When my son was first diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 21, we trusted the gastroenterologist who said ‘keep eating what you’re eating’ and prescribed Lialda.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll know this medication made his symptoms a thousand times worse and we vowed then and there to find a natural solution to his condition. Through a ton of research I came across Dr. Dahlman’s protocol, which he follows to this day.

But as he’s matured, he’s taken over the continuing search for even more ways to help him live with this disease.
​
Each case of ulcerative colitis is highly individual and what works for him may not work for you. But I would like to share what he’s found helpful.

Ultimate Flora Probiotic​

Anyone with UC knows that probiotics are essential for restoring balance in the intestines and improving immune function, two very important aspects for a UC sufferer.

Probiotics also stimulate resistance to infection and keep harmful bacteria in check.

But the big question is, which probiotic should you buy out of all the ones on the market?

The one my son uses is not cheap: 60 capsules, or two months’ supply, run at $90 - but they are worth it.

Ultimate Flora by Renew Life has 80 billion live cultures per delay-release capsule and is dairy and gluten free.

One capsule taken every morning ‘keeps his stomach and colon happier, and reduces the rumbling.’ He has no stomach ache after eating and doesn’t need to rush to the bathroom immediately.

He does suggest that someone in a flare might want to take one in the evening, too, as it can ‘pass through’ during that painful time.

My son ran out of this product for a couple of days and suddenly had blood in his stool again. So he knows it’s working!

Note: This probiotic has to be refrigerated, so is not available in all stores. Our local The Vitamin Shoppe sells it. 

Onnit Hemp Force Vanilla Açai 

This remarkable product, described as a “High-performance plant protein with an unfairly good taste” contains many great ingredients.
 
To quote from Onnit:

"Unwilling to compromise with our commitment to finding the most nutrient dense natural ingredients available, the key was in a combination of mesquite powder and freeze dried açaí berry, a blend of both tart and molasses notes delivered by 100% earth grown ingredients. Adding Chia and Flax seed to the protein and omega rich hemp seed simply enhanced the nutrient potential of this powerful protein superfood."

It is vegan, gluten free, soy free and dairy free, and contains 14 grams of protein per serving. 

My son originally took it before working out to help build muscle, which is a constant struggle for him, but soon realized it was having other benefits, too.

Unlike other protein shakes, it has no negative side effects for him. It has helped him gain weight and maintain it and build muscle. He says it tastes exceptionally good with Pea Milk! 

Check out their 'Taste Pro Tips' on what else to mix the powder with.

It keeps his stools more solid and calms his stomach. He stays full for longer and his stomach doesn’t rumble the way it usually does otherwise.

He experiences less urgency and more control: he doesn’t need to rush to the bathroom as soon as he’s taken it.

This product has been a real boon for him.

Note: my son orders this online directly from Onnit. Each container holds 10 servings and costs $44.95. If you subscribe to their regular delivery you get 15% off, which works out at $38.21 a tub.

There's no doubt about it, Ulcerative Colitis is not a cheap disease to have!  But going the natural route beats suffering the side effects of medication, which usually only works for a limited time before you have to look for something else.

Dealing with the Stress of Ulcerative Colitis
 
In addition to the supplements for the diarrhea and pain associated with UC, there are the mental and emotional problems which come with it.

Dr. Richard Bloom in New York State suggested the following supplements to handle them.

Morning:
1,000mg - Source Naturals Omega EPA Fish Oil
1,000mg -Source Natural Taurine
500mg - Allergy Research Group L-methionine Free Form Amino Acid
1,000mg - Natrol Easy-C  (Vitamin C)
1,000mg -NOW Inositol Capsules

Evening:
I pinch - Cream of Tartar from supermarket
1,000mg - Taurine as above
1,000mg - Inositol as above

Instead of listing the numerous uses of each of the above, let me quote what my son wrote after taking them.

“It took a couple of days to feel anything, but I have noticed benefits since then.
- Increased energy
- Better mood
- More calmness
- Able to calm down from upsetting situations much faster
- Happier/more positive conversations
- Easier to regulate my mood
- Better at the gym (he works out every day)
- General mood has been largest benefit
- Used to experience more of a dark mood
- Increased desire to communicate/able to feel more supportive of others.”
 
Here’s what he wrote when he ran out of the Taurine pills, but was still taking the rest.

“Within a week I noticed less energy, awareness and happiness.
- More likely to get upset
- (I’m) taking  the Taurine with the other pills again, and I feel much better, more optimistic, more motivated and have more energy.”

Turning Point During a Flare 

During my son’s latest flare earlier this year, which simply would not quit (and before he was taking the above supplements) a friend came down from New Jersey to try the BEMER on him. Briefly put, this is a machine which improves the flow of oxygen down to the body’s tiniest capillaries and naturally stimulates the healing process with magnetic waves flowing through the body.

My friend could only stay for three days, and performed two eight minute sessions on my son daily during that time. This involved his lying down on an oblong mat hooked up to a machine which pulsed magnetic waves through his body at a low frequency. (I'm putting this in extremely simplistic layman's terms - a BEMER person would probably be horrified at my inadequate description!)

But it seems to have been the turning point for my son's climb back into remission, which came about in an unexpected way. Here's what he wrote:

“I was impressed with the BEMER’s ability to help me retain the weight I was usually losing overnight. While I didn’t experience many colitis symptom-related benefits, I can see now it’s great for recovery from workouts and increased nutrient uptake. I would recommend the BEMER for athletes and people with autoimmune diseases like mine who have trouble absorbing nutrients from their food.”

