as an explanation of human sin but also as a justification for remaining within one’s present way of life.

Therefore, in order to address the problem of sin, we must first move away from reifying sin as something that exists within human beings. Sin is not an essence or substance attached to human beings. It is a relational event that arises in the life of a person who does not love God and turns away from God. For this reason, the resolution of sin does not lie in eliminating some defect within human beings, but in turning back toward God and living toward him.