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	<title>Half the Kingdom! &#187; Healing</title>
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	<description>Esther 7:2</description>
	<pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:09:41 +0000</pubDate>
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  <title>Half the Kingdom!</title>
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		<item>
		<title>God Brought to a Destitute</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2009/01/05/god-brought-to-a-destitute/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2009/01/05/god-brought-to-a-destitute/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:09:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Forgiveness]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Love]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2009/01/05/god-brought-to-a-destitute/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
 
I never forget what happened to our sisters in Rome, where we work with the shut-ins. 
&#160;
They go to the poor people&#8217;s houses. (We clean the house and give them a bath, wash their clothes in the house and so on.)
&#160;
The sisters found someone left in a terrible condition. They cleaned his room and [...]]]></description>
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<div> </div>
<div>I never forget what happened to our sisters in Rome, where we work with the shut-ins. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>They go to the poor people&#8217;s houses. (We clean the house and give them a bath, wash their clothes in the house and so on.)</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>The sisters found someone left in a terrible condition. They cleaned his room and washed his clothes and gave him a good bath, but he never spoke.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>After two days he told the sisters, &#8220;You have brought God into my life, bring father also.&#8221;</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>They went to the parish priest and brought the priest. &#160;That man who never spoke, only that sentence he said, made his confession (he was Catholic). &#160;He made his confession after sixty years, and next morning he died.  </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>He had a beautiful death!</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Mother Teresa</div>
<div></div>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Attachment to Sin</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/12/29/attachment-to-sin/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/12/29/attachment-to-sin/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:32:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Contrition]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Conversion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/12/29/attachment-to-sin/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
&#160;
What is there to do to be free from attachment to venial sin, which is required to gain a plenary indulgence? It is a gap in one&#8217;s purpose of amendment, as if he said to himself: &#8220;I do not intend to commit many or great sins. But I reserve a bit for myself: If it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="center"><img width="477" height="519" alt="sin.jpg (477x519 pixels)" hspace="1" vspace="1" src="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/tj200812291531-1.jpg" /></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>What is there to do to be free from attachment to venial sin, which is required to gain a plenary indulgence? It is a gap in one&#8217;s purpose of amendment, as if he said to himself: &#8220;I do not intend to commit many or great sins. But I reserve a bit for myself: If it gets hard to join in a conversation without talking against neighbor &#8212; I will do it. If it gets too hard to stick to the truth: I will lie. There are many other possibilities. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>A person who has such an attitude does not have to do it consciously: it is merely the standard, habitual attitude of his soul: it sets limits to his response to God. It is as if he put a clamp on his heart, which lets it expand only so far, and no farther. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>That gap not only blocks reception of a plenary indulgence (only a partial indulgence would be received) - it blocks all actual spiritual growth, no matter how many Masses a person may attend, or other good things. It is sad to see people who in general are very good,yet making no real growth. Soon a retreat is one time to examine one&#8217;s attitudes: Do I really mean to hold out? Even if one does not realize he has such a defect, it still harms him. He can begin to really grow only when he finds he has the attitude and clean sit up. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>END</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>this article discovered <a class="previewlink" href="http://www.catholicculture.org/library/most/getwork.cfm?worknum=28">here</a></div>
<div></div>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dr. Gloria Polo’s Return From The Gates of Hell - Part 2 of 2</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/12/20/dr-gloria-polo%e2%80%99s-return-from-the-gates-of-hell-part-2-of-2/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/12/20/dr-gloria-polo%e2%80%99s-return-from-the-gates-of-hell-part-2-of-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:28:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Forgiveness]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mercy]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Love]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Salvation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/?p=2081</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Interview of Dr. Gloria Polo by Radio Maria (Colombia)
http://gloriapolo.com/gloriapolo_ingles.doc
GLORIA POLO’s WITNESS (continued)
 [Taken from one of the interviews done to Dr. Gloria Polo by Radio Maria (Colombia)]
It was terrible, devastating. I was in total chaos. Surely they couldn&#8217;t blame me for having killed anyone?
For example, I bought groceries for many people in need, but I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2082" title="dr-gloria-polo" src="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/dr-gloria-polo.jpg" alt="dr-gloria-polo" width="433" height="399" /></p>
<p>Interview of Dr. Gloria Polo by Radio Maria (Colombia)</p>
<p>http://gloriapolo.com/gloriapolo_ingles.doc</p>
<p>GLORIA POLO’s WITNESS (continued)<br />
 [Taken from one of the interviews done to Dr. Gloria Polo by Radio Maria (Colombia)]</p>
<p>It was terrible, devastating. I was in total chaos. Surely they couldn&#8217;t blame me for having killed anyone?</p>
<p>For example, I bought groceries for many people in need, but I didn&#8217;t do it out of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> but rather to look good, because it was cool for everyone to see how good I was and it was great to manipulate people in need.</p>
<p>I would tell them “take these groceries, but please take my place at the parent-teacher conference because I don&#8217;t have time to attend.” And that’s how I would give people things but I would manipulate them. Besides, I liked being followed by a lot of people singing my praises. I made an image for myself. I was told “you had a god, and that god was money! You have been condemned because of money! Because of it you have sunk into the abyss and you distanced yourself from your Lord.” We had been wealthy, but we were broke at that point, full of debt, having run out of money. Therefore, when they told me money was my god I cried out: “What money? Back on earth I left many debts!” And that’s all I said…</p>
<p>When they talked to me about the second commandment, I saw full of sadness that, as a little girl, I learned that lies were excellent ways of avoiding my mom’s severe punishments. I started walking with the father of lies (Satan) and I became a liar. As my sins grew, my lies also grew. I noticed my mom’s respect for the Lord and how his name was Holy to her, so I took that as a weapon and I started swearing in vain. I would say “Mom, I swear to God….”, and that’s how I would avoid punishments. Imagine my lies, placing the Most Holy name of the Lord in my rottenness, because at that point I was full of dirt and sin.</p>
<p>And look, brothers and sisters, I learned that words do not go away empty. When my mom was giving me a hard time I would say, “Mom, if I&#8217;m lying to you, let a lightning bolt strike me!” And although the words faded in time, it is through the <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/mercy/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Mercy">mercy</a> of God that I&#8217;m here, because in reality lightning hit me, practically cutting me in half and burning me.</p>
<p>They would show me how I, who called myself a Catholic, never kept my word and would always use the Lord’s Holy Name in vain.</p>
<p>It shocked me how the Lord passed by and all those horrible creatures would throw themselves on the ground in adoration. I saw the <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/blessed-virgin-mary/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Blessed Virgin Mary">Blessed Virgin Mary</a> prostrated at the Lord’s feet, praying for me in supplication, while I, a sinner deep in filth, kept my exchange with the Lord going. I thought myself so righteous! Complaining and cursing against the Lord.</p>
<p>On keeping holy the Lord’s day, it was horrible and I felt intense pain; the voice would tell me how I would dedicate four or five hours to my body every day, but not even ten minutes of deep <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> to my Lord in thanksgiving or a simple prayer. I would start the rosary very quickly and I would say to myself “I can finish the rosary while the commercials are on for my soap opera.” They showed me how I was never grateful toward the Lord. They also showed me what I used to say when I didn&#8217;t feel like going to Mass. “But mom, God is everywhere, why do I need to go there?” Of course it was very convenient for me to say that. The voice would remind me how the Lord was watching over me 24 hours a day but I never prayed a little, or on Sunday to thank him, to show him any gratefulness or <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>; that going to church was the feeding of my soul. But I took care of my body instead. I was enslaved to my body and I forgot a tiny detail: I had a soul and I never took care of it. I never fed it with the word of God because I would rationalize that whoever read the word of God would go crazy.</p>
