The Optimyst Living optimistically with faith! ? Dear Subscriber ? | Welcome our second edition of The Optimyst!? ? We are behind schedule, life caught up with us! On a personal note, Wayne and I would like to thank everyone who prayed for us, especially in regard to Wayne's work situation.? We are truely blessed that God has heard our prayers and provided him with a full time position.? Thank you all for your intercessions. We would also like to thank all of you for your kind remarks on our? first edition, and welcome our new subscribers If you have
any suggestions for us please feel free to e-mail theoptimyst@optimystic.za.net. ENJOY!
In this Issue: - Miracles and Healing as a process.
- Poetry
- Inspiration
- Prayer
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Miracles and Healing as a Process.
In Issue 1 we discussed making a decision to heal ?? the first step on our journey to healing and perhaps the hardest.? ? Recognising and making a commitment to healing requires that we face ourselves, and the fact that we need to be healed.? The fact that we are broken, perhaps by physical, sexual or emotional abuse, or perhaps by a physical ailment or perhaps even by the stress induced by living in a world predominately poor, violent, immoral and permissive.? The reason for our brokenness does not affect the process of healing.? Yes, healing is a process even in today??s world of immediate gratification.? Perhaps,
journeying to healing is harder today because we have come to expect our needs to be met ???right now???. So why is healing a process ?? why not just ask for healing and get it right now?? Surely it happened in Jesus time ?? there are many miracles of healing that prove that ?? so why not today?? Why can??t I just call, ???Lord, Lord!??? and be healed?? First let us look at miracles.? Do they still occur?? What is considered to be a miracle? Fr X. Leon-Dufour is quoted as saying, ???A miracle is only a manifestation more astounding than unusual of the rapport between God and his suffering creatures, in which those who believe see God
working in a special way displaying a superabundance of divine love??¦??? So, miracles are considered to be expressions of the supernatural and phenomena in which the heart obeys an inner force ?? the will of God.? Using this definition we can say people can, and people do, experience miracles everyday all over the world.? God??s mercy and intervention is visible if we but look and more so when we learn to listen to His word and follow His way.? Is not every mass, every celebration of the Eucharist a miracle?? The birth of a child, the conversion of an atheist, are these not miracles?? In the words of Dr. Th Mangiapan (President, Medical Bureau of Lourdes), ???It is not faith which
produces miracles, but faith which recognises them???. There is a litany of miracles (which the Catholic Church has approved) dating back to the time of Christ, and many more, which are still under examination.? Miracles that are happing today!? I have included a list of the miracles (approved and to be approved) at the bottom of this section, but the bottom line is some people are miraculously instantly healed ?? the rest of us are miraculously healed over a period of time!? For example, a person suffering from cancer undergoes surgery and chemotherapy (as well as praying for God's aid and working on their relationship with God) and is eventually cured.? Is this no less a miracle
because it took a period? of time? All healing is miraculous.? In my own case, I look back at twenty odd years ago and my own healing seems, even to me, to be miraculous!? So, for most of us, healing is a process ?? a process of healing body, mind and soul.? It is a process that brings us closer to both God and our fellow man; a process in which we discover the beauty of ourselves, the beauty of others and the interconnectedness of life using the tools and lessons that Jesus taught us while He was with us. It is process where we learn that we do not become what we want, we become what we believe! How long will it take?? Well,
how long is a piece of string?? How many years is a lifetime?? It will take as long as you need to learn the lessons you have not learned, as long as you need to integrate into one whole being in tune with God??s plan for you.? Am I completely healed? No.? Will I be completely healed?? Yes!? For I, like the apostles in their time, and any human being searching for the answers, am a wounded healer.? Each day my condition improves because I am committed to the process of my own healing through God??s divine mercy and love.? May you be given the same gift of perseverance on your healing journey! God bless you all ???till next time! Wishing you light and love Celeste Miracles approved and awaiting approval by the Catholic Church 1900 - Recent Claims
Clearwater, FL, USA (1996 -2004) [ Official Website ]
In early December, 1996, there started to be reports of an image appearing on the windows of the Seminole Finance Company of Clearwater, Florida. The image resembled the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe.
18-year-old Kyle Stanley Maskell was arrested on May 17th, 2004 on charges he used a slingshot to shatter office building windows
bearing the image. He was charged with felony criminal mischief and was jailed on $10,000 bond.
Toledo, Oregon (1992-2004) [ Official Website ]
Thousands of believers from across the United States have attended the public apparitions in which Mrs. Sally Steadman speaks to the crowd in conveying messages from the apparition. The Toledo Catholic Diocese has ruled that the apparitions are a "private revelation" and has not approved or disapproved of the shrine.
Oct 2, 2004 was the last scheduled monthly public apparition of the Virgin Mary at Our Lady of Toledo Shrine in Oregon, according to Ms. Steadman.
Naju, North Korea (1985 - Present) [ Official Website ]"The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Savior, began weeping through her statue owned by Julia Kim in Naju, Korea, on June 30, 1985.
Since then, she has brought many messages and other miraculous signs, urging all her children in the world to hurriedly repent their sins and return to God, His Church, His Truth, and His Love, so that He may heal their sinful souls and restore supernatural life to them. She has especially implored us to be loyal to the Heritage of the Faith that Christ entrusted to His
Church two thousand years ago and to love and forgive one another. She has also asked us to respect human lives from the moment of conception in the mother??s womb."