While the machine itself is very expensive, it is possible to rent one for a while to see if it really is beneficial. Some IBD sufferers have reported positive results. You’ll find a contact page on the BEMER website. Once you start using it, you need to continue in order to keep reaping the benefits.

 
I hope the above information gives you some things to consider in your quest to help yourself or someone you love who is struggling with this horrible disease.

While my son works on the earthly aspects of his healing, his mother continues to pray daily for his success in overcoming his disability.

I shall soon be posting more ways to combat ulcerative colitis.

Meanwhile I'll leave you with this photo he took yesterday of his dog, Fly, from Colorado where he is on a two week camping trip with friends.

​
​Sufferers of ulcerative colitis have very little to laugh about, so I thought I'd write a short humorous post about my son's latest find.

Since his UC diagnosis he's had to avoid milk from animals as part of the endless list of food items he has to leave out of his diet.

For a long time his go-to product was coconut milk, as he can't eat anything with almonds in it. (Did I already mention that his list of no-no foods and drinks is extremely long?)

He regularly scours the gluten-free supermarket sections and carefully checks the labels on any new products. As he says, if the list of ingredients is more than four or five he doesn't even bother to read it. For sure it'll include preservatives and other things he can't ingest.

So he was very excited to discover an alternative to coconut milk. Which, although perfectly fine for him, does have a distinctive taste which it lends to everything it's poured over.

But now Ripple Foods have made a delicious protein rich non-dairy milk out of - wait for it - PEAS!

It comes in 48 ounce containers and four flavors: Original, Unsweetened, Vanilla and Chocolate.

There are also 8 ounce cartons for kids, in Original, Vanilla and Chocolate.

Check them out and see if they might work for you.

Here's that link again: www.ripplefoods.com/products/

As for the humor - well, I think you can see where I'm heading with this. My son loves to tell his friends that he's brought his 'pee milk' with him and watch their faces!

Related Posts

- Ulcerative Colitis: Stabat Mater Dolorosa

- St. Jude & Ulcerative Colitis

- One Man's Ulcerative Colitis Diet

- Ulcerative Colitis: A Natural Approach

- Ulcerative Colitis Takes a Hike


The world is ready for a fictional hero with ulcerative colitis!

Riding Out the Devil is the first book in my trilogy about Jack Harper, a horse trainer with UC.

Download your FREE copy at ​Hilary Walker Books!

For Christians the tidal wave of secularism sweeping over the world today is both confusing and terrifying. What on earth is going on and are we powerless to stem it?

Absolute Relativism is a literal Godsend for these times. Within only 59 pages, Chris Stefanick clearly defines absolute relativism and logically explains how illogical it is. He points out the idiocies of this ‘new dictatorship’ so eloquently that the reader is hard-pressed to understand why people ever fall for it.

But fall for it they do. Mr. Stefanick helps us understand this insidious enemy and  stand against it.

Do Relativists Even Know What Relativism Is? 
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“Relativism is the idea that there is no universal, absolute truth, but that truth differs from person to person and culture to culture. In other words, truth is relative to what each person or culture thinks.”

It’s not hard to see how dangerous such a philosophy is, but as Mr. Stefanick says, “It’s widely accepted because it’s rarely scrutinized. Since it has worked its way into the fabric of our society, it is simply assumed to be true.”

The fundamental premise of relativism is that it “is absolutely true for everyone that nothing is absolutely true for anyone.”

This statement is self-contradicting: “If it’s true for everyone that nothing is true for everyone, then the assertion “Nothing is true for everyone” also isn’t true for everyone!”

​The Moral Abandonment of Our Children 

Running from the responsibility to give the next generation a true moral compass is depriving our children of purpose and hope.

Consider what Pope John Paul II says in this quote from the book:

“False teachers, many belonging to an intellectual elite in the worlds of science, culture, and the media, present an anti-gospel…their only certainty is that there is no definite truth, no sure path … they advocate an approach to life that has led millions of young people into a sad loneliness in which they are deprived of reasons for hope and are incapable of real love.”

Futher, the booklet quotes Pope Benedict XVI:

“A spiritual desert is spreading: an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair. This emptiness is the inevitable result of relativism, which separates us from life’s most profound realities. This is, perhaps, its most tragic effect.”

Mr. Stefanick gives the latest suicide statistics among teens: almost 15 percent had seriously considered it, and close to 7 percent had actually attempted to kill themselves. Even allowing for mental illness as the cause of some of this, he writes “a percentage that high represents a more far-reaching societal problem - a crisis in meaning and a poverty of purpose.”
​
Many parents mistakenly think that loving their children means to accept them without guiding them in the truth. They think they are ‘setting them free.’ But this is moral abandonment, it is love without truth, and a “unique form of cruelty.”

Not All Lives Are Equal According to Relativism 
​
The author states that abortion could only have become legal in a relativist society.

When everyone accepts objective principles, such as the dignity of all human beings and the natural law, the right to life is assured for all.

But when morals are no longer based on objective facts, “rights come to be regarded as favors granted by the state or by a majority vote” as is happening “with what was once seen as the inalienable right to life.”

Mr. Stefanick cites Archbishop Charles J. Chaput: “No rights are safe when the right to life is not.”

The author explains how abortion has become legal in a society where nothing is wrong in and of itself. Pro-abortionists “claim that abortion should be legal in the name of ‘freedom of choice,’ not necessarily because it’s a moral decision. …. Abortion was made legal by relativism and probably remains so because of it.”