<p>On the Sacraments, I had nothing. I used to say that I would never go to Confession with those old men who were far worse than me. I did it because it was very comfortable for me to do so in the midst of my filth. The evil one drove me away from Confession and that is how he took away cleanliness and <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/healing/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Healing">healing</a> from my soul, because every time I sinned, there was a price to pay: within the white purity of my soul, Satan would place his blemish, a blemish of darkness. Never, with the exception of my First Communion, did I make a good Confession. From that point on, I received my Lord unworthily. The lack of coherence of my life reached such a stage that I would blaspheme and challenge “Why ‘blessed’ sacrament? Can you imagine God being alive in a piece of bread? Priests should put some caramel spread on that wafer to make it tasty!” That’s how low my relationship with God fell.</p>
<p>I never fed my soul, but to make matters worse, I would criticize priests constantly. You should have seen what a hard time I had on that one! Ever since we were little, I remember criticism against priests being present in my family. My dad used to say that those guys were womanizers and much better off than we were. And we would repeat that. And my Lord told me: “Who did you think you were making yourself God and judging my anointed? They are human, and the holiness of a priest is built by his community, that prays, loves, and supports him. When a priest sins his community is questioned, not him. The Lord showed me that each time I criticized priests, the demons would get attached to me. Besides that, at some point I accused a priest of homosexuality and the whole community found out. You can&#8217;t imagine how much harm I did.</p>
<p>On the fourth commandment, honor thy Father and thy Mother, as I already told you the Lord showed me how ungrateful I was to them. I would curse against and complain about them because they could not give me everything my friends had. I never appreciated anything they did for me, to the point of saying I didn&#8217;t know my Mom because I thought she was not up to my standards. It was horrible to see the summary of a woman with no God and how that Godless woman can destroy anything coming close to her.</p>
<p>But the worse part was that I thought of myself as good and saintly.</p>
<p>The Lord also showed me how I thought I could do well on this commandment simply because I paid for my parents’ doctors’ bills and medicines when they became ill, but that since I analyzed everything from the vantage point of money I would manipulate them when I had money. I took advantage even of them, money made me feel god and I stepped all over them. Do you know what really hurt? Seeing my dad crying sadly, because even though he was a good father who had taught me to be hardworking, entrepreneurial, and honest, he forgot a small but important detail: that I had a soul and that he was an evangelizer with his witness, and that therefore, my whole life started to sink as a result of this. I would look upon my dad with hurt when he was a womanizer. He enjoyed telling my mom and everyone, for that matter, that he was a real man because he had several women and he could keep up with all of them. Besides, he was a smoker and a drinker. Those vices made him feel proud because he thought them virtues, not vices.</p>
<p>I started to see how my mom would cover her face in tears when my dad started talking about other women. I became full of anger and resentment. That resentment led me to my spiritual death. I saw with terrible anger how my dad humiliated my mom in front of everyone. I rebelled and I told my mom I would never be like her. “That’s why us women are worthless, because of women like you, with no dignity and no pride who let men trample all over them!” And when I grew up, I told my dad “Mind you, I&#8217;ll never, ever, let a man humiliate me in the same way you humiliate my mom. If a man is ever unfaithful to me, I&#8217;ll repay him!” He hit me and challenged me “Don&#8217;t even think about it!” My dad was very chauvinistic. I told him “even if you hit me or kill me, if I ever get married and my husband is unfaithful to me, I will pay him back so men will understand how women suffer when men trample over them.” So, full of that resentment and anger, once I had made enough money I started telling my mom she should separate from my dad despite the fact that I really loved my dad. “You shouldn&#8217;t put up with a man like that! Be dignified, make him see your worth!” Can you imagine? I was trying to make my own parents divorce! And mom would tell me “no, honey, of course I hurt, but I&#8217;ve sacrificed myself because I have seven children and because, at the end of the day, your dad is a good father and I couldn&#8217;t possibly leave and take your father away from you. Besides, if I leave him, who is going to pray for his <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>? I&#8217;m the only one who can pray so he will be saved, because the hurt and <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/suffering/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Suffering">suffering</a> he causes me, I raise to unite to the pain of Christ on the Cross. Every day I tell the Lord, “This pain is nothing compared to your Cross, so please save my husband and children!” I didn&#8217;t understand that. My anger swelled and changed my life. I became a rebel and started promulgating my desire to defend women. I began defending abortion, cohabitation, and divorce, speaking out in favor of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”. I was never unfaithful but I harmed many people with my advice.</p>
<p>When we came to the fifth commandment, the Lord showed me I was a horrible assassin and that I had committed the worst and most abominable in front of his eyes: an abortion. Money empowered me to pay for several abortions because I claimed women had a right to choose when they wanted to become pregnant or not. I saw in the book of life and it hurt me deeply when I saw a fourteen-year old girl aborting because I had taught her. When one is poisoned nothing good remains. Everything that comes close to you is also spoiled.</p>
<p>There were these girls, three of them my nieces and the other one, my nephew’s girlfriend. Their parents would let them come to my house because I had money and talked to them about fashion, glamour, how to show their bodies, and so on. My sister would send them to me. I corrupted them. I corrupted minors, that was a horrible sin, compounding abortion. I would tell them not to be innocent. “Your mothers talk to you about virginity and chastity because they’re outdated. They talk about a 2000 year old Bible but priests have refused to come to terms with the modern world. Your mothers talk about what the Pope says, but the Pope is outdated.”</p>
<p>Imagine how poisonous! I taught these girls they had to enjoy their bodies but that they had to contracept. I taught them the “perfect woman” method. That 14 year old, my nephew’s girlfriend, came to my office one day (I saw this in the book of life) and in tears told me “Gloria, I&#8217;m just a baby and I&#8217;m pregnant!” I scolded her and told her “didn&#8217;t I teach you about contraception?” She replied “yes, but it didn&#8217;t work!” Then I saw how the Lord had put that girl there so she wouldn&#8217;t sink in the abyss, so she wouldn&#8217;t abort.</p>
<p>Abortion is a heavy chain that drags and tramples, it is a hurt that never ends. It’s the emptiness of being a murderer. It’s the worst thing one can do to a child.</p>
<p>As to that girl, instead of talking to her about the Lord, I gave her money to have an abortion at a ‘good’ place so she wouldn&#8217;t have any complications later on in life. Just like that one, I sponsored several abortions. Each time the blood of a baby is spilled, it’s like a holocaust to Satan. It is a holocaust which hurts and shakes the Lord.</p>
<p>In the book of life I saw how our soul is formed the moment the sperm and the egg touch. A beautiful spark is formed, a light beaming from the sun of God the Father. As soon as the womb of a mother is impregnated, it lights up with the brightness of that soul. When there is an abortion, that soul screams and moans in pain even if it has no eyes or flesh. When it is being murdered, that cry is heard and Heaven shakes and an equally strong cry is heard in hell, but this time of joy. Immediately after that happens, some seals break loose in Hell and larvae come out to continue prowling around humankind, keeping it enslaved to the flesh and to all those bad things we see and the worse that will come.</p>
<p>Because, how many babies are killed on a daily basis? And it is a victory for him. The price of innocent blood releases one more demon each time. I got washed in that blood and my clean soul became absolutely dark. After those abortions, I had no more sense of sinfulness. For me, everything was okay. It was sad to see how all those debts I owed the devil included as well all those babies I had killed myself because I had a copper-T intrauterine device. I painfully saw how many little babies had been created and those suns had burst, with the cry of that baby being torn away from the hands of his Father God. No wonder I was always sour and ill-tempered, with a grim face, frustrated with everyone and very depressed. I had become a baby-killing machine!</p>
<p>And that sank me deeper into the abyss. How could I say I hadn&#8217;t killed? How about every person I disliked, hated, or simply couldn&#8217;t put up with? I was being a murderer there too. Because people don&#8217;t only die from a gunshot. It’s enough to hate them, to do bad things to them, to be envious of them. You kill with that.</p>
<p>As far as the sixth commandment is concerned I thought “they can&#8217;t find any dirt here; I didn&#8217;t have any affairs and I&#8217;ve only had one man, my husband, my entire life”. Then they showed me that each time my chest was showing and I was wearing leotards I was inciting other men to look at me and have impure thoughts and I would make them sin. That’s how I fell into adultery.</p>
<p>I would advise women to be unfaithful to their husbands. I would advise against <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/forgiveness/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Forgiveness">forgiveness</a> and would encourage divorce. That was enough to commit a horrible adultery.</p>
<p>And I realized the sins of the flesh are horrendous and condemning even if the world says they’re cool and that we should keep on behaving like animals. Sadly, I let go of the hand of the Lord, because we sin in thought, soul, and actions.</p>
<p>It was painful to see how all that sin, for example the sin of my father’s adultery, damaged and tore apart his children. It made me resentful against men and it made my brothers into three identical copies of my dad, happy to be womanizers and drunkards… they didn&#8217;t realize how much they were harming their children. That’s why my dad would cry with so much hurt seeing how his sin had been inherited in them and in his daughter, damaging God’s work.</p>
