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Showing posts with label Theology of The Body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theology of The Body. Show all posts
Monday, March 17, 2014
MY BOOK IS DONE ON HEALING WOUNDS FROM SEXUAL ABUSE!
I have just finished my first book. Please consider ordering a copy, especially if you know someone who is struggling to heal from Sexual Abuse or Childhood Trauma's.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Icon of the New Adam and New Eve: The Shroud and The Tilma
The Shroud of Turin and The Tilma with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Both images are Icons.
What is an Icon? An Icon is said to be "written" not painted because it is sacred art that has a purpose. It is a Catechism in color. Every line, every detail means and teaches something. That something is a theological truth about God and man's relationship to Him. Icons are spiritual doorways because when we contemplate them, there is an internal movement towards God incarnate, which is what Icons are, and when we move toward God, He moves towards us.
Icons are God incarnate because they are the physical manifestation of theological truth. They make visible the invisible. It was said that every man and woman are icons because we are made in the image and likeness of God, male and female He created them so to see a "persons" is to see the likeness of God. Perhaps that is why we greet one another with a gesture of reverence. Some cultures shake hands and some bow in the presence of others.
So now, in a world where the belief of the supernatural is almost lost, we are once again in need of a simple catechism. Like children, we need to be re-engaged through the beauty of pictures. "Beauty will save the world" and perhaps sacred art is the very beauty Dostoyevsky was speaking of.
(This Icon "written" by Michelle Leonille Jennes using the shroud as her guide and Divine Mercy)
So what do I think they are Icons of? Well, several things but here are four of the biggest. I believe they are Icons of these four things.
Icons of;
1. The Wedding Feast
2. The Eucharist
3. The Redemption of Man and Woman
4. The Song of Songs
1. The Wedding Feast:
TILMA; Tilma worn during marriage ceremonies, worn on the body as a covering. Bridegroom and Bride are tied together as a symbol of their union during ceremony of wedding. It also is used to carry children later, in the fold which is then tied around the waist of the person. The Tilma is worn by average people therefore revealing that ALL are called to Union and Communion. Two pieces of cloth were sewn together, in fact the center of this cloth is the exact middle of the image. It is where two have become one. Two pieces of cloth become one garment. This also brings dignity to male and female he created them as marriage is only between a man and a woman. In the image, I content the exact center of the tilma is also where the divine mercy image is in the robe. But that is another thing.
SHROUD; The Shroud is believed to be the table cloth of the last supper. This is the wedding feast of of the lamb, the table an earthly banquet but the feast is on Jesus Christ, the true food and true drink. This last supper is THE wedding feast and we are ALL called to the Wedding feast. The cloth of the shroud is two pieces sewn together. The two become one once again revealing the theme of "marriage". Also revealing the dignity of male and female he created them as marriage is between a man and a woman.
2. The Eucharist
TILMA; The image of Mary, with Christ incarnate, is God made flesh. This is a Eucharistic image. She is the tabernacle that brings us Jesus. She is the ark of the New Covenant that holds manna for us. Even the words of Juan Diego "is this the land of the flesh, the land of the corn, the land of my people" is indicative that the food of his people is linked with flesh. Fr. Miguel Guadalupe wrote in 7 Veils of OLGuadalupe, that even the image is shaped like a ear of corn, the fruit!
SHROUD; The image of Jesus, on the tablecloth is the very meal upon which we are receiving. The miraculous impression, a foreshadowing of what would continue on earth at the hands of the priest. Jesus uttered the words over the cloth upon which hours later he would be covered. He broke the bread and gave it to us as true food and true drink. Later, his body, broken would be laid upon the cloth once more, and at the moment of his consecration, of the fulfillment of scripture, he rises and in an instant his glorified body manifests the image, makes visible the invisible, onto the table cloth.
3. The Redemption of Man and Woman; The New Adam and The New Eve
TILMA; Not only do the constellation's placed precisely over her image where theological truths are conveyed, but she reveals that her immaculate conception is woman fully participating in the redemption of man. Just as Eve took of the apple and ate, so did Adam and so BOTH fell from the glory of what God had intended for them. In God's plan for the redemption of man, He could have done it by any means He saw fit, yet, He chose for the participation of mankind, and begun so through A woman. Male and female He created them, so would not God make it known that male and female they are redeemed? If we are made in his image, male and female, then we see how beautiful it is that before Christ takes His flesh from her, the merits of His sacrifice are applied to her at the very moment of her conception. OLGuadalupe appears to St. Juan Diego on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, linking this truth to the image.
Sts. Joachim and Ann, Icon handwritten by the iconographer, Nancy Lee Smith, IHM
(Copyright, Saint Ann Catholic Church and the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)
The truth of Redemption "written" in this icon is that God makes all things new. Eve, of her own free will, in the garden of paradise, free from concupiscence and free from sin, she took from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, the fruit and ate it. She brought it into her body, through an act of the will and it bore death to the world.
This image reveals through Iconography, that Mary, The New Eve, free from sin (immaculately conceived) brings into her virginal garden (an icon of eden) with an act of her free will, she brings into her garden the fruit of ALL KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL and through her yes, brings life into the world. Not just spiritual life but the physical life of Jesus Christ full man and full God. "The Body makes visible the invisible".
Even the process of Iconography reveals a theological truth and Our Lady of Guadalupe is no exception. For instance, her inner robe is a rose or earth color and is understood by the Nahuatl Indians as meaning she was created from the dust of the earth. Through the lens of Iconography we can see that ALMOST ALL OF THE NAHUATL GLYPHS hold a message NEVER BEFORE considered because we have not looked upon the image through the LENS OF ICONOGRAPHY.
Through the lens of Iconography, we would first understand that the clay bole used on the image as well as the gold leafing found there have a HUGE message and symbolic meaning!
The clay symbolizes the earth from which Adam (and all humanity) was created. With
the gold leaf, you "breathe life" into the clay, as God breathed life into Adam.
Just as raw clay is fired into a handsome and durable pot, applying gold leaf "fires"
the clay bole into luminous beauty, reflecting earthly and heavenly light. So through the lens of Iconography, the message found in OLGuadalupe reaffirms that She is the New Eve and that where I see the torso of Christ in her inner robe which is done in these clay tones, IS the New Adam and the gold leafing, reveals the breath of God, the Divine Light.
SHROUD; The New Adam, free from sin, with an act of his free will allows the manifestation of our sins, the spiritual depravity, to make itself visible upon His body so as to bare it and then birth us all through his sacrifice into His Father's heavenly kingdom. The New Adam's glorified and redeemed body is what created the image onto this holy cloth.
4. The Song of Songs
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.
See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land."
(Song of Songs 2:10-12)
It is as if Mary is being invited to rise and be assumed into heaven! To demonstrate the redemption of woman as well as man has been accomplished. God unties all of the knots that Adam and Even tied. He makes all things new.
Tilma; Mary is both sister and bride as well as Mother. As sister, she has provided the flesh and blood, without a biological father, thus acting as a twin might. The splitting off from one person and the creation of another. This is what took place when Adam was asleep and Eve came from His side. There was not a union of two become one flesh. So in the tilma we see Mary, offering her side, her flesh, for the Son of God to be given the hands and feet upon which to give His life for the Redemption of the world. The constellation of Gemini is over her torso. The Nahuatl indians wrote in glyphs and not letters. There way to write the most beautiful of love songs and poetry was the glyphs of flowers and flower clusters. Music, was the highest form of prayer and to dance and sing was the highest form of worship. The flower glyphs on the robe of our lady is "written" by God revealing to the indians this is a divine love song of the greatest form of love and of worship of the one true God. To love, free from concupiscence.
Even now, I have been told that Msgr. Eduardo Chavez has placed pins into the center of the flowers and tested his theory to see if a song or melody would manifest and indeed, there is. I have believed this from the moment I began to see that OLGuadalupe is an Icon of the New Eve. She is the Bride that sings her beautiful song to the Bridegroom. That song is an invitation for the world to ponder the biblical book of the bible and discern and contemplate the love poetry of our God in the Song of Songs. We are called to love our sister and our bride. Jesus himself, desires for us to be nourished at his mother's breast, as we see in many pictures of the saints that had mystical experiences of this. We are called, to be brothers and sisters by sharing in His mother's milk and in fact her protection under her mantle. She is His sister , His mother and His Bride. I have also found significant writings of Blessed Amadeus as well as Fr. Miguel Sanchez that believed this image had a message for the church as the lady of the apocalypse. He believed that she would be a great intercessor of healing and evangelization to the world. He even speculated that the flowers on the hill, which were many, held great significance to the story. I have researched these flowers and agree. There were many flowers gathered on Tepeyac hill and I believe they are all significant to the story being told through Iconography to the Church of the 21st century.
SHROUD; There has been the discovery of the flowers within the image. Not only has there been similarities to iconography, but there is even some experts that believe that there are "cartoon" shaped flowers on the image. I suspect that they also would play a song if pins were placed into the centers and that if played while the tilma song played, would create a melody and harmony. These images are receptive and the parallels and similarities are great. These are only SOME of what I have found and I am a nobody, a no one, a mother of 8. But, St. Juan Diego was also an average everyday person, and perhaps sometimes, the littlest ones are the ones that hear. I could be wrong, but I believe we are all being invited to contemplate the images of the Shroud and the Tilma in light of one another (also with Divine Mercy).
For more info on other areas I am developing, please read the other articles related to this on my blog.
What is an Icon? An Icon is said to be "written" not painted because it is sacred art that has a purpose. It is a Catechism in color. Every line, every detail means and teaches something. That something is a theological truth about God and man's relationship to Him. Icons are spiritual doorways because when we contemplate them, there is an internal movement towards God incarnate, which is what Icons are, and when we move toward God, He moves towards us.
Icons are God incarnate because they are the physical manifestation of theological truth. They make visible the invisible. It was said that every man and woman are icons because we are made in the image and likeness of God, male and female He created them so to see a "persons" is to see the likeness of God. Perhaps that is why we greet one another with a gesture of reverence. Some cultures shake hands and some bow in the presence of others.
So now, in a world where the belief of the supernatural is almost lost, we are once again in need of a simple catechism. Like children, we need to be re-engaged through the beauty of pictures. "Beauty will save the world" and perhaps sacred art is the very beauty Dostoyevsky was speaking of.
So what do I think they are Icons of? Well, several things but here are four of the biggest. I believe they are Icons of these four things.
