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Worth Repeating

12/3/2013

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The following are excerpts from the recently published EVANGELII GAUDIUM an APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS that I believe are worth repeating.
 
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"Worth Repeating" 48" x 36" oil painting by Debra Clemente
The joy of The gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept this offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew.
I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”. The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.
Jesus himself “rejoiced in the Holy Spirit” (Lk 10:21). His message brings us joy: “I have said these things to you, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11). Our Christian joy drinks of the wellspring of his brimming heart. He promises his disciples: “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (Jn 16:20). He then goes on to say: “But I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (Jn 16:22).
I never tire of repeating those words of Benedict XVI which take us to the very heart of the Gospel: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”.
Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption. We become fully human when we become more than human, when we let God bring us beyond ourselves in order to attain the fullest truth of our being. Here we find the source and inspiration of all our efforts at evangelization. For if we have received the love which restores meaning to our lives, how can we fail to share that love with others?
A renewal of preaching can offer believers, as well as the lukewarm and the non-practicing, new joy in the faith and fruitfulness in the work of evangelization. The heart of its message will always be the same: the God who revealed his immense love in the crucified and risen Christ. God constantly renews his faithful ones, whatever their age: “They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not be faint” (Is 40:31). Christ is the “eternal Gospel” (Rev 14:6); he “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8), yet his riches and beauty are inexhaustible. He is for ever young and a constant source of newness. The Church never fails to be amazed at “the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God” (Rom 11:33). Saint John of the Cross says that “the thicket of God’s wisdom and knowledge is so deep and so broad that the soul, however much it has come to know of it, can always penetrate deeper within it”. Or as Saint Irenaeus writes: “By his coming, Christ brought with him all newness”. With this newness he is always able to renew our lives and our communities,and even if the Christian message has known periods of darkness and ecclesial weakness, it will never grow old. Jesus can also break through the dull categories with which we would enclose him and he constantly amazes us by his divine creativity. Whenever we make the effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today’s world. Every form of authentic evangelization is always “new”.
All revealed truths derive from the same divine source and are to be believed with the same faith, yet some of them are more important for giving direct expression to the heart of the Gospel. In this basic core, what shines forth is the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead.
Moreover, pastors and the lay faithful who accompany their brothers and sisters in faith or on a journey of openness to God must always remember what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches quite clearly: “Imputability and responsibility for an action can be diminished or even nullified by ignorance, inadvertence, duress, fear, habit, inordinate attachments, and other psychological or social factors”. Consequently, without detracting from the evangelical ideal, they need to accompany with mercy and patience the eventual stages of personal growth as these progressively occur.  I want to remind priests that the confessional must not be a torture chamber but rather an encounter with the Lord’s mercy which spurs us on to do our best. A small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties. Everyone needs to be touched by the comfort and attraction of God’s saving love, which is mysteriously at work in each person, above and beyond their faults and failings.
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Help where you can.

11/10/2013

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There is a need
See to it
Get it done
Help Me out
You have arms and legs

Feel your way to Me.
Help where you can.
You are My arms,
My hands, My feet.
Through you,
My love is complete.

Excerpted from the book Listen Hear, A Divine Love Story by Debra Clemente

Christ has no body but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks Compassion on this world, Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good, Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, Yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now but yours, No hands, no feet on earth but yours, Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours. – St. Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)
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Right on time

9/8/2013

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September 8, 2013

It has been a whirlwind of activity these past two weeks. Rushing to my mother’s bedside and then caring for her as she struggled to be, in her final days in her body. Then plans to be made and followed through. Per her wishes, we made her final dreams come true. Scriptures precious to her were read and many tears were shed as we laid her worn out body to rest.

And so it is that I am now back in my own home and this morning I find myself alone with the space I need to pause and think. As I’m sure the urge to write will come, I grab my notebook and a pen and settle in. Gosh, I don’t even know what day it is. So I pick up my phone and smart as it is when I turn it on it not only tells me the time and date but it let’s me know in the angel’s special way that all is well. In fact, all is great! 11:11 big and bold reads as a heavenly hug delivered to me cyberly.

Debra Clemente

P.S. Follow this link  if you are curious about the 11:11 mystery.

