Women of Grace with Johnnette Williams - 101921

ordinaire and he looks forward to hearing from you almost as much as i look forward to hearing from you so please do give him a call and when you do give him a big old howdy hay and ask him how his day's going and i'm sure he'll return the same kind of happy greeting to you as well let me give you that number it's toll free for you right here in north america it's 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 don't be shy give it a try don't delay call right away and it's eight three three two eight eight ewtn toll free for you right here in north america if you're outside of north america we've got a number for you too it begins with the country code and that's country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five again country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five just pick up the phone call us yeah we're here for you we wanna see what's going on in your world and what's happening uh you know in your life also want to know what is on your mind today you know any question that you might have or comment inside inspiration that you would like to share my goodness sakes we're here for you again that's 833 288 ewtn you can also go out to ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page you can use the chat feature there to put your question or comment in insight inspiration word of encouragement and jeff berson who is our producer and social media manager we'll just try on out there and he'll get it and he'll put it up on the board and we'll be able to address it well i'm very excited i am why do you think i'm excited well tomorrow i am heading to south florida we are going to be in hollywood florida at nativity catholic church it's coming up it's coming up it's not tomorrow but the benedict enrichment seminar begins the very next day it certainly does so we want for you to join us there so eager to have you with us there 21st and 22nd is the benedicta enrichment seminar taking place at nativity catholic church right there in hollywood florida we've got room for you we want you to come and if you have been you know just sitting on the fence please get off the fence just say yes to the prompting of the holy spirit and join us there it's going to be a beautiful beautiful time in the lord very eager about this we're going to be talking about the authority and power of woman i think that you're going to see things that you never saw before understand more about yourself than you ever understood before and you're going to feel i believe that beautiful reality of empowerment in in the most blessed sense of that word uh this beautiful sense of empowerment that comes by way of the holy spirit because god is calling you as his daughter to join with mary and her great mission and how we do that and what that mission is and the way in which it takes shape and form within us and the way in which we help it to take shape and form in the world that's what we're going to be talking about and it's going to be very very exciting we've got all of the talk titles out there for you as well as the schedule at our website womenofgrace.com simply go on out there you're going to see the upcoming events the calendar of events right there on our homepage click on benedicta in richmond seminar the schedule comes up again the talk titles come up it'll give you a real sense of where it is that we're headed in this very eager to have paco gaviridez with us he is going to be presenting to you too it's just going to be really a very special time we don't want you to miss out on it and for that reason you know we are inviting you to join us and please do consider this my personal invitation to you now if you're having a little bit of a difficult time you know making it there because maybe you just don't uh have the um you know fun set aside for something like this i want to let you know we can help you with that we can help you with that we've got a scholarship fund we're eager to use our scholarship fund so please do not let that stand in your way please do not let that stand in your way call us at women of grace we will tell you all about it and hopefully you'll be able to join us there the number to use to find out about the scholarship fund is eight hundred five five eight five four five two that's eight hundred five five eight four you can also get more information about the event by calling that number 800-558-5452 so please do not let an obstacle stand in your way sometimes when god has a great blessing in mind for us there are obstacles that come those obstacles are often created caused by you know the evil one who doesn't want us to attend something that's going to bring us into a deeper relationship with our lord right so all kinds of things begin to break loose right but you know what god takes those things that the evil one wants to use to prevent us from coming and he actually works them to a great good because if we overcome those obstacles we grow in virtue we grow in the virtue of perseverance we grow in the virtue of faith we grow in the virtue of trust right we sometimes even grow in the virtue of long-suffering you know and and uh and and we find that we are more than conquerors in christ jesus so don't let anything stand in your way if you feel the holy spirit is prompting you if you have a desire to come i you know please do please do come and join us there so that is beginning on thursday october the 21st it continues on october the 22nd and then on the 23rd this saturday this saturday already it is going to be our one day women of grace conference at nativity catholic church there in hollywood florida the theme of that is faith fortitude and femininity a formula for such