Icons of;
1. The Wedding Feast
2. The Eucharist
3. The Redemption of Man and Woman
4. The Song of Songs
1. The Wedding Feast:
TILMA; Tilma worn during marriage ceremonies, worn on the body as a covering. Bridegroom and Bride are tied together as a symbol of their union during ceremony of wedding. It also is used to carry children later, in the fold which is then tied around the waist of the person. The Tilma is worn by average people therefore revealing that ALL are called to Union and Communion. Two pieces of cloth were sewn together, in fact the center of this cloth is the exact middle of the image. It is where two have become one. Two pieces of cloth become one garment. This also brings dignity to male and female he created them as marriage is only between a man and a woman. In the image, I content the exact center of the tilma is also where the divine mercy image is in the robe. But that is another thing.
SHROUD; The Shroud is believed to be the table cloth of the last supper. This is the wedding feast of of the lamb, the table an earthly banquet but the feast is on Jesus Christ, the true food and true drink. This last supper is THE wedding feast and we are ALL called to the Wedding feast. The cloth of the shroud is two pieces sewn together. The two become one once again revealing the theme of "marriage". Also revealing the dignity of male and female he created them as marriage is between a man and a woman.
2. The Eucharist
TILMA; The image of Mary, with Christ incarnate, is God made flesh. This is a Eucharistic image. She is the tabernacle that brings us Jesus. She is the ark of the New Covenant that holds manna for us. Even the words of Juan Diego "is this the land of the flesh, the land of the corn, the land of my people" is indicative that the food of his people is linked with flesh. Fr. Miguel Guadalupe wrote in 7 Veils of OLGuadalupe, that even the image is shaped like a ear of corn, the fruit!
SHROUD; The image of Jesus, on the tablecloth is the very meal upon which we are receiving. The miraculous impression, a foreshadowing of what would continue on earth at the hands of the priest. Jesus uttered the words over the cloth upon which hours later he would be covered. He broke the bread and gave it to us as true food and true drink. Later, his body, broken would be laid upon the cloth once more, and at the moment of his consecration, of the fulfillment of scripture, he rises and in an instant his glorified body manifests the image, makes visible the invisible, onto the table cloth.
3. The Redemption of Man and Woman; The New Adam and The New Eve
TILMA; Not only do the constellation's placed precisely over her image where theological truths are conveyed, but she reveals that her immaculate conception is woman fully participating in the redemption of man. Just as Eve took of the apple and ate, so did Adam and so BOTH fell from the glory of what God had intended for them. In God's plan for the redemption of man, He could have done it by any means He saw fit, yet, He chose for the participation of mankind, and begun so through A woman. Male and female He created them, so would not God make it known that male and female they are redeemed? If we are made in his image, male and female, then we see how beautiful it is that before Christ takes His flesh from her, the merits of His sacrifice are applied to her at the very moment of her conception. OLGuadalupe appears to St. Juan Diego on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, linking this truth to the image.
(Copyright, Saint Ann Catholic Church and the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary)
The truth of Redemption "written" in this icon is that God makes all things new. Eve, of her own free will, in the garden of paradise, free from concupiscence and free from sin, she took from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, the fruit and ate it. She brought it into her body, through an act of the will and it bore death to the world.
This image reveals through Iconography, that Mary, The New Eve, free from sin (immaculately conceived) brings into her virginal garden (an icon of eden) with an act of her free will, she brings into her garden the fruit of ALL KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL and through her yes, brings life into the world. Not just spiritual life but the physical life of Jesus Christ full man and full God. "The Body makes visible the invisible".
Even the process of Iconography reveals a theological truth and Our Lady of Guadalupe is no exception. For instance, her inner robe is a rose or earth color and is understood by the Nahuatl Indians as meaning she was created from the dust of the earth. Through the lens of Iconography we can see that ALMOST ALL OF THE NAHUATL GLYPHS hold a message NEVER BEFORE considered because we have not looked upon the image through the LENS OF ICONOGRAPHY.
Through the lens of Iconography, we would first understand that the clay bole used on the image as well as the gold leafing found there have a HUGE message and symbolic meaning!
The clay symbolizes the earth from which Adam (and all humanity) was created. With
the gold leaf, you "breathe life" into the clay, as God breathed life into Adam.
Just as raw clay is fired into a handsome and durable pot, applying gold leaf "fires"
the clay bole into luminous beauty, reflecting earthly and heavenly light. So through the lens of Iconography, the message found in OLGuadalupe reaffirms that She is the New Eve and that where I see the torso of Christ in her inner robe which is done in these clay tones, IS the New Adam and the gold leafing, reveals the breath of God, the Divine Light.
SHROUD; The New Adam, free from sin, with an act of his free will allows the manifestation of our sins, the spiritual depravity, to make itself visible upon His body so as to bare it and then birth us all through his sacrifice into His Father's heavenly kingdom. The New Adam's glorified and redeemed body is what created the image onto this holy cloth.
4. The Song of Songs
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.
See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land."
(Song of Songs 2:10-12)
It is as if Mary is being invited to rise and be assumed into heaven! To demonstrate the redemption of woman as well as man has been accomplished. God unties all of the knots that Adam and Even tied. He makes all things new.
Tilma; Mary is both sister and bride as well as Mother. As sister, she has provided the flesh and blood, without a biological father, thus acting as a twin might. The splitting off from one person and the creation of another. This is what took place when Adam was asleep and Eve came from His side. There was not a union of two become one flesh. So in the tilma we see Mary, offering her side, her flesh, for the Son of God to be given the hands and feet upon which to give His life for the Redemption of the world. The constellation of Gemini is over her torso. The Nahuatl indians wrote in glyphs and not letters. There way to write the most beautiful of love songs and poetry was the glyphs of flowers and flower clusters. Music, was the highest form of prayer and to dance and sing was the highest form of worship. The flower glyphs on the robe of our lady is "written" by God revealing to the indians this is a divine love song of the greatest form of love and of worship of the one true God. To love, free from concupiscence.
Even now, I have been told that Msgr. Eduardo Chavez has placed pins into the center of the flowers and tested his theory to see if a song or melody would manifest and indeed, there is. I have believed this from the moment I began to see that OLGuadalupe is an Icon of the New Eve. She is the Bride that sings her beautiful song to the Bridegroom. That song is an invitation for the world to ponder the biblical book of the bible and discern and contemplate the love poetry of our God in the Song of Songs. We are called to love our sister and our bride. Jesus himself, desires for us to be nourished at his mother's breast, as we see in many pictures of the saints that had mystical experiences of this. We are called, to be brothers and sisters by sharing in His mother's milk and in fact her protection under her mantle. She is His sister , His mother and His Bride. I have also found significant writings of Blessed Amadeus as well as Fr. Miguel Sanchez that believed this image had a message for the church as the lady of the apocalypse. He believed that she would be a great intercessor of healing and evangelization to the world. He even speculated that the flowers on the hill, which were many, held great significance to the story. I have researched these flowers and agree. There were many flowers gathered on Tepeyac hill and I believe they are all significant to the story being told through Iconography to the Church of the 21st century.
SHROUD; There has been the discovery of the flowers within the image. Not only has there been similarities to iconography, but there is even some experts that believe that there are "cartoon" shaped flowers on the image. I suspect that they also would play a song if pins were placed into the centers and that if played while the tilma song played, would create a melody and harmony. These images are receptive and the parallels and similarities are great. These are only SOME of what I have found and I am a nobody, a no one, a mother of 8. But, St. Juan Diego was also an average everyday person, and perhaps sometimes, the littlest ones are the ones that hear. I could be wrong, but I believe we are all being invited to contemplate the images of the Shroud and the Tilma in light of one another (also with Divine Mercy).
For more info on other areas I am developing, please read the other articles related to this on my blog.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Our Lady of Guadalupe: Our Lady of Divine Mercy
Created For Love; Our Lady of Guadalupe; Mother of Divine Mercy
It seems that every one that I have met who feels called to evangelize has their own story involving Our Lady of Guadalupe. I do not believe it is mere coincidence but rather part of a special grace through the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. About a year ago, I had an encounter with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that changed the way I understood who and what Mary is, how God loves the world and what He desires to reveal to the world through this image about Himself and His relationship with every human person.
I am currently working on a project in which I believe the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has a message from God to the people of this particular time in history. There are two discoveries found in the image in the 20th century that were not part of God's plan for conversion of the Aztec people of Mexico so why would he have put them there unless the generation that would discover these things were to be evangelized by them. Truly the culture of death we live corresponds in many ways to the culture of death of the people of Mexico in 1531. Just as they worshipped false God's we worship the gods of materialism, narcissism, and all the other "ism's" out there.
We even offer ritualistic sacrifices of innocents on the altars of these false gods through abortion, euthanasia and the like. I contend that the enemy is up to his same old tricks and it is business as usual. Abigail Seidman was interviewed on LifeSiteNews.com saying that "The account according to Seidman, her mother’s descent into the abortion culture was not motivated by the usual social talking points - to save women from dangerous back-alley abortions, or to “help” women in difficult situations - or even for the money. It was a religion – literally. Seidman described her mother’s abortion clinic as “pervaded with occult imagery and practices.” The workers considered “abortion to be a form of sacrifice,” would perform the procedure as a sort of ritual, and worshipped deities embodying death, she said. Pro-lifers must acknowledge abortion’s connection with the occult - and recognize it as a key part of pulling out the abortion industry by the roots."
Seidman says that there was ritual drug use, “sacred prostitution,” and ritual abortions performed after-hours, involving clinic staff who had intentionally become pregnant.
“I always had a ‘feeling’ that there was something ‘wrong’ or ‘dangerous’ there - almost a feeling of a presence, which I now recognize as being the exact opposite of the Presence that I feel in a church,” she said. The workers worshipped a Goddess whose “truest form” was recognized as “the Great Dragon” - a name she was later surprised to discover in the Bible.
In satanic ritualistic practices developed by Aleister Crowley,included the murdering of infant's or sexual magick along with black masses. Truly, we have the makings of a death culture like that of the Aztec's to their demonic "gods" that they would kill for.
God has a reason for everything, why would he have put these images in the tilma unless they were meant to be discovered when the veil thinned enough so to as reveal another message in an age that is in desperate need for conversion.
The first discovery is that of the stars on the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They have been proven to be in the exact positions of the constellations of the morning sky of 1531 by astronomers. The second discovery is that within her eyes, there exists the images of a family, Juan Diego, Bishop Zummaraga, the interpreter and a few others who were present in the room at the time the tilma was presented to the Bishop, as if Our Lady of Guadalupe was present in the room. Her eyes also respond as if they had living cornea's, this has been confirmed by over 10 ophthalmologists.
