— 1 —

Myth #2 Busted:  This week’s post is the second of 7 explaining the Myths That Singles Must Resist.  

This week’s Mythbuster: God has forgotten about me

I decided to break it up into two posts since it is a tough topic.  I pray it blesses you in your walk with the Lord!

— 2 —

Mountains and Valleys:   Haven’t the readings this week of Advent been beautiful!  They have focused on our need to make straight the highway for the Lord. 

“A voice cries out: In the desert prepare the way of the LORD! Make straight in the wasteland a highway for our God!  Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; The rugged land shall be made a plain, the rough country, a broad valley.”

Isaiah 40:3-4

What are the mountains in our lives that need to be brought down to clear the way for the Lord?  What are the valleys that need to be filled in to make the highway smooth for Him?

— 3 —

Confession:  It clears the obstacles and smooths the potholes in our lives.  Have you set aside a date to receive this most important Sacrament of healing during Advent?  What a gift to our Lord your preparing the way will be.  And, what a gift His healing will be for you!

I will be examining both the mountains and the valleys in my life.  What are my sins of commission (the obstacles) that I need to stop doing in order to clear the obstacles?  What are my sins of omission (the potholes) that I need to start doing in order to fill in the potholes?

— 4 —

A Staircase Rosary:  I am not a good ‘faster’ of food.  Due to my tendency for low blood sugar, fasting makes me somewhat unable to function.  Oh, and it makes me really cranky.  But, I have not been able to find a medical excuse for fasting from exercise. 

A little over a year ago I started hula-hooping at home. I also started an exercise program at work.  I started climbing the stairs 4 times a day. The bonus is that I have been saying my prayers during the stair climbing first thing in the morning. 

I work on the third floor and there are a little over  60 steps in each staircase.  Doing 60 stairs 4 times a day 4 times a week ended up being almost 1000 steps per week or 4000 steps per month. 

Recently, I decided to up my stair climbing commitment to 10 times a day…..or a decade.  Sort of like an exercise Rosary.  This new commitment will allow me to climb almost 10,000 steps a month.  And it only takes about 10 minutes a day!

At first, my muscles protested from all the use and I was winded by the time I reach the top of the staircase.  It is interesting to me that, like a virtue and a good habit, the more I do it, the easier it becomes.  My muscles and lungs are getting conditioned.

If you are trying to overcome a bad habit or vice, it will obviously be challenging at first.  You might get winded from the climb.  If you are trying to instill a good habit or virtue, keep in mind that your new muscles will protest.  But, with persistence and God’s grace, it will get smoother.

— 5 —

Every Step I Take:  Speaking of stairs, my Mom told me that the Sisters taught her in school that each time you climb a step to offer it up for the souls in purgatory.  They taught her to say, “Every step I take is for the poor suffering souls in purgatory.”  To this day, she recites this for every step. 

There are times that I do not want to do my Staircase Rosary and there are times I look at the elevator and tell myself that would be the easier way. But, as a member of the Church Militant, I remind myself that overcoming this temptation can be a powerful tool for those that are suffering. When I get tempted to cop-out, I say to myself, “I will offer this up for my sister or my friend from work” who are both going through Cancer treatment. I have faith that it makes a difference.

What other ways can we strengthen the Church Militant? 

— 6 —

Burst Into Flame And You Did Not Burn:   Saint Amadeus of Lausanne (1108-1159), Cistercian monk and Bishop wrote this about our Blessed Mother, Mary: 

   “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” He will arise within you, Mary. In some saints he has come; in others he will come; but in you he will arise… He will arise by means of the fertility, the abundance, the fullness of his outpouring in your being. Even when he has filled you, he will yet be upon you; he will sweep over your waters to create in you a work greater and more admirable than when, hovering over the waters at the beginning, he brought created substance into being in all its various forms (Gn 1,2). “And the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Christ, the power and wisdom of God, will overshadow you. Then he will take human nature from you while keeping the fullness of God, which you are unable to bear, even as he assumes our flesh. He will take you beneath his shadow because the humanity to be taken by the Word is to be a screen for the inaccessible light of God. This light, filtered by its screen, will penetrate your most chaste womb…

     We therefore pray you, Sovereign Lady, most worthy Mother of God, do not despise today those who ask with fear, who seek with devotion, who knock with love. We pray you, tell us what feelings moved you, what love seized you… when this was accomplished in you, when the Word took flesh from you? In what state was your soul, your heart, your spirit, your senses, your mind? You burst into flame like the bush that was shown to Moses long ago and you did not burn, (Ex 3,2). You dissolved away in God but were not consumed. Burning, you melted beneath the fire from on high yet regained strength from that fire divine to burn again and dissolve once more in him… You became more virgin still – and more than virgin because both virgin and mother. Therefore we greet you, full of grace: the Lord is with you. You are blessed among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”

Isn’t that a beautiful Advent meditation!?!?! 

— 7 —

Divine Utterances:  There are so many powerful reasons to be Catholic!  How about these gorgeous words from one of our many brilliant a Doctors of the Church:

“You nourished me with spiritual milk, the milk of your divine utterances. You sustained me with the solid food of the Body of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Your most holy, Only-begotten Son. You gave me to drink of the divine chalice of his life-giving Blood, which he shed for salvation of the whole world.”

Saint John Damascene (c.675-749), monk, theologian, Doctor of the Church

If you have enjoyed my blog, please “like” my Facebook Page, The Veil and sign up to receive my blog posts automatically by clicking the rectangular “Follow” button. Thank you and God Bless!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!  Thank you for hosting, Jennifer!