Posted on 01/12/2005 7:03:19 PM PST by AskStPhilomena
We greet you Spirit of the North. Teach us to plant our feet securely on the earth and to see things as they really are, that the coming of your Spirit may find us standing firm in integrity. Teach us, Spirit of the North, in the solitude of winter, to wait in darkness with the sleeping earth, believing that we, like the earth, already hold within ourselves the seeds of new life.
ALL: May the deep peace of mercy be on us forgiving us, beckoning us, encouraging us; and may our readiness to forgive calm the fears.
We greet you, O Spirit of the East.
Awaken in us with each day, new hopes, new dreams of colors, loves and joys never before imagined. Fill our bodies with your breath, invigorate us. Carry us to the farthest mountains and beyond. In-spirit us that we might reach out to you boldly to grasp the miracles that are given birth with each new dawn.
ALL: May the deep peace of compassion be on us holding us close when we are weary, hurt and alone; and may we be the warm hands and warm eyes of compassion when people reach out to us in need.
We greet you Spirit of the South. You bring the winds of summer and breathe on us the warmth of the sun to sooth and heal our bodies and our spirits. Quicken us, draw us by the urgings of your warm breath to break through the soil of our own barrenness and fear. Teach us to hold sacred the memory of the spring rains that we might have the strength to withstand the heat of the day, and not become parched and narrow in our love. Lead us to accept fatigue with resignation, knowing that life is not to be rushed, that there is no flower of the field that grows from seed to blossom in a single day.
All: May the deep peace of gentleness be on us caressing us with sunlight, rain and wind; may tenderness shine through us to warm all who are hurt and lonely.
We greet you Spirit of the West; cool our hot and tired bodies, refresh and bring laughter to our hearts. It is you who usher in the setting sun. Guide our steps at the end of day; keep us safe from evil. Fill us with your peace as you enfold us with your great mystery of night that we might rest securely In your arms until morning call us forth again.
ALL: May the deep blessing of peace be on us stilling our hearts that have fear and doubt and confusion within them; and may peace cover us and all those who are troubled and anxious. May we be peacemakers.
We greet you, Great Spirit of the Earth. It was from you we came as from a Mother; you nourish us still and give us shelter.
Teach us to walk softly on your lands, to use with care your gifts, to love with tenderness all our brothers and sisters who have been born of your goodness. And when the day comes when you call us back to yourself, help us to return to you as a friend, to find ourselves embraced, encircled and enfolded in your arms.
ALL: May the deep peace of community arise from within us, drawing us ever nearer, speaking to us of unity, true community where distinctions of persons is also oneness in being.
[shudder]
Spirit Daily has picked up this story. Maybe there will be enough national outrage that they decide they need to pull it off the website.
Well, anybody tries to say that prayer around me, I will stand up, say, I refuse to pray a wiccan prayer and walk out, and complain loudly.
In my mispent youth, I did mess with wicca. I converted to Christ, and there's no way I am going to go back so that a few good CINOs can play with feel good stuff that they don't understand. Invoking the four directions? Invoking the earth?
This is not Christian, and if any sweet old sister says it is, ask her why wants to cast a magic circle instead of pray to God.
Oh, you just haven't been enlightened yet. You need to sign up for one of the small groups, so you can grow and share. (end sarcasm) Not whack. It's mainstream in some places. Around here the small group is the thing. And one group proudly announces they've been meeting secretly, likening themselves to the early disciples, since 1990 when small groups were prohibited locally, teaching each other and growing. And these same people hold positions of authority in my parish and influence religious ed and liturgy and other ministries. And, yes, they had 2 different priests as part of their secret group (one openly schismatic we found out later). Several of these same people were instrumental in consolidating the local parishes (spread the poison), and breaking down long held traditional devotions like the Rosary and Adoration, both temporarily outlawed now back 'with supervision'.
Defenders of the NO keep telling us it is getting better, and that the "abuses" are now under control. But that's not my observation, either. What has happened is that we have simply come to accept the abuses and people no longer recognize them as such.
I have no words. The look on my face is one of revulsion.
It's because praying to God is coming face-to-face with the Divine, and sometimes, that just doesn't make us feel good and raise our self-esteem. Wicca and all the new pagan "religions" are all about feeling good: there is no moral demension, everything is within our control, and we can do whatever we want because Mommy Earth still wuvs us.