It was this premise that convinced me to look at this icon, this codex, this pictorial catechism to see if there was a message for the generation that would discover these truths. I believe that I have found MANY other interesting coincidences that lead to the conclusion that this is an ongoing miraculous image. I hope after reading my research that the reader can see that this is not a subjective experience but is an objective truth demonstrated by using the published materials from some of the foremost scholars on Our Lady of Guadalupe. I will also tie in Church Doctrine, tradition, writings from the saints and works from several Popes including Venerable Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. In fact, I believe that the Venerable Pope John Paul II is playing a large part in this message and perhaps through his intercession, the necessary graces will be given to world so that they can receive God's message of love, life and mercy as revealed through this image. The fact that he will become “Blessed” on the feast of Divine Mercy, has in my own mind, provided me affirmation that what I see and understand through this icon is indeed, inspired by God.
While this article does not provide all of my research, it has enough information so that those in which whom the Holy Spirit has touched already or are ready to see, will in fact see and perhaps do their own research to see what part God is asking them to play in what I believe is showing the way in the largest Evangelization is going to take place in the shortest amount of time since 9 million Aztec's were baptized within a 7 year period. That way is through Christ's Divine Mercy as revealed through this image and explained by the Ven. Pope John Paul II in his many writings. May Our Lady of Guadalupe give you the receptivity in your heart to hear and see how Christ's Divine Mercy desires to be revealed through your gifts, your apostolate and your life.
Our Lady of Guadalupe; An Icon For Life, Love and the New Evangelization
On this universal level, if victory comes it will be brought by Mary. Christ will conquer through her because He wants the Church’s victories now and in the future to be linked to her… —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 221
I was in Philadelphia at the Theology of The Body Institute and was invited to dinner with a couple, Ryan and Lisa, who lived nearby. At dinner we visited and shared our journey as parents of large families, homeschooling and more. I liked them both instantly. All at once, Lisa asked me if I ever looked closely at the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I had to confess that I did not, after all I have always thought that this image was just a picture of the blessed mother as she appeared in Mexico, nothing more, nothing less. Boy was I in for a huge awakening.
She left the room and returned with a votive candle, you know the ones that have images on them? This one had an image pasted on the outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She proceeded tell me that one day when she was looking at the image, she discerned what looked like a line on the inner gown that was comparable to that found on a pregnant woman's belly called a linea nigra. This is darkening of the skin due to changes in hormones, that spans from the bellybutton to the pelvic area and is quite common to women who are expecting.
As I looked at the inner robe, I experienced a profound insight to the image that took my breath away. Not only did I see what she was seeing, but I saw even more. I saw how the entire inner robe looked like a torso, but not any torso. It looked to me that of the torso of Christ. Right down the center of the torso is the line which is in the very fabric of the Tilma itself. This is thought by many experts to be the exact center of the original image, as it has been cut to fit frames over the years, thus changing the shape.
If I followed the line, indeed, there is a dark area of where the bellybutton would be, the line going down, then leads to a shadowed area that looks like two thighs coming together in the pubic area. As I followed the darkened line up from the bellybutton, I saw that just to the right of it, where the heart shaped flower is (and where one would expect a heart to be inside of a body), I saw the punctured heart of Christ, there is even a curved line like that of the flow of water and blood coming from the the heart and curving into the the folds just under the 4 petaled Jasmine flower that is a glyph of truth and for the one true God.
I was flabbergasted. Right in front of me, I was seeing the torso of Christ, whose arms extended upwards and become her arms, as if symbolically they were conveying that they are united in purpose ending with her pinkies crossed in the St. Anthony cross. I also noticed how only four of her fingers show on each hand just like the shroud of Turin does of the crucified Christ, another Holy image said to be a miraculous image. I have since taken both images and overlapped them and discovered other beautiful coincidences.
Upon leaving the couples home that evening, they gave me a book about the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to read. I stayed up most of the night reading it. I am sure some of you are shaking your heads at me saying, “You didn't know that it was a codex or a language in picture form to the Nahuatl Indians?” Nope, but I did now and I was beginning to get a whole lot more. As I read through the Handbook of Our Lady of Guadalupe I began to decipher the codex with the lens of Theology of The Body. Something was happening, I started seeing a message related to our own times. I began to see a new purpose revealed within the image and it was a message to the world that we were created for love. This message was filled with divine mercy and it's grace that was literally emanating off of the picture as I gazed at Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The glyphs within the image, spoke a language in codex form to the Nahuatl Indians. This message signaled an end to human sacrifices and that a new civilization had arrived (the shape of the heart conveyed hill or mountain, the “stems” of the flower were a glyph for river or water and together they revealed civilization) for in this image was revealed that she was bringing the one true God, which was greater than any of their gods (she blotted out the sun, thus the rays coming from behind her).
The glyph of the face of the “wise man” which can be seen within the 9 large heart shaped flowers spoke another truth to me. Since I believed that the curved line emanating from the heart shaped flower glyph was that of the font of Divine Mercy, (after all it came from the heart just like the Divine Mercy image and it also originated from the belly of Our Lady where the incarnate Christ was inside of her womb). This caught my attention and I began to remember that many of the glyphs meanings to the Aztec people conveyed a christian truth so why could they not be conveying further meaning for the people of today?
What if the face of the wise man was John Paul II who not only canonized St. Faustina, thus giving the message of divine mercy to the world, but what if this “new civilization” was about making our hearts right, untwisting them, putting a “person” or face into our own hearts so that we would not objectify others as he wrote about in Love and Responsibility and in Theology of The Body.
Even her name, “Guadalupe” she shares with the name of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, carved by St. Luke and is titled “The Queen Of Mercy” because she protected those who sought her intercession.
In the image from Spain, she is a mother, holding the Christ child. In the image in Mexico, she is a mother expectant with the God incarnate. The mercy of God, the reason for Him becoming man. Our Lady of Guadalupe spoke these words to Juan Diego on Tepeyac hill “Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am 1 not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.” She is the source of our joy. She also called herself our merciful mother. What is in the hallow of her mantle? Christ's mercy, God's love demonstrated in the incarnation. No wonder we are told to place ourselves within the hallow of her mantle because this is where the trinity is.
More miraculous findings have been revealed within the past century. For instanct, in her eyes, using high powered microscopes and computers images of St. Juan Diego, the Bishop and others have been found in her eyes. It is an interesting side note that her eyes display a triple reflection (Samson-Purkinje effect) characteristic that is found in a living eye. In one of her eyes a discovery of a man and woman with several children are found, representing a family. I find the images of the family strangely reminiscent of the themes of JP2's pontiff. If the family is seen in Mary's eyes, this reveals much to us about the future of the “church” since Mary is the mother of our church and we are her church.
"The family is the domestic church". The meaning of this traditional Christian idea is that the home is the Church in miniature. The Church is the sacrament of God’s love. She is a communion of faith and life. She is a mother and teacher. She is at the service of the whole human family as it goes forward towards its ultimate destiny. In the same way the family is a community of life and love. It educates and leads its members to their full human maturity and it serves the good of all along the road of life The family is the "first and vital cell of society". In its own way it is a living image and historical representation of the mystery of the Church. The future of the world and of the Church, therefore, passes through the family.” Homily of Pope John Paul II November 30, 1986.
John Paul II brought us these messages in Theology of The Body and Love and Responsibility. Within them, he desired to share with us the relationship of God, which is the trinity (father, son and Holy Spirit). The trinity reveals profound theological truths to us about who God is. We are called to “know” God. Just as scripture says “and Mary knew not man” this knowing is one of intimacy and relationship and is how God desires to “know” us (union and communion).
JP2 desired to reveal that each one of us are called to this union and communion. JP2 also worked tirelessly to share the dignity of all life and our call to love freely, fully, faithfully and fruitfully. This is how we would know, love and serve God so that we could enter into union and communion with God not only in Heaven but right now on earth. I believe all of these truths are revealed in this image.
http://wcr.ab.ca/WCRThisWeek/Stories/tabid/61/entryid/357/Default.aspx
I have begun to read every book that I can on the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I have come to see many things in the glyphs, in the codex, in the icon like image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. What is the most important thing that I believe is revealed in the image? I would have to say the most important image I see is overwhelming symbols of the trinity.
God the father (creator and giver of life, expressed in her receptivity of motherhood) so loved the world that He humbled Himself and became Man (incarnation of Christ in her womb). God the son, (revealed through sash signifying pregnancy as well as the torso of Christ seen in the inner robe)so loved the father that He gave Himself as a gift back to the Father(the flowing blood and water from the pierced “heart” comes out of the “mouth” of the glyph of the wise man found inside of the heart) the flow of blood and water cascades down the 3 folds (symbolic of the one true triune God?) just under the 4 petaled jasmine flower (truth, God) showing us that the Father received the gift of the son. This love was so complete and full that it became life-giving (the three folds as well as the fact that her pregnancy is a result of being overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit).
Identical twins result from the splitting of a single embryo, one flesh becomes two sharing the same DNA. In this image we see that Christ takes his humanity from Mary's flesh alone (no biological father) and in doing so, gains the hands and feet in which to give himself as a sacrifice to mankind. Archbishop Fulton Sheen says that “since a woman played so great a role in the fall of man, would not woman then play such a great role in the salvation of man?”
Interestingly, the constellation of Gemini, the twins, is located on his torso indicating this profound truth that God made the body that made His body. They are flesh of the same flesh, united in purpose conveying union of purpose and love as well as communion since not only does every participle of her DNA exist within Christ but she is also carrying his infant form within her womb, giving him the blood and water in which to give Him life. He then reciprocates by giving us his blood and water in which to bring us all, through his mercy into the next world. Interestingly, Caryll Houselander wrote “The Reed of God” during the time when the body was beginning to become the a source of so many bodily sins as pre-occupation with the body became a form of new religion. Cardinal John Wright said in one of his published sermons on Mary said “By the teaching of the faith on the madonna, the flesh is made the twin of the spirit-no longer it's rival.” Theology of the Body teaches us that the body and the soul are in need of redemption and we need both to enter into the mystery of love.
This constellation just happens to be over the torso of the hanging Christ, in fact where the belly button is. Just as it is not random that the Corona Borealis, or the crown, is on Mary's head to convey her royalty as Queen, so to the Twin constellation is on the torso of Christ which is on the torso of Mary, twins in that Jesus split from her side sharing all of her DNA like an Identical twin would, but also revealing that their purpose is the same, that her Immaculate Conception was so that his flesh would be free from Sin since it came from her as it's biological source. Adam was also Immaculate and so Eve, was taken from his flesh and became like a twin. The immaculate conception was a gift to Mary in preparation of her becoming the flesh of Jesus, his body contained all of it's DNA and genetic material from Mary alone. Therefore it had to have been redeemed and free from sin so that His sacrifice would be pure and acceptable to the Father. She is sister, Mother and spouse. This brings new meaning to the song of songs when we hear the words “My sister, my bride”. This is a love that is revealed through Our Lady of Guadalupe and God desires for us to contemplate on how perfectly Mary loved as a sister and as a bride and as a mother.