<p>On the seventh commandment, regarding not stealing, I considered myself very honest. The Lord showed me that while food was being wasted in my house, the rest of the world was going hungry. He told me “I was hungry and look what you did with what I gave you and how you would squander it. I was cold and see how you became enslaved to fashion and appearance, wasting lots of money in treatments to look thinner. In other words, you made a god out of your body.” He showed me I was guilty of the misery of my country and that I did have a lot to do with it. He showed me how every time I gossiped about someone I stole his honor. It would have been easier to steal money from someone, because at least I could have returned it, but not so a person’s reputation. I stole from my children the grace of having a mother at home, tender and loving, and not the mother out in the world leaving them with the TV, the computer, or the video games for baby sitters. To clean my conscience, I would buy them brand-name clothes. It horrified me even worse when I saw my mom questioning herself, even though she was a saintly woman who loved and corrected us. So I thought: “What about me? I haven&#8217;t given my children anything! How frightening, what immense pain!”</p>
<p>I felt ashamed because in the book of life you get to see everything like in a movie. And my children would say “let’s <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> mom doesn&#8217;t come home soon, hopefully there will be a traffic jam, because she’s really annoying and is always complaining.” How sad it is for a three year old boy and a slightly older girl to say that. I stole their mother from them; I stole the peace I was supposed to give in my home. I didn&#8217;t teach them God through me; I didn&#8217;t teach them to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> their fellow man. It’s very simple: if I don&#8217;t <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> my fellow man, I have nothing to do with the Lord. If I have no <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/mercy/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Mercy">mercy</a>, I have nothing to do with the Lord.</p>
<p>Because God is <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> and… well, I&#8217;ll tell you a little bit about not bearing false witness. Or lie, because I was an expert at it. Satan became my father, because you may have either God or Satan as father.</p>
<p>If God is <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>, but I hate, who is my father? Not hard to answer. And if God speaks to me about <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/forgiveness/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Forgiveness">forgiveness</a> and about loving those who hurt me but I would say that I would repay any offense, then who is my father? And if He is the truth and Satan is the lies, who is my father? There are no white lies or anything like that. They are all lies and Satan is their father. My sins of the word were so terrible! I saw how much I had hurt with my tongue. Whenever I gossiped, whenever I made fun, whenever I gave anyone a nickname, how much did that person hurt. How much did that nickname hurt. I could give someone with a weight problem an inferiority complex by just calling her fat. How much evil I did, because words always end up as actions. When they gave me the test on the Ten Commandments, all my evils came from covetousness, that mad desire. I always thought I would be happy if only I had lots of money. And it became an obsession. How sad! The worst moment for my soul was when I had the most money. I even thought of killing myself. With so much money and alone, empty! Sour. Frustrated. That greed for money was the path that led me astray and away from my Lord’s hand. After my test on the Ten Commandments they showed me the Book of Life. I wish I had words to describe it. My book of life started at conception, when my parents’ cells united. Almost immediately there was a spark, a beautiful explosion and a soul was formed, my soul, grabbed by the hand by God my Father, such a beautiful God. So marvelous! Looking for me 24 hours a day. What I saw as punishment was nothing but His <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> because He didn&#8217;t look at my flesh but rather at my soul and He would see how I was straying away from <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</p>
<p>Before I finish I have to give you an example of how beautiful the Book of Life is. I was very hypocritical. I would tell someone “you look beautiful in that dress, it looks great on you” but inside of me I would think “what a disgusting outfit and she thinks herself the queen!”</p>
<p>On the Book of Life, it would show up exactly as I had thought about it, even though my words also appeared, as well as the inside of my soul. All my lies were uncovered for everyone to see. I would often play hooky on my mom because she wouldn&#8217;t let me go anywhere. I would lie to her about going to the library with some friends to work on a school project and my mom would believe me. And I would head off to watch a pornographic movie or to a bar to drink beer with my friends. But my mom saw my life, nothing escaped her.</p>
<p>The Book of Life is very beautiful.</p>
<p>My mom would pack bananas, guava paste, and milk for my lunch because my parents were very poor when I was little. I would eat the banana and would throw the peel anywhere. I was never aware that someone could get hurt if I did that. And the Lord showed me who it was who fell because of that banana peel and how I could have killed that person due to my lack of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/mercy/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Mercy">mercy</a>.</p>
<p>The only time I did a good confession, with sorrow and repentance, was when a woman gave me back too much change. She gave me back 4,500 pesos more than she was supposed to at a grocery store in Bogota. My dad had taught us to be honest and never to take anyone’s money. I noticed her mistake in the car, heading to my office. “That stupid woman gave me back 4,500 pesos more than she was supposed to and now I have to go back! There was a huge traffic jam so I decided not to turn back. After all, why was she so stupid! But the hurt remained because my dad had planted well the seed of honesty.</p>
<p>I went to Confession on Sunday and I accused myself of stealing 4,500 pesos because I didn&#8217;t give them back. I didn&#8217;t even pay attention to the priest’s words. The devil couldn&#8217;t accuse me of having stolen. But do you want to know what the Lord told me? “You didn&#8217;t repay that lack of charity. That money was pocket change for you, but to her, making the minimum wage, it was three day’s worth of food.” The saddest part was that He showed me how she suffered and went hungry for a couple days. Because of me, her two little ones hungered. That’s how the Lord shows these things. It shows how someone suffered with something I did.</p>
<p>The Lord asked me: “What spiritual treasures do you bring?” Spiritual treasures! And my hands were empty! That’s when He told me: “What was the point in your owning two condos, houses, and office buildings? You thought yourself a successful professional. You couldn&#8217;t even bring the dust off of one of those bricks here.</p>
<p>What did you do with the talents I gave you?” Talents? I thought. “You had a mission. The mission to defend the kingdom of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>, the Kingdom of God.” I had forgotten I had a soul so I could hardly remember I had talents, that I was the merciful hands of God. Much less that all the good I didn&#8217;t make, hurt the Lord. Do you want to know what the Lord kept on asking me? About lack of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> and charity. That’s when He told me about my spiritual death. I was alive, but dead. If you could have seen what “spiritual death” is. It’s like a soul that hates. Like a terribly sour and fastidious soul that injures everyone, full of sin. I could see my soul on the outside, smelling well, with good clothes on, but my stench on the inside, living deep in the abyss. No wonder I was so depressed and sour!</p>
<p>And He told me: “Your spiritual death began when you stopped hurting for your brothers!” I was warning you by showing you their plight everywhere. When you saw media coverage on murders, abductions, refugee situations, and with your tongue you said, on the outside, ‘poor people, how sad’, but you didn&#8217;t really hurt for them. You felt nothing in your heart. Sin made your heart into a heart of stone.”</p>
<p>You can imagine my deep sorrow when my book closed. I had deep sorrow with God my Father for having behaved like that because, despite all my sins, despite all my filth and all my indifference and all my horrible feelings, the Lord always, up until the last instant, searched for me. He would always send me instruments, people, He would talk to me, He would yell at me, He would take things away from me to seek me. He looked for me up until the very end. God is always “begging” at each one of us to convert.</p>
<p>I couldn&#8217;t accuse Him of condemning me! Of course not. Out of my free will, I chose my father, and my father was not God. I chose Satan, he was my father. When that book closed I noticed I was heading down into a pit with a door at its bottom. And as I&#8217;m heading there, I started calling out to all the saints so they would save me. You have no idea how many saints I remembered, being such a bad Catholic. I thought I could ask for help from Saint Isidore or Saint Francis of Assisi. When I ran out of saints, the same silence remained. I felt great emptiness and hurt.</p>
<p>I thought everyone back on earth was probably thinking I had died a saint, perhaps even waiting eagerly to ask for my intercession. And look! Where was I headed? I lifted my eyes and they met the eyes of my mom. With intense pain I cried out to her “mommy, how ashamed I am! I was condemned, mommy! Where I&#8217;m going I&#8217;ll never get to see you again! At that moment, they granted her a beautiful grace. She was still but her fingers moved and pointed upward. A couple of very painful scales fell from my eyes, that spiritual blindness. I saw a beautiful moment, when one of my patients told me: “Doctor, you are very materialistic and some day you&#8217;ll need this. When you find yourself in imminent danger, ask <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> Christ to cover you with His Blood, because He will never abandon you. He paid the price of blood for you.” With that immense shame and pain I started to cry: “<a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> Christ, Lord, have compassion on me! Forgive me, Lord, give me a second chance!</p>
<p>And that was the most beautiful moment. I have no words to describe that moment. He came and pulled me out of that pit. When He picked me up, all those creatures threw themselves on the ground. He picked me up and He pulled me onto that flat part and told me with all His <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>: “You will go back, you will have a second chance (…)”, but He told me it wasn&#8217;t because of my family’s prayer. “It’s normal for them to pray and cry out for you. It’s because of the intercession of all those foreign to your body and blood who have cried, have prayed, and have raised their heart with immense <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> for you.” I began to see many little lights lighting up, as little flames of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>. I saw the people who were praying for me.</p>