a time as this faith fortitude and femininity a formula for such a time as this and i can assure you this is going to be a marvelous day in the lord it really is it's going to be beautiful it's going to be lovely we want you to come for that event we want you to come for the benedict if you can't make both you know whichever one fits your schedule the best but we can help you come to both so please do give us a call and find out how that can be faith fortitude and femininity a formula for such a time as this i'm going to be giving all of the talks you can go on again to our website womenofgrace.com and underneath that calendar of events just click on the one day conference you'll see it there it's going to be you know october the 23rd and you will be able to see what the talk titles are and how that schedule unfolds we're gonna have confession we're gonna have beautiful music we're going to have an opportunity to break bread together uh meals will be held in common it's an opportunity for fellowship uh it's an opportunity for us to you know maybe form beautiful friendships with women a beautiful sacred sisterhood seems to develop at these women of grace events they it really does and i'm always amazed at the stories that i hear oh i met so and so you know five years ago at one of your events and we became the best of friends and we're like sacred sisters and what a beautiful thing women of grace we say that we like to stand shoulder to shoulder and soul to soul right we are there for each other and we want you to be there to become part of this beautiful beautiful movement that the holy spirit has begun in his love for us so please do please do join us for this beautiful one day conference coming up this saturday at nativity catholic church there in hollywood florida concurrent to that women of grace one day conference is a young women of grace retreat for our young ladies and so if you've got a teenager in the house or somebody that's just about to be a teenager we want you to bring her with you your daughter your granddaughter your niece uh bring your your daughter's friends bring your granddaughters friends bring your students have them come it's going to be a beautiful beautiful time in the lord so get on out there sign up if you got a question call us 800 5580 let's see what we can do together now the number to use to be with us right here on women of grace live is 833 288 ewtn that's 833 288 eight 3986 don't delay call us we wanna talk with you we certainly do i am here for you and i know god's gotta work in mind for us today so please do check it out eight three three two eight eight e wtn or ewtn radio's youtube page or facebook we'll be right back [Music] in any language it means the same live truth live catholic ewtn have you ever heard someone say i don't like the idea of dogma i don't like how the church claims to have authority and yet why does anyone believe anything unless they trust some authority gk chesterton says the modern world will accept no dogmas upon any authority but it will accept any dogmas on no authority say that a thing is so according to the pope or the bible and it will be dismissed as a superstition without examination but preface your remark merely with they say or try and fail to remember the name of some professor mentioned in some newspaper and the keen rationalism of the modern mind will accept every word you say spend more time with the apostle of common sense visit chesterton.org for more information and go to ewtnrc.com to discover more books and programs written and inspired by gk chesterton the leading catholic voices are on ewtn radio part of the success we've had on the world over i attribute to certainly my relationship with mother angelica and her teaching me early on that when you sit with someone you talk to them you share with them and you create an environment where they will tell you things they wouldn't tell anyone else the world over with raven arroyo thursday night eight eastern on ewtn radio [Music] ewtn is everywhere follow ewtn radio on instagram go to the instagram app and search ewtn radio encouraging women in their gift of authentic femininity here's more women of grace with john ed williams welcome back everybody we're so happy you were with us today i know i'm happy to be with you inviting you to give us a call here we're very eager to hear from you 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 that is the toll-free number for you to use right here in north america we love to have that holy conversation with you we love to talk about living the abundant life in our lord jesus christ and sharing that abundant life with others so do give us a call today and let's see what's going on in your world also available for you out there in social media land ewtn radio's youtube channel and facebook page available for you there use the chat feature put your name in there tell us you know which of the two you are are using to be with us today and let us know where you are and put your question or comment inside inspirational word of encouragement in there jeff berson who is our producer and social media manager will dash on out there he'll retrieve it and get it up the number to use toll free for you in north america once again is 833 288 ewtn that's 833 288 3986 if you are outside of north america we've got a number for you too it's country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five that's country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five well you know here we are we are still in the month of the rosary right and we are still in this beautiful month of our blessed mother and you know i love our lady so much and i know that you do too she is our mother she's our