I believe that anyone who contemplates Mary and her role in the salvation of mankind through her role as mother, sister and spouse, will come to a deeper appreciation of Mary as well as God's divine plan for the world through her. To understand that Mary's flesh (because Christ was given it in it's entirety, there is only one biological donor therefore it is entirely hers) hangs on the Cross they will see how she truly played a pivotal role in the redemption in man in that Christ had to have hands and feet in which to hang on the cross with. Christ needed a heart in which to pump His divine blood and Christ needed to have a body in which to make visible the invisible, for the redemption of man to occur. She not only fully cooperated in this, she played a unique role in that it was through her body and her soul that “the Word” was made flesh.
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1 The “Word” is God. The Word, is wrapped in the flesh of Mary and then is placed inside of her flesh to be nurtured and to grow through her flesh. Just as the Song of Songs speaks of drinking at the mothers milk, we see that Christ desires us to see that His mother plays a unique part in the redemption of man. If the Word is God and Jesus is the Word then for Jesus to be made in the image and likeness of God then His body had to reveal God despite the fact that His entire biological flesh came from one source and that of a woman. In Identical twins, they always are the same sex (noun) since they share the same flesh. But here, we see the taking of the flesh from Mary to form Jesus yet He is male. Just as Eve was taken from Adam, yet God made her female. This is a beautiful revelation to the world revealing a divine truth to us about God. Since we are made in His image and likeness, our sex (noun) and how we visibly communicate our purpose, which is union and communion through sex (verb), is revealed in Him making us masculine and feminine. We see Christ's masculinity as proof that The Holy Spirit did indeed overshadow Mary The Word was made flesh with her and within her This is Union and Communion revealed through Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is truth as shared in Theology of The Body shows us God is a relationship of three persons and they are in union and communion with each other and this is what He desires for us, to enter into union and communion with Him. He reveals the source of our ability to enter into Union and Communion with Him on earth into the first tabernacle ever created, Mary's womb contains the Eucharist. The fact that the image is shaped like a corn on the cob as well as the St. Juan Diego declared upon seeing her that he was in the land of the corn, the land of the flesh, the land of his people already associate her to being connected to the Eucharistic Lord (her womb carries Christ, God incarnate).
God could have saved the world any way He chose. Yet, He chose to do it through man. There is a profound mystery being revealed in this. Perhaps seeing Mary in this light will break down barriers for those who previously would have an problem with accepting the Catholic Faith because of their belief that undue honor is given to Mary.
It is interesting how the new Eve brings forth the New Adam, a reverse or a “making new” through this act. Let me show you how this act truly reveals that Christ makes all things new. In the beginning, Eve in her no, of her own free will, took, with her no to God and in doing so she brought the fruit (knowledge of Good and Evil) of death into her body and subsequently brought death to all of her offspring. All is made new when the New Eve, Mary, of her own free will, gives herself as a gift and in doings so brings into her body the fruit of life and of all knowledge, into her body and subsequently brought life to all mankind. Mary is the ark, she is the first tabernacle and we see her her standing on the moon as if it were a patent, suspended by an angel that venerates her. Even the entire image is shaped as if a cob of corn, which to the Aztec's symbolized the “land of the corn, the land of the flesh”. Their rituals included smearing corn meal on new babies. So we see this food is true food and will bring everlasting life.
I found many more objective truths within this codex, this ongoing miraculous image that I have not seen documented anywhere that I will be working on getting together to share with those interested. I am not sure if they are meant for my own faith or for others. I thought I would share these insights because to know that I am created for love and that God's mercy is so great that He would do anything necessary to bring this message to me, seems like too large a treasure to keep to myself. Indeed we are created for love. Have hope! We are in a time of Mercy! God is with us and He came to be with us physically in the flesh of mankind so that we might participate in the salvation of mankind. In the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, God reveals that there are no lengths in which He would not go to reveal His love to the world.
My next series of Articles, after going to TOB2 is Our Lady of Guadalupe revealed with the Our Father and The Creed. I will expound on this with the use of the Song of Songs. I will tie in how the ancient Aztec codex truths reveal a message for us now in light of TOB and how it impacts our understanding of the Our Father and The Creed. I will be using Caryll Houselanders book "The Reed Of God" as well as other pieces of the work to bring it to life.
Please pray for me as I enter into this new phase. I have entrusted this work to Pope John Paul II because this is the message he knew it was the milk for these times, St. Faustina because she knew that Mercy was going to be the honey and honeycomb for these times, Caryll Houselander because she demonstrates the power of Art to evangelize (see "My Path To Heaven", Our Lady of Guadalupe because she is an icon of life, love and the new evangelization, St. Juan Diego because despite the fact that he was a nobody and no one seemed to believe or listen to him because he was no one special or accomplished (which is exactly how I feel) he succeeded in delivering the message meant for not just him, but for the world, St. Michael so he protects the work and myself and my family, St. Raphael so that he can bring the message of marriage for marriages and St. Gabriel to inspire me to know how to bring this message and do it effectively, ArchBishop Fulton Sheen so that I am enlighted on how to use the media's of today to accomplish this task, the new Saint Mary MacKillop because I believe great persecution has begun and is going to intensify so much so that people that are in favor with God will be under tremendous attack. I pray she gives us the strength and courage to endure, St. Louis DeMontfort so that he helps us to understand and believe in secrets and that they can contain a message, St. Francis because the Fransciscans were the missionaries in Mexico during the time of the aztec conversions and I pray we enter into the understanding of the 5 wounds of Christ and the Cross to inspire us in our missionary work. St. Maximillian Kolbe and the Knights of the Immaculata, in whom I first dedicated all of my work so many years ago. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who shows us that lay people are called to give themselves to the New Evangelization. Finally, I pray that St. Ignatius teach us the power of Contemplative prayer because it will only be through this unique gift to receive inspirations from the Holy Spirit that we will be able to "hear" the secrets being shared in the veiled language of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Side note:
The axis of north south east west as an icon reveals God came down to us (incarnate) that He provides the means through the sacraments for us to bring us up to Himself."he knew that ... he himself would take the place of the sacrificial lambs by offering himself on the cross. ... The ultimate goal of his pilgrimage was the heights of God himself; to those heights he wanted to lift every human being".
"But", he asked, "how can we keep pace with this ascent? Isn't it beyond our ability? Certainly, it is beyond our own possibilities. From the beginning men and women have been filled - and this is as true today as ever - with a desire to 'be like God', to attain the heights of God ... And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful. With the increase of our abilities there has been an increase not only of good. Our possibilities for evil have increased and appear like menacing storms above history. Our limitations have also remained: we need but think of the disasters which have caused so much suffering for humanity in recent months".
Benedict XVI highlighted that "man finds himself betwixt this twofold gravitational force; everything depends on our escaping the gravitational field of evil and becoming free to be attracted completely by the gravitational force of God, which makes us authentic, elevates us, and grants us true freedom".
"God himself must draw us up, and this is what Christ began to do on the cross. He descended to the depths of our human existence in order to draw us up to himself, to the living God. ... Only in this way could our pride be vanquished: God's humility is the extreme form of his love, and this humble love draws us upwards".
The Pope placed special emphasis on the need we have of God. "he draws us upwards; letting ourselves be upheld by his hands - by faith, in other words - sets us aright and gives us the inner strength that raises us on high. We need the humility of a faith which seeks the face of God and trusts in the truth of his love. The question of how man can attain the heights, becoming completely himself and completely like God, has always engaged mankind".
"We are on pilgrimage with the Lord to the heights. We are striving for pure hearts and clean hands, we are seeking truth, we are seeking the face of God. Let us show the Lord that we desire to be righteous, and let us ask him: Draw us upwards! Make us pure!" He concluded, "grant that the words which we sang in the processional psalm may also hold true for us; grant that we may be part of the generation which seeks God, 'which seeks your face, O God of Jacob'"
It seems that every one that I have met who feels called to evangelize has their own story involving Our Lady of Guadalupe. I do not believe it is mere coincidence but rather part of a special grace through the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. About a year ago, I had an encounter with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that changed the way I understood who and what Mary is, how God loves the world and what He desires to reveal to the world through this image about Himself and His relationship with every human person.
I am currently working on a project in which I believe the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe has a message from God to the people of this particular time in history. There are two discoveries found in the image in the 20th century that were not part of God's plan for conversion of the Aztec people of Mexico so why would he have put them there unless the generation that would discover these things were to be evangelized by them. Truly the culture of death we live corresponds in many ways to the culture of death of the people of Mexico in 1531. Just as they worshipped false God's we worship the gods of materialism, narcissism, and all the other "ism's" out there.
We even offer ritualistic sacrifices of innocents on the altars of these false gods through abortion, euthanasia and the like. I contend that the enemy is up to his same old tricks and it is business as usual. Abigail Seidman was interviewed on LifeSiteNews.com saying that "The account according to Seidman, her mother’s descent into the abortion culture was not motivated by the usual social talking points - to save women from dangerous back-alley abortions, or to “help” women in difficult situations - or even for the money. It was a religion – literally. Seidman described her mother’s abortion clinic as “pervaded with occult imagery and practices.” The workers considered “abortion to be a form of sacrifice,” would perform the procedure as a sort of ritual, and worshipped deities embodying death, she said. Pro-lifers must acknowledge abortion’s connection with the occult - and recognize it as a key part of pulling out the abortion industry by the roots."
Seidman says that there was ritual drug use, “sacred prostitution,” and ritual abortions performed after-hours, involving clinic staff who had intentionally become pregnant.
“I always had a ‘feeling’ that there was something ‘wrong’ or ‘dangerous’ there - almost a feeling of a presence, which I now recognize as being the exact opposite of the Presence that I feel in a church,” she said. The workers worshipped a Goddess whose “truest form” was recognized as “the Great Dragon” - a name she was later surprised to discover in the Bible.
In satanic ritualistic practices developed by Aleister Crowley,included the murdering of infant's or sexual magick along with black masses. Truly, we have the makings of a death culture like that of the Aztec's to their demonic "gods" that they would kill for.
God has a reason for everything, why would he have put these images in the tilma unless they were meant to be discovered when the veil thinned enough so to as reveal another message in an age that is in desperate need for conversion.