<p>But there was a big flame, it was the one that gave out the most light. It was the one that gave out the most <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>. I tried to see who that person was. The Lord told me: “That person you see right there loves you so much, but he doesn&#8217;t even know you.” He showed me how this man had seen an old newspaper clipping from the previous day. He was a poor peasant who lived in the foothills of the “Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta” (translator’s note: in northeastern Colombia). That poor man went into town and bought some processed sugar cane. They wrapped it for him in an old newspaper from the previous day. My picture was there, all burned. When that man saw the news, without even reading it in full, he fell to the ground and started crying with the deepest <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>. And he said, “Father, Lord, have compassion on my little sister. Lord, save her. Look, Lord, if you save my little sister, I promise you I will go on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lord in Buga (translator’s note: in southwestern Colombia), but please save her.”</p>
<p>Imagine a very poor man, he wasn&#8217;t complaining or cursing because he was hungry, but instead he had this capacity to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> that he could offer to cross an entire country for someone he didn&#8217;t even know. And the Lord told me: “That is <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> for your fellow man” (…) And then He told me: “You will go back, but you won&#8217;t repeat this 1000 times. You will repeat it 1000 times 1000. And woe to those who don&#8217;t change their ways despite having heard you, because they will be judged much more severely, just like you will when you come back here again, even their anointed or their priests, or any of them, because the worst deafness is that of a man who refuses to hear.”</p>
<p>And this, my brothers and sisters, is not a threat. The Lord doesn&#8217;t need to threaten us. This is the second chance you have and that, thanks be to God, I lived through what I did.  When each one of you gets His Book of Life opened in front of you, when each one of you dies, you will see that moment just as I saw it. And we will see each other just as we are… the only difference being we will see our thoughts in the presence of God, and the most beautiful part, with the Lord in front of each one of us, once again, “begging” us to convert and to become a new creation with Him, since we cannot do it without Him.</p>
<p>May the Lord bless each one of you abundantly. All glory be to our God! All glory be to our Lord <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> Christ!</p>
<p>this article discovered <a class="previewlink" href="http://www.gloriapolo.com">here</a>
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		<title>A Fervent Prayer for the Sick and Suffering</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/10/30/a-fervent-prayer-for-the-sick-and-suffering/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/10/30/a-fervent-prayer-for-the-sick-and-suffering/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:09:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Hope]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/10/30/a-fervent-prayer-for-the-sick-and-suffering/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


O Almighty Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior. The same Lord that so loves His children as to lay His life down for them. The same Lord that rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into Heaven. The same Lord that spoke the word and the Centurion&#8217;s servant was immediately [...]]]></description>
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<div align="center"><a class="previewlink" href="http://www.jorieken.nl/Marypages/PrayerstoOurLord.htm"><br /></a></div>
<div align="center"><font color="#000000"><br /></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">O Almighty Lord, <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> Christ, Son of God and Savior. The same Lord that so loves His children as to lay His life down for them. The same Lord that rose from the dead on the third day, and ascended into Heaven. The same Lord that spoke the word and the Centurion&#8217;s servant was immediately healed. The same Lord that restored sight to the blind; cleansed lepers, cured the lame. The same Lord that with a word rebuked the seas and they were calm. The same Lord that raised Lazarus from the dead. </font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br /></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">The same Lord that has been given all power both in Heaven and on Earth, do Thou, the same Lord visit and heal Thy servant, (__name__), from the afflictions that they are now <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/suffering/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Suffering">suffering</a>. </font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br /></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">Strengthen our faith like that of the Roman Centurion, so that we may ask for this <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/healing/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Healing">healing</a> with the same faith, trust, and <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> that Thy servant, (__name__) will be healed in the same manner that the Centurion&#8217;s servant was restored to health. </font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br /></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">O Holy physician of our souls and bodies, hear this fervent prayer for Thy servant (__name__), and grant this request as we hold this, Thy servant up before Thy glorious Throne. We ask this in the victorious and Holy Name of Our Lord, God, and Savior, <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> Christ. Amen.</font></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><br /></font></div>
<div><font color="#000000">this prayer discovered </font><a class="previewlink" href="http://www.jorieken.nl/Marypages/PrayerstoOurLord.htm">here</a></div>
<div><font color="#000000"></font></div>
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		<title>My Daily Eucharist - Healed at the Elevation</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/10/01/my-daily-eucharist-healed-at-the-elevation/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/10/01/my-daily-eucharist-healed-at-the-elevation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:05:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Love]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Eucharist]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/10/01/my-daily-eucharist-healed-at-the-elevation/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
&#160;&#160;&#160;
I celebrated a healing Mass for the people of Naga in the chapel of the Carmelite Monastery on a Saturday morning. I did not know the condition of any of the people at the Mass as no one had asked me to pray for any special intention. I stressed the importance of forgiveness, led them [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/eucharist1024sml.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1728" title="eucharist1024sml" src="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/eucharist1024sml.jpg" alt="" width="477" height="358" /></a></div>
<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div>I celebrated a <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/healing/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Healing">healing</a> Mass for the people of Naga in the chapel of the Carmelite Monastery on a Saturday morning. I did not know the condition of any of the people at the Mass as no one had asked me to pray for any special intention. I stressed the importance of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/forgiveness/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Forgiveness">forgiveness</a>, led them in The <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/forgiveness/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Forgiveness">Forgiveness</a> Prayer, and gave everyone general absolution.</div>
<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div>During the homily I was led to tell the people to look up during the elevation of the Body and Blood of Christ. &#8216;As you are looking at the Lord <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> and adoring Him in faith,&#8217; I said, &#8216;pray for <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/healing/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Healing">healing</a>. Especially if you pray for others,&#8217; I added, &#8216;you will be healed.&#8217;</div>
<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div>One woman, Nena Bichara, took my words as gospel truth. She had been <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/suffering/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Suffering">suffering</a> from a goiter for three years. The doctors could do nothing about it except to recommend surgery that, of course, she did not want to undergo. During the elevation of the Body of Christ she prayed for different people. Then she added, &#8216;and also, Lord, do not forget my goiter.&#8217; At once she felt a power hit her. She knew instantly that she was healed. She nudged her son next to her and said, &#8216;I am healed.&#8217; He answered, &#8216;Be quiet, mommy. People will think you are crazy.&#8217;</div>
<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div>After the Mass she called her doctor and insisted on an examination. He told her to come next week as it was already Saturday afternoon, but, like the persistent widow in the gospel, she got her way. The doctor could find no trace of the goiter! Three months later in Manila she went to another doctor who did not know her case. She asked for a complete examination and asked the doctor to be sure to check for goiters. The doctor told her, &#8216;You do not have any sign of a goiter. You have never had one.&#8217; Praise God!</div>
<div>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/healing/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Healing">Healing</a> Through The Mass</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">Fr. Robert DeGrandis, S.S.J.</div>
<div>this article discovered <a class="previewlink" href="http://www.mycatholic.com/eucharist/">here</a></div>
<div></div>
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		<title>Today&#8217;s Blessing - My Heart</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/07/17/todays-blessing-my-heart/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/07/17/todays-blessing-my-heart/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:11:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Love]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/07/17/todays-blessing-my-heart/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
&#160;
And what will you do with my heart, O Christ?

