Real Catholic beauty, means leaving your SIN behind
By Rita Davidson
In this fifth post in this series, I’m exploring BEAUTY, not just the worlds view, but God’s view of beauty. You can find other posts by putting the hashtag #RealCatholicBeauty in the search box.
As an infant, we are depended upon our mothers for all our needs. Little babies are so sweet in their innocence that we cannot help Not to LOVE them. (let’s leave aside the pro-abortion mothers here for now).
As we grow, and become of age, the Church has given us Sacraments to help us as our innocence comes of age. As I am talking to my Liam at age 5, I am reminded he will soon be able to make his First Communion and I am really planning ahead. He’s a really active fella. SO much that he leaves his mama in the dust most days. J Rosary time is very hard for him to sit still so I see now is the time to start engaging his imagination into what his spiritual life will become.
It’s easy enough to engage them at 5 and 7 when their wonder is still alive and new. Everything is so exciting, from seeing a cow in the field (we have new neighbors now, didn’t you hear?) and seeing the Fatima story for the first time, (oh the awe they have is priceless).
But it seems the more they grow away from their childhood, the harder the faith becomes for them. 7 and 9 is pretty easy, 10 and 12 maybe so. 13 now your starting to get some real questions and anything above that your going to see, questions, doubts, and for some real rebellion too sadly.
As a mother of 7 I have seen too much of the rebellion. I am reminded that God has their lives planned just as much as our own lives planned and we can’t try to force their lives once they are adults any more than we would appreciate anyone forcing us to do something contrary to us. That is why getting them young is SO important.
The transition from youth to young adult is one of the biggest dangers as well as the proudest time for a parent. The faith you have tried to impart since their birth is finally ready to take flight and you only hope their take off is all you hoped and planned for. But some of us don’t do that planning so well and that transition “take off” is in fits and starts.
Maturity in the world is when I child is ready to get their license and have an abortion. Maturity in the faith is when the child begins taking on the faith as their own. Saying their rosary without prodding or reminding on their own. Saying their prayers regularly without reminders. Talking to God on their own. These are all signs their faith maturity is going well.
But maturity must be helped by education. So many of us are products of the Church AFTER Vatican II and that means most of us are not well catechized at all. I knew virtually nothing about the real faith when I left Catholic school. Not nearly enough to take it into my adult life. So many of us have found ourselves smack into REAL LIFE and often some tangled situations that we have to pull ourselves from if we want to remain in the Catholic faith. That is when REAL life starts to hit. Now all those years in Catechism you sure wished you had listened. Suddenly your heart is pulling you one way and the Holy Ghost is drawing you to Him. The never-ending struggle. It’s a terrible place to be. But it’s a place I find many people in today.
When a person finds themselves suddenly awakened and their life has gotten them WAY off track they can’t find themselves back. But that AWAKENING is God’s graces pulling you. You see God sometimes lets us get ourselves way off track. He lets us spin our wheels with hardly a peep from Him. The patient Father that He is. Then suddenly the blinders are removed and we find ourselves exposed, naked in front of God not knowing how we got there.
But it’s to find our way back. Often that way back is clouded and dark. And I won’t hesitate it’s that way purposely by Satan who would rather us remain in our sin. That cloudedness comes from our attachments to sin that makes us THINK we can’t give it up. We see God way over there, and we are WAY OVER HERE, but the path from here to there is blurred. That makes us scared and makes us procrastinate. I’ll figure this out tomorrow, I’ll go to confession next time. And life passes by. The farther we get out to sea, the more we lose sight of land. That is our spiritual life in a nutshell. We are only hesitant because we can’t see what’s on the other side.
Now you are trapped out there in no-where land and you get that pull to come back. That is the time to LEAVE your sin behind. It’s dark and the way is unknown, but that grace from God will only last so long.
Eternity is EVER so long and our life is EVER so short, we cannot waste it by bypassing the graces that come our way.
God only EVER wants to see our salvation. He weaves the intricate pattern of our life of grace here and there. He has it all planned out how He will pull us back. But we must be always listening, learning, loving otherwise we will miss the call and never find our way back.
That first call to Real Catholic Beauty, must be to GIVE up YOUR SIN. It is hard, and the way is dark, but God’s grace is sufficient. Whether it is sloth, or pride, impurity or vanity, we must be willing to step forward in TRUST and that is hard.
It is not going to be easy, you must PRAY for it. God will give you the courage and the graces you need to find your way back. The more you TRUST HIM the more HE will BLESS you. Make the choice today to step out in faith and to leave your sin behind so God can make you into the saint He wants you to be.
You have no idea the majesty and beauty of Jesus and how much He loves you with an unending love. Lean on Him and leave your SIN behind and make #RealCatholicBeauty your choice today.
With love,
Rita Xo 🙂
©Copyright 2015 Rita Davidson & Little Flowers Family Press All Rights Reserved.
Rita is a Catholic wife, and mother of seven, with three autistic boys. Author, of “Immodesty, Satan’s Virtue” (2001) and speaker, she has a PASSION for making #realcatholicmodesty understood. She is a licensed Hairdresser, and Make Up Pro with a degree in Natural Health who enjoys essential oils. She enjoys making people smile and sharing God’s love with anyone who will listen. After overcoming a stroke, disabilities, they lost everything in a devastating house fire that made them homeless for six months. She is determined to lead souls back to Christ by finding the #realcatholicbeauty in their lives by carrying their crosses with Joy!
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