Yes. Just a sliver of what demonic spirit is bombarding people.
And chide us for not going along. Now anyone who is 'traditional' is the odd one, at least in many dioceses. And sadly it is often the people in authority, the 'ministers' of things who go out of their way to make non-conformists feel out of place. And the more out of line the changes, the worse the behavior.
I've heard people say that this is the springtime of Vatican II. That this NO mass is the best ever. There will be no going back. Yet, for all their urging to accept change, they themselves refuse to hear of any changes that deviate from their notion of what Catholic should be. I find it wearying to discuss it at our parish ministries meetings. What is always most outstanding to me is that these defenders of the NO, these people who want the changes want only those changes as defined by them. If you question what they are doing, they are openly abusive and insulting, reminiscent of arguing with liberal dems. This was a huge problem at our parish a decade or so ago when our 2 priests were openly schismatic. It still is a problem, but more people just go along now. We lost 20-30% of our population.
So true. And many no longer recognize it as evil. I joke occasionally that I'm looking outside to see the asteroid/lightning bolt/comet strike. Because each abomination is worse than the previous.
Ain't nothing like the blood of Jesus. Everything else pales compared to the reality of Jesus. Been there, Done that, and I KNOW!
The wiccan stuff is more dangerous, if you will, than they know. But sometimes I think that a few of them do indeed know what they are dealing with and openly embrace it, just keep that to themselves. Remember when Notre Dame hired some wiccan 'priestess' to be on staff and teach. I think she was actually a nun (in name only) and she may still be there, leading others astray.
We greet you, Great Spirit of the Earth. It was from you we came as from a Mother; you nourish us still and give us shelter.
Could this be any more pagan? Not thanking God for the earth, for it's shelter, but actually thanking the earth who is our mother. It's strange to see the older nuns take this up. The same nuns in full habit when I was a kid have now gone, many of them, wiccan and new age. Very sad.
They not only ate bad mushrooms, they compounded it by smoking the cheap weed before topping it off with a batch of homemade crack that didn't turn out right!
I read somewhere years ago that sometimes the best way to counter the devil is to laugh at him, so to the "archdiocese" of San Frandamnsisco I can only reply to their "blessing our oneness" by saying:
PHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
"And what a shame, too, because all the sisters are very nice (and very old) ladies. It will be difficult for me to do this."
Just goes to prove that there are no fools like old fools! Maybe its time they were sent off to a mental hospital.
I like your style!!!!
Too many women were let into convents in the fifties and sixties as a career choice, rather than a spiritual choice, and that caused some of the problem...
But a lot of this starts in increments.
What's even more bothersome to me is this: You don't automatically find it on their website. But if you go and look for stuff like the diocesean rules for sex abuse or help for the abused, this prayer is in the sidebar. So people who are checking out CCD related stuff can get exposed to this garbage.
So if you have been injured by unfaithful priests or others, and are looking for help, or you want to check out to make sure the policies are good to protect your children, or you're wondering something along those lines, you get exposed to this crap.
Dear Lord, what a wicked thrust of the devil. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle!
Exactly. It's called systematic desensitization, like what happens to a child when they are exposed to violent or pornographic images over and over again, they are no longer repulsed or shocked. The homosexual activists use this method too as do many others advancing an anti God agenda.
Combine that with the ignorance of basic Church teaching that is quite common today, plus a false notion of obedience, "if it comes from the diocese, my priest, a religious, the bishop, the Pope etc. it must be OK" even if it goes against everything traditionally taught as Catholic and our better judgment; the sheep will be easily lead astray. The evil one is very clever.
--the Evil One is very clever--
Yep...this is true.
Made me think another way, too...get people so mad that when the Bishop says something he ought to, they get in rebellion. Get people so crazy they'll follow any teaching, and they go off the deep end.
What a clever devil...but I still trust in God's promises...the gates of hell will not prevail, although they are trying very hard right now!
I bet you'd find that most of them ARE liberal Dems.
It's very discouraging - you note that you lost 20-30% of your population, but I bet nobody in charge at the parish really cares. How the supporters of the NO can boast about the "springtime" of the Church when parishioners are leaving in droves is one of the many things that puzzles me.
As do I, however the casualty rate of souls will be enormous before the battle is over. We must stay vigilant and on guard.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.