St. John Houghton, martyr (1487-1535)


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<div>&#160;</div>
<div align="center">And what will you do with my heart, O Christ?</div>
<div align="center"></div>
<div align="center">St. John Houghton, martyr (1487-1535)</div>
<div align="center"></div>
<div></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
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		<title>Masses for Fr. Corapi - update</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/06/13/masses-for-fr-corapi-update/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/06/13/masses-for-fr-corapi-update/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:48:34 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Graces]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Gratitude]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Blessings]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/06/13/masses-for-fr-corapi-update/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
I don&#8217;t know of anyone who has ever not immeasurably benefited from Fr. Corapi&#8217;s teachings on the tenets and facets of our Holy Catholic Faith.  As such, those who have viewed his programs on EWTN, listened to him on Relevant Radio, or availed themselves of the myriad of other means he makes the content [...]]]></description>
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<p>I don&#8217;t know of anyone who has ever not immeasurably benefited from Fr. Corapi&#8217;s teachings on the tenets and facets of our Holy Catholic Faith.  As such, those who have viewed his programs on EWTN, listened to him on Relevant Radio, or availed themselves of the myriad of other means he makes the content available, can do nothing less than hold him in their daily prayers, and fervently beseech God to continue to abundantly bless him, as those <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/blessings/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Blessings">blessings</a> promptly flow through him to millions of souls worldwide, and are a simple reflection on one&#8217;s sincere <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/gratitude/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Gratitude">gratitude</a> for God&#8217;s goodness in sending us such a wonderful catechist.</p>
<p>If you wish to send a Mass Card to Fr. Corapi, Please send the card, or any other mail for him, directly to him at:</p>
<p align="center">Fr. John Corapi, SOLT</p>
<p align="center">PO Box 9440</p>
<p align="center">Kalispell, MT 59904</p>
<p>Most importantly, please keep him in your prayers.  One of his favorites, as I understand, is the Memorare.</p>
<p>Through Him, With Him, In Him,</p>
<p>Sue</p>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why am I Catholic?</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/06/02/why-am-i-catholic/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/06/02/why-am-i-catholic/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Jun 2008 04:32:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Blessed Virgin Mary]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Eucharist]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Faith]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Graces]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Obedience]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Wisdom]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Blessings]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Love]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Mercy]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Direktlink zum Video auf Youtube
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		<item>
		<title>Novena to St. Dymphna</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/05/30/novena-to-st-dymphna/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/05/30/novena-to-st-dymphna/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 May 2008 05:20:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Hope]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[
&#160;
Following are a novena to pray and also an enrollment to be remembered in Masses and prayers. You may read about St. Dymphna here
&#160;
Also, there are available a 3-1/2 inch statue, a prayer card, a medal, a chaplet, and a devotional booklet, to honor St. Dymphna. For more info, call (504) 889-1708.
_______________________________
&#160;
Dear Friend of St. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div align="center"><img width="433" height="714" alt="saintv84_lrg.jpg (433x714 pixels)" hspace="1" vspace="1" src="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/tj200805300120-1.jpg" /></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Following are a novena to pray and also an enrollment to be remembered in Masses and prayers. You may read about St. Dymphna <a class="previewlink" href="http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/05221B.HTM">here</a></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Also, there are available a 3-1/2 inch statue, a prayer card, a medal, a chaplet, and a devotional booklet, to honor St. Dymphna. For more info, call (504) 889-1708.</div>
<div>_______________________________</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear Friend of St. Dymphna,</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>As our divine Savior taught us, we must &#8220;watch and pray&#8221; and &#8220;pray without ceasing&#8221; for the help we need to lead a Christian life. That is why our holy mother, the Church, encourages us to pray and honor the saints. This devotion to our Lady, the angels and the saints more thoroughly enriches the supreme worship we give to God the Father, through Christ, in the Spirit. (Decree on the Church, VII, 51).</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>In praying to the saints, we honor Christ, who is &#8220;crown of all the saints.&#8221; We will also be inspired and enabled to imitate their virtues, and shall surely receive their powerful spiritual aid in our daily difficulties.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>In honoring St. Dymphna by frequent use of the novena booklet, it is our <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> that you will grow ever closer to Christ, the Lord. In your goodness, please do not forget to mention prayerfully also the needs of our Franciscan missions, and the intentions of your fellow associates.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>With every blessing,</div>
<div>The Franciscan Friars</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>A NOVENA NOTE:</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>On the nine pages that follow, you will find suggested intentions, reflections, and prayers for each of the nine days.</div>
<div>There is, first, a suggested intention. Then, a verse from Holy Scripture connected to the day&#8217;s theme. You may wish, if you have a Bible close at hand, to read a short extract from the inspired text, and reflect on it. Next comes a contemporary prayer. You may either use this prayer or address St. Dymphna in your own words. There is, finally, a practice proposed so that you may have chance to show by your actions that you want to live as you pray.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>May St. Dymphna help you to persevere in your good intentions.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Do you suffer from STRAIN? FRUSTRATION? TENSENESS? EMOTIONAL UPSET?</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Turn to ST. DYMPHNA, patroness of those afflicted by nervous disorders, mental disturbances, emotional turmoil.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>She will help you as she has helped others.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Enroll yourself, your family, your friends.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>SPIRITUAL BENEFITS:</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Holy Mass is offered each week for the intentions and petitions of members of the St. Dymphna Devotion.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Each year at the tomb of St. Dymphna in her shrine at Gheel, Belgium, 12 High Masses are offered for living and deceased members.</div>
<div>Members are also remembered in all the spiritual exercises conducted by Franciscan Mission Associates during each month of the year.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>St. Dymphna members also share spiritually in the Masses, daily prayers, and good works of the Franciscan friars whose apostolic activities they support by their prayers and sacrifices.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>A double Novena of Masses in petition and thanksgiving takes place each year in conjunction with the feast of St. Dymphna on May 15.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>WRITE:</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>ST. DYMPHNA DEVOTION</div>
<div>Franciscan Mission Associates</div>
<div>P.O. Box 598</div>
<div>Mount Vernon, N.Y. 10551-0598</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>or CALL:</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>(914) 664-5604</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Your petitions will be included in all our prayers to invoke the aid of St. Dymphna, for her to:</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>- help in recovery of anyone who may be afflicted</div>
<div>- help in times of emotional stress</div>
<div>- aid in preserving health of body and soul, for the peace of mind we all need in our everyday living.</div>
<div>___________________________________________________</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>+ NOVENA +</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>FIRST DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: Holiness of Life</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: Be filled with the Spirit. <span class="scripture_reference" refid="46.363133">Ephesians 5:18</span></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Dear St. Dymphna, I can&#8217;t really say I want the title, &#8220;Saint,&#8221; before my name. It will be enough if I get a toehold in heaven.</div>
<div>Yet, almighty God calls me to holiness. This is His will for me, that I become a saint. I&#8217;m ashamed to admit that I&#8217;ve given this too little serious thought. I&#8217;ve been content with half-measures.</div>
<div>But thanks be to God, there is yet time. My Maker still preserves the breath of life within me. Every heartbeat is a sign that He still wishes I shall become holy.</div>
<div>Remind me, dear Saint, that holiness is an inside thing: my soul&#8217;s progress in Christ-likeness. Remind me that holiness calls for teamwork; God wants me to work together with Him. Finally, may I remember always that holiness is positive: to focus more on doing good than on not-doing evil.</div>
<div>Pray for me that I may be numbered among the Lord&#8217;s saints forever. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: With God&#8217;s grace and St. Dymphna&#8217;s aid, try to do well some routine tasks of your place in life, especially some you may find particularly distasteful.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>SECOND DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">Love</a> of God and Neighbor</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: A man that does not <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> his brother that he can see, cannot <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> God whom he has never seen. <span class="scripture_reference" refid="967.394826">John 4:20</span></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Dear St. Dymphna, you are a special friend and intercessor in heaven. I am confident that you will heed my plea for growth in <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> of God and neighbor.</div>
<div>First, please help me to develop a deep, personal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> for the Lord my God. May my <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> for Him endure in all moods and situations. Let me cling to Him no matter what He does or permits, what He gives or withdraws.</div>
<div>And, then, assist me in loving my fellowmen more sincerely. Obtain for me an understanding heart, filled with true compassion and concern for others. Let me never write anyone off because of human flaws or shortcomings. May I avoid being a burden to anyone, but always show myself willing to relieve the cares of other wayfarers on the journey of life.</div>
<div>I ask all these <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/graces/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Graces">graces</a> in the name of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> Christ, through whom all good things come. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: We prove our <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> not in words alone, but in our daily actions. We can measure how well we <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> God by how we act to the person we most dislike.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>THIRD DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: Acceptance of God&#8217;s Will</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: Do not let your heart be troubled. <span class="scripture_reference" refid="465.427576">John 14:27</span></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Dear St. Dymphna, I firmly believe that God holds our destinies in His hands. He arranges everything for our good here or hereafter. He presides at the sparrow&#8217;s fall and over everything that happens to us.</div>
<div>And yet, I find it hard at times to accept His doings. When I face pain or sorrow, I&#8217;m inclined to question His will. I feel He ought to deal with me differently.</div>