mother in the order of grace and you know our mother is so very important to our life of faith you know i was reading something in preparation for this upcoming event which i was mentioning to you prior to the break our women of grace uh events coming up there at nativity catholic church in hollywood florida begins with the benedict leadership institute uh and that starts on this thursday and runs through friday and then our one day women of grace conference is on saturday october 23rd our young women of grace uh uh day of retreat runs concurrent to the uh october 23rd event for the women so all that information is available for you to our website womenofgrace.com i invite you to check it out but in preparation uh for the benedicta you know i've been doing a lot of reading and i've dipped back into a book written by uh dr monica miller and dr monica miller is is just i think a tremendous advocate for a true understanding of who we are in christ jesus as daughters of the most high god and who our blessed lady is and in there you know uh we know that oftentimes people have this um very utilitarian view of our lady right uh they'll look at our lady and they'll say well you know god used her to bring jesus into the world right um she was just a vessel that the lord used that god used so that jesus christ could could come into the world that that the word could be made flesh and dwell among us and that is such a denigration of of the reality of who our lady is and i think it's an insult to god himself you know i really do i think it's an insult to god because he created mary specifically for this great role in mission and she is as monica writes in her book our lady is not an instrument our lady is instrumental and there's a big difference isn't there between those two words to be an instrument is something that's used right and that would be against the very reality of god's love for us as individuals created in his image and likeness he created us with a great dignity and what is that dignity the dignity is that we are made in his image and likeness and that within our own being you know we we contain within ourselves you know in these earthen vessels we we contain a great treasure and through baptism what is that treasure it's the god life right it's the life of god in us well when you think about that how could god then have a very utilitarian view of the woman that he would choose from all of the women who would ever have life to be the one who would contain within herself in physical form the god life himself she would have to be exalted she would have to be above high above every other creature whom god ever created or would ever create and so you know our lady is not an instrument something that god just picked up and used one day to achieve a purpose oh golly no god incorporated her into the purpose itself she was instrumental instrumental in his plan of salvation and she is the mother if you would say that she's the mother of redemption itself because her fiat her fiat way to the power of god via the overshadowing of the holy spirit to mingle with her to mingle with her to become one with her to bring about the very word of god made flesh it's an amazing thought isn't it and you know when we think about you know this month that's dedicated to our lady specifically under her title of our lady of the rosary encouraging us to pray the rosary these mysteries these mysteries you know become such a great um what do i want to say such a great um material for our meditation to just sit with some of these thoughts and let them take up residence within us and to ponder them can lead us i think to the heights of contemplative prayer where you know just the very thought itself has an efficacy in bringing about a grace-filled response in us and through us sometimes recognizable sometimes not recognizable sometimes dark and hidden sometimes very filled with light and an effulgent with radiant presence of god that is known on some sensate level in the soul if you can say all that together i don't know papoya boy you know um so anyway that's some of what i was praying about and thinking through and reading about in anticipation for uh this benedict uh leadership now what does that mean to us as women and and what does that say about us and and how do we how are we incorporated into this action well you know that those are some of the things that we're going to explore and it's it's very eye-opening it's very edifying and and yet there's a very practical realm very practical realm to this as well that we're going to explore and discover so here we are for you 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-398-6 inviting you to join us live here on women of grace live don't be shy give it a try don't delay hurry do it right away so that we can have that holy conversation together but these are some of the things that i think about uh you know um in in in contemplating what it is that the lord would have a share at these events and you know the amazing thing that that always strikes me uh you know about uh talks and and about the opportunity to present and to um be with with you know these these daughters the most high god and to be with all of you when it's uh you know an event for men and women such as we'll be having up at melbourne jack and i doing this marriage retreat check that out on our website too and sign up for that but you know is is how god he has a message right and and he knows exactly who it is who will be attending and he tries to prompt you know us through that holy spirit so so that we will heed that prompting and come because he's got a plan for us in the day and and i always stand back in holy ah of what transpires through the course of