Detachment, among other thoughts.

The past few months, the Lord’s quiet call to my heart has been “Submit... submit... detach yourself from the world... submit.” It took me a while to realize that both of these things go hand in hand. “Submit yourself completely to the will of my Father, and the means you are to do this is to detach yourself from the world.” It has forced me to really examine who has my heart. This should be an obvious answer (God)... but does He really have my heart? I thought He did. But it is so easy for our interior vision to get clouded by all the distractions of the world. The Lord has been peeling back layers of material attachments from my life, most especially over the past few weeks, and has helped me to see how weak and little I really am. I have had to detach myself from things that I really liked, even things that I thought I “loved”. When I retreated back to the Lord and begged to see where I need forgiveness and where I had turned wrongly, He answered. It was tough to hear, and it was very painful to accept... but the Lord uses our contrition and weakness to work with His glorious strength that heals us. Despite the pain this insight from the Lord caused me, I felt even more sorrow at the pain I had caused Him. There was a reading at Mass the other day from Isaiah 54 and part of it read:

“The LORD calls you back, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit.”

This passage a few months, or even a few weeks ago may not have touched me as it was able to now, but God uses all things to stir our hearts in new ways. Just before this passage was read I was looking for a moment at a woman who I had seen attend Mass every day over the summer, with her husband of about 40 years. They had been there every morning, and were enjoying their newly acquired retirement together. The day before thanksgiving came, and the Lord brought her husband up to Himself. I was thinking how beautiful it was that she was still at Mass daily, but also that I could not imagine how she must be feeling to have lost her best friend only a few weeks previous. Again,

“The LORD calls you back, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit.”

What great love the Lord has for me, for you, for all of us. As a wife who is grieved in spirit and calls after her lost husband... so the Lord calls out to us, reaches out to us, begs us to come back into his loving embrace. How must the Lord feel when we look at Him who is pure Love, turn and look at the destruction the world offers, and head towards the world. His heart grieves for us. The Lord offers many ways for us to prepare a place for him in our hearts, one of them being Sacramental Confession. I went last Saturday afternoon and received great healing from the Lord, healing I didn’t even know I needed. He brought great closure to many things, and opened my heart even more for His coming. Through our yes, our fiat to the Lord, amazing things will happen. Expect it. I have learned not to look to the future. All we can do is say yes to what the Lord is asking of us in each and every moment of the day, and everything falls into place. It will be a struggle day after day - we have to actively make the choice to follow Jesus and turn away from anything that will draw us away from him. We are in a spiritual battle daily for our own souls whether we acknowledge it or not and even in conversations with other Christians this terminology would probably gain you an odd glance or two and perhaps some disbelief. However, the devil would love for nothing more than for us to believe that he and the other fallen angels do not exist. We need to do our part in this battle by staying close to the Lord through the Sacraments, especially receiving the Eucharist as often as possible. Also through the prayer of the Rosary and asking the saints for intercession. These are gifts that have been given to us, gifts that are not without power and strength against evil! Believe it and rejoice in the love that the Lord has for us. It really is impossible to fathom the absolute glory of our Lord, and how he condescends to our level day after day though we do not deserve it. He loves us so much. That alone should inspire us to live radical lives, at least to attempt to.

I ask of you an extraordinary immolation of your heart.

"Yes, my Lord."

I ask you to love My enemy in My name.

"I will try to do this, my Lord, but I beg You for the necessary grace."

Where everything is given, nothing is lacking. Fear nothing, my son.

The Lord asks of us an "extraordinary immolation" of our hearts. Definition of extraordinary: going beyond what is usual, regular or customary. We are going to have to put a high degree of effort into it. Defintion of immolation: to kill as a sacrifice, usually by fire. To destroy. The Lord longs for us to be willing to offer our hearts totally and unequivocally to Himself. We must be willing to go through some suffering, some sacrifice, in order for our will to be united to His. It must be by the fire of His Spirit that our vices and attachments will be re-sealed and renewed to the Lord's glory. A good friend recently wrote similarly about this revival of the soul through the Lord's flames, and it is such so interesting and beautiful how the Lord conveys these same sentiments in the hearts of His faithful, so that others who need to hear it are able to.

Brothers and sisters... lets step outside of what we are comfortable with, and say yes to the Lord so that we may receive graces we never thought possible. Feed your soul with pure and holy things, so that you may be able to see interiorly what the Lord wishes for you to do. Ask the saints to intercede for you (they are closer to us than we know). Love those who persecute you with the love that Christ shows us. Pray for those around you. Fight for what is good and true, stand up for what is holy and righteous even against a society that belittles you for it. Do not be afraid to sacrifice for God and for others, to fast and to offer up what you can for the sanctification of humanity. God be with you, and prepare your heart for His coming on Christmas... and until that day, Happy Advent :)

- Kelsey Maria

Blessed Mother Mary, St. Maria Goretti, St. Michael, pray for us.