<div>May I appeal to you, then, for help in accepting His will as a true Christian should? Teach me to welcome my Father&#8217;s visitations no matter what the manner of His coming to me.</div>
<div>Show me how all the bits of life&#8217;s jigsaw puzzle have God&#8217;s signature on them, and how each falls into place. With your gracious help I shall give my Lord a free hand to arrange for my life&#8217;s joyful and sorrowful mysteries. Then, after earth&#8217;s exile, may I receive the reward promised those who do His holy will. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: God&#8217;s will may sometimes strike us as harsh or puzzling. Accept His will as our peace. He who sees all knows what is best for us. Trust Him.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>FOURTH DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: Strong and Mature Faith</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: Hold firmly on to what you already have. <span class="scripture_reference" refid="814.461405">Revelation 2:25</span></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Here I am again, dear St. Dymphna, to present my needs to you. High on the list, as you know, is a strong and mature faith.</div>
<div>Ours are hectic times when confusion seems to be the normal thing. The faith of many is wavering and a loud chorus proclaims: &#8220;Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die and there is nothing beyond the grave.&#8221;</div>
<div>Many are dismayed by the changes in the Church, the liturgy, and the presentation of religious truths. Some are afraid their faith may totally collapse.</div>
<div>My own faith should have greater strength and maturity. I need a powerful faith to carry me through the dark nights that hold no promise of a sunrise. A strong and adult faith will guide me like a beacon to a blessed eternity.</div>
<div>Intercede for me, dear St. Dymphna, that my faith may be firm. Then I shall take God at His word. I shall look to Him for guidance, and give less attention to noisy prophets of the day. May your faith be my inspiration, your prayers my constant source of help. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: All created things may fail us, those we trusted most may turn against us, but God is faithful. He will be your mainstay, your rock, your refuge in toil and trouble.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>FIFTH DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: Courage in Trials</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: Courage! Do not be afraid. <span class="scripture_reference" refid="122.494669">Isaiah 35:4</span></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Dear St. Dymphna, I plead with you today to share your courage with me.</div>
<div>You endured martyrdom in your early teens with courage that makes me blush when I recall my own cowardice. You never asked that life&#8217;s pathway be made smooth. You walked forward bravely, your hand in God&#8217;s hand.</div>
<div>I admit I&#8217;ve never quite managed to imitate you. When trouble hits, I look for a shoulder to cry on. I, who admire heroes, play the coward too often.</div>
<div>You, dear St. Dymphna, were made of sterner stuff. Your heroic example shows me how to say &#8220;yes&#8221; to God, no matter what He asks. When I compare my life to yours, the difference shames me deeply. When will I conduct myself with the fortitude so becoming in a follower of Christ?</div>
<div>Pray for me that it may be so. Your intercession will help me to meet every crisis with courage like yours. Then I shall show myself a true disciple of the Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: Let not our Lord ever have to say to you, as He did to the Apostles, &#8220;Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt?&#8221;</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>SIXTH DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: Relatives and Friends</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: In life he has had the joy of his company. <span class="scripture_reference" refid="389.530743">Sirach 30:5</span></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Dear St. Dymphna, once more I greet you and thank you for your constant help. Today I should like to pray especially for my relatives and friends.</div>
<div>With all my faults and weak points, they must sometimes find it hard to be patient with me, to bear with my mannerisms and whatever else in me that may irritate them. Now, if only I were more lovable, my changed disposition would bring more sunshine into their lives.</div>
<div>God grant that this may be. It&#8217;s urgent that I amend my faults that get on others&#8217; nerves.</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, please pray to the Lord for my relatives and friends. Implore for them all the <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/blessings/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Blessings">blessings</a> they need. Keep a watchful eye on them during their earthly pilgrimage. With your constant aid they will have a safe journey through life, a blessed death in the Lord, and eternal joy with Him in the kingdom of heaven. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: Be careful always to show your relatives and friends frequent evidence of your regard. Look for an opportunity to pay them honor, extol their virtues, and thank them.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>SEVENTH DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: Those Who Have Injured Us</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">Love</a> your enemies. <span class="scripture_reference" refid="254.567026">Matthew 5:44</span></div>
<div><b><br /></b></div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Dear St. Dymphna, our Blessed Savior wants us to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, to pray for those who persecute us.</div>
<div>So far, the successes I have scored in these respects have been rather slight. Spiteful, unforgiving thoughts still come so easily to my mind. Sometimes I get grouchy and assume a cold air toward those who have been unkind to me. Airing my grievances is a habit with me.</div>
<div>You know, dear Saint, how far from perfect my conduct is. Please help me to improve, and remove resentment from my heart.</div>
<div>May the Lord bless those who have injured me, and direct them in the paths of holiness. May He hear your prayers for them, and bestow upon us all the <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/graces/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Graces">graces</a> we need.</div>
<div>This I ask for the honor of Christ, who forgave His enemies on the Cross. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: If we <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> only our friends, how are we any better than the heathens for even they do that? We prove our <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> for Christ by loving our enemies and doing good to them.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>EIGHTH DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: The Grace of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/gratitude/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Gratitude">Gratitude</a></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good. <span class="scripture_reference" refid="55.60088">Psalm 118:1</span></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Dear St. Dymphna, I&#8217;m one of those who don&#8217;t know how to say thanks to God. It&#8217;s easy for me to recite my &#8220;gimme&#8221; prayers; but I am tongue-tied when the time comes to express my <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/gratitude/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Gratitude">gratitude</a>.</div>
<div>I take God&#8217;s gifts for granted - when I should take them with <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/gratitude/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Gratitude">gratitude</a>! I hang on to the gifts and forget the giver. Yet <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/gratitude/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Gratitude">gratitude</a> should be a way of life for me. When will the remembrance of His goodness and <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/mercy/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Mercy">mercy</a> make my lips quick to praise?</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, pray that I may remedy my lack of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/gratitude/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Gratitude">gratitude</a>. Remind me to count my <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/blessings/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Blessings">blessings</a>. Let sincere appreciation be my special trait from this day forward.</div>
<div>Teach me to bless the Lord for the bitter and the sweet, for failure and success, for every material and spiritual good. Help me to make every day a time of glad and humble thanksgiving. May I rejoice in His gifts and use them for His glory. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: The word &#8220;<a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/eucharist/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Eucharist">Eucharist</a>&#8221; means thanksgiving. It is always good to give thanks to the Lord, and to all those through whom He helps us.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NINTH DAY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>INTENTION: Peace in Our Days</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>THOUGHT: For God is not the God of disorder but of peace. </div>
<div><span class="scripture_reference" refid="573.641248">1 Corinthians 14:33</span></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRAYER OF PREPARATION</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>It is You, great and all-powerful God, whom we worship in paying veneration to Your saints. Our many sins and failings keep us ever conscious of our need for the help of the Blessed in heaven. Their earthly lives give us reason to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> more firmly, to imitate their example more closely, and to seek their aid more confidently in our present trials. We ask the favor of Your grace, most loving Father, in this novena of prayer in honor of St. Dymphna. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>NOVENA PRAYER TO ST. DYMPHNA</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, I come to you daily during this novena to expose my wants and troubles. I firmly believe that your delicate charity will hear my plea for help. </div>
<div>You know the temporal and spiritual favors I need at this time. Look down graciously upon me and obtain these favors for me from God, the infinitely kind Giver of all good things.</div>
<div>O blessed St. Dymphna, I trust in your protection to be preserved from all bodily and spiritual perils. May I be just and prudent, patient and strong, gentle and kind. From you I await inspiration and encouragement to pursue my vocation, to give glory to my Creator, and to win eternal <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/salvation/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Salvation">salvation</a>.</div>
<div>Be mindful of me especially in the dangers and needs of the present hour. Assist me during life and at the hour of death, that it may be well with me for everlasting years. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRAYER: Dear St. Dymphna, the blessed days of &#8220;peace on earth&#8221; still elude us. God&#8217;s children cannot get along together, and the world&#8217;s game of guilt and blood continues. Justice, good will, and peace on an international scale are still lacking among men and nations.</div>
<div>There is much talk of peace. All peoples desire it. Millions endure agonies of body or spirit because of the effects of war. When will the world know unity, concord, and fraternal harmony?</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, pray that we may do the works of peace. May our times of space exploration and lunar landings usher in an era of universal harmony and the peaceful development of peoples.</div>