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The Brown kids. As proud of our parents, Don and Jo Brown, as they were of us.
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When Realization Awakens

7/23/2013

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Tears of JOY and THANKSGIVING come over me as I began to read. "Did I write this?" I wonder, for the WORDS and MESSAGE are the same as I continually receive. From One AUTHOR, ONE SOURCE OF ALL this WISDOM comes. Oh, what a JOY IT IS, THIS TRUTH TO LIVE AND KNOW. ~ Deb

"In the Silence of my soul, I listened to the Lord"

The Divine Word by Brother Mandus
(1907 - 1988) Founder of the World Healing Crusade


"I AM your Heavenly Father, and I come to you now as the living Presence
within your own being. There comes a time in the life of all My Children when
realization awakens. There comes a time when those who have already
experienced My Love are ready to be lifted into an even higher state of
consciousness. Because I am your Father I am forever creating ways for you
to expand your consciousness in harmony with My Own Perfection.

Turn away from the World for awhile and listen to Me! Forget yourself and
realize that I am God, the Christ Spirit within you now. You and I are one. We
never can be separated because you are of My Own Being. My Life is your
life. My Mind is your mind. My Love is your love. You are exactly as I am in
miniature, with the same eternal life and an infinite potential for increasingly
wonderful expression. You are because I am.

I have been with you from the beginning and I never cease to bathe you in My
Love. I lead you, protect and cherish you as My Own. In all My Realms of
material Worlds and spiritual heavens I have only one you. I created you that
you may grow in love, wisdom, knowledge and joy. I see for you adventures
beyond your greatest dreams. I long for you to take all the gifts which I have
prepared for you. As quickly as you learn to know Me you will realise that I
can only give you everything you desire. All I have, all I am, is your own for
you to accept.

I AM the Perfect Life within you. I am health and happiness, peace and
prosperity, love and laughter, wisdom and all knowledge. I am the abundant
life. All these things you already possess in My Spirit. My Universe has been
evolved through My Own Being. I hold it poised in My Mind. I live in the midst
of it. I am the Life that springs forth in trees and flowers and in every growing
plant and fruit. I am the Life and Beauty of the World and of Man.

Wherever your vision rests, there am I. You cannot mistake My Presence, for
I reveal Myself in countless ways. So many of My Children have become blind
to the Reality, to the evidence of My Presence. They accept themselves, and
all your wonderful World, without thought and deny My Almighty Love and
Intelligence which makes it all possible. They neither believe the evidence of
their own senses, nor the truth so obvious in their own beings.

But you I lift into My Consciousness now. I redeem you from blindness and
give you clear vision. I call you out of the World into your Kingdom within
where I can commune with you, and give you guidance, wisdom,
understanding and truth. I expand your soul in My Love and send you forth to
cultivate a greater love, a greater power, and to create with Me a more
wonderful way than you have ever known.

Every day you have your problems. But when you know I am with you there is
nothing to fear. If you will continue to be poised in My Spirit, I am
instantaneous Perfection in the midst of all seeming chaos, illness or
tribulation. You will overcome the World in My Strength.

You can live but one moment at a time. This moment is the only one that is of
any consequence to you. Therefore I charge you to fill it with simple trust in
Me, and with perfect love. That is the answer to every subsequent moment as
it dawns.

There is no difficulty, no illness, no seeming tragedy that is too great for My
Love to overcome. But when you insist on turning away from Me to dwell in
fear or worry on the difficulty, I must stand aside until you come back to Me. I
can only manifest My Perfection in you when you allow Me to do so. That is
your right of choice, the perfect freedom I give to you to think and live as you
wish.

My Law is Perfect. I know you will eventually live in complete harmony with
Me and thus enter perfect happiness and achievement. You are, as yet, but
learning how to live as a free being. The time has come when you shall really
begin to claim your spiritual freedom through a clearer, simpler understanding
of My Presence.

I want you to know that My Great Law is Love. It is the Great Law because I
am Love, and all things that are perfectly created are done through the Power
of thought expressed in Love.

Therefore to the extent you live in love, forgetting and sacrificing self in
service, you become one with Me. It is fundamental to your health and
happiness that you shall Love with all your heart and mind. You shall love
your family, friends and neighbours. More important you shall love those who
hurt you, your so-called enemies, be they individuals or nations. I love all, for I
am all.

When you are in the throes of conflict and your mind turns to anger,
resentment and bitterness, remember that you are hating Me. The bitterness
of your distorted thoughts, often translated into harmful physical action, not
only destroys the well-being of others, but produces spiritual, mental and
physical illness in you. I never will illness upon My Children.

