TZADIKA

Today's scripture reading reminds me that Jesus has already promised what I've always wanted in the deepest part of my heart. To have a kind of love where someone is so deeply within me, and I within them. 

Jesus is the vine. "Abide in me, and I in you", he says. 

I have to ask myself... am I living as though Jesus is within me? Are my actions an extension of him residing within me? Am I befriending sinners and helping them to draw near to God? Am I spreading the word of God? Am I serving the poor? Am I healing others?

I have been asking amiss. In prayer, I have not sought to be like Christ before asking the Lord to answer my prayers. My heart is not like His. Not truly. I was still being selfish and clinging onto things that I just didn't want to let go of. I know that trust requires me to stop clinging and to fully surrender. In this way only can I glorify him and become a tzaddik (tzadik/tzadika - female/tzaddiq or saddiq in Aramaic). 

Tzadik - Wikipedia

I am still unraveling the mystery He revealed to me during Holy Week when he spoke directly to my heart and he is leading me down a distinct narrow path, but darkness abounds. I have been dealing with spiritual attacks for the past few weeks (the weeks following Holy Week). I'm not surprised that the evil one would want to come after me hard following the consolations during Holy Week. This confirms even more to me that I was drawing nearer to Him.

Last week I was very distressed, and talking to my ex (who was a minister) made things a little worse. I was feeling as if God used me as an instrument to bring others back to him, only to leave me in the dust. But this is not true. I rebuke this. I was upset that someone, who destroyed my heart in so many ways, is now praying for ME and telling me I am not following Christ's words. It was probably a truth I just wasn't willing to hear in that moment. I, in fact, was not following what was clearly and plainly laid out in scripture. I wasn't really following the equation, and I was wondering why my "result" wasn't equating with what I thought I was putting in.

It was me, not him. I was in a bad place. A negative place and with a spirit of fear which was not given by God. It's not his fault. He has learned and grown a lot.

God had to break him. Unfortunately, it was painful for me as well and I was present with him during the time before he surrendered to God again. God's grander plan required me to play a part in his story as much as he is playing a part in mine. I do not blame him. I give love fully to him and I support his new rising ministry. 

Please pray for me and help me to renounce these evil spirits, as I know I have work to do here while I'm on this Earth.

Love, and truly IN CHRIST,

Nicole

Me Singing Ave Maria in Latin with Rain Sounds

https://youtu.be/bS1D86X_KAk?si=92Ce27Mrs-LDiBNV

Here it is! A video of me singing Ave Maria in Latin with rain sounds in the background (for 12 1/2 minutes).

This is a Unicorn thing. I never sing out loud in front of people (not since I was little). This is my first time using this microphone and I don't have much of a set-up, but hopefully I'll get better at putting things like this together and making it good quality. Especially if I do ASMR.

My voice went wonky a couple times, lol... but it's okay. It's the Hail Mary Prayer! I also sing more softly at the end and the last minute or so is just rain.

Something happened to me in my life at some point where I stopped singing. I stopped dancing. I lost my spark and let life eat me up. I will try to stand in confidence and get my spark back! 

Ave Maria (Hail Mary)

Ave Maria, gratia plena,

Dominus tecum.

Benedica tu in mulieribus,

et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus.

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei,

ora pro nobis peccatoribus,

nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae.

Amen.

Unbound Prayers (Five Keys for Deliverance)

These prayers can be used when praying with someone else for freedom using the Unbound model, or you can use them when praying alone to work through your own issues and struggles. It is recommended that you pray these prayers out loud whether with someone else or praying alone. To learn more about the Unbound model of deliverance, heartofthefather.com. 

 FIRST KEY: REPENTANCE AND FAITH 

• Make acts of faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, acts of trust, surrender, and gratitude such as “Lord Jesus, I believe in you,” “I believe in your great love for me,” “Thank you for dying for me,” “Thank you that you are stronger than any situation,” etc… 
• Make acts of repentance such as, “Lord Jesus, please forgive me for…”, “Lord Jesus, I repent of…”, “Lord, I am sorry for…” 
• (Be sure to confess all sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation) 

SECOND KEY: FORGIVENESS 

• “In the Name of Jesus, I forgive [person’s name] for [specific thing they did]…” 
• If needed, you can forgive yourself using the same form of prayer. 

THIRD KEY: RENUNCIATION 

Spirits 

Renounce anything you are feeling or tend to feel as a pattern in your life that you know is not from God, e.g. anger, hatred, lust, pride, fear, anxiety, fear of intimacy, etc…: 

• “In the Name of Jesus, I renounce the spirit of…” Lies Renounce the “beliefs” that are not part of God’s truth that tend to govern your thoughts, e.g. I am not lovable, I am a failure, God is not good, All love fails, etc…: 
• “In the Name of Jesus, I renounce the lie that…” 

Curses 

Renounce words that others have spoken to you that were negative in nature and exert power over you (E.g. You are a failure, You are stupid, You don’t matter, etc…). 

• Curses: “In the Name of Jesus, I renounce any spirit that was at work in [my mother, father, husband, wife, etc…] when he/she said [state what they said], and I break the power of those words over my life.” 

Vows 

Renounce words that you have spoken that were binding in nature that contradict God’s plan for you (E.g. I will never trust anyone, I will never forgive myself, etc…). 

• Vows: “In the Name of Jesus, I renounce the vow I made when I said [state what you said], and I break its power over me.” 