The first discovery is that of the stars on the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They have been proven to be in the exact positions of the constellations of the morning sky of 1531 by astronomers. The second discovery is that within her eyes, there exists the images of a family, Juan Diego, Bishop Zummaraga, the interpreter and a few others who were present in the room at the time the tilma was presented to the Bishop, as if Our Lady of Guadalupe was present in the room. Her eyes also respond as if they had living cornea's, this has been confirmed by over 10 ophthalmologists.
It was this premise that convinced me to look at this icon, this codex, this pictorial catechism to see if there was a message for the generation that would discover these truths. I believe that I have found MANY other interesting coincidences that lead to the conclusion that this is an ongoing miraculous image. I hope after reading my research that the reader can see that this is not a subjective experience but is an objective truth demonstrated by using the published materials from some of the foremost scholars on Our Lady of Guadalupe. I will also tie in Church Doctrine, tradition, writings from the saints and works from several Popes including Venerable Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI. In fact, I believe that the Venerable Pope John Paul II is playing a large part in this message and perhaps through his intercession, the necessary graces will be given to world so that they can receive God's message of love, life and mercy as revealed through this image. The fact that he will become “Blessed” on the feast of Divine Mercy, has in my own mind, provided me affirmation that what I see and understand through this icon is indeed, inspired by God.
While this article does not provide all of my research, it has enough information so that those in which whom the Holy Spirit has touched already or are ready to see, will in fact see and perhaps do their own research to see what part God is asking them to play in what I believe is showing the way in the largest Evangelization is going to take place in the shortest amount of time since 9 million Aztec's were baptized within a 7 year period. That way is through Christ's Divine Mercy as revealed through this image and explained by the Ven. Pope John Paul II in his many writings. May Our Lady of Guadalupe give you the receptivity in your heart to hear and see how Christ's Divine Mercy desires to be revealed through your gifts, your apostolate and your life.
Our Lady of Guadalupe; An Icon For Life, Love and the New Evangelization
On this universal level, if victory comes it will be brought by Mary. Christ will conquer through her because He wants the Church’s victories now and in the future to be linked to her… —POPE JOHN PAUL II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, p. 221
I was in Philadelphia at the Theology of The Body Institute and was invited to dinner with a couple, Ryan and Lisa, who lived nearby. At dinner we visited and shared our journey as parents of large families, homeschooling and more. I liked them both instantly. All at once, Lisa asked me if I ever looked closely at the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I had to confess that I did not, after all I have always thought that this image was just a picture of the blessed mother as she appeared in Mexico, nothing more, nothing less. Boy was I in for a huge awakening.
She left the room and returned with a votive candle, you know the ones that have images on them? This one had an image pasted on the outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She proceeded tell me that one day when she was looking at the image, she discerned what looked like a line on the inner gown that was comparable to that found on a pregnant woman's belly called a linea nigra. This is darkening of the skin due to changes in hormones, that spans from the bellybutton to the pelvic area and is quite common to women who are expecting.
As I looked at the inner robe, I experienced a profound insight to the image that took my breath away. Not only did I see what she was seeing, but I saw even more. I saw how the entire inner robe looked like a torso, but not any torso. It looked to me that of the torso of Christ. Right down the center of the torso is the line which is in the very fabric of the Tilma itself. This is thought by many experts to be the exact center of the original image, as it has been cut to fit frames over the years, thus changing the shape.
If I followed the line, indeed, there is a dark area of where the bellybutton would be, the line going down, then leads to a shadowed area that looks like two thighs coming together in the pubic area. As I followed the darkened line up from the bellybutton, I saw that just to the right of it, where the heart shaped flower is (and where one would expect a heart to be inside of a body), I saw the punctured heart of Christ, there is even a curved line like that of the flow of water and blood coming from the the heart and curving into the the folds just under the 4 petaled Jasmine flower that is a glyph of truth and for the one true God.
I was flabbergasted. Right in front of me, I was seeing the torso of Christ, whose arms extended upwards and become her arms, as if symbolically they were conveying that they are united in purpose ending with her pinkies crossed in the St. Anthony cross. I also noticed how only four of her fingers show on each hand just like the shroud of Turin does of the crucified Christ, another Holy image said to be a miraculous image. I have since taken both images and overlapped them and discovered other beautiful coincidences.
Upon leaving the couples home that evening, they gave me a book about the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to read. I stayed up most of the night reading it. I am sure some of you are shaking your heads at me saying, “You didn't know that it was a codex or a language in picture form to the Nahuatl Indians?” Nope, but I did now and I was beginning to get a whole lot more. As I read through the Handbook of Our Lady of Guadalupe I began to decipher the codex with the lens of Theology of The Body. Something was happening, I started seeing a message related to our own times. I began to see a new purpose revealed within the image and it was a message to the world that we were created for love. This message was filled with divine mercy and it's grace that was literally emanating off of the picture as I gazed at Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The glyphs within the image, spoke a language in codex form to the Nahuatl Indians. This message signaled an end to human sacrifices and that a new civilization had arrived (the shape of the heart conveyed hill or mountain, the “stems” of the flower were a glyph for river or water and together they revealed civilization) for in this image was revealed that she was bringing the one true God, which was greater than any of their gods (she blotted out the sun, thus the rays coming from behind her).
The glyph of the face of the “wise man” which can be seen within the 9 large heart shaped flowers spoke another truth to me. Since I believed that the curved line emanating from the heart shaped flower glyph was that of the font of Divine Mercy, (after all it came from the heart just like the Divine Mercy image and it also originated from the belly of Our Lady where the incarnate Christ was inside of her womb). This caught my attention and I began to remember that many of the glyphs meanings to the Aztec people conveyed a christian truth so why could they not be conveying further meaning for the people of today?
What if the face of the wise man was John Paul II who not only canonized St. Faustina, thus giving the message of divine mercy to the world, but what if this “new civilization” was about making our hearts right, untwisting them, putting a “person” or face into our own hearts so that we would not objectify others as he wrote about in Love and Responsibility and in Theology of The Body.
Even her name, “Guadalupe” she shares with the name of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, carved by St. Luke and is titled “The Queen Of Mercy” because she protected those who sought her intercession.
In the image from Spain, she is a mother, holding the Christ child. In the image in Mexico, she is a mother expectant with the God incarnate. The mercy of God, the reason for Him becoming man. Our Lady of Guadalupe spoke these words to Juan Diego on Tepeyac hill “Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am 1 not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.” She is the source of our joy. She also called herself our merciful mother. What is in the hallow of her mantle? Christ's mercy, God's love demonstrated in the incarnation. No wonder we are told to place ourselves within the hallow of her mantle because this is where the trinity is.
More miraculous findings have been revealed within the past century. For instanct, in her eyes, using high powered microscopes and computers images of St. Juan Diego, the Bishop and others have been found in her eyes. It is an interesting side note that her eyes display a triple reflection (Samson-Purkinje effect) characteristic that is found in a living eye. In one of her eyes a discovery of a man and woman with several children are found, representing a family. I find the images of the family strangely reminiscent of the themes of JP2's pontiff. If the family is seen in Mary's eyes, this reveals much to us about the future of the “church” since Mary is the mother of our church and we are her church.
"The family is the domestic church". The meaning of this traditional Christian idea is that the home is the Church in miniature. The Church is the sacrament of God’s love. She is a communion of faith and life. She is a mother and teacher. She is at the service of the whole human family as it goes forward towards its ultimate destiny. In the same way the family is a community of life and love. It educates and leads its members to their full human maturity and it serves the good of all along the road of life The family is the "first and vital cell of society". In its own way it is a living image and historical representation of the mystery of the Church. The future of the world and of the Church, therefore, passes through the family.” Homily of Pope John Paul II November 30, 1986.
John Paul II brought us these messages in Theology of The Body and Love and Responsibility. Within them, he desired to share with us the relationship of God, which is the trinity (father, son and Holy Spirit). The trinity reveals profound theological truths to us about who God is. We are called to “know” God. Just as scripture says “and Mary knew not man” this knowing is one of intimacy and relationship and is how God desires to “know” us (union and communion).
JP2 desired to reveal that each one of us are called to this union and communion. JP2 also worked tirelessly to share the dignity of all life and our call to love freely, fully, faithfully and fruitfully. This is how we would know, love and serve God so that we could enter into union and communion with God not only in Heaven but right now on earth. I believe all of these truths are revealed in this image.
http://wcr.ab.ca/WCRThisWeek/Stories/tabid/61/entryid/357/Default.aspx
I have begun to read every book that I can on the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I have come to see many things in the glyphs, in the codex, in the icon like image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. What is the most important thing that I believe is revealed in the image? I would have to say the most important image I see is overwhelming symbols of the trinity.
God the father (creator and giver of life, expressed in her receptivity of motherhood) so loved the world that He humbled Himself and became Man (incarnation of Christ in her womb). God the son, (revealed through sash signifying pregnancy as well as the torso of Christ seen in the inner robe)so loved the father that He gave Himself as a gift back to the Father(the flowing blood and water from the pierced “heart” comes out of the “mouth” of the glyph of the wise man found inside of the heart) the flow of blood and water cascades down the 3 folds (symbolic of the one true triune God?) just under the 4 petaled jasmine flower (truth, God) showing us that the Father received the gift of the son. This love was so complete and full that it became life-giving (the three folds as well as the fact that her pregnancy is a result of being overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit).
Identical twins result from the splitting of a single embryo, one flesh becomes two sharing the same DNA. In this image we see that Christ takes his humanity from Mary's flesh alone (no biological father) and in doing so, gains the hands and feet in which to give himself as a sacrifice to mankind. Archbishop Fulton Sheen says that “since a woman played so great a role in the fall of man, would not woman then play such a great role in the salvation of man?”
Interestingly, the constellation of Gemini, the twins, is located on his torso indicating this profound truth that God made the body that made His body. They are flesh of the same flesh, united in purpose conveying union of purpose and love as well as communion since not only does every participle of her DNA exist within Christ but she is also carrying his infant form within her womb, giving him the blood and water in which to give Him life. He then reciprocates by giving us his blood and water in which to bring us all, through his mercy into the next world. Interestingly, Caryll Houselander wrote “The Reed of God” during the time when the body was beginning to become the a source of so many bodily sins as pre-occupation with the body became a form of new religion. Cardinal John Wright said in one of his published sermons on Mary said “By the teaching of the faith on the madonna, the flesh is made the twin of the spirit-no longer it's rival.” Theology of the Body teaches us that the body and the soul are in need of redemption and we need both to enter into the mystery of love.