He points out the sad truth that although most Americans are against abortion, they do nothing to prevent it, because they are unwitting relativists, not wanting to “impose their morality” on others.

“And so it seems that a multitude of Americans think an act is murder but won’t do anything about it.”
​
How sad that this ‘dogma’ of relativism, which most people don’t even understand or challenge, has become a protected new religion!

The New Definition of Intolerance  
​
Tolerance is touted as the new virtue. “Purity, piety, temperance, wisdom, and courage are all optional.” Yet most people don’t even know what tolerance is.

Here I’ve added the Miriam-Webster definition of tolerance pertinent to our context:

“1:  capacity to endure pain or hardship:  endurance, fortitude, stamina
“2 a :  sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own
   b :  the act of allowing something:  toleration”

As Mr. Stefanick says, “Tolerance is enduring ideas or actions that you don’t agree with.”

But the relativist’s definition of tolerance is “not strongly disagreeing with anyone on moral or religious issues.”

Based on that, I'd like to add the following imaginary conversation:
               
'If you disagree with me, you’re being intolerant,’ says the relativist.
               
The Christian replies, ‘In reality, you’re being intolerant because you don’t show sympathy for my view of things. I’m not being intolerant simply because I don’t see the world as you do.’

‘But I’m right and you’re wrong!’

‘I thought there was no absolute right or wrong?  And if we’re all allowed to have our own truths - the essence of relativism - then why am I being ‘intolerant’ if I have a different truth from you?’

Chris Stefanick explains how harmful genuine intolerance is “if it’s used to censor ideas, coerce people into agreeing with you, or if it takes the form of violence.”

He cites examples where “relativists can be more intolerant than those who believe in absolute truth.” These include the ACLU backing lawsuits “to forcibly quash any mention of God out of the public square to cater to a few intolerant atheists,” and the “attacks on conscientious objection rights that currently allow Catholic doctors and hospitals to refuse to participate in providing abortions.”

He shows “how relativism can produce the polar opposite of tolerance because it removes objective reasons for people to practice restraint against those they disagree with.” (My italics)

The booklet cites the clear teaching on tolerance from the Second Vatican Council:

“The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion.”
​
This is authentic tolerance.

Truth 
​
Mr. Stefanick challenges scientists: “Why limit your discoveries about the universe to the realities inside a petri dish? You study the matter of the universe, but you’re missing the meaning.”

When Christians claim to be 100 percent right about God, it should not be seen as saying that everyone else is wrong, nor as disrespecting people of other religions. Christians are not calling non-Christians unholy. “Nor is theological correctness the same as holiness. The devil, for instance, is an expert in theology.”

To the question “Doesn’t it smack of pride to claim to know the truth?” he responds, “Not as much as it smacks of pride to claim you can create your own truth - your own moral and spiritual universe.”
​
He explains that in “considering whether an action is right or wrong, we should follow the law: natural law and divine law.” He describes divine law as what God has directly revealed to us, and natural law as “the moral principles ‘written’ into our very nature.” Even children on the playground have a natural sense of fairness and unfairness.

Relativism, with its rejection of shoulds and should nots, is unnatural.
Moral realism is natural, “a recognition that there are ethical principles we all should live by” and it’s “in our DNA.” 
​
But, some may argue, “Isn’t relativism just about us growing beyond antiquated moral views?”

Mr. Stefanick responds that, far from being outdated and antiquated, right ideas should be embraced as having “stood the test of time. The passage of time doesn’t make an ethical concept wrong or obsolete. You don’t use ethics to tell time. Using a clock to judge moral issues is just as foolish. …The truths identified in philosophy (and theology) are timeless. They can be polished, but they don’t rust.”

​
Faith 

We can be brought to the threshold of faith through reason, but “reason can’t cross the actual threshold for us.” Because God is the object, faith “is not a science but a relationship. This is why faith is brought about by an act of will, not only of the intellect.”

The author uses marriage as an analogy.

A man can rationally look at all the options available to him and rule them out except for the one he wishes to marry. He cannot scientifically check out everything about this one woman, but based on what he considers sufficient evidence, “her beauty and goodness leads (sic) you to make the decision to give her your life.”

Faith is not irrational but supra-rational - “beyond the limits of reason,” like the “parts of our universe that are beyond the limits of our sight. That doesn’t mean they aren’t there.” Just as you jump into a marriage you cannot fully understand, “once you have enough evidence, you jump anyway” into faith.

Mr. Stefanick adds that the atheist makes a leap of faith, too: it is not possible to scientifically prove that God doesn’t exist. The atheist has to choose to believe in God’s non-existence.

Christianity 

To the question “What makes you so convinced about Christianity?” comes the answer:

“If someone rises from the dead by his own power, I’ll believe anything he says. The founder of Christianity rose from the dead.”

Mr. Stefanick relates the story of  Harvard Professor Greenleaf, who wanted to prove that the Resurrection couldn’t possibly stand in a court of law. The problem was that eyewitnesses are a certain way to close a case, and he discovered that there were many eyewitnesses to Christ’s Resurrection.

Not only that, but they were willing to die rather than recant their testimony and suffered horrible deaths for declaring the fact that they had seen the risen Christ.

Greenleaf’s attempt to debunk the Resurrection story ended in his becoming a Christian.
​
Finally, faith helps us make sense of tragedy. “Like a faithful spouse, you can continue to choose faith in a loving Author of life over hopelessness.”