Occult 

Renounce any participation in occult activity – e.g. fortune tellers, Ouija boards, mediums, etc… - or any New Age activity – e.g. Reiki, energy channeling, transcendental meditation, etc…. Also renounce any words that were spoken to you by anyone involved in the occult, especially about your life, your future and your relationships. 

• “In the Name of Jesus, I renounce any spirit that came to me when I [occult action e.g. visited the fortune teller] and I take back the authority I gave to him/her.” 
• Or, “In the Name of Jesus, I renounce any spirit that operated in [name of the fortune teller, palm reader, etc…] and I take back the authority that I gave to him/her.” 
• Curses: “In the Name of Jesus, I renounce any spirit that was at work in [name of fortune teller, palm reader, etc…] when he/she said ______, and I break the power of those words over my life.” 

Soul ties 

Renounce any bondage that formed between you and someone else because of sexual activity that was outside of marriage. 

• “In the Name of Jesus, I break every physical and spiritual tie with [name] and I take back what I gave to him/her.” 
• In the case of sexual abuse/rape: “In the Name of Jesus, I break every physical and spiritual tie with [name] and I take back what he/she took from me.” 

FOURTH KEY: AUTHORITY 

Once you have done your forgiving and renouncing, give a simple word of command: 

• “In the Name of Jesus, I break the power of every spirit that I have renounced and every related spirit and I command them to leave me right now.” 

FIFTH KEY: THE FATHER’S BLESSING 

• When praying Unbound prayers by yourself, the Father’s blessing can be done by reading words of Scripture that contain God’s words of love, delight and blessing over his people (read it as applied to you). Or, use a journal and write down words of love, delight and tenderness that you think God would say to you. 
• Examples of Scripture passages with God’s blessing: 
• 1 John 3:1-2 ▪ Jeremiah 29:11 ▪ Isaiah 40:11 ▪ Jeremiah 31:3 ▪ Luke 3:21-22 ▪ Zephaniah 3:17 ▪ Romans 8:37-39 ▪ Romans 8:14-17 ▪ Galatians 4:6-7 ▪ Isaiah 62:1-5 ▪ Psalm 103:11-14 ▪ Matthew 11:28-29

(Unbound Prayers PDF courtesy of Office for the New Evangelization ▪ Archdiocese of Philadelphia ▪ phillyevang.org/unbound)

People with Dementia Still Remember Jesus!

https://www.churchpop.com/elderly-woman-with-dementia-amazingly-remembers-jesus-in-viral-video-he-will-take-me-home/

I see this every day at work! Especially on Sundays when the memory care residents are singing hymns and they remember every word. They can say a beautiful prayer, then speak incoherently most of the rest of the time (or barely speak at all). I’ve even seen the lowest cognitive residents sing along! It’s truly beautiful & powerful.

As I was praying over a resident who was passing last week, I told her to not be afraid and that Jesus loves her. Her eyes, which were open and staring out, then became very wide. She was very low-cognitive but I would see her singing along with the hymns and sometimes she would be singing the correct words. ❤️ 

Her mind and body are fully restored now, in the arms of Jesus. 🙏

Update to Aramaic Translations: Divine Mercy

I just realized that one of the meanings of the word sedaq/sedaqah (one of the words Jesus recently spoke to me in Aramaic while drawing attention to the heart) actually means justice (and righteousness). That is also the meaning of the pale ray in the image of Divine Mercy as Jesus revealed to St. Faustina. 

She said, “During prayer I heard these words within me: 

“The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the water that makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls ...

These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when my agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.” (Diary, 299).

I also heard Jesus’s words within me and revealed in a very similar way. He was gesturing toward the heart. Was he telling me about his divine mercy? 

Saints concern themselves with the langauge of the heart—what is right and true

I was worried for a bit that I might seem crazy… or even worse, disingenuous… particularly regarding the messages I’ve received in Aramaic. But you know what? I really don’t give any flips what anyone thinks and I refuse to let myself be preoccupied by what others might think of me. What I share is true and right and “sedaq”, as Jesus would say 😉. From the depths of my heart, I speak the truth and I’ll stand by that with an unwavering faith that would make demons wail and scatter in fear. 

Michelangelo’s Risen Christ

I think this image of Christ is powerful and beautiful. It’s Christ, resurrected, and “naked without shame”, having fully redeemed the dignity of the body and restoring creation to the purity of its origins! ❤️✝️ 

(Someone on my Facebook said that she didn’t like the naked version of the risen Christ. My first thought was “who told you that he was naked?” It’s our broken hearts that might make us uncomfortable, but it never was supposed to be like that. I wish we could all have our purity and dignity restored in such a way that we can see the body as fully beautiful again without twisting or shame. I continue to think this art is meaningful and lovely.)

From the Theology of the body Institute:

“But what has not been endured by Christ has not been redeemed by Christ. In order to restore nakedness without shame, Christ would have had to endure in some way nakedness with shame – as, indeed, he did.  Stripping their victims naked was part of the gruesome spectacle of Roman crucifixion, and Christ endured this indignity “heedless of its shame” (Heb 12:2). Indeed, he endured this indignity of the body to redeem the dignity of the body! Interestingly, both the Gospels of Luke (24:12) and of John (20:5-7) mention that Christ’s burial coverings were left behind in the tomb after his resurrection. The Catechism teaches that, together with the empty tomb, this signifies that “Christ’s body had escaped the bonds of death and corruption” (CCC 657).”

#risenchrist #michelangelo #art #theologyofthebody #theologyofthebodyinstitute #tob #easter #christ #heisrisen