Monday, August 31, 2020

Helps and models in the darkness of faith.


 Remembering Corrie.

A friend of mine posted a story of how she was attracted back to the Church, in and through the example of Corrie ten Boom, the 'tramp for the Lord' as she referred to herself.  Corrie and Betsy ten Boom are special patron saints of mine, albeit they were not Catholic - they are united to the Church in and through a sort of “ecumenism of blood” - in my humble opinion.

After reading a couple of unsatisfactory books by Catholics, the author of the blog post  Inspired by Corrie ten Boom, shares how Corrie's book became for her an inspiration to deepen her faith as 'she returned to the Church'.  I'll let her tell it:



"I also came across the books of Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch woman who had been active in the resistance during World War II. She belonged to the Christian Reformed church but I was intrigued by the blurb on her book, The Hiding Place, as I was very interested in the experiences of those who had lived through the war, especially in Holland. 
 
I read the entire book by the former Catholic priest. I was not impressed with his story and his abandonment of his vows. I read part of the book by the other Catholic author, whose name I am purposely withholding. Even with my lack of Catholic knowledge and experience, I could recognize the falsehoods he was perpetrating. I was disgusted.

The book by Corrie ten Boom was the complete opposite. It completely captivated me in my search for truth. She wrote about Jesus like he was her personal friend, which he was. He led her in her daily decisions and how she treated people. The bible was not a list of optional suggestions and platitudes, it was her life. She lived and breathed the word of God. I could trust her. She kept her eyes on Jesus, I needed to do the same." - Read the rest here.

Sunday, August 30, 2020

How we are regarded by God.



How We Are Known

"The divine knowledge of a soul is always a merciful knowledge. We can never be in a true relationship with God until we discover that we are only known mercifully. Not just loved with intermittent mercy after sinning and repenting once again, but that we cannot be looked at, that we cannot be known by God or drawn to him except as a soul in need, poor and destitute, incapable of avoiding collapse and ruin without divine intervention.

A profound mercy, in other words, permeates God’s vision of our soul. On our part, faithfulness to this mercy is to keep an awareness of the divine gaze upon our soul. It is to know ourselves as known by God in mercy. The soul conscious of mercy enters into prayer in poverty and need, but it also knows God’s presence as a gaze of love upon its poverty. And its confidence in mercy becomes an implicit wonder and admiration directed toward God’s attraction for the poverty at the heart of our soul."

- Father Donald Haggerty

This is why, no matter our moral condition, we can always call out - with confidence - to God for mercy.