 
This is only a small sampling of the rich truths that await you in Chris Stefanick’s powerful treatise. He exposes relativism for the monster it really is.

He also gives us concrete ways to fight back against this evil in our society with his Seven Ways to Battle Relativism. I strongly urge you to get a copy of the booklet to find out what they are. You’ll be glad you did!


Absolute Relativism is available as a booklet for $2.95 or as an eBook for $1.79 from ShopCatholic.com.

Available as a FREE CD from DynamicCatholic.com.
​
P.S. I don’t get compensated if you purchase Absolute Relativism but Chris Stefanick wants us all to spread the word, and so do I!

​Our fellow humans aggravate us every day.

A guy cuts you off at the intersection and makes the light while - thanks to him - you don’t.

A woman is ahead of you in the checkout line that clearly says ‘!2 items or Less,’ with at least treble that amount. You made sure you had less than 12 items - it’s grossly unfair!

How can we Christians deal with these situations without going crazy? And without judging these infuriating people. (After all, ‘judge not, lest ye be judged.’)

Here are some ideas.

​
Empathize

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to be nice to people when things aren’t going well in your own world? How difficult it is to care about others’ feelings when you’re in a bad place?

So if people are rude and inconsiderate I ask myself what might be going wrong in their lives to make them behave that way. I try to believe that they normally wouldn’t be so obnoxious and something must be upsetting them.

Remember the man who was mad when a father got on the bus and let his three children run rampant without a single word of admonition? When challenged, that parent replied, “I guess I should do something. But their mother has just died and we’re all wondering how to cope with it.”

The angry passenger felt sudden compassion for the man and realized that what we see is not the full story.

Because of this, I make up something to help me feel empathy for people who bug me.

That guy who just cut in front of me at the traffic might have a wife about to give birth in hospital and he's desperate to get there as fast as possible.

The woman who has too many groceries for my check-out lane might not be able to read the sign saying ’12 Items Or Less.’ I'm lucky to be literate - she might not be so privileged.

It doesn’t matter what crazy back-story you make up, just as long as it helps you feel kinder towards the annoying person.

I end by saying a “Hail Mary” for them as a way of blessing them and turning my frustration into something positive.

As another example, acquaintances often come up to me when I’m working in a café I frequent a lot. They want to chat - I want to write. That’s why I’m there. I even put on headphones as a not-so-subtle ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign.

And still they come over!

I’ve carved out this precious time to get a specific amount of writing done. So it takes a lot of patience, but I’ve learned to tell myself that God has put that person in front of me to teach me to be less obsessed about my writing schedule and more interested in my fellow man.

And so I save my work on the laptop and give that person my full attention.

I admit that I’m also praying to God to give me patience during the entire conversation! But at least my thoughts are on doing His work, not mine.
​
He constantly gives us chances to help others and put our egos behind us. We should take advantage of them.

Remembering Our Own Youth
​ 
I have another trick, especially when young people behave as if the world revolves around them and us older folk should simply wait while they chat in groups in the middle of the supermarket aisle, or hog the outside lane in traffic while slowing down to text their friends…..

I remember what I was like at their age. We didn’t have cell phones in those days, but I can recall plenty of times when I failed to stand aside and let others pass, or treated the outside lane as my personal space.

By forgiving them for their inconsideration I hope to be forgiven my own. Again, they're not usually trying to annoy others but have a genuine lack of appreciation of others. I think we’ve all been guilty of that at some point in our lives.
​
At the other end of the age scale, when an eighty-something bugs me by driving slowly, or doddering through the check-out lane in the store, I tell myself that one day I will - God willing - be that old person myself. It behooves me to ‘pay it forward’ and be patient with their foibles. 

Think of Christ 

The ultimate method for dealing with frustrating people is to remember what Christ went through for us, and His continuing Mercy towards us.

He suffered horribly for mankind with His agonizing death on the Cross. Yet every day He calls us into an intimate relationship with Him, overlooks our weaknesses and forgives us, over and over again, even though He knows we will sin some more.
 
Letting the poor behavior of others get under our skin ruins our peace without ruining theirs. If we take the high road, we feel good about ourselves.

God sees what is done in secret. Let's offer those infuriating situations up to Him and use them to give Him glory by turning them into moments of forgiveness and prayer for others.

Do you have any ideas about how to deal with annoying people that you'd like to share?

The approaching New Year is the perfect opportunity for us to make - and follow through on - a positive resolution which will impact our eternal future.

How about this one: Working on getting to Heaven?

Where Are We All Headed?

I am currently reading The Urgency of the New Evangelization: Answering the Call by Ralph Martin, (OurSundayVisitor, 2013).

Martin wants us to understand now – not later – that whatever the prevailing culture tells us, hell is real and we are all going there if we don’t wake up to the Truth – not some ‘tolerant’ and ‘relative’ version of it.

“Out of His profound compassion God reveals to us the ways that lead to life and death. We neglect them at our eternal peril. And not to tell the truth to those we love is to be guilty of a genuine lack of compassion.”

The world around us wants us to believe that God doesn’t exist, and His commandments don’t apply to us anymore. (Code for 'don't tell me what to do - I don't want to behave myself.')

We Christians are becoming increasingly marginalized, and branded at best as irrelevant, at worst as ‘intolerant’ and indulging in ‘hate speech.’
​
“As Christian culture collapses and we again face a situation that has more in common with the early Church than anything we’ve known in our lifetime, the words of the early Church become more and more meaningful and applicable.” (My italics.)