that day i mean you can plan a talk you know i like to use powerpoints for the benedicta so i'm working on my powerpoint touching it up you know adding little things and you know just making it look all spiffy and that kind of thing but um you know he he he knows who's coming and he's got a very special message for each of those who will attend this day has already been made by him i love that idea this is the day the lord has what made let us rejoice and be glad in it and he is making that day that day is is being made for us and he's putting us into the habitat of that day uh to to uh one uh to experience him in that day to give us what we need in that day but also to delight us in the midst of that day um and and that's true of every day of our lives you know i don't know uh if if we wake up in the morning and say oh gee i wonder what god's gonna do today in my life i'm gonna keep my eyes peeled i'm gonna look for it um you know what it's a whole different day if we do that we find him we find him with us and we discover uh more about his providential care and his providential love for us and how it is that he desires that we know him more deeply and that we enter into his divine life more really and more truly you know and uh you know he's he's he's always at the ready for us he's never god is never planning to do something saint thomas aquinas tells us he's pure act so he's never planning to act he's always acting and and what comes forth from god's actions you know what is it what is his intention in his actions his intention in those actions is to provide the good to display the beautiful to imbue us with truth and you know when we are looking for him we find these things but that's our job you know our job is to cooperate with the reality of who god is you know through this participation in his divine life that comes by way of grace and and that's something that's taking place every moment of every day always he never rests he doesn't take a nap he doesn't sleep and he is always working like that song says you know uh he the waymaker that's the name of the song you know um he's working he never stops working he's always working what is he working he's working for our benefit so you know i hope that you know in in light of of course this weekend i know is in beginning on thursday actually is going to be absolutely tremendous um every day of our life is meant to be tremendous no matter where we find ourselves uh we want to find god with us and keep that in the forefront of our minds you know this this ever um present reality of god huh 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 inviting you to pick up the phone give us a call here i'm eager to hear from you i do know one thing i know matt gabinski wants to be kept busy and he's kept busy when you call 833 288 ewtn or outside of north america or in the birmingham area country code one two zero five two seven one two nine eight five inviting you to pick up the phone and give us a call here i you know here here is one of the the the great realities about our life in christ it's always exciting have you had an exciting moment in your life in christ has there been one moment you know that really seems to stand out and maybe it's the moment that when you really just need a little boost you go to that moment and and and you you you know kind of you know allow yourself to bring it into your memory and to experience the grace you know all of these these moments of our lives that have you know these kairos moments what is kairos well kairos is time but it's not chrono crono's time you know the time it's measured by you know seconds and minutes and hours and days and weeks and months and years no cairo's moments are are are when the eternal you know intersex smack dab into that chrono's time and something new happens you know just something new happens and and you experience this profound shot of grace and you know that god is with you have you had a chron a a kairos moment like that if you have share it with us i'm sure it's going to be something that's going to bring encouragement and is going to bring great hope to someone that's listening today so you know these moments that god entrusts to us they're moments to be shared and they're always available to us that same grace is available to us in the eternal moment so sometimes just you know the thought of it brings it back to us and and we're blessed all over again i can think of ever so many times in my own life where that is the case and sometimes god shows us even more about what was happening in the supernatural in that moment as we ponder it and you and ponder are fresh he he reveals something more to us about that moment that maybe escaped us at the time and he shows us how sometimes it plays into the reality of the whole of our salvation history or even sometimes the salvation history of others you know and sometimes even the salvation history of the world so please do give us a call here 833 288 ewtn that's 833-288-3986 pick up the phone and give us a call we have karissa with us she is in fall city texas this morning good morning karissa how are you good morning i'm great thank you well thank you for your call i'm delighted to hear from you well thank you i love listening to you uh and to your show both on tv and radio well thank you thank you chris wing a prayer our way we can use it i will um i i was wondering i was just listening to you and you mentioned contemplative prayer could you give me or give the audience at least me uh kind of an explanation of that and and i i'm really interested in it um and so i would like some um knowledge hints whatever that you can impart on me i would appreciate it very much well thank you chris how