This constellation just happens to be over the torso of the hanging Christ, in fact where the belly button is. Just as it is not random that the Corona Borealis, or the crown, is on Mary's head to convey her royalty as Queen, so to the Twin constellation is on the torso of Christ which is on the torso of Mary, twins in that Jesus split from her side sharing all of her DNA like an Identical twin would, but also revealing that their purpose is the same, that her Immaculate Conception was so that his flesh would be free from Sin since it came from her as it's biological source. Adam was also Immaculate and so Eve, was taken from his flesh and became like a twin. The immaculate conception was a gift to Mary in preparation of her becoming the flesh of Jesus, his body contained all of it's DNA and genetic material from Mary alone. Therefore it had to have been redeemed and free from sin so that His sacrifice would be pure and acceptable to the Father. She is sister, Mother and spouse. This brings new meaning to the song of songs when we hear the words “My sister, my bride”. This is a love that is revealed through Our Lady of Guadalupe and God desires for us to contemplate on how perfectly Mary loved as a sister and as a bride and as a mother.
I believe that anyone who contemplates Mary and her role in the salvation of mankind through her role as mother, sister and spouse, will come to a deeper appreciation of Mary as well as God's divine plan for the world through her. To understand that Mary's flesh (because Christ was given it in it's entirety, there is only one biological donor therefore it is entirely hers) hangs on the Cross they will see how she truly played a pivotal role in the redemption in man in that Christ had to have hands and feet in which to hang on the cross with. Christ needed a heart in which to pump His divine blood and Christ needed to have a body in which to make visible the invisible, for the redemption of man to occur. She not only fully cooperated in this, she played a unique role in that it was through her body and her soul that “the Word” was made flesh.
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1 The “Word” is God. The Word, is wrapped in the flesh of Mary and then is placed inside of her flesh to be nurtured and to grow through her flesh. Just as the Song of Songs speaks of drinking at the mothers milk, we see that Christ desires us to see that His mother plays a unique part in the redemption of man. If the Word is God and Jesus is the Word then for Jesus to be made in the image and likeness of God then His body had to reveal God despite the fact that His entire biological flesh came from one source and that of a woman. In Identical twins, they always are the same sex (noun) since they share the same flesh. But here, we see the taking of the flesh from Mary to form Jesus yet He is male. Just as Eve was taken from Adam, yet God made her female. This is a beautiful revelation to the world revealing a divine truth to us about God. Since we are made in His image and likeness, our sex (noun) and how we visibly communicate our purpose, which is union and communion through sex (verb), is revealed in Him making us masculine and feminine. We see Christ's masculinity as proof that The Holy Spirit did indeed overshadow Mary The Word was made flesh with her and within her This is Union and Communion revealed through Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is truth as shared in Theology of The Body shows us God is a relationship of three persons and they are in union and communion with each other and this is what He desires for us, to enter into union and communion with Him. He reveals the source of our ability to enter into Union and Communion with Him on earth into the first tabernacle ever created, Mary's womb contains the Eucharist. The fact that the image is shaped like a corn on the cob as well as the St. Juan Diego declared upon seeing her that he was in the land of the corn, the land of the flesh, the land of his people already associate her to being connected to the Eucharistic Lord (her womb carries Christ, God incarnate).
God could have saved the world any way He chose. Yet, He chose to do it through man. There is a profound mystery being revealed in this. Perhaps seeing Mary in this light will break down barriers for those who previously would have an problem with accepting the Catholic Faith because of their belief that undue honor is given to Mary.
It is interesting how the new Eve brings forth the New Adam, a reverse or a “making new” through this act. Let me show you how this act truly reveals that Christ makes all things new. In the beginning, Eve in her no, of her own free will, took, with her no to God and in doing so she brought the fruit (knowledge of Good and Evil) of death into her body and subsequently brought death to all of her offspring. All is made new when the New Eve, Mary, of her own free will, gives herself as a gift and in doings so brings into her body the fruit of life and of all knowledge, into her body and subsequently brought life to all mankind. Mary is the ark, she is the first tabernacle and we see her her standing on the moon as if it were a patent, suspended by an angel that venerates her. Even the entire image is shaped as if a cob of corn, which to the Aztec's symbolized the “land of the corn, the land of the flesh”. Their rituals included smearing corn meal on new babies. So we see this food is true food and will bring everlasting life.
I found many more objective truths within this codex, this ongoing miraculous image that I have not seen documented anywhere that I will be working on getting together to share with those interested. I am not sure if they are meant for my own faith or for others. I thought I would share these insights because to know that I am created for love and that God's mercy is so great that He would do anything necessary to bring this message to me, seems like too large a treasure to keep to myself. Indeed we are created for love. Have hope! We are in a time of Mercy! God is with us and He came to be with us physically in the flesh of mankind so that we might participate in the salvation of mankind. In the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, God reveals that there are no lengths in which He would not go to reveal His love to the world.
My next series of Articles, after going to TOB2 is Our Lady of Guadalupe revealed with the Our Father and The Creed. I will expound on this with the use of the Song of Songs. I will tie in how the ancient Aztec codex truths reveal a message for us now in light of TOB and how it impacts our understanding of the Our Father and The Creed. I will be using Caryll Houselanders book "The Reed Of God" as well as other pieces of the work to bring it to life.
Please pray for me as I enter into this new phase. I have entrusted this work to Pope John Paul II because this is the message he knew it was the milk for these times, St. Faustina because she knew that Mercy was going to be the honey and honeycomb for these times, Caryll Houselander because she demonstrates the power of Art to evangelize (see "My Path To Heaven", Our Lady of Guadalupe because she is an icon of life, love and the new evangelization, St. Juan Diego because despite the fact that he was a nobody and no one seemed to believe or listen to him because he was no one special or accomplished (which is exactly how I feel) he succeeded in delivering the message meant for not just him, but for the world, St. Michael so he protects the work and myself and my family, St. Raphael so that he can bring the message of marriage for marriages and St. Gabriel to inspire me to know how to bring this message and do it effectively, ArchBishop Fulton Sheen so that I am enlighted on how to use the media's of today to accomplish this task, the new Saint Mary MacKillop because I believe great persecution has begun and is going to intensify so much so that people that are in favor with God will be under tremendous attack. I pray she gives us the strength and courage to endure, St. Louis DeMontfort so that he helps us to understand and believe in secrets and that they can contain a message, St. Francis because the Fransciscans were the missionaries in Mexico during the time of the aztec conversions and I pray we enter into the understanding of the 5 wounds of Christ and the Cross to inspire us in our missionary work. St. Maximillian Kolbe and the Knights of the Immaculata, in whom I first dedicated all of my work so many years ago. Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who shows us that lay people are called to give themselves to the New Evangelization. Finally, I pray that St. Ignatius teach us the power of Contemplative prayer because it will only be through this unique gift to receive inspirations from the Holy Spirit that we will be able to "hear" the secrets being shared in the veiled language of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Side note:
The axis of north south east west as an icon reveals God came down to us (incarnate) that He provides the means through the sacraments for us to bring us up to Himself."he knew that ... he himself would take the place of the sacrificial lambs by offering himself on the cross. ... The ultimate goal of his pilgrimage was the heights of God himself; to those heights he wanted to lift every human being".
"But", he asked, "how can we keep pace with this ascent? Isn't it beyond our ability? Certainly, it is beyond our own possibilities. From the beginning men and women have been filled - and this is as true today as ever - with a desire to 'be like God', to attain the heights of God ... And yet the force of gravity which draws us down is powerful. With the increase of our abilities there has been an increase not only of good. Our possibilities for evil have increased and appear like menacing storms above history. Our limitations have also remained: we need but think of the disasters which have caused so much suffering for humanity in recent months".
Benedict XVI highlighted that "man finds himself betwixt this twofold gravitational force; everything depends on our escaping the gravitational field of evil and becoming free to be attracted completely by the gravitational force of God, which makes us authentic, elevates us, and grants us true freedom".
"God himself must draw us up, and this is what Christ began to do on the cross. He descended to the depths of our human existence in order to draw us up to himself, to the living God. ... Only in this way could our pride be vanquished: God's humility is the extreme form of his love, and this humble love draws us upwards".
The Pope placed special emphasis on the need we have of God. "he draws us upwards; letting ourselves be upheld by his hands - by faith, in other words - sets us aright and gives us the inner strength that raises us on high. We need the humility of a faith which seeks the face of God and trusts in the truth of his love. The question of how man can attain the heights, becoming completely himself and completely like God, has always engaged mankind".
"We are on pilgrimage with the Lord to the heights. We are striving for pure hearts and clean hands, we are seeking truth, we are seeking the face of God. Let us show the Lord that we desire to be righteous, and let us ask him: Draw us upwards! Make us pure!" He concluded, "grant that the words which we sang in the processional psalm may also hold true for us; grant that we may be part of the generation which seeks God, 'which seeks your face, O God of Jacob'"
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Created For Love; Our Lady of Guadalupe (UPDATED)
IMPORTANT SUMMARY
THIS TALK IS ON ICONOGRAPHY, THE HISTORY OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE IN SPAIN, HOW FATIMA IS CONNECTED, HOW GOD PROVIDENTIALLY CHOSE OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE TO BE THE INTERCESSOR OF THE REMNANT CHURCH, WHICH WOULD BE IN THE AMERICA'S, AND HOW SHE IS GATHERING AN ARMY THAT ARE CONSECRATED TO HER FOR THE PURPOSE OF HEALING, RESTORING, SPIRITUAL BATTLE AND CATECHESIS THROUGH LOVE TO FUFILL GODS UNIQUE PLAN OF SALVATION OF THE WORLD. SHE IS CO-REDEMPTRIX IN THAT SHE HAS AND IS COOPERATING ("CO" MEANS WITH) GOD FOR THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD. WE TOO ARE CALLED TO COOPERATE BY BRINGING CHRIST TO OTHERS.
I had an encounter with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe that changed the way I understood who and what Mary is, how God loves the world and our place in this plan of Divine Providence.
(click link to hear audio: "OLG message to Church of 21st Century")
OLGuadalupe Message to the Church of the 21st Century! (AUDIO TALK WHERE I SHARE ON SPIRITUAL BATTLE, SPECIFICALLY SEXUAL ABUSE)
I was in Philadelphia at the Theology of The Body Institute and was invited to dinner with a couple, Ryan and Lisa, who lived nearby. At dinner we visited and shared our journey as parents of large families, homeschooling and more. I liked them both instantly. All at once, Lisa asked me if I ever looked closely at the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I had to confess that I did not, after all I have always thought that this image was just a picture of the blessed mother as she appeared in Mexico, nothing more, nothing less. Boy was I in for a huge awakening.
She left the room and returned with a votive candle, you know the ones that have images on them? This one had an image pasted on the outside of Our Lady of Guadalupe. She proceeded tell me that one day when she was looking at the image, she discerned what looked like a line on the inner gown that was comparable to that found on a pregnant woman's belly called a linea nigra. This is darkening of the skin due to changes in hormones, that spans from the bellybutton to the pelvic area and is quite common to women who are expecting.