What Is Hell?

In 1936 St. Faustina was led through hell by an angel.

Among the terrifying sights she beheld were the “special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned.” And not just temporarily, mark you – this is for all eternity.

She explains further, “I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like…I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell.” (My italics.)

St. Catherine of Siena was also given a vision of hell and God told her that those in hell “see the devil as he really is – more horrible than the human heart can imagine. ….Even with all you have seen you do not really know how horrible he is.”

By giving into sin and the devil’s deceptions and lies we gradually become as extreme in ugliness and horror as he is and ready to join him in hell.

Unlike what the world today wants us to believe, there is no glamor in evil, no beauty in perversion and no happy ending for those of us who persist in sin and lies.

Who then Can Be saved?

(See also my post Divine Mercy Sunday. Jesus is desperate for us to repent and ask forgiveness before it is too late.)

Martin points out how the devil has turned the current emphasis on God’s mercy to his own evil purposes. Focusing only on the merciful side of God, and forgetting the consequences of sin and lack of repentance, “some people have, mistakenly, gotten the impression … that sin is no big deal and that God in His mercy will never allow anyone to be lost. This is not at all … what the Lord showed to Faustina.”

This way of thinking has resulted in “a dangerous presumption on God’s mercy” which is also a sin.

As St. Paul tells us, we “must obey the truth” – The Truth, not some twenty-first century ‘progressive’ version of it. “He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. (Rom. 2:8)”

However, St. Paul says “He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers (Rom. 2:7)”

God longs to offer us His mercy, but can only do so if we ask for it with a repentant heart and the determination not to sin anymore.

Yes, we will fall – time and time again – but we have to get up time and time again and ask for God’s forgiveness with a penitent and humble heart. 

We cannot approach God with the attitude that He somehow ‘owes us.’ He owes us nothing – His mercy is a free gift which we cannot earn. He wishes to give it to us, but we have to ask properly for it, with humility and an awareness of our human failings.

If you recall, Lucifer refused to fulfill those conditions, and look where that got him.

The additional good news is, says Martin, that “The Father tells Catherine that (our loved ones who are) already with Him continually intercede for us who are still on the journey and that the Father will do everything to answer their prayer ‘provided only that you do not foolishly resist my mercy.’” (My italics.)

​


















​What to Choose?

Consider what Martin writes here:
“It’s interesting to note how the Father shows Catherine that as each person dies they actually rush to where they want to be. In a very real way each person chooses their own destiny over the course of a lifetime and at the moment of death embraces what has truly become their choice.”

I know where I want to spend eternity. How about you?

It makes us desperately want to warn our loved ones, doesn’t it? Like the rich man in hell who wanted Abraham to warn his five brothers so they not end up like him.

"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' (Luke 16:29)”
​
Let's heed the warnings in the Bible – those Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth – before it’s too late for us, as well!

​Endnote:

Here are a few excerpts from the book's impressive endorsements. They may help you better understand what the book is about and how powerful its message is.

“Ralph Martin masterfully develops a biblically based summons to the critical work of evangelizing, a work on which depends the very salvation of countless souls.” Monsignor Charles Pope, pastor, blogger and Our Sunday Visitor columnist.

“(Ralph Martin) effectively establishes that the primary reason for the urgency of the New Evangelization is that the eternal destinies of people we love – indeed all people – are at stake.” Janet Smith, who holds the Father Michael J. McGivney Chair of Life Ethics at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.

“After reading it, you are called to decision.” Gavin D’Costa, Professor of Catholic Theology, University of Bristol.

“The book will be of particular value to the laity, many of whom continue to believe that the duty to evangelize falls mainly on the clergy and religious. Martin shows … the error of this view.” Colin Donovan, S.T.L., Vice President for Theology, EWTN.

It is enormously hard to watch a son or daughter suffer the misery of ulcerative colitis.

Like Mary, who watched her Son die horribly on the Cross, we stand at the foot of our own child’s cross, witnessing our loved one’s quality of life deteriorate and his or her body waste away.

Helpless and miserable, we beg God to take this awful curse away from them and put their burden on us instead.

And then come the relentless questions: Is God punishing me for something that I did or didn’t do? Could I have prevented this from happening? Why can’t I alleviate my child’s suffering?

First Things First

If this is how you feel, please also read my previous post, St. Jude & Ulcerative Colitis. 

Here again is the link to the website of the doctor whose protocol has worked for my own son, when medication helped made his symptoms worse.

http://www.drdahlman.com

He offers free downloadable reports for other conditions, such as Crohns and fibromyalgia.

Tap into the power of correct diet and supplements to reverse the symptoms of ulcerative colitis and then use the power of prayer in combating this autoimmune disease.

You don't have to be a helpless bystander!

Prayer
​
In his book Return: How to Draw Your Child Back to the Church Brandon Vogt sets out a game plan for achieving his stated goal. It begins with prayer, fasting and sacrifice.

I was struck with the similarities between what the author advocates and my own game plan when my son has a renewed ulcerative colitis flare.

(Please note, his flares are always the result of eating the wrong thing!)

​54 Day Rosary Novena

I cannot over-emphasize the power of prayer.

St. Paul said: “Rejoice at all times. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.… (1 Thessalonians 5:16 –18)” (My italics.)

