Turning Things Around

"Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." ~Mt 18:18

This line from the Gospel today really struck me. I've always interpreted this line to refer to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, that when our sins are forgiven by God through the Priest, whatever is forgiven in that Sacrament is no longer bound but loosed, and we are forgiven (coming from Mt 16:19 when Jesus gives this authority to St. Peter and successive apostles).

When the Holy Spirit turned on the "light bulb" today, I thought, what if Jesus had a more personal, and literal, interpretation for us? What if He meant that what we bind in our hearts, will be bound in heaven, and what we loose, will be loosed in heaven? This also goes back to the Sacrament of Reconciliation...because we must forgive our neighbor, and in turn, we will be forgiven (as we say in the Our Father). Jesus expects this of us. So we must not "bind" our sins, but "loose" them, through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

But, could it go the opposite way? What about those things deep within our hearts that we "bind" to in love? The good within us that we hold on to? How much are we "bound" to God and His love in our hearts right now? What we bind on earth...is bound in heaven.

The same can go for what is loosed within our hearts. All the vices and impurities that we are able to overcome through God's grace. What have we been able to "loose?" What do we yet need to "loose" from our hearts? Whatever is loosed on earth...will be loosed in heaven.

I could be totally off here and just spinning my own incomprehensible jargon. But, perhaps, it's a perspective worth thinking about, and praying about.

Girls, Hearts, Horses, and Fathers (a break from the routine of usual posts)

Image from: http://snowflakesandheartbeats.tumblr.com/
I was watching a movie that recently came out about a young girl, her father, horses, and a dream. Questions filled my mind as I watched, and listened for what God was speaking to my own heart.

What is it that touched me so when I saw this young girl being told by her father how much he loved her, would protect her, and was proud of her? Why, when she was told by everyone else to go one way, she listened to her heart and went another, why does this rock me to my core? What is it that makes my heart yearn to be out in the wilderness, and to experience that something...that something that is wild and untamed in the heart of our country...that somehow a horse holds the secret to?

There is something within the heart of us as women...something that we carry within as little girls, that never leaves as we grow with time. Something fierce, determined, a desire to fulfill that purpose that is destined for us, a role no one else can fill. This longing...to be free...that influences our hearts to love...and to be loved.

There is still something within me that yearns for this love, freedom, and adventure. All women, at some point I'm sure, recognize this within themselves. As little girls, we intuitively know...but somehow, as we grow up, so many of us loose that foresight. That integral knowing in our hearts...what we were made for, that we are loved, that it's ok to dream, and that we need our fathers.

I know in my heart, that I long for these things. I think sometimes that I may have been cheated, that I missed something...that without them, I can't truly understand who I am or where I am going. But then....then I am reminded. I am reminded that God is the ultimate Father, and He gives me this love, everyday. Every. Day. Often I don't see it. Still, I must choose to see. God is always the answer, because He Himself is love.


As to the other things...I can't explain why I've always loved horses, or prayed since I was a little girl to have one of my own. :-) But I realize, regardless, that there is something that speaks of the beauty of God in the wilderness, and in the wildness of a horse. A beauty, which I know is also inside myself, if I would allow Jesus to show it to me.

And so...as we all know, life is an adventure itself. But to live that adventure, to really live it, needs more. More of ourselves given. Given in love. I pray I will continue this journey. To know more...and to learn what is in the heart of God that speaks to my own heart. He is there. He is waiting with open arms. I must only approach the throne of His Heart as a little girl to her Father...and then, there is nothing left that I could want.

"Know Thyself"

I've had extra time on my hands lately, and so decided to delve deeper into who I am. I've taken personality tests/etc. before (such as the Myers-Briggs - I am most likely an ISFP if you are curious) but thought it was time to revisit where I am now, and perhaps where I've been in the past.

When we gain better knowledge of ourselves, we are better able to conquer our faults and disordered attitudes/attachments which often can cause us to sin. Having a deep knowledge of self is one of the best ways in advancing in the spiritual life and toward the perfection that Jesus calls us to; always with the help of His grace of course.

One of the ways in which to do this, keep in mind this is only one, is to study the temperments, and find out which one describes you best. There are four: The Choleric, Sanguine, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic. Most people are a mixture of two. I highly recommend taking some time to read Rev. Conrad Hock's The Four Temperments which can be found online in full text. There is a test at the end which you can take to better help you discern which temperment(s) fit you. It's also wonderful because he looks at it from a Catholic perspective.

I also found some good summaries online of the four temperaments by Fr. Antonio Royo Marin, O.P. Here is Post I on the Sanguine and Melancholic, and Post II on the Choleric and Phlegmatic.

Happy discovering. :-)

P.S. I had a curious mixture of the four temperaments, but my highest score was predominantly the melancholic.

"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering."
~St. Augustine

"Know thyself, or at least keep renewing the acquaintance."
 ~Robert Brault

Musings...

There is a sheer brutality, a truth, that speaks of the realness of being human. What is a soul? Where and how do we find one another in the paths our lives take? When one soul touches another, how does that speak of God? How can we be more human, and so come to see the reality of our souls? For as the soul is created, so also is the body. What does it mean, to BE?

Out of darkness....comes light....So how can we begin to rise, without first falling? Out of suffering, comes compassion, and a deeper insight into the reality of what it means to BE Human.

Christ was not only our Savior and Lord, but in great humility, was also explicitly the most HUMAN. How did Jesus, being fully human, aside from being fully God, live what we call the "human condition?" There is much we do not know...but what we do, is that He suffered, but also rejoiced! How do we come to live in the example He left?

Where does time stop, and Heaven begin? Or rather does time enfold into the reality of Heaven we could not understand? If our Lord created Heaven AND Earth, are they not therefore connected through our Creator?

Why do we love? How do we persevere in Love? Do we understand Who is Love? What is at the heart of a person when you look into the window of their soul, and how do you begin to see yourself in their place?

All I know, is that Jesus loves me, and I Him. There is something about the realness of being human, yes. But also, something that is more real than can be explained....in the connection of our hearts, to God.