interesting that you would call and ask that question because just before we went on the air here i picked up a book that i have it's called union with god according to saint john of the cross and it's written by father gabriel of saint mary magdalene now father gabriel of saint mary magdalene also gives us uh beautiful meditations for every day of the liturgical year in a book that he wrote many years ago called divine intimacy and both of these books are just really tremendous and he is a great uh great uh teacher of of the carmelite spirituality he's gone on to his eternal reward right now but i would really encourage you to get a copy of each of these books divine intimacy by father gabriel of saint mary magdalene as well as his book union with god according to saint john of the cross i i do know that divine intimacy is available for you at ewtn's religious catalogue that's ewtnrc.com so you can order that one there i'm not sure about union with god but it may well be there as well so interestingly and this is the holy spirit i love it he does this i just these things tickle me to death um brings tears to my eyes i had opened to a chapter in this book union with god on contemplative meditation right so what is contemplation well contemplation is a gift that comes by way of the holy spirit it's a gift of prayer that comes by way of the holy spirit now we cannot cause contemplation to happen but we can dispose ourselves for contemplation and and what that is and contemplation can take place on many levels there's stages of contemplative prayer and they begin very subtly and it's it it's almost um it's almost as if there is it it's almost as if our thought processes are arrested um for just a moment and and we we are we are we are we are in a sense united to god in in a type of mystical union um that defies our senses and i know that that sounds strange but that's what it is and it starts very subtly and sometimes we'll miss it uh and and usually there are signs and signals that indicate that we're heading in that direction and some of those signs and signals can be it can be very discouraging when they first occur because we misinterpret them and what are some of the signs well some of the signs is we cannot pray the same kind of way that we were praying before that prayer runs dry in us and we even find that we're not able to attend to that prayer now this is not just us giving into distraction this is a movement of grace that's taking place within us and is drawing us more deeply into this mystical state with god and uh when we come back from the break we'll go on with this karisa so i want you to stay very happy that the phone lines are lighting up you're putting a big old smile on my face 833 288 ewtn that's 833 288-3986 hang on don't hang up we're all coming back so stay with us [Music] during this time of crisis join us and pray for an end to the coronavirus radio classics is now ewtn radio essentials featuring 24 7 masses rosaries chaplets and prayers the power of prayer depends on god's action not on our praying the holy spirit prays within us with groanings too deep for words as romans 8 says and he empowers us to seek god and to seek from him all that we need and the answer to prayers are always from god in order to worship him and now the ewtn family prayer with father joseph family a prayer that we pray together is a powerful prayer so please pray together with me our ewtn family prayer [Music] today we pray for those who are depressed the holy spirit lord of light we worship you whose presence brings love joy and peace be present to those who are suffering through the darkness of depression heal their wounds their strength renew on their dryness pour your dew bear the fruits of love joy and peace in their souls reveal to them the many signs of your goodness make gratitude and hope spring up anew in their hearts and console them with the fire of your love amen hi this is dr david anders there's only one show for non-catholics called to communion coming up this afternoon 2 p.m eastern on ewtn radio now back to women of grace with donette williams the women of grace phone lines are open 1-833-288 ewtn 1-833-288-3986 [Music] welcome back everybody you just heard those numbers and we are looking forward to hearing from you let me repeat them again for you toll free for you right here in north america it is 833 288 ewtn that's 833 288 3986 also available for you out there in social media land ewtn radio's youtube channel facebook page available for you there uh janet is calling robert is calling karissa was on the line with us right before the break and we're going to go back to karissa and then we're going to move on to everybody else we've got a couple of lines open i would like to see those lines occupied now i would like to see them occupied with you so please give us a number 833 288 ewtn so just pick it up get pick up your phone punch in those numbers and join us live here on women of grace live so charissa you were asking us about contemplative prayer and i was explaining to you some of the signs you know that that sometimes um indicate that god is preparing us for this deeper way of being in union with him okay and that comes by way of contemplative prayer and i was saying that we find that we're having difficulty attending to our time of prayer with the same kind of fervency um that we had before and fervor that might even be a better word the same kind of fervor uh and we get tempted to think that we're backsliding or we get tempted to think that you know god has abandoned us the consolations begin to evaporate uh but this is a good sign this is if we remain constant in our time of prayer we will come through that time and we will