Over the years I have learned to lean on Our Lady whenever I have a crisis in my life. The Mother of God intercedes most persuasively with her Son on our behalf.

She revealed the 54 day Rosary Novena to an incurably sick Italian lady, saying: “Whoever wishes to receive favors from me should make three novenas of the prayers of the Rosary in petition and three in thanksgiving.” She promised to restore the lady’s health and did so.

To obtain a favor, pray consecutively 6 nine day rosary novenas (27 days of petition and 27 days of thanksgiving), reciting the mysteries in the normal order.

You can print out a Miraculous 54 Day Novena Card to keep with you to remind you to pray.

The hardest part about praying this novena is that you have to pray with thanksgiving in your heart for the last 27 days, EVEN WHEN YOUR PRAYER HAS NOT YET BEEN ANSWERED.

This is really tough! It takes enormous faith to persevere when you’re seeing no results.

I was in the final seven days of my first recitation of this novena (for a personal need) when I felt – rather than heard – a whisper telling me that my petition would be answered. I was given no time frame, but I believed that it would be answered, if only I were patient.

I trusted Our Lady and sure enough, what I had feared was impossible, came to pass not long afterwards.

Another time I was praying for my son, who was in the worst flare he’d ever experienced. He’d eaten the strongest possible Indian curry (somehow unaware that this was anathema to his intestines!) and his flare lasted for over two months.

Prednisone no longer works for him to bring down the inflammation. He became skeletal and suffered from a cough and cold that wouldn’t quit because his immune system was completely shot.

This was over Christmas and New Year last year (2015).

I began praying the 54 day Rosary Novena on 15th December, moving to the thanksgiving days on 9th January, with my son showing no signs of improvement.

It was hard, but I believed Our Lady would come through for him and my son finally agreed to go back on the supplements recommended in Dr. Dahlman's protocol which had worked for him before. (He'd been hoping not to need them.)

By 27th January, nine days before the end of the Novena, he sent me a text from work saying “I am substantially healed.” He went on to run the DC Marathon in March “to celebrate being healthy again.” You can imagine my tears of gratitude!

I am currently reciting the 54 Novena once more. My son once again ate something new that disagreed with his intestines and was flaring after a long time of having religiously stuck to his diet.

I was into the ninth day of the Thanksgiving phase when he reported feeling like his old self again, running with his dog and ready to go back to the gym. He now spends the whole night sleeping instead of rushing to the bathroom every hour.

Thank you, Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary!

Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

As well as praying for Our Lady’s help, we always have recourse to her Son. During both of my son’s flares I have prayed the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The prayer ends with these words:

‘O Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom one thing alone is impossible, namely, not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of Thee, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your tender Mother and ours.’
​
So there is no ‘conflict of interest’ here!

Prayer to St. Jude 

I have never stopped praying to St. Jude, who came through for me when my son was first diagnosed and led me to find the protocol that was going to bring him back to health (see St. Jude & Ulcerative Colitis). He prevented me from despairing at a time when it was hard not to be despondent.

These days I thank him for his continuing help and ask him to join Mary in interceding for my son’s return to health – and to the church. (Which is why I’m reading Return!)
 
Fasting 
​
Brandon Vogt writes in Return about ‘two other fruitful practices many parents ignore that can amplify the effects of prayer significantly….The first is fasting, and the second is offering up sacrifices.’ (p. 67)

He talks about different things to fast from. Not just abstinence from food, but also from things we enjoy – he cites binge watching TV and social media or from complaining or gossiping.

And when it gets difficult, we should pray, ‘Lord I am doing this for my child: please relieve him of his suffering.’
​
As soon as my son flares, I immediately give up alcohol and chocolate as well as going into serious prayer mode!

Offer Up Your Sufferings 

To quote Brandon Vogt again: “Just as Jesus accepted beatings, torture, and ultimately death on our behalf, offering his sacrifices for the sake of the world, so we must channel our much smaller pains and sufferings for the sake of our children.” (p. 71)

As I’ve mentioned, the last two times my son has flared, after many months of remission, have been through negligent eating.

Because he can control his symptoms through self-discipline, I see red when those symptoms return. “He could have prevented this – he’s making the whole family miserable!”

To top it off, he complains that I shouldn’t get upset. “It’s my disease,” he says, as if watching him suffer shouldn’t have an impact on me. I try to explain that as his mother it is impossible for me to be unaffected and I will always be looking for ways to help.

“Mum, I’ve got this, I don’t need you interfering!”

As you’ll already know, ulcerative colitis doesn’t bring out the best in the sufferer!

So I offered up my unhappiness at his unkind attitude for his sake. I talked to Our Lady, and told her that I knew she suffered much more for her Son than me for mine. I talked to Jesus about how my self-pity was not justified – He had much more reason to feel sorry for Himself that I did!

The next morning God and His Mother gave me back my son. He hugged me and we wordlessly made our peace. That was followed by the first night he slept through without having to go to the bathroom, and the next day was able to go running without fear of an accident.
​
On the evening of Thanksgiving Day we took his dog for a long walk in the dark and had a wonderful chat.

The prayers and fasting and offering of sacrifices have taken effect and I want all mothers (and fathers) out there to know that they DO have the power to help their children, through the grace of Jesus, His Mother and the saints.

Have faith and help your child follow a protocol like the one I mention to bring their digestive system back into balance and keep it there. This requires a huge lifestyle change but will ultimately make them much healthier with a stronger immune system.

​God has given us the tools - let's use them!

