In Honor of The Feast of The Holy Family
Dear Father in Heaven,

I offer you my family.  We are far from perfect - as you already know.  I would not call us a holy family.

But You, Father, You see differently than I do. And so, I say to You. If there is one morsel of holiness that You recognize in our family, I offer it to You. Do with it as You please and help us to grow into a family that You will find pleasing and good, when Your Son, Jesus, returns to claim His own.

I ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

4 / 20 comments
Dec 29, 2010  ( 4 comments )  
12/29/2010
6:38am
Dee Huber (dgh118)
Took a vacation day and decided to start the day off with morning mass.  Got there a tad bit early and knelt down to pray.  I found myself praying this prayer. I hadn't planned it.  It just happened.  Suddenly, I felt the presence of God so strongly that my eyes welled up with tears and sobs were starting to creep up in the pit of my stomach. God was with me. He had his arms wrapped around me. His presence was so strong and so loving - that as weird as this might sound, I couldn't stay there.  Maybe if I had been in the privacy of my own home but not in a church surrounded by so many other people.  I actually backed away from that Divine Presence.  I can't believe it. I sat down and thought "Did I just do that? Did I just pull away from God?"

God must think I'm totally nuts!  I pray to feel His Presence and then don't stay around to bask in it when He offers it! 

But, He is my Father!  He created me and He understands me - even when I don't understand myself! What else can I say!!!!!
12/29/2010
10:39am
Cheryl Leadbeater (together_we_will_grow)
It is funny you should write this.  I just looked up Holy in the dictionary last night and one of the definitions is sacred, which states relating to, belonging to, or coming from a divine being or power.  When I read that I realized that all families are holy because we do belong to and come from the most divine person.
12/29/2010
10:49am
Cheryl Leadbeater (together_we_will_grow)
I don't think it sounds strange, I think it is very normal, not to want to be vulnerable in front of others. Do you think that was the case or maybe feeling the presence of God so strongly, might have scared you a little.  I think it might scare me. Anyway, I thought a lot about Fathere Terry talking about the Holy Family, but not the Perfect family.  I actually strted a book last night entitled the Perfect Imperfect Holy Family.  The SARK book got me motivated to start writing.  It may not go anywhere other than the few paragraphs I have, but I did start.  Can you share with me some stories you remember about growing up. I started with the story about Dad hanging the deer head in the living room and Mom hanging a sheet over it when she went in there to clean.  I think writing about things that happened might jog my memory some.
12/29/2010
12:02pm
Dee Huber (dgh118)
God has brought me into His Presence on a few different occassions now! I'm not sure if 'scary' is the exact word - but it always makes me a little uneasy. I think maybe it's more like 'I'm not worthy to be this close to God' rather than being 'scared' of Him. It's really weird because I don't normally think about being 'worthy' or 'unworthy'. I figure He's the Judge of that. But whenever He brings me into that Presence the feeling overwhelms me and I can't stay there for long.  Consider this:

Revelations 21:22-27
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

I think that might be the key!  Until we have been 'purged' of all of our impurities (purgatory) we will not be able to stand to be in the presence of God. WE won't be able to stand it!  I think that might be a token of what I was experiencing. Though I'm not the worst person in the world there are still impurities that need to be dealt with.  Thankfully, I wasn't 'experiencing' Him in His Full Glory! That may have killed me!  :-)
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