<div>Pray with us all, dear martyr, that God may lead the world out of darkness into the bright light of peace. This I ask in the name of the Prince of Peace. Amen.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>PRACTICE: Our best contribution to peace is to cultivate it first in our own hearts, our own homes, and to be peacemakers at our place of work, and in our own parish.</div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>Nine Prayers to St. Dymphna</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>FAITH</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Dear St. Dymphna, you gave us an example in your own life of firm faith. Neither flattery, earthly rewards nor the threat of death caused you to waver in your fidelity to God. Please help us, then, amid the uncertainties of life, to imitate your wholehearted dedication to Christ. Be good enough to come to our aid in our need, and pray for us to God. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b><a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">HOPE</a></b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Good St. Dymphna, you placed all your <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> in Christ&#8217;s promises, and sacrificed even your life in that <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a>. The Lord, God, rewarded your constancy by making your name known and loved over many centuries by the thousands whom you have aided in time of difficulty. Please assist us now in our present necessity, and intercede before God for our intentions. Obtain for us a firm <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/hope/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Hope">hope</a> like your own in God&#8217;s unfailing protection. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>CHARITY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>You are celebrated, St. Dymphna, for your goodness to others. Both in your lifetime, and even more in the ages since, you have again and again demonstrated your concern for those who are mentally disturbed or emotionally troubled. Kindly secure for me, then, some measure of your own serene <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>, and ask our Lord to give us a share in His life and boundless charity. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PRUDENCE</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>You were marked in life, St. Dymphna, by a high degree of prudence. You sought and followed the advice of your confessor and spiritual guide. You fled from temptation even when it meant exile and poverty. In your last extremity you chose to die rather than offend God. Please help us now by your merits not only to know what is right, but procure for us also the strength to do it. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>JUSTICE</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Admirable St. Dymphna, how just you were to all whom you encountered, and how careful you were to give every person his due, and more than he might desire or expect. By your power with God, please come to assist us to be just to all we meet, and even to be generous in giving everyone more than strict justice requires. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>TEMPERANCE</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Generous St. Dymphna, like all Christ&#8217;s martyrs, you gained this crowning grace because you prepared for it by a life of self-denial. By faithfulness in smaller things, you were ready for your final trial. Please teach us by your example and help to use the good things of life so that we may not miss our chance for life eternal. Help us, too, to watch and pray for ourselves and others. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>FORTITUDE</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Courageous St. Dymphna, your strength was from God. His grace enabled you to resist evil, and to prefer exile to a life of sinful luxury. Christ&#8217;s own power preserved you faithful to Him in life and in death. In your kindness help us to imitate your example in little things, and gain for us fortitude to bear with the misfortunes we meet, and strength to overcome our weakness. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>CHASTITY</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Most pure virgin, St. Dymphna, we live at a time when many are intent on satisfying every carnal appetite. Your single-minded dedication to Christ alone is providential and inspiring. Please help us by your power with God to see life in proportion as you did. With your aid we propose to perform all our actions for a pure motive, and promptly to resist all our evil inclinations. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>PERSEVERANCE</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div>Most faithful St. Dymphna, you remained true to your baptismal promises to the very end. You are, therefore, honored, known, and loved after 1,400 years by people you have aided all over the world. We do not know how long or short a time is left to us of this life here, but help us in any case to be faithful to God to the end. Please gain for us the grace to live one day at a time as if each were to be our last. Amen. </div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div><b>ST. DYMPHNA, PRAY FOR US . . .</b></div>
<div>&#160;</div>
<div></div>
<div class="scripture_popup" popid="345.682003"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='345.682003'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Ephesians 5:18</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/ephesians/ephesians5.htm#v18' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=49&amp;bible_chapter=5' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=10&amp;c=5#5_18' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=10&amp;c=5' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>18</span>And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury; but be ye filled with the holy Spirit,</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="849.72628"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='849.72628'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>John 4:20</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john4.htm#v20' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=43&amp;bible_chapter=4' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=4&amp;c=4#4_20' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=4&amp;c=4' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>20</span>Our fathers adored on this mountain, and you say, that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="267.75989"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='267.75989'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>John 14:27</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john14.htm#v27' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=43&amp;bible_chapter=14' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=4&amp;c=14#14_27' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=4&amp;c=14' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>27</span>Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="413.794939"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='413.794939'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Revelation 2:25</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/revelation/revelation2.htm#v25' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=64&amp;bible_chapter=2' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=27&amp;c=2#2_25' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=27&amp;c=2' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>25</span>Yet that, which you have, hold fast till I come.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="782.841983"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='782.841983'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Isaiah 35:4</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/isaiah/isaiah35.htm#v4' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=23&amp;bible_chapter=35' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&amp;b=27&amp;c=35#35_4' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://septuagint.org/LXX/Isaiah/Isaiah35.html' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>LXX</a> <a href='http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1035.htm#4' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>Hebrew</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>4</span>Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="35.900854"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='35.900854'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Sirach 30:5</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/sirach/sirach30.htm#v5' target='bible' title='(opens Sirach 30:5 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&amp;b=26&amp;c=30#30_5' target='bible' title='(opens Sirach 30:5 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://septuagint.org/LXX/Sirach/Sirach30.html' target='bible' title='(opens Sirach 30:5 in a new window)'>LXX</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>5</span>While he lived he saw and rejoiced in him: and when he died he was not sorrowful, neither was he confounded before his enemies.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="87.938716"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='87.938716'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Matthew 5:44</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew5.htm#v44' target='bible' title='(opens Matthew 5:44 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=40&amp;bible_chapter=5' target='bible' title='(opens Matthew 5:44 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=1&amp;c=5#5_44' target='bible' title='(opens Matthew 5:44 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=1&amp;c=5' target='bible' title='(opens Matthew 5:44 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>44</span>But I say to you, <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">Love</a> your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you:</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="837.986793"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='837.986793'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Psalm 118:1</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm118.htm#v1' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=19&amp;bible_chapter=118' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&amp;b=21&amp;c=118#118_1' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://septuagint.org/LXX/Psalms/Psalms118.html' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>LXX</a> <a href='http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26118.htm#1' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>Hebrew</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>1</span>Give praise to Lord, for he is good: for his <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/mercy/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Mercy">mercy</a> endureth for ever.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="19.033309"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='19.033309'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>1 Corinthians 14:33</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians14.htm#v33' target='bible' title='(opens 1 Corinthians 14:33 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=46&amp;bible_chapter=14' target='bible' title='(opens 1 Corinthians 14:33 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=7&amp;c=14#14_33' target='bible' title='(opens 1 Corinthians 14:33 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=7&amp;c=14' target='bible' title='(opens 1 Corinthians 14:33 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>33</span>For God is not the God of dissension, but of peace: as also I teach in all the churches of the saints.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="46.363133"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='46.363133'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Ephesians 5:18</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/ephesians/ephesians5.htm#v18' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=49&amp;bible_chapter=5' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=10&amp;c=5#5_18' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=10&amp;c=5' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>18</span>And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury; but be ye filled with the holy Spirit,</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="967.394826"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='967.394826'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>John 4:20</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john4.htm#v20' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=43&amp;bible_chapter=4' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=4&amp;c=4#4_20' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=4&amp;c=4' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>20</span>Our fathers adored on this mountain, and you say, that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="465.427576"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='465.427576'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>John 14:27</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john14.htm#v27' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=43&amp;bible_chapter=14' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=4&amp;c=14#14_27' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=4&amp;c=14' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>27</span>Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="814.461405"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='814.461405'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Revelation 2:25</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/revelation/revelation2.htm#v25' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=64&amp;bible_chapter=2' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=27&amp;c=2#2_25' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=27&amp;c=2' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>25</span>Yet that, which you have, hold fast till I come.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="122.494669"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='122.494669'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Isaiah 35:4</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/isaiah/isaiah35.htm#v4' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=23&amp;bible_chapter=35' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&amp;b=27&amp;c=35#35_4' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://septuagint.org/LXX/Isaiah/Isaiah35.html' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>LXX</a> <a href='http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1035.htm#4' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>Hebrew</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>4</span>Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="389.530743"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='389.530743'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Sirach 30:5</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/sirach/sirach30.htm#v5' target='bible' title='(opens Sirach 30:5 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&amp;b=26&amp;c=30#30_5' target='bible' title='(opens Sirach 30:5 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://septuagint.org/LXX/Sirach/Sirach30.html' target='bible' title='(opens Sirach 30:5 in a new window)'>LXX</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>5</span>While he lived he saw and rejoiced in him: and when he died he was not sorrowful, neither was he confounded before his enemies.