find that we have moved forward in in this union with god we've moved forward in our spiritual life there's progress that's been made uh so we want to we we want to double down in prayer at that time and we want to strive to the best of our ability uh you know to keep our attention on the lord we don't entertain those distractions when they come we just kind of acknowledge okay so that's a distraction but then we immediately return to what it was that we were about in that time of prayer but as that continues we'll also find that that there will be momentaries moments when we're where we're kind of the only word that i can use is slightly caught up you know and we'll say oh my goodness you know what was that about and and that is the beginning that's that's the first taste of being led into this deepening prayer form i did mention at the beginning that there's ways that we can prepare ourselves for this and this book union with god really goes through these signs uh better than i'm able to do in the short period of time that we have together but in in in this chapter four on contemplative meditation saint john uh saint father gabriel of saint mary magdalene in explaining to us uh saint john of the cross is teaching on contemplative prayer says this all the authors who explain the nature of the contempt of life teach that to render it in effective preparation for contemplation two practices are necessary mortification and prayer this idea of sacrifice and prayer go hand in hand this idea of mortification can come in two ways it can come through passive mortification and it can come through active mortification passive mortification comes by way of the contradictions of daily life the struggles the trials etc that we encounter in our daily life god permits us to experience those that we can then make them a sacrifice of praise in union with his son our lord jesus christ so this we call you know god's will of good pleasure and and he's and he's making us holier through that if we cooperate with the grace that he gives us to to die to self in those moments and to unite ourselves to our lord's passion uh we can make great progress mortification also comes through an active kind of mortification and that is that that would be the action that we take upon ourselves such as fasting such as some kind of sacrificial offerings alms giving um you know an act of charity toward toward our neighbor those kinds of sacrifices right that's a type of mortification also too you know a a desire for detachment of the things of the world right uh and and by this i just don't mean you know consumer goods you know we default to that all the time here i'm talking about those things that we are attached to uh those things that you know can become the slight little thread that keeps us tethered to some illicit not illicit but licit pleasure that we put too much of an emphasis in like maybe ice cream you know you know something or or even or even you know um you know a need to be in the midst of the activity of other people's lives i don't know i'm you know come up with what it is um so so we we we want to strive for that kind of abnegation that kind of separation from from those and then prayer we continue to pray even if we're dry as a bone we continue to pray and that's the preparation for this deepening union with god i don't know if i've helped you out or not but that that's basically what i can offer you at the moment well thank you very much i appreciate it yeah and and again you know father gabriel is saint mary magdalene he's a master uh you know and and so his books are very very helpful uh what we don't want to do is to fall into the the the what i would call the pseudo forms of contemplation or the pseudo forms of meditation that are so rampant in our day and time mindfulness for example or centering prayer for example or you know going striving for like an almost trance-like state um we don't want to be emptied out we want to be filled up and when we empty out and we're emptying out we're we're emptying ourselves of self uh in the sense of our own personal desires and wants we're surrendering to the lord it's a giving over of ourselves to the lord to be filled up with the lord it's not to enter into a void that would be the exact opposite of what christian meditation and christian contemplation would be so we have to be very very careful about that so i'm recommending teresa of avila john of the cross presented to us through father gabriel st magdalen also another good one father thomas dube the fire within another good book that will help to lead us into a deepening experience and understanding of what true contemplative prayer is okay okay thank you so much i appreciate it you're welcome theresa and keep watching and listening thank you very much i will bye bye bye bye now wonderful to have that question asked and we're looking forward to your question too 833 288 ewtn we have janet with us and janet is in the villages in florida today good morning janet how are you hi hi hi can you hear me okay perfectly well oh wait just a moment i hear you very well janet are you there okay yes i am here i'm trying to figure out how to i'm in my car uh if you can hear me that's good yes we do hear you okay a couple things when i um pray i pray specifically and i've had many experiences uh with the lord and i i dreamed of christ himself and i dreamed as a mother after a prayer when i asked her to pray for me and also when i was a child i prayed for seven years for my parents to come to know christ and they did after seven years and the miracle of prayer is sometimes we have to wait for an answer and another time when my first husband was dying i i took care of him by myself and i