You shall learn to love all, and through your understanding, to forgive all.
When you become aware of evil coming to you, the only answer is to see Me,
the Perfect Christ within the other. That is the Man you shall love. Then you
can forgive the outer man, and be compassionate, for if he despitefully uses
you, he does so out of ignorance of My Law. Love him, pray for him, forgive
him, then you lift him up to Me and I lift you up also.

From this moment let love be your constant companion, then I shall be with
you, too. Love your people, love your work. Do all things as a loving service
for Me. Every moment will then be filled with joy, and power and success, for I
shall sustain you in everything you do.

The other Law you need to know is the Law of Mind which insists, necessarily
that an experience can only become real to you when you recognise it. What
ever you accept in consciousness becomes real. You exercise your faith
every time you do this. You have faith in the ground you walk upon, faith in
the life within you, faith in the Sun and the rain, faith in the chairs and bed you
use, faith in your ability to come here or go there. All such experiences you
daily accept as Reality and thus they become concrete experience.

It is this Law which naturally must operate when you think of Me. I too can
only become a Reality when you consciously accept Me as Real. When you
know I am the Almighty Love, Wisdom, intelligence and all good within you,
you are free forever.

From this moment I charge YOU to fill your life with love and to trust Me in all
things. Ask and I am instantly the Perfect Answer. Give me your burdens, and
I will disperse them. Forget the ills you hold so closely by remembering Me.
Forgive yourself in loving Me, and serving all. I am your Lord, and when you
keep your mind filled with the knowledge that health, joy, Prosperity and
everything that is Perfect are now pouring into your life they become your
own."

GOD BLESS YOU!

http://brothermandus.wwwhubs.com/mandus3.htm
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The Way of Divine Love

12/1/2012

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'Come and tell Me all you are afraid of', and showing me His Heart:
'When you feel unable to bear pain, come here! If you are afraid of being humbled, come here! If
you are seized with apprehension, come closer still!'


Come rest in Me and share My Joy.


What is there to fear when you are in My Hands? Never doubt the goodness of My Heart, nor the Love I bear you.

If you love me, I shall always remain near you. If you follow me closely, I shall grant you victory over the foe; I shall manifest Myself to you and teach you how to love.

I do not look at the act itself, I look at the intention. The smallest act, if done out of love, acquires such merit that it gives Me immense consolation . . . I want only love, I ask for nothing else.

If you are faithful, I shall know the riches of My Heart.



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The words above were given to Sister Josefa Menendez (1890-1923) directly to her heart from the Heart of God and are recorded in the book The Way of Divine Love.

Josefa never had to translate into human language visions, locutions, or interior promptings. It seemed to her that Our Lord was manifesting His thought and wishes in the direct form of human words which she believed that she perceived in a sensible way, and whichshe had only to transcribe in the very same terms.


The message and way of reception is the same as I myself have received for this Truth of God's Love, forever shall be. - Debra Clemente



josefa_menendez-way_of_divine_lovebook_1_of_3.pdf
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I wrote this note for you.

9/22/2012

3 Comments

 
I wrote these words that follow from God for a friend who needed to hear that God is so near. I wrote as I lay in bed, barely lifting my head to see the paper. I am but a messenger. These words were given to me to receive. These words were given to me to share, so that whoever needed to receive them could hear. I asked that God fill me. I asked that God’s Love spill from me. I asked to overflow so others could know. I am not here for only me. I am here to help others see.  - Debra Clemente