(From the official Mary's Touch website)
Rome, Italy (1993 -Present ) [ Official Website ]For a long time Our Lady
has been appearing in private to Marisa Rossi in Rome and She gives God's messages for all the mankind about the EUCHARIST which is the heart of the Catholic faith. In June 1993 She asked in the name of God that the messages be made public and between 1995 and 2000 many eucharistic miracles have happened. Our Lady says: I AM THE MOTHER OF THE EUCHARIST; KNOW JESUS' WORD, LOVE JESUS THE EUCHARIST. Since 1971 Marisa Rossi has been assisted by the Bishop Claudio Gatti, who is her spiritual director; he founded the Movimento Impegno e Testimonianza -"Madre dell'Eucaristia", a prayer movement for the "Triumph of the Eucharist". (from official Madre dell'Eucaristia website)
Anguera, Bahia, Brazil (1987 - Present) [ Official Website ]"In Ang??era, hinterlands of the state of Bahia, Brazil, undeniably the greatest Marian Apparitions of the history
of humanity have occurred. Greatest in the sense that the apparitions are the most frequent and the richest ones for the messages dictated directly by the Blessed Virgin Mary to a visionary, Pedro R??gis; greatest also for their fruits: Conversions, miracles, vocations to Roman Catholic priesthood and vocations to religious life, in addition to countless graces reported by devotees and pilgrims that head towards that farm by the thousands. The messages dictated by the Virgin in Ang??era present a style of speech common to all of the messages given in the past or these days in several parts of the world. Throughout the 13 years of apparitions, over 1,800 messages have been given, calling people to conversion and urging Christians to be loyal to the Church and to the frequency of sacraments."
(from Official Anguera Website)
Medjugorje, Bosnia-Hercegovina (1981 - Present) [ Official Website ]
Beginning on June 24 and June 26, 1981, six children from the village of Medjugorje, in the now independent state of Bosnia, claimed to have witnessed apparitions of the Virgin Mary. Their names are Ivanka Ivankovich (15 years), Mirjana Dragicevic (16), Vicka Ivankovic (16), Ivan Dragivecic (16), Marija
Pavlovic (16) and Jakov Colo (10).
Several of the seers continue to report messages on a monthly basis while the others receive a message once a year on their birthdays. |
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Poetry
A Psalm of Life H. W. Longfellow Tell me not, in mournful numbers 'Life is but an empty dream!?? For the soul is dead that slumbers And things are not what they may seem Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not it??s goal 'Dust thou art, to Dust returnest,?? Was not spoken of the soul Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day. Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave. In the world's broad field of battle, In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle, ?? Be a hero in the strife! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act??act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o'erhead! Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of time, ?? Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labour and to wait. |
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Inspiration - Thandeki Umlilo |
An extract from
???Little Girl Arise???, by Thandeki Umlilo ???It is my experience that healing, like any learning is not linear.? The unconscious reveals only what we can cope with effectively. It may mean, therefore, that some experiences will surface many times, not because healing has not taken place, but because we are called to embrace another aspect of this experience. The process of healing is therefore like that of a spiral. The experience is met at the surface and as we walk down this path, the deeper levels will be revealed when we are ready to face them. This may happen over a few weeks, and then seemingly nothing for some years during which
the process of integrating these healing experiences continues, and then another aspect will surface. These moments are initiated through an unexpected reaction, a reading, dreams or a sudden urge/thought/feeling. These unresolved areas enable us to embark on a second, third, fourth round of discovery and with each new cycle the seed of new life pushes its way through the soil reaching out to the wonder of renewed life. The journey is not easy, but it is really worth it. Choosing to work on abuse-related issues raises questions you never intended to ask and you come to answers never expected. Once you commit yourself, life will never be the same again. It is difficult to make the leap, but the leap itself is
important. It is scary to jump into a void, yet taking the risk is the most promising choice one can make. Opening up and experiencing the various emotions can be like being swept up into a hurricane. It gives one a sense of losing control. To decide to embark on the journey to wholeness makes one vulnerable to being disappointed and sometimes hurt, but it also means opening up to hope. When we finally stop to face our own demons, relief descends like refreshing rain and caresses us with the gentleness of a quiet breeze. There is tremendous joy and a sense of well being when we know we do not have to pretend any longer. By accepting the past, by respecting who I am right now, I am giving myself a future.??? To
order a copy of this book please send an email to littlegirl@optimystic.za.net |
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Prayer
Father, I abandon myself into Your hands; Do with me what You will.? Whatever You may do, I thank You: I am ready for all, I accept all.? Let only Your will be done in me, And in all Your creatures - I wish no more than this, O Lord. Into Your hands I commend my soul; I offer it to You with all the love of my heart, For I love You, Lord, and so need to give myself to surrender my self into Your hands without reserve, and with boundless confidence, for You are my Father.? Amen? (Brother Charles de Foucauld) |
? ? | The Optimyst is published by Celeste Mann, Editor & Contributing Author. Forthnightly, Monday, 12:00 PM, GMT.
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