Related Articles

- Ulcerative Colitis: A Natural Approach

- St. Jude & Ulcerative Colitis

- One Man's Ulcerative Colitis Diet

- A Different Kind of Milk

The world is ready for a fictional hero with ulcerative colitis!

Riding Out the Devil is the first book in my trilogy about Jack Harper, a horse trainer with UC.

Download your FREE copy at ​Hilary Walker Books!

This country has produced two presidential candidates who make it very hard to want to vote in this election. As a well-meaning Christian you may well feel that you shouldn’t vote because the choices are so awful.

But, as the British statesman Edmund Burke famously said: ““All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

We truly are in a position to prevent the triumph of evil.

Do I Have to Vote? 

In an election where one of the major candidates is virulently anti-Christian (and specifically anti-Catholic) while the other publicly defends Christian values, surely we cannot refuse to vote because of our personal feelings about the individuals who represent each side?

Here is what Pope Pius XII had to say when Catholics went to the polls in 1948 to vote for or against the Communists in Italy:    (from “The Moral Obligation of Voting” written by the Rev. Titus Cranny, S.A, M.A, S.T.L in 1952 as quoted in All Catholics Have a Moral Obligation To Vote Against Hillary Clinton )

“Everyone has to vote according to the dictates of his own conscience. Now it is evident that the voice of conscience imposes on every sincere Catholic the necessity of giving his own vote to those candidates or to those lists of candidates, which offer them truly adequate guarantees for the protection of the rights of God and of souls, for the true good of individuals, of families, and of society, according to the laws of God and the Church’s moral teaching.”
 
Rev. Cranny writes:

“Thus, Pius XII eloquently points out that it would be a mortal sin for one to abstain from voting under circumstances where a party hostile to the Faith, in this case clearly Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party, wish to gain control of government and harm the Church.”

Remember Christ’s words:

"Anyone who isn't with me opposes me, and anyone who isn't working with me is actually working against me (Matthew 12:30).”
​
If we don’t vote for Christ we are voting against Him and cannot call ourselves Christians.

​

Jesus versus Prevailing Opinion​

Today’s culture is based on how people feel about issues on a given day: we are urged not to ‘hurt people’s feelings’ or ‘show intolerance.’

If someone wants to flout the laws of God we are told to stand by and let them, rather than upset them by pointing out what they are doing is morally wrong and will lead to perdition, instead of happiness as they mistakenly think.

“My child, don't reject the LORD's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you (Proverbs 3:11).”

Christ didn’t care about people’s feelings. He cared about their souls and where they were headed when they die. He wanted them to gain everlasting life, not merit the everlasting misery of hell.

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36)”

Progressivism and power are the antithesis of truth and morals. Doing ‘what feels good’ and looking after number one are the very same things the people did in Noah’s time before the floods came. They laughed at the crazy man building the huge boat – that is, until the heavens opened and God poured His wrath on His wayward people.
​
We can be assured that if this country doesn’t turn back to God, He will turn His back on us.

   Intrinsically Evil Actions Must ALWAYS Be Rejected

Most people agree that evil must be stopped.

But the agreement ends when defining what is and what is not evil.

Abortion 

Selective Outrage

Each year around 35,000 people die in gun violence in this country and there is a huge outcry, as well there should be.

Every year over 1 million babies die in abortions in America, yet this murder of innocent children passes for acceptable behavior.

What is the reason for this selective outrage? Why is it bad for people to be shot to death but O.K. for babies to be butchered to death?

What is the moral difference?

The Right to Choose

A woman may claim to have rights over her own body (even though our bodies were given to us by God, Who is the only Being with any rights over them) but she cannot claim to have rights over another human being.

Just because that human being is growing inside her doesn’t mean that she is morally justified in deciding whether that baby should live or die. God created that baby, and only God has the right to decide.

Why is it considered double homicide if a pregnant woman is murdered with her baby inside her, yet abortion is not considered homicide in this country? Morality aside, where is the logic?

Choosing to murder a baby is still murder. Period.

Remember Christ’s words:

"'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:40)”

Thus, whatever you do for the least of these our brothers and sisters you do TO Jesus.

We are made in the image of God and when we kill babies we are murdering His Son all over again. It’s that simple.

Christians cannot vote for a party which condones abortion at ANY stage of pregnancy.

Mercy Killing

To make murdering our senior citizens, or those who are terminally ill, acceptable to those of a sensitive nature, the term ‘Mercy Killing’ has been coined for it.

We put our pets ‘to sleep,’ the argument goes, so why not put people ‘to sleep’ when they’re old or in pain? We’re being ‘merciful.’ We’re being 'compassionate.'

That way we can get rid of all those who place financial burdens on our families and society as a whole. Let’s make old and terminally ill people feel selfish if they don’t agree to be killed so we can have their money.

Old age and suffering are part of God’s plan for humanity. It’s up to God to decide whether we live or die, whatever our circumstances on earth, not the government’s.

Telling an old person that he or she is a drain on society and should therefore, in all good conscience, consent to being murdered, is morally reprehensible.

Would you allow a party that sanctioned such behavior to get into power?

Treatment of the Vulnerable 

Speaking of the then most vulnerable members of society, Mahatma Ghandi  famously said:

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

He cannot possibly have foreseen the moral regression and poverty of spirit of today’s America.
​
I offer a more modern rendering:
​
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its unborn babies, sick and old people are treated.”
​

Same Sex Marriage 

The Moral Argument

Marriage is between a man and a woman, for the purpose of procreation and forming a family unit which mirrors the Holy Family (and by extension the Holy Trinity). A homosexual relationship is against God’s natural law.

