But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God (praising the Lord), and the prisoners were listening to them, and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s fetters were un-fastened (chains were broken). (Acts 16:25-26)
Are you in bondage to sin? Do you struggle with addiction? Are you anxious, obsessed? Is there too much stress in your life? Do you have negative, self-defeating thoughts? Are you depressed, fearful? Do you have irrational guilt and feelings?
Deliverance is possible -- through praise!
“When a soul extols (highly praises) My goodness, Satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of hell.” _ St. Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul #378
“Great is the LORD and worthy of much praise (Psalm 145:3).” ... “He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies Me (Psalm 50:23).”
When we choose to praise God, we soon discover that the fruit of praise is the “joy” of the Lord.
Forgetting ourselves and our circumstances -- our present anxieties and infirmities -- we offer a “sacrifice of praise” to God (Hebrews 13:15).
"What we learn in the New Testament on charisms, which appeared as visible signs of the coming of the Holy Spirit, is not a historical event of the past, but a reality ever alive. It is the same divine Spirit, soul of the Church, that acts in every age and those mysterious and effective interventions of the Spirit are manifest in our time in a providential way. The Movements and New Communities are like an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in contemporary society. We can, therefore, rightly say that one of the positive elements and aspects of the Community of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is precisely their emphasis on the charisms or gifts of the Holy Spirit and their merit lies in having recalled their topicality in the Church." _ Address of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to Charismatic Catholics, October 2008
"...Do not grow weary of turning to Heaven: the world stands in need of prayer. It needs men and women who feel the attraction of Heaven in their life, who make praise to the Lord a new way of life. And may you be joyful Christians! I entrust you all to Mary Most Holy, present in the Upper Room at the event of Pentecost. Persevere with her in prayer, walk guided by the light of the living Holy Spirit, proclaiming the Good News of Christ." _ Address of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to Charismatic Catholics, May 26, 2012
Prepare for a Personal Pentecost!
Life in the Spirit Seminar
Part 1
Life in the Spirit Seminar
Part 2
Life in the Spirit Seminar
Part 3
Life in the Spirit Seminar
Part 4
Life in the Spirit Seminar
Part 5
Life in the Spirit Seminar
Part 6
Life in the Spirit Seminar
Part 7
Halfhearted Commitment to the Faith is Nauseating to Christ: "I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit (vomit) you out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16)
Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (Romans 12:11)
_______________
Evangelii Gaudium
Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis
On the Proclamation of the Gospel in
Today’s World
#259) Spirit-filled evangelizers means evangelizers fearlessly open to the working of the Holy Spirit. At Pentecost, the Spirit made the apostles go forth from themselves and turned them into heralds of God’s wondrous deeds, capable of speaking to each person in his or her own language. The Holy Spirit also grants the courage to proclaim the newness of the Gospel with boldness (parrhesÃa) in every time and place, even when it meets with opposition. Let us call upon him today, firmly rooted in prayer, for without prayer all our activity risks being fruitless and our message empty. Jesus wants evangelizers who proclaim the good news not only with words, but above all by a life transfigured by God’s presence.
#261) Whenever we say that something is “spirited,” it usually refers to some interior impulse which encourages, motivates, nourishes and gives meaning to our individual and communal activity. Spirit-filled evangelization is not the same as a set of tasks dutifully carried out despite one’s own personal inclinations and wishes. How I long to find the right words to stir up enthusiasm for a new chapter of evangelization full of fervor, joy, generosity, courage, boundless love and attraction! Yet I realize that no words of encouragement will be enough unless the fire of the Holy Spirit burns in our hearts. A spirit-filled evangelization is one guided by the Holy Spirit, for he is the soul of the Church called to proclaim the Gospel. Before offering some spiritual motivations and suggestions, I once more invoke the Holy Spirit. I implore him to come and renew the Church, to stir and impel her to go forth boldly to evangelize all peoples.
Catholic Apologetics: "The Ruptured Rapture" Friar Joseph Mary, F.I.
AirMaria.com
Evangelical Christians and Christian Fundamentalists eagerly look forward to the day when they (the elect) will be taken (raptured) from the earth before the Great Tribulation. Only non-believers in Jesus Christ will be “left behind” to suffer the persecutions of the Antichrist.
Although their concept of “a rapture” is Biblical, their interpretation -- and their timing of it -- is erroneous. The elect will be on the earth during the Tribulation. And like the Apostles and the martyrs before them, they will not be spared their trials, pain and suffering.
“I do not ask that You (Father) take them out of the world but that You keep them from the evil one.”(John 17:15)
“Remember the word I spoke to you, ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”(John 15:20)
~ * * * ~
The doctrine of a “secret rapture” to occur before the Tribulation was first conceived in 1827 by a Fundamentalist minister (Ex-Anglican priest). Known as the father of dispensationalism, John Nelson Darby invented this (heretical) doctrine claiming there were notone, buttwo “second comings.”
The Rapture of the Church and The Second Coming of Christ
Are the Same Glorious Event to Occur After the Tribulation.
For the Lord Himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars (or flaming meteors resembling stars) will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign (The Cross of Christ) of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a trumpet blast, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)
For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. In [those] days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be [also] at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.(Matthew 24:37-42)
Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
“Are You Rapture Ready?”
The question should be:
“Are you ready to come before the Face of God?”
We need to be in a “state of grace” and “Sacramentally” fortified. (We need to be free of mortal sin through frequent Confession and, when possible, daily Mass.) We need to live according to God’s will. (We need to obey the Ten Commandments, submit to rightful spiritual authority, and follow all the teachings of the Catholic Church.) We need to pray more, and fast. (Prayer changes things, and the Rosary is a Powerful weapon against the enemy.) We need to forgive -- everyone. (Un-forgiveness is a block to receiving God’s grace.)
Every moment we must be ready
to go to God.
The storm is here; there is no escaping it. Tribulation is on the horizon, and there will be no rapture -- only purification.