was so weak that the one day close to the time before he died i had to hold on to the walls to walk down to the hallway to my bedroom because i was so weak i couldn't walk alone and when i got in there i held my hands up to the lord and i asked him to give me the strength to take care of my husband and john elle you won't believe this in an instant i felt like i had had nine hours sleep and i literally ran into that living room where my husband's bed was it was such a miracle i'm telling you god is so good and another time this was after jenny had died uh i was very very lonely after about five years i actually asked the blessed mother to pray for me for and i asked the lord as well and i asked them to send me a man who loved god more than he loved me and because that way i was assured that he would love me if he loved the lord right correct good prayer i and so i fell asleep because um i i don't want this to sound crazy but i do have visions of things when they happen to my family i see it and i call and i find out that's what happened well anyway i had fallen asleep after i said those prayers and i in my dream i saw me sitting at the foot of my bed and christ there was the cross in front of me and christ was leaning over with his hands to the right and he literally lifted himself up onto the cross which he allowed himself to die for us there's a lot of stuff in this yeah but as i'm looking at his face it turned into the blessed mother's face and she walked out towards me and she was quite tall and she took my hand my one hand and put her hand on the bottom and the other hand on top of my hand and then i looked down and her hand turned into a man's hand and i woke up and you won't believe within less than five months i met my second husband who was phenomenal and by the grace of god i got to take care of him before he passed as well oh my goodness and yes and i'm telling you god has been with me throughout my life in everything and got me through so many wonderful things and when i was baptized as a child i was around 15 or 17 and i became a catholic when i was 23. um he when i was baptized i was baptized in a creek and i had big ice chunks in southern ohio flowing down the water and when the pastor and the deacon put my sister and me under the water bought our whole body i had on a little white cotton dress and i'm telling you it was almost like in raiders of the lost arts where they had the spirit flying through i kid you not i felt that whole spirit the holy spirit come from heaven and go through my whole body and back up again i'm telling you it was the most powerful thing in the world and uh i think about the babies getting baptized you know but as an adult getting sanitized and feeling that god is so gracious and merciful and loving and the fact that you and i can experience the amazing gifts of god and it doesn't mean that we don't have pain and have to get through it but let me tell you you look to god and he gets you through everything and what seems to be your darkest hour by going to him and getting through it it's almost like the the silver lining is on the other side and things are better than they were before the darkness well you know janet what you're what you're sharing here i think is is really remarkable uh in terms of the way in which god operates in our lives and we were talking earlier about kairos moments and you've had several of those kairos moments the beautiful thing is you were able to recognize them and and this is this is what god wants us to see that he's always in the midst of of meeting every need that we have and i love that story about the the the grace that came to you by way of that uh capacity to to experience that strength and that alertness that you needed when your first husband was dying um i remember those days myself uh when when my first husband was passing and and caretaking is exhausting but how many times just like you're saying the refreshment from heaven comes and god makes haste to help us and you say that this was you know instantly i mean he makes haste to help us uh and and there you were and you had that capacity uh your your your your vision your intellectual vision there is very interesting and there's a whole lot in there as you say but again you know god knows the desires of our heart because he puts those desires there so when you were praying for you know a man of god to come into your life it was because god had already placed that desire in your heart right and and you were open and receptive to that and you recognize that moment and and you moved in that moment and again god used you in a powerful way in in your second husband's uh entry into eternal life uh you know and and you just want to comment on that on the baptism you know it's a beautiful beautiful thing um and and many of us i was baptized as a baby so i don't cognitively remember that moment but my soul remembers that moment right um it's there uh the treasury of grace is there uh you remember it cognitively because of your age but even that that that that whoosh of the holy spirit that you experienced says something to those of us who do not consciously remember that moment that the same thing happened for us uh so i really want to thank you for your call today i think everything that you've shared with us is very very inspirational and and it reminds us friends that we've always got to be open to this movement of grace that is in us and it comes from it comes from this this desire to be to know god to love god and to serve god and the serving of god isn't in the sense of being a slave or or even being you know one who attends to his needs god has no needs right how do we serve god we serve god by fulfilling our purpose that