Raise Your Sails (Preparing for Chastisement) By Mark MalletThis is a featured page


SHAKEN BY THE WINDS
Whether they are the winds of a personal trial or The Great Storm gathering over the earth, many of you are afraid—shaken by the circumstances in your own life, by the astounding decline in morals, or by what our Lady has warned will come upon an unrepentant world. Discouragement is setting in, if not despair. As I prayed about this, a word came to me:

Each moment—and the Divine Will contained in it—are the wind of the Holy Spirit. In order to sail forward toward your goal: union with God—one must always raise the sail of faith mounted upon the mast of one’s will. Don’t be afraid to catch this Wind! Never be afraid where the winds of God’s Will take you or the world. At each and every moment, trust the Holy Spirit who blows where He wills according to My plan. Even though these Divine Winds may carry you into a great tempest, they will always carry you safely where you need to go for the good and sanctification of your soul or the correction of the world.

This is a beautiful word of assurance! For one, the Spirit is in the wind, even if it bears chastisement. It is the will of God, for the present moment is where God is living, acting, guiding, dwelling, intersecting with the activity of men. Whatever it is, whether it is a great consolation or trial, good health or sickness, peace or temptation, living or dying, all is permitted by the hand of God and ordered to the sanctification of your soul. Each and every moment the Divine Will of God blows in your life within the present moment. All that is required of you is to simply raise the sails of trust into the Winds of the moment and, turning the rudder of obedience, do that which the moment requires, the duty of the moment. Just as the wind is invisible, so too, hidden within this moment is the power of God to transform, sanctify, and make you holy—yes, hidden behind the mundane, the ordinary, the unglamorous; behind crosses and consolations, the will of God is always there, always working, always active. The soul must pull up the anchor of rebellion, and this Holy wind will blow it towards the harbor for which it is destined.

Jesus said,

The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

The Divine Winds can suddenly change, blowing this way one moment, and that way the next. Today, I am sailing in sunshine, tomorrow, I am thrown into a terrible storm.

But whether the seas of your life are calm or whether great waves assail your from every side, the response for you is always the same: to keep your sail raised by an act of the will; to do the duty of the moment whether it is a gentle breeze or a harsh spray of sea salt passing over your soul. For within this divine action is the grace to transform you.

My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:34)

The Divine Wind is the necessary force to move your life toward the Harbor of Holiness. What God asks of you is to be docile to this Will, with the trust of a child.

Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matt 18:3)


ChaplainEmil
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Dave. Chastisement - Good or Ill? 1 Jun 14 2009, 8:55 PM EDT by ChaplainEmil
Thread started: Jun 14 2009, 6:54 AM EDT  Watch
I was struck by the word "Chastisement" in the piece "Raise Your Sails - Prepare for Chastisement"
King David had committed a grievous wrong and was given to option of being corrected by man or by God. What wisdom he evidenced (recorded for our instruction) when he opted for correction by Almighty God - knowing God as he loving heavenly Father would "chastise" without malice, for His Glory, and for the good of David. Elsewhere scripture records that God chastises us his children for this same purpose. He doesn't chastise those who aren't his children - for them awaits his wrath and eternal fire and brimstone.
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