As I looked at the inner robe, I experienced a profound insight to the image that took my breath away. Not only did I see what she was seeing, but I saw even more. I saw how the entire inner robe looked like a torso, but not any torso. It looked to me that of the torso of Christ. Right down the center of the torso is the line which is in the very fabric of the Tilma itself. This is thought by many experts to be the exact center of the original image, as it has been cut to fit frames over the years, thus changing the shape.
If I followed the line, indeed, there is a dark area of where the bellybutton would be, the line going down, then leads to a shadowed area that looks like two thighs coming together in the pubic area. As I followed the darkened line up from the bellybutton, I saw that just to the right of it, where the heart shaped flower is (and where one would expect a heart to be inside of a body), I saw the punctured heart of Christ, there is even a curved line like that of the flow of water and blood coming from the the heart and curving into the the folds just under the 4 petaled Jasmine flower that is a glyph of truth and for the one true God.
I was flabbergasted. Right in front of me, I was seeing the torso of Christ, whose arms extended upwards and become her arms, as if symbolically they were conveying that they are united in purpose ending with her pinkies crossed in the St. Anthony cross. I also noticed how only four of her fingers show on each hand just like the shroud of Turin does of the crucified Christ, another Holy image said to be a miraculous image. I have since taken both images and overlapped them and discovered other beautiful coincidences.
Upon leaving the couples home that evening, they gave me a book about the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe to read. I stayed up most of the night reading it. I am sure some of you are shaking your heads at me saying, “You didn't know that it was a codex or a language in picture form to the Nahuatl Indians?” Nope, but I did now and I was beginning to get a whole lot more. As I read through the Handbook of Our Lady of Guadalupe I began to decipher the codex with the lens of Theology of The Body. Something was happening, I started seeing a message related to our own times. I began to see a new purpose revealed within the image and it was a message to the world that we were created for love. This message was filled with divine mercy and it's grace that was literally emanating off of the picture as I gazed at Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The glyphs within the image, spoke a language in codex form to the Nahuatl Indians. This message signaled an end to human sacrifices and that a new civilization had arrived (the shape of the heart conveyed hill or mountain, the “stems” of the flower were a glyph for river or water and together they revealed civilization) for in this image was revealed that she was bringing the one true God, which was greater than any of their gods (she blotted out the sun, thus the rays coming from behind her).
The glyph of the face of the “wise man” which can be seen within the 9 large heart shaped flowers spoke another truth to me. Since I believed that the curved line emanating from the heart shaped flower glyph was that of the font of Divine Mercy, (after all it came from the heart just like the Divine Mercy image and it also originated from the belly of Our Lady where the incarnate Christ was inside of her womb) the rest of the revelation came to me in a tidal wave of thought.
What if the face of the wise man was John Paul II who not only canonized St. Faustina, thus giving the message of divine mercy to the world, but what if this “new civilization” was about making our hearts right, untwisting them, putting a “person” or face into our own hearts so that we would not objectify others as he wrote about in Love and Responsibility and in Theology of The Body.
Even her name, “Guadalupe” she shares with the name of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Spain, traditions says was carved by St. Joseph and painted by St. Luke. The Icon is titled “The Queen Of Mercy” because she protected those who sought her intercession.
The Divine Providence alone begs the question...Why was OL Guadalupe the Icon in Spain, the icon that in the 5th Century saved St. Gregory Great, in the 7th Century saved Bishop Leander in Spain, preserved the faith there and upon it's discovery after Mary appeared to a farmer, a church was built there in which later St. Isabela would consecrate her reign and Columbus, Cortez and Bishop Zummaraga would all visit this same church and consecrate their lives and their work to Our Lady of Guadalupe. Why? Unless the preservation of the faith is some how tied to Mary through this particular title and this particular Icon.
In the image from Spain, she is a mother, holding the Christ child. In the image in Mexico, she is a mother expectant with the God incarnate. The mercy of God, the reason for Him becoming man. Our Lady of Guadalupe spoke these words to Juan Diego on Tepeyac hill “Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am 1 not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms? Do you need something more? Let nothing else worry you or disturb you.” She is the source of our joy. She also called herself our merciful mother. What is in the hallow of her mantle? Christ's mercy, God's love demonstrated in the incarnation. No wonder we are told to place ourselves within the hallow of her mantle because this is where the trinity is.
"The family is the domestic church". The meaning of this traditional Christian idea is that the home is the Church in miniature. The Church is the sacrament of God’s love. She is a communion of faith and life. She is a mother and teacher. She is at the service of the whole human family as it goes forward towards its ultimate destiny. In the same way the family is a community of life and love. It educates and leads its members to their full human maturity and it serves the good of all along the road of life The family is the "first and vital cell of society". In its own way it is a living image and historical representation of the mystery of the Church. The future of the world and of the Church, therefore, passes through the family.” Homily of Pope John Paul II November 30, 1986.
John Paul II brought us these messages in Theology of The Body and Love and Responsibility. Within them, he desired to share with us the relationship of God, which is the trinity (father, son and Holy Spirit). The trinity reveals profound theological truths to us about who God is. We are called to “know” God. Just as scripture says “and Mary knew not man” this knowing is one of intimacy and relationship and is how God desires to “know” us (union and communion).
JP2 desired to reveal that each one of us are called to this union and communion. JP2 also worked tirelessly to share the dignity of all life and our call to love freely, fully, faithfully and fruitfully. This is how we would know, love and serve God so that we could enter into union and communion with God not only in Heaven but right now on earth. I believe all of these truths are revealed in this image.
The Devil Is Out To Destroy The Family
http://wcr.ab.ca/WCRThisWeek/Stories/tabid/61/entryid/357/Default.aspx
I have begun to read every book that I can on the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I have come to see many things in the glyphs, in the codex, in the icon like image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. What is the most important thing that I believe is revealed in the image? I would have to say the most important image I see is overwhelming symbols of the trinity.
God the father (creator and giver of life, expressed in her receptivity of motherhood) so loved the world that He humbled Himself and became Man (incarnation of Christ in her womb). God the son, (revealed through sash signifying pregnancy as well as the torso of Christ seen in the inner robe)so loved the father that He gave Himself as a gift back to the Father(the flowing blood and water from the pierced “heart” comes out of the “mouth” of the glyph of the wise man found inside of the heart) the flow of blood and water cascades down the 3 folds (symbolic of the one true triune God?) just under the 4 petaled jasmine flower (truth, God) showing us that the Father received the gift of the son. This love was so complete and full that it became life-giving (the three folds as well as the fact that her pregnancy is a result of being overshadowed by the power of the Holy Spirit).
Identical twins result from the splitting of a single embryo, one flesh becomes two sharing the same DNA. In this image we see that Christ takes his humanity from Mary's flesh alone (no biological father) and in doing so, gains the hands and feet in which to give himself as a sacrifice to mankind. Archbishop Fulton Sheen says that “since a woman played so great a role in the fall of man, would not woman then play such a great role in the salvation of man?”
Interestingly, the constellation of Gemini, the twins, is located on his torso indicating this profound truth that God made the body that made His body. They are flesh of the same flesh, united in purpose conveying union of purpose and love as well as communion since not only does every participle of her DNA exist within Christ but she is also carrying his infant form within her womb, giving him the blood and water in which to give Him life. He then reciprocates by giving us his blood and water in which to bring us all, through his mercy into the next world.
Eve, was brought into the world through the gift of himself and through the flesh of Adam she came to be. Now the New Adam, through the self-donation and gift of the New Eve, will receive His flesh from the flesh of Mary. So it would seem that God really does make all things new. In the beginning, Eve in her no, of her own free will, took, with her no to God and in doing so she brought the fruit (knowledge of Good and Evil) of death into her body and subsequently brought death to all of her offspring.
All is made new when the New Eve, Mary, of her own free will, gives herself as a gift and in doings so brings into her body the fruit of life and of all knowledge, into her body and subsequently brought life to all mankind. Mary is the ark, she is the first tabernacle and we see her her standing on the moon as if it were a patent, suspended by an angel that venerates her.
I found many “secrets” that at first I thought were secrets, but now I have found that there are Saints and mystics that have been saying this stuff for the past 2,000 years! In fact, I am encountering many people who are being drawn to Icons and Iconography right now. They are drawn to Our Lady of Guadalupe like never before and there are people that are being drawn to find ways to use art to communicate truths of the Christian faith to the people of the world that are so lost and broken right now and falling under the weight of their own weaknesses that they are thirsty, desperately thirsty and desire hope and desire to encounter a living God!
THIS TALK IS ON ICONOGRAPHY, THE HISTORY OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE IN SPAIN, HOW FATIMA IS CONNECTED, HOW GOD PROVIDENTIALLY CHOSE OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE TO BE THE INTERCESSOR OF THE REMNANT CHURCH, WHICH WOULD BE IN THE AMERICA'S, AND HOW SHE IS GATHERING AN ARMY THAT ARE CONSECRATED TO HER FOR THE PURPOSE OF HEALING, RESTORING, SPIRITUAL BATTLE AND CATECHESIS THROUGH LOVE TO FUFILL GODS UNIQUE PLAN OF SALVATION OF THE WORLD.
Indeed we are created for love. I hope your Christmas season is filled with the revelation that God is with us and He came to be with us physically in the flesh of mankind so that we might participate in the salvation of mankind through our gift of self. It is in our yes, that we are able to bring Christ to others. Caryll Houselander taught me that. In the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, God reveals that there are no lengths in which He would not go to reveal His love to the world.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
True Worth
After attending Theology of the Body Institute in which Dr. Janet Smith taught the Love and Responsibility course, I realized that my own past of physical, emotional and sexual abuse had tainted and distorted my understanding of self-worth as well as my ability to show and receive love. For this conversation I speak of love in the sense of the platonic sense. Love of neighbor as a subject created by God not an object.
That day we were discussing how male and female He created them and in our unique creation we compliment on another. We continued to speak of how men find the feminine attractive and women find the masculine attractive and that this attraction is not sinful but is ordered for we were created for love. For love to exist, there needs to be a lover, a beloved and the fire of the love between them. Since we are created in the image and likeness of God, then when we are attracted to the opposite sex, we are in fact attracted to love and attracted to God. We dissected attracted and it was said that attraction and lust are not the same. I had believed this to be true. I had felt that once attracted, that pull, that sensation of delight was sinful and must be stopped at it's first inception or it could lead to a greater sin.