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="254.567026"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='254.567026'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Matthew 5:44</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew5.htm#v44' target='bible' title='(opens Matthew 5:44 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=40&amp;bible_chapter=5' target='bible' title='(opens Matthew 5:44 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=1&amp;c=5#5_44' target='bible' title='(opens Matthew 5:44 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=1&amp;c=5' target='bible' title='(opens Matthew 5:44 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>44</span>But I say to you, <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">Love</a> your enemies: do good to them that hate you: and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you:</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="55.60088"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='55.60088'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Psalm 118:1</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/psalms/psalm118.htm#v1' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=19&amp;bible_chapter=118' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&amp;b=21&amp;c=118#118_1' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://septuagint.org/LXX/Psalms/Psalms118.html' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>LXX</a> <a href='http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26118.htm#1' target='bible' title='(opens Psalm 118:1 in a new window)'>Hebrew</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>1</span>Give praise to Lord, for he is good: for his <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/mercy/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Mercy">mercy</a> endureth for ever.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="573.641248"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='573.641248'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>1 Corinthians 14:33</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/1corinthians/1corinthians14.htm#v33' target='bible' title='(opens 1 Corinthians 14:33 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=46&amp;bible_chapter=14' target='bible' title='(opens 1 Corinthians 14:33 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=7&amp;c=14#14_33' target='bible' title='(opens 1 Corinthians 14:33 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=7&amp;c=14' target='bible' title='(opens 1 Corinthians 14:33 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>33</span>For God is not the God of dissension, but of peace: as also I teach in all the churches of the saints.</div></div></div>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Mother Angelica: His Pain Like Mine</title>
		<link>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/05/25/mother-angelica-his-pain-like-mine-6/</link>
		<comments>http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/05/25/mother-angelica-his-pain-like-mine-6/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 May 2008 03:02:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>prazim</dc:creator>
		
		<category><![CDATA[Catechesis +  Devotion]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Healing]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>

		<category><![CDATA[Suffering]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/2008/05/25/mother-angelica-his-pain-like-mine-6/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series Mother Angelica: His Pain Like Mine
&#8220;John came, neither eating or drinking and they say, &#8216;He is possessed.&#8217; The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, &#8216;Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.&#8221; (Matthew 11:18,19) No matter [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="seriesmeta">This entry is part 6 of 6 in the series <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/series/mother-angelica-his-pain-like-mine/" title="series-93">Mother Angelica: His Pain Like Mine</a></div><p align="center"><img src="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/tj200805252301-1.jpg" alt="Christ+pantokrator2+lrg.jpg (433x610 pixels)" height="610" hspace="1" vspace="1" width="433" /></p>
<p>&#8220;John came, neither eating or drinking and they say, &#8216;He is possessed.&#8217; The Son of Man came, eating and drinking, and they say, &#8216;Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.&#8221; (<span class="scripture_reference" refid="576.287689">Matthew 11:18,19</span>) No matter what God did, those in authority were never satisfied. He sent His prophet John, a man of great penance, frugal, ascetical and demanding. His penitential spirit pricked their consciences so they condemned him. <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> came as one who was kind, gentle, merciful and they called Him names to make Him look small and of no consequence.</p>
<p>John appealed to the ninety-nine and called them to repentance, while <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> went after the stray sheep. Both, however, were unacceptable. Some men desire knowledge with which to speculate, but not Spirit-filled words that stir the heart and cause them to change.</p>
<p>No matter what <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> did, someone found fault with it. When His anger raged at the money changers in the temple, they questioned His authority to take matters into His own hands. When His compassion reached out in <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/mercy/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Mercy">mercy</a> to the adulteress, they questioned His courage. No wonder He told His Apostles that the opinions of men meant nothing to Him. (<span class="scripture_reference" refid="420.303178">John 5:41</span>) It is also true with us for there are times when our best actions and purest motives are held in question. There are times we bend over backward to please, but to no avail. When this happens we must look at <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> and do as He did - He accomplished the Will of God in the present moment and regardless of public reaction, He went His way in peace. He had come to save men, not to conduct an opinion poll. It was only important to Him that He did what He saw the Father do and said what He heard the Father say. He was the perfect image of the Father and that Image turned some against Him and drew others to Him.</p>
<p>The choice was theirs - their wills were free. He offered them <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> because He was <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">Love</a> Itself, but His peace was not dependent upon their acceptance. His <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> was deep enough to continue loving them and powerful enough to remain at peace when they preferred themselves to Him. His <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a> enveloped everyone - it was they who left the radius of that <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/love/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Love">love</a>.</p>
<p>We see this in the rich young man. Scripture tells us he ran up to <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> and &#8220;knelt before Him.&#8221; He wanted to inherit eternal life and asked <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> how to do it. <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> told him to keep the commandments, but the young man found that rather easy. He had formed the habit of keeping the law. He wanted more - his soul somehow knew there was something better. <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> &#8220;looked at him steadily and loved him,&#8221; the passage continues, but then the blow came. The great challenge was given. &#8220;Go and sell everything you own and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.&#8221; (<span class="scripture_reference" refid="661.324679">Mark 10:17-22</span>) Immediately, the enormity of the challenge struck the young man like a bolt of lightning. He had not expected that answer to his question - he was not ready for the sacrifice.</p>
<p><a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> knew what the young man would have to give up but He also knew what glory and renown he would miss for all eternity by passing up the opportunity of following Him. The young man thought he possessed too much to give up - he did not realize he gave up more than he possessed by not following the call of <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a>. It is often so with us. We know what people are doing to their immortal souls when they insist on seeking the things that pass - when a dissolute life is the order of the day - when they seemingly cannot tear themselves away from a life of sin. Their excuse is that they cannot give up their weaknesses and yet they do not understand what they really are giving up. The paradox is in the sad reality that they cannot give up misery, but they are capable of giving up eternal joy!</p>
<p>How truly we can say that He understands our pains and heartaches - His pain was like mine - thank you, <a href="http://halfthekingdom.org/wordpress/tag/jesus/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with Jesus">Jesus</a> for loving us all so much!</p>
<p>©1976</p>
<p>If you wish to obtain a copy of this book please write to Mother Angelica, 5817 Old Leeds Rd. Irondale, Al. 35210 or email <a href="mailto:viewer@ewtn.com">viewer@ewtn.com</a></p>
<p>this article discovered <a class="previewlink" href="http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/pain/hispain2.htm">here</a></p>
<div class="scripture_popup" popid="345.682003"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='345.682003'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Ephesians 5:18</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/ephesians/ephesians5.htm#v18' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=49&amp;bible_chapter=5' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=10&amp;c=5#5_18' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=10&amp;c=5' target='bible' title='(opens Ephesians 5:18 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>18</span>And be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury; but be ye filled with the holy Spirit,</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="849.72628"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='849.72628'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>John 4:20</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john4.htm#v20' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=43&amp;bible_chapter=4' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=4&amp;c=4#4_20' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=4&amp;c=4' target='bible' title='(opens John 4:20 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>20</span>Our fathers adored on this mountain, and you say, that at Jerusalem is the place where men must adore.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="267.75989"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='267.75989'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>John 14:27</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john14.htm#v27' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=43&amp;bible_chapter=14' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=4&amp;c=14#14_27' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=4&amp;c=14' target='bible' title='(opens John 14:27 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>27</span>Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="413.794939"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='413.794939'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Revelation 2:25</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/revelation/revelation2.htm#v25' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=64&amp;bible_chapter=2' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=1&amp;b=27&amp;c=2#2_25' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://www.greekbible.com/index.php?b=27&amp;c=2' target='bible' title='(opens Revelation 2:25 in a new window)'>Greek</a></span></div><div class='scripture_text'><div class='verse'><span class='verse_number'>25</span>Yet that, which you have, hold fast till I come.</div></div></div><div class="scripture_popup" popid="782.841983"><div class='scripture_header'><div class='cathref_close_button' closeid='782.841983'><div class='cathref_close_button_highlight'></div></div><span class='passage'>Isaiah 35:4</span><br /><span class='alternates'>View in: <a href='http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/isaiah/isaiah35.htm#v4' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>NAB</a> <a href='http://www.catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=23&amp;bible_chapter=35' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>NJB</a> <a href='http://www.latinvulgate.com/verse.aspx?t=0&amp;b=27&amp;c=35#35_4' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in a new window)'>Vulg</a> <a href='http://septuagint.org/LXX/Isaiah/Isaiah35.html' target='bible' title='(opens Isaiah 35:4 in