Forgiveness

I am posting an excerpt of a book entitled," Enjoy Your Precious Life" by Fr. John T.Catoir, JCD published by Alba House. For ordering information please go to their website at www.albahouse.org. This could be a life changing book if you allow it to be. Here goes, portions from pages 133-134 and page 135.

HOW DO I FORGIVE WHEN I AM STILL ANGRY?

In order to forgive someone from the heart, you do not need to have good feelings toward that person. Forgiveness is not a feeling. If you are angry, and the other person doesn't give you the satisfaction of asking for forgiveness, it may seem impossible to forgive. Don't believe your feelings. With God all things are possible.

You don't wait until you feel like forgiving. You may never feel like it. That doesn't matter, God asks for forgiveness anyway. Do it for Him, and for yourself. The Lord asks you to forgive for good reason. He wants you to be healed, He wants you to have the fullness of Joy. How can you not forgive?

To forgive you just will it!

True forgiveness is in the will. Do not wait for warm cozy feelings to begin the process. Your feelings will catch up in time. Do it now. Be patient about the results. You give "forgiveness" before you feel like it. You "fore-give" the gift of forgiveness, before you feel good about it. Do it anyway.

In this way you show the Lord that you will not cling to your resentment like a dog with a bone. You drop it and walk away. When bad feelings come back toward that person, say a short prayer for him or her. "My Jesus mercy. Have mercy on him and mercy on me." You need help and God will give it. Repeat your prayer over and over until the feelings subside, and they will.

In time you will actually forget why you were so angry in the first place. Forgiveness heals the soul. Let go, and let God.

ONE MORE QUOTE FROM PAGE 135

Once you admit that you are too enraged to love, much less forgive, then you are making progress. Turn immediately to the Lord for help.
He knows that your anger is justified. He doesn't ask you to deny your feelings. When He asks you to forgive, He is not saying, "what happened doesn't matter.".........
Why does Jesus want us to forgive? Because hate disqualifies a person from entering heaven, and He wants us with Him for all eternity.

Fr. Catoir quotes (Matthew 11:29, 19:26) Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart,....with man it is impossible, but with God, all things are possible


I cannot say it any better than this book.

everything in its place

Lightning struck this morning as I thought of yet another organizing tactic. Everything in its place. Looking at my kitchen you would never believe I could think of such a thing, but I did. It's not an original thought by any means. I think I actually lifted the thought from somewhere else, I just can't remember where I heard it first. No wait, I think it was in Vicki Iovinne's Girlfriend's Guide to Getting Your Groove Back. A woman ( as told to Vicki)makes sure that she can be found in certain areas of her home at specific times during the day to give her kids a sense of comfort and security. The whole 'if I go there I know I will find Mom' thing. Sounds simple, right?

I must have been ruminating on that in the back of my head somewhere because this morning I thought to myself, why not organize myself by place more often. I'm sure this isn't foolproof and things will pop up; but if I make the effort more often to be in certain places at certain times maybe the tasks associated with those places will be accomplished more often. Example, time in the kitchen = kitchen chores getting done, time at the computer = writing getting done.

This just might work, afterall we already show up at church on Sunday mornings because that is what we do. Most times it works out that it is meaningful and uplifting whether or not we felt like getting out of our pajamas that particular morning. Maybe there really is something to the saying that 90% of anything is just showing up. Now the trick will be if I can just show up a little bit earlier. Oh yeah, HAPPY ST.PATRICK'S DAY!

here and there

I have not been an up to date blogger lately. I used to have a schedule of blogging during my daughter's preschool hours. Things just had to get done and my blogging got put on the shelf. Not a great thing for someone who actually writes a column about blogs! Oh well, the recent edition has been emailed off and hopefully I will slack no more.

Not alot of zest here as I reread this post. I guess like most things in life, sometimes you have to just do it badly rather than not blog at all. Go visit www.fortwaynereader.com and check out the Blog Hunter to see what I've been writing there while I haven't been blogging here.

higher purpose

The other day I wondered if blogs could be used to promote charities or social services. For instance, would a resident at a battered women's shelter be able,if she were given the resources, to blog about her experiences as a way for a) her to work through and process what had gone on in her life b) for readers to be able to view her experience as she told it. I'm not thinking so much of the tabloid tell all variety of blog but a blog from the point of view of someone who normally cannot tell her story. This wouldn't even need to be only focused on women, it could include anyone who has made or is on a journey for example an adult learning to read.

Would these stories promote any kinds of connections like volunteering or donations to organizations that help people in need?

The very important concern left is privacy. Can it be guaranteed? How?

Is this already happening and I am just unaware?