This doesn’t mean that Christians are called to reject gays and lesbians. Not at all. We are to love the sinner but not the sin, for we are all sinners.  We are to embrace the person but not his or her immoral acts.

Here's a different example of the this.

Should theft be legalized for people who can’t control their urge to steal?

Are we being hateful when we say it’s wrong for a kleptomaniac to take another’s property?

Are we intolerant if we say that kleptomania is bad? If someone wants to steal your car should you say “Oh, go ahead, that’s fine by me,” rather than (oh, horror!) be intolerant of their behavior?

Of course not, you say. God said ‘thou shalt not steal.’ 

While we should feel compassion for someone with a compulsive urge to steal, we shouldn’t condone their acts of theft!

The same goes for homosexual acts. Here are some Scripture readings to clarify God’s standing on the issue.

Leviticus 18:22: "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."

Leviticus 20:13: "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."

Romans 1:26-27: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet."

1 Corinthian 6:9: "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind."

God is intolerant of the sin, not the sinner.
​
We all sin and are called to repentance: gays and lesbians are no more excused from indulging in sin than the rest of us. God has no tolerance for any sin.

​The Negative Impact on Children

Catholic adoptive agencies are being forced to close their doors because they are not allowed to place children in adoptive homes only where there is a natural family unit of married mother and father.

Consider how this is affecting children who badly need foster or adoptive families to take them.

Putting aside the psychological damage to children placed in same sex homes, they are being led astray from God’s law and the chance to lead authentic Christian lives.

Here is what is happening in D.C alone, but is being repeated all over the country:

“In Washington, DC, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington—which has provided support to children and families for over eighty years—had a partnership with the District of Columbia for its foster care and public adoption program. However, in 2010, a law redefining legal marriage to include two people of the same sex took effect in the District. The District then informed Catholic Charities that it would no longer be an eligible foster care and adoption partner. Why? Because, as a Catholic organization, Catholic Charities was committed to placing children with married couples so that each child would have the experience of a mother and a father.”  (From Catholics 4 Trump.)
​
We have a duty to confront this evil in our society.

​Don’t Waste your Vote 

Don’t waste your vote on a party that won’t get into power. It’s the same as sitting idly and watching evil triumph.

In Conclusion 

St. Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.” Elsewhere, he exhorts us to:  “Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers (Ephesians 6:18).”

Say your rosary, ask our Blessed Mother to intercede for us with her Son and stop the rising Godlessness in this country.
 
“The face of the LORD is against evildoers,
                To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
The righteous cry, and the LORD hears
                And delivers them out of all their troubles
                                                     (Psalm 34:16-17).”
 
Be bold and count among the righteous in blocking the power of the evildoers.
 
“O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble;
            You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear
 
“To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed,
            So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror
                                                     (Psalm 10:17-18).”
 
Be humble that your prayer may pierce the cloud of God’s anger against the hedonism of this country.

​And vote for Christ!

Further Reading 

All Catholics Have a Moral Obligation To Vote Against Hillary Clinton

What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality? 12 Scripture Verses About Gay Marriage

In a sermon this past week I learned that most Catholics don’t believe in the Real Presence. This astounded me: the Eucharist is the central focus of our Catholic faith!

Jesus asked us to eat His actual Body and drink His actual Blood in order to gain eternal life.
​
Anyone who doesn’t believe this cannot call themselves Catholic.  

Why Do We Catholics Believe in the Real Presence?
 
In common with other Christians, Catholics believe that the Scriptures are the written Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit.

When Jesus makes a statement, He is speaking the Truth.

We believe Him when He says: “I am the bread of life (John 6:35)” and “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh (John 6:51)”

Here Jesus makes three statements which follow in logical order:

1. He is the living bread from heaven
2. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever
3. This bread is Jesus’ flesh

We have to eat Christ’s physical Body in order to live forever. There is no other way to interpret His words.

He does not say ‘eat a symbol of My Body’ – he says we must eat His flesh. Period.
​
The Jews found this statement difficult, just like many people today. “The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us (his) flesh to eat? (John 6:52)”

It would not have been lost on the Jews that Jesus used the phraseology “I AM” which is God’s name for himself as declared to Moses: Yahweh or “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14)

Jesus was calling Himself God, and God was telling them to eat Him!

A hard concept to accept indeed.

Jesus goes further: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day (John 6:53 – 56)”

There is no ambiguity here. Why do Christians doubt the Truth revealed by Jesus Himself? True followers of Christ don’t choose to believe a diluted version of the Truth because it’s easier on their sensibilities.
​
Jesus knew we would find this troublesome. Like any good teacher, when introducing a new idea, He had to explain it several times to ensure that we would know He meant what He said. 

He continues:

“For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever (John 6: 55 – 58).”

Again, there is nothing ambiguous about ‘eat my flesh and drink my blood.’ 

​There is nothing to misinterpret in ‘the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.'

At the Last Supper, he said again:  at how other Christian denominations completely
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." (Matthew 26:26)”

Not, ‘this is a symbol of my body.’

To Whom Else Shall We Go?

To ‘believe’ in Christ means listening to His Word and acting upon it. Otherwise we’re not even Christians, let alone Catholics!

After Jesus said that we need to eat His real Flesh and drink His real Blood (not a