serves his purposes when we fulfill our purposes it's an act of the will a free will decision prompted by grace that helps us to move into the mission that god has in mind for us at each and every moment of our lives and there's many missions you know there might be an overarching mission but there's many missions inside of that mission so it's being attentive it's being very attentive to this action of god which goes back uh to what we talked about a a few minutes ago about this this this contemplative attitude towards life always aware always searching for that presence of god with us right that moves us along that moves us along and reveals to us what it is that he wants to be about in our life and that's the only place where true happiness comes from it's the only place where true fulfillment comes from it only comes from god because he is the fulfillment of all desire right so there you have it let's get to robert robert's been holding for a long time he's in aurora colorado this morning good morning to you robert how are you good morning good morning uh it's good to to listen to you guys this morning i had a question uh about you you mentioned about god acts yes and a friend of mine thinks that god reacts as well but i had coke but my whole family had kovic uh last october he was eight of us and uh except for one person we all lived together in a in a big home and uh since the one that was my daughter-in-law she was the only one who did not have copic uh my five-year-old my four-year-old grandson at the time he had kovic he's five now and uh and now he you know five years can't have the shots but he is almost immune they you know per uh uh doctors to getting uh any covet related uh you know issues or problems and uh i was i was just thinking do you think god has uh had a plan uh for for to protect us at the time to have somebody there to [Music] uh feed us to take care of the whole family and then uh this protection that my five-year-old have five-year-old grandson has from kobe and you were saying that god acts and he or or he reacts what's your opinion opinion opinion on that robert well very good well this is what we know um you know from saint thomas aquinas he says god is pure act he doesn't say god is pure reaction he says god is pure act so god is always about affecting his will not only does he act but his acts are efficacious and that means that his acts are effective all right so he is always in the process of acting we react to god so god acts and we respond all right god acts and we respond so even when we have a sentiment of love and desire toward god that's a response because god has loved us first right god first loved us he loved us into life and when we get that that emotion of of of love back for him that is a reaction to the love that he's already instilling in us all right so so i god is not a reactor god is an actor he is the actor he is the creator he's the prime mover he is the actor um he is the one of authority all authority he's creator right so so there's that so god is not the reactor god is the actor we react to god we respond to god okay um so there's that now with regard to to the reality of the world in which we live we live in a broken and fallen world that has the residual effect of original sin and original sin if you go back and you look through the old testament you start reading it genesis 1 and you just keep reading you're going to see that there was no disease there was no illness there was nothing in the garden of eden all of this was ordered according to man's benefit but then when sin entered the world sin then uh caused a breach in this perfect plan of god and then that is when suffering that is when uh you know tribulation that is when trial uh that's when all of that disease entered into the world and the more depraved man became uh the more uh all of these things uh held sway over man and this is why in genesis 3 when man falls god promises that this is going to be rightened i will put enmities between you and the woman between your seed and hers you will strike at his heel and he will crush your head so he god prophesies and said there will be a woman and this woman will bring a man into the world interestingly enough eve is taken from adam she comes out of adam but god says oh no now there's going to be a man that comes from the woman and her offspring is gonna is gonna smite your head right so he's promising us a way out uh right there okay he's promising us a way out and the way out comes through the salvific action of our lord jesus christ that being said we're still in this this state of the new creation happening and so we still experience the fallout from original sin one of which is disease god permits the disease because he's going to work a greater good than could have been worked had the disease not happened or and and sometimes the disease is the way the ultimate good can happen which is that we return to god so did your son did your grandson receive a supernatural gift i don't know if it's a supernatural gift i do know that god's built into the body natural immunities and he's experiencing that but the fact that he has life every day that we have life and breath in our body it's a miracle of the lord i certainly hope that that helps you we gotta run right now thank you for calling robert very good day everybody thank you for it you blessed me abundantly i hope we blessed you too we'll be back with you again until then god bless you bye bye now this is michael warsaw chairman and chief executive officer of ewtn

Channel: EWTN

Views: 972

Keywords: Catholic, EWTN, Christian, television

Id: u_nePZ3ZDxo

Length: 53min 10sec (3190 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 19 2021