I raised my hand and asked the question, I have found that I find men very attractive. What I mean to say is, when I look upon men, no matter who they are or what they look like I find myself attracted to some part of them that comes from their masculinity. It may be there broad shoulders or the fact that they are so tall. It might be a timber to their voice, but whatever the thing is, I feel a warm sensation of butterflies in my stomach that feels it will float into my throat. It is almost a feeling like a sigh. I have always believed that this was very wrong of me. That I must have some inordinate desire that stemmed from a childhood of abuse. I have believed that this "delight" in the opposite sex, has most likely been some kind of emotional dysfunction that I must try and "fix" or overcome lest I fall into sin.
I shared how I had learned to close myself off, that I had trained myself to avoid eye contact with men that I did not know. If they looked at me, I certainly did not smile at them for that would be opening myself up and would make me vulnerable. I also believed that it would be leading them to sin because I would be then sending a message of interest and that would be wrong since I am married.
Imagine my surprise when I was met with an overwhelming response that my delight was not sinful but rather it was the essence of Pope John Paul's message. That stamped into our bodies is God revealing the mystery of love and he desperately wants us to understand this!
I mention this because it seems to me so many of us are hurting from past abuse and we do not realize that we need smiles and eye contact and yes, even touch. Christopher West mentioned the Manichean demon and heresy. He talked about how it is not sinful for a man to look at a beautiful attractive woman and see her, smile at her and say to himself "That is a very attractive, beautiful and feminine woman". In fact, he mentioned that it affirms a man in his own masculinity to see his feminine counterpart and delight in her being created as feminine. I am not talking about lust, I am talking about recognizing that woman is a site to behold and her creation as woman is a delight!
I had NEVER thought about this concept. Suddenly, I realized that the very need to be loved that I have been carrying around with me was starving me emotionally. I had bought in to a lie that my body was something that would lead men to sin and could not be trusted. I believed that if I even smiled at a man I would be inviting him into an occasion of lust. I had even begun to fear confession. I worried that if a priest heard me speak about anything to do with sexuality, that I would be scandalizing him for surely he would have lustful thoughts about me. My twisted understanding of the body had begun to distort my image of masculinity. I had begun to believe that all men were easily tempted and would be led to feelings of lust with even the slightest of provocations.
I do not say this to sound as if my looks would tempt any man but rather to point out a flaw within myself. For one, past abuses that I had encountered had trained me to keep people at arms length, for my own safety and for theirs. Two, the "ubber" Catholic groups I had encountered had presented the same theme. I was told by a priest that I was to pretty to wear jeans and that I should under no circumstances wear shorts. In fact, he had told me that to be truly modest I must only wear dresses and to make sure they were long. I must say that this directive led me to believe that my body was an obstacle to my own holiness as well as others.
The turning point in this deep seeded belief came during the before mentioned seminar at the Theology of The Body Institute. There was a man and wife at the Seminar. His name was Charlie. They had been married for over 40 years. At one point he stood up and said to the group how beautiful I was and how it gave him joy to see me every day and that he took delight in seeing how beautifully feminine I was.
I began to cry. Why? Well, first of all it goes back to Dr. Conrad Baars' theory that to receive affirmation, it must be from someone that you believe is authentic as well as a from someone in authority. If he had been a handsome young man, I would have made sure to sit on the other side of the room from them on. I would have avoided eye contact as well as conversation except for brief polite greetings. I would never have allowed myself to be alone with him, not even in eucharistic adoration for that would have been to distracting to me. But, because he was sitting next to his wife when he said it and at least 30 years my senior, I believed him. I believed him so completely that tears streamed down my face and I could not stop them. I believe that one moment of understanding has opened a floodgate of healing in my life.
After that night I decided that whenever I saw someone look at me and make eye contact, I would hold that gaze for a moment and smile with all the love in my heart that I could. I would think the words; "God loves you". When I left the Institute and arrived at a Philadelphia airport I was on a mission. I decided that if I saw a man look at me, I would smile with love. One after another I made eye contact and smiled when I felt someone's eyes on me. I can not describe the joy in my heart that I experienced with the events that followed. I remember one man even tipped his hat. I did not see lust, I did not see invitation, I saw warmth and an almost thankfulness behind their eyes.
I came to realize that we all desire to be loved and accepted. It is in our daily activities that we can give and receive love. We can do that by looking upon one another and delighting in their creation and saying you are beauty to my eyes! I delight in your creation!
We need to overcome the heresy that the body is an impediment to holiness. It is this heresy that I believe to have been my own obstacle in believing in and accepting the key concepts and truths taught in Theology of The Body. The enemy has used this heresy to prevent many from entering into the beautiful message message given to us by Pope John Paul II. Consequently, it has prevented me from entering into true healing that can ONLY come from affirmation. My distorted beliefs had convinced me to close myself off from affirmation, the distorted belief of the body.
It is one thing to know about Theology of The Body and it is quite another to be able to experience it. I have know and talked about TOB for a number of years. However, it is only recently, that I have begun to experience it first hand. I ask for prayers as I embark on a mission to uncover this lie from the enemy. I pray my new talk will open the eyes of many who have heard but have not been able to believe.
That day we were discussing how male and female He created them and in our unique creation we compliment on another. We continued to speak of how men find the feminine attractive and women find the masculine attractive and that this attraction is not sinful but is ordered for we were created for love. For love to exist, there needs to be a lover, a beloved and the fire of the love between them. Since we are created in the image and likeness of God, then when we are attracted to the opposite sex, we are in fact attracted to love and attracted to God. We dissected attracted and it was said that attraction and lust are not the same. I had believed this to be true. I had felt that once attracted, that pull, that sensation of delight was sinful and must be stopped at it's first inception or it could lead to a greater sin.
I raised my hand and asked the question, I have found that I find men very attractive. What I mean to say is, when I look upon men, no matter who they are or what they look like I find myself attracted to some part of them that comes from their masculinity. It may be there broad shoulders or the fact that they are so tall. It might be a timber to their voice, but whatever the thing is, I feel a warm sensation of butterflies in my stomach that feels it will float into my throat. It is almost a feeling like a sigh. I have always believed that this was very wrong of me. That I must have some inordinate desire that stemmed from a childhood of abuse. I have believed that this "delight" in the opposite sex, has most likely been some kind of emotional dysfunction that I must try and "fix" or overcome lest I fall into sin.
I shared how I had learned to close myself off, that I had trained myself to avoid eye contact with men that I did not know. If they looked at me, I certainly did not smile at them for that would be opening myself up and would make me vulnerable. I also believed that it would be leading them to sin because I would be then sending a message of interest and that would be wrong since I am married.
Imagine my surprise when I was met with an overwhelming response that my delight was not sinful but rather it was the essence of Pope John Paul's message. That stamped into our bodies is God revealing the mystery of love and he desperately wants us to understand this!
I mention this because it seems to me so many of us are hurting from past abuse and we do not realize that we need smiles and eye contact and yes, even touch. Christopher West mentioned the Manichean demon and heresy. He talked about how it is not sinful for a man to look at a beautiful attractive woman and see her, smile at her and say to himself "That is a very attractive, beautiful and feminine woman". In fact, he mentioned that it affirms a man in his own masculinity to see his feminine counterpart and delight in her being created as feminine. I am not talking about lust, I am talking about recognizing that woman is a site to behold and her creation as woman is a delight!
I had NEVER thought about this concept. Suddenly, I realized that the very need to be loved that I have been carrying around with me was starving me emotionally. I had bought in to a lie that my body was something that would lead men to sin and could not be trusted. I believed that if I even smiled at a man I would be inviting him into an occasion of lust. I had even begun to fear confession. I worried that if a priest heard me speak about anything to do with sexuality, that I would be scandalizing him for surely he would have lustful thoughts about me. My twisted understanding of the body had begun to distort my image of masculinity. I had begun to believe that all men were easily tempted and would be led to feelings of lust with even the slightest of provocations.
I do not say this to sound as if my looks would tempt any man but rather to point out a flaw within myself. For one, past abuses that I had encountered had trained me to keep people at arms length, for my own safety and for theirs. Two, the "ubber" Catholic groups I had encountered had presented the same theme. I was told by a priest that I was to pretty to wear jeans and that I should under no circumstances wear shorts. In fact, he had told me that to be truly modest I must only wear dresses and to make sure they were long. I must say that this directive led me to believe that my body was an obstacle to my own holiness as well as others.
The turning point in this deep seeded belief came during the before mentioned seminar at the Theology of The Body Institute. There was a man and wife at the Seminar. His name was Charlie. They had been married for over 40 years. At one point he stood up and said to the group how beautiful I was and how it gave him joy to see me every day and that he took delight in seeing how beautifully feminine I was.
I began to cry. Why? Well, first of all it goes back to Dr. Conrad Baars' theory that to receive affirmation, it must be from someone that you believe is authentic as well as a from someone in authority. If he had been a handsome young man, I would have made sure to sit on the other side of the room from them on. I would have avoided eye contact as well as conversation except for brief polite greetings. I would never have allowed myself to be alone with him, not even in eucharistic adoration for that would have been to distracting to me. But, because he was sitting next to his wife when he said it and at least 30 years my senior, I believed him. I believed him so completely that tears streamed down my face and I could not stop them. I believe that one moment of understanding has opened a floodgate of healing in my life.
After that night I decided that whenever I saw someone look at me and make eye contact, I would hold that gaze for a moment and smile with all the love in my heart that I could. I would think the words; "God loves you". When I left the Institute and arrived at a Philadelphia airport I was on a mission. I decided that if I saw a man look at me, I would smile with love. One after another I made eye contact and smiled when I felt someone's eyes on me. I can not describe the joy in my heart that I experienced with the events that followed. I remember one man even tipped his hat. I did not see lust, I did not see invitation, I saw warmth and an almost thankfulness behind their eyes.
I came to realize that we all desire to be loved and accepted. It is in our daily activities that we can give and receive love. We can do that by looking upon one another and delighting in their creation and saying you are beauty to my eyes! I delight in your creation!
We need to overcome the heresy that the body is an impediment to holiness. It is this heresy that I believe to have been my own obstacle in believing in and accepting the key concepts and truths taught in Theology of The Body. The enemy has used this heresy to prevent many from entering into the beautiful message message given to us by Pope John Paul II. Consequently, it has prevented me from entering into true healing that can ONLY come from affirmation. My distorted beliefs had convinced me to close myself off from affirmation, the distorted belief of the body.
It is one thing to know about Theology of The Body and it is quite another to be able to experience it. I have know and talked about TOB for a number of years. However, it is only recently, that I have begun to experience it first hand. I ask for prayers as I embark on a mission to uncover this lie from the enemy. I pray my new talk will open the eyes of many who have heard but have not been able to believe.
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