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GOD SILENCES CRITICS AND WINS YOUR BATTLES WHEN YOU'RE HUMBLE BUT 'STAND YOUR GROUND'

Did you know that you're not supposed to give in to those who attack you -- that is, who try to take what is rightfully you and yours? It's an important point to make.

As Catholics -- as Christians -- we're certainly supposed to turn the other cheek, and in the smaller, material matters, give twice what someone seeks, the cloaks off our backs. But listen here: that doesn't mean letting others overtake us. It certainly does not mean we subject ourselves to spiritual harm! What is meant by "you" and "yours"? That is who you are. It is your essence. This no one is allowed to tread upon.

Look at Christ: He turned the other cheek on the way to Calvary. That's true. He stopped His disciple from defending Him with a sword. But at the same time He admitted to nothing false (in order to placate His accusers) but instead planted His Cross in the ground, and stood there against the fiercest attack ever waged by Satan. He held to what He was ordained to hold. In military lingo, He "took the hill" (and indeed Calvary was on a hill).

We are called to do likewise.

We are called to turn the other cheek in minor matters but not in the major part of our missions -- nor when it infringes on the terrain that God has ordained for us. Many are those who will let anyone do or say anything in order to "smooth things" over. In order to "keep the peace." In order to show "love."

Being a Christian means being neither a bully nor a wimp. It means standing our ground while we patiently wait for God to defend us. It's what John Paul II did when faced with Communist threats. He was gentle. He was patient. But he conceded nothing. He was strong with courage. It was Communism that fell!

"If we love God enough to follow His teachings, we will be able to differentiate between love and false love in others," says one very wise and mystical woman we know. "We will love all people with a Christ-like love, the kind that helps others without being seduced by them. This pure, tough love is kind and patient, but it is also protective and honest. It does not allow us to grovel."

Let's hear that again:

It does not allow us to grovel.

The worst thing we can do for a person is enable that person by taking the easy way and letting them walk all over us, or keep saying the wrong things. We let them go on doing or speaking evil. That's wrong. It is sweeping dirt under the rug. You or others will eventually trip over it. We should never concede something that's false for the sake of "peace."

We all know folks in life who have huge egos, are headstrong, and try to push us into a mold of their liking. They constantly talk about themselves -- and make us feel like someone we are not. When you don't feel like yourself around someone, correct that; hold your ground. We can tell them when they are narcissistic. "The only way to survive in a relationship with [such a person]," says a spiritual writer named Jody Long, "is to not react to anything he or she may say and keep emotions level. That also means one must have firm boundaries and not allow the person to breach the perimeter of those boundaries."

There it is again: be humble, but defend your borders. Maintain the dignity of your essence. Let no one tread there. The Lord calls us to be humble -- but not to forfeit our station with Him and our mission in life. That doesn't mean to fight. It doesn't mean retribution. It certainly doesn't mean revenge. It means to exercise the equanimity of the Holy Spirit (standing firm without fisticuffs). If God is for you, who can defeat you?

He moves slowly but with the sureness of a glacier. Look for the presence of peace and the peace of His Presence. Don't try to convince somebody verbally -- when they want nothing to do with hearing your side. Just go to your "secret place" in "His shadow" (Psalm 91:1). Let the Lord answer and explain for you (as He will through events). He will bring you justice as the noonday (Psalm 37:6). Just stand by the Cross. "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper; and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn," says Isaiah 54:17. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.

Silence is often the most powerful answer (or a gentle word of love without wrong concession). For when we are even-minded, and have true love (which often means correcting others), what is stolen will be returned -- and multiplied. Be peaceful in the storm. It doesn't matter what others say about you. It doesn't matter how unfair. Their false impressions are meaningless. Their slander will dissolve. Don't grovel to prevent it. Eventually, the Lord will right you. It will be returned. They will be rebuked -- in God's time, and in a way that will bring you no turmoil.

[resources: The God of Miracles]

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