{"id":221461,"date":"2016-03-08T07:30:19","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T13:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/?p=221461"},"modified":"2019-01-17T19:39:45","modified_gmt":"2019-01-18T01:39:45","slug":"a-message-in-the-desert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/03\/a-message-in-the-desert\/","title":{"rendered":"A Message in the Desert"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"desert\"

painting by Mark Hudgins<\/p><\/div>\n

When your heart says to God, “you have cut off my life<\/em><\/p>\n

like a weaver severs the last thread, “<\/em><\/p>\n

when you’re alone in the desert on a cold night<\/p>\n

with no fire,<\/p>\n

and you’ve never known such emptiness<\/p>\n

or alienation<\/p>\n

and you say in your alarm,\u00a0“no man can can be\u00a0trusted!”<\/em><\/p>\n

When your life is born away from you<\/p>\n

like a tent struck down<\/p>\n

and you feel you have nothing left to give,<\/p>\n

that you are broken to the core<\/p>\n

and you cannot imagine your restoration,<\/p>\n

when even the sunrise seems cold and heartless<\/p>\n

and you think, ” there is no love in my heart at all!”<\/p>\n

know that all you ever had came from God.<\/p>\n

Don’t be afraid anymore.<\/p>\n

Say to yourself in the cave of your heart,<\/p>\n

“this is the time for my soul.”<\/p>\n

God is closer than ever before.<\/p>\n

Your restoration is in the depths of his will<\/p>\n

and in time to come,<\/p>\n

the love in your heart will be renewed<\/p>\n

and be all his.<\/p>\n

You have nothing to give, so wait to receive<\/p>\n

in his time.<\/p>\n

Be patient in suffering.<\/em><\/p>\n

Persevere in prayer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trust in not knowing<\/p>\n

even who you are anymore,<\/p>\n

except that you are his.<\/p>\n

Be little, be weak, sit quietly in the shadow of death<\/em><\/p>\n

and say to your empty heart, “this is the time for my soul.”<\/p>\n

Allow this darkness of unknowing.<\/p>\n

“Let it be done to me according to thy word,”<\/em> she said,<\/p>\n

even at the cross,<\/p>\n

and on that desolate Holy Saturday<\/p>\n

when she sat in darkness deeper than any she had ever known could be.<\/p>\n

She suffered unspeakably.<\/p>\n

Still she trusted, remaining present in the very bleakness of her heart.<\/p>\n

So you, her child, alone in your desert,<\/p>\n

you desolate of heart,<\/p>\n

when you say to yourself, “my one companion is darkness, “<\/em><\/p>\n

say, “This is the time for my soul.”<\/p>\n

A time of grace.<\/p>\n

Your light will come<\/em><\/p>\n

As God defines it.<\/p>\n

And that joy no one shall take from you.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"desert\"

painting by Mark Hudgins<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When your heart says to God, “you have cut off my life like a weaver severs the last thread, “ when you’re alone in the desert on a cold night with no fire, and you’ve never known such emptiness or alienation and you say in your alarm,\u00a0“no man can can be\u00a0trusted!” When your life is… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[90],"tags":[1159,2408,2248,1160,2132,591,1528,74,1337],"class_list":{"0":"post-221461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-faith-blog","7":"tag-dark-night","8":"tag-darkness","9":"tag-desert","10":"tag-dryness","11":"tag-grief","12":"tag-lent","13":"tag-loss","14":"tag-prayer","15":"tag-sorrow","16":"entry","17":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":365517,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2017\/02\/a-lent-of-luminous-darkness-and-wild-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":221461,"position":0},"title":"A Lent of Luminous Darkness and Wild Seeds","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"February 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I love Lent. I am always happy to hear that I am dust, and that to dust I shall return. When I close my eyes to pray, I can really tell I am dust. In here where I live, it's quiet and dark. Simple. Nothing to it. \u00a0Who am I?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/maxresdefault-332x187.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":272272,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/god-where-have-you-gone\/","url_meta":{"origin":221461,"position":1},"title":"God, Where Have You Gone?","author":"Robert Lindberg","date":"July 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"God, where have you gone? It's morning, the sun is just starting to cut through the darkness of the night and I find myself restless in bed. I will have to get up and start my day soon. The rooster crows letting me know that it is time, time to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Beautiful Desert","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Beautiful-Desert-253x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45182,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/rose-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":221461,"position":2},"title":"A Rose in the Desert","author":"Julia Motekaitis","date":"March 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Photo credit: \u00a0Desert Rose \u00a0 When I first mustered the courage to introduce myself to Shawn Chapman, the Holy Spirit brought me out of a desert and began to breathe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blog"","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"desert rose","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/desert-rose.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44427,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/sunday-says-podcast-march-9-2014-mass-readings-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":221461,"position":3},"title":"Sunday Says Podcast \u2013 March 9, 2014 Mass Readings and Reflections","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"March 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"March 9, 2014 Readings and Reflection [powerpress] First Sunday of Lent (NAB Readings) (Jerusalem Bible Readings) Lectionary: 22 We\u2019re now in the season of Lent, our spiritual time in the desert as we prepare for the great season of Easter. 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