Listen to this Voice
Not the voice of doubt
This is the Voice
That says you can
Listen within
Not without
You have never
Been without
My Love
It has always been
Here for you
Accepting it and
Acknowledging it
Is what you have
To Do
I can help you see
See the beauty
Life holds and is
For you
Set aside your cares
And know that you
Are in My Constant Care
This is something
You must do
Be with Me
Be here with Me
Within your heart
Which is My Heart of hearts
Ask me to fill you
With This Love
I Am
And I Will
You can have
Your fill
For there is
Enough
More than enough
My Love is abundant
My Love is unlimited
And as I so fill you
With This Love
You shall know
That you are
This as well
You will know
You will be able
To tell
You will feel Me Live
Within your being
Set Me free
To Be
And I will set
You free
Of all your worry
I can do
What you cannot
My Power
My Strength
Is what you need
Tell Me
Tell Me
You know this is so
Tell Me
That you cannot
Do this alone
You are not alone
For I Am here
But your actions
And your words
Keep Me
From your knowing
So you cannot
Hear Me Say
Each and every moment
Of each and every day
How proud I Am
Of you
For doing all
That you do
I have been
With you
I have seen
You through
And yet still
You do not know
Instead you just
Try to believe
But it is possible
My Dear
To more than believe
You can know
You can know Me
You can talk to Me
As you do
But you do not
Stop to listen
To what I have
To say
You pray
Then go on your way
And say
That life is hard
And hardly fair
Sometimes you
Are not sure
If I even care
But I do
I always have
And always will
What you need
To know is
My Love
My Love
You need to know
That is it real
Really available
Right now
To give you the strength
I AM
My Love
Will carry you through
Ask for It
Ask to be filled with It
Ask me to give you My Strength
Tell Me again and again
How you need me.

Do you know what
Rock bottom is Dear?
It is where and when
You shall find Me
For this is when you
Shall truly seek Me
For then you shall
Have had enough
Of your own ways
And give it all to Me
All of your worry
You shall hand it over
You shall take the weight
Of the world
Off of your sore shoulders
You will say that you
Cannot go on this way
You will say
You cannot take it
Another day
And I will say
Good
I will say
Hurray
Enough is enough
Of doing things your way
Today is new
Today is the day
The Lord has made
And you shall
Take My Hand
And I shall
Lead you
To my Still Waters
To drink
To quench
The thirst
Of your soul
And your soul
Will drink
Your soul
Will drink in
My Love
You shall nurse
From My Breast
The Bosom
Of My Eternal Love
You shall depend
On Me
For My Strength
And My Love
Which is
The very substance
Of Me
I shall nourish thee
I shall feed you
My Love
Bit by bit
As you ask
And you have to
You must continue
To ask
You must not leave me
You must not leave
The knowing
That I Am
With you
That I Am
Near you
That I
Live within you
You must
Thank Me
You must
Be grateful
For all the good

You see
Around you
And I shall then
Be able to
Give you you more
For as you believe
You shall so receive
This is the way
You are to pray
Pray believing
Pray believing in Me
And you shall
Then know
Know Me
We are together
My Dear
We are never apart
For I Am
A part of you
I am the
Part of you
That gives you
Life
For I am Life
I want you
To be with Me
I want you

To know that you are
Not alone
I want you
to know
That I Love you
I want you to know
That this Love
I Am
And have for you
Is Real.

Love,
Your God
Which lives within
Loving you
All the while
Wishing so
Again
To see
You
Smile.



www.DebraClemente.com

3 Comments

We Can

9/9/2012

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We can
Agree
Or we can
Disagree
Or we can
Agree
To disagree
And yet
There is
Another choice
The choice
To just be
Just be
With another
Without judgment
Of who
Is correct
Or who
Is right
Just be
With another
Without a fight
Just be
With another
And know
It is

Alright.

Debra Clemente 9/9/2012

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True Listening

7/29/2012

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"So Be It" oil painting by Debra Clemente
“Listen” and “silent” in English are different combinations of the same letters which make, as thus, two completely different words. And yet there is a silent correlation for to truly listen one has to be quiet, not only by keeping their mouth shut but as well by keeping their mind and heart open.

True listening is hearing what another has to say without allowing words of judgment from one’s own ego to come into play. Silence is the golden key to hearing another speak, whether they sit across the room from you or are out of view from whatever view of life you happen to see.

Debra Clemente



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Is anybody listening?

7/27/2012

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The Facebook post prompt asks me what is on my mind and so I respond grateful for a place to share my thoughts about things of which I truly care. It’s a place to speak my piece. And in someway, this gives me a sense of hope that perhaps someone out there listened and heard my heart speak.

You see we hardly listen to what others yearn to say. All this “physical business” of the color of skin and style of hair gets in the way. But it happens as well in our more personal realm. We really hardly ever hear what another heart yearns to share.

It is fear, I believe, that holds our hearts apart. Fear is the jail. Fear is the steel bars. We each seem to know what we know and would rather not hear anything which might interfere.

Debra Clemente


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    Debra Clemente

    Parking spot for my latest thoughts.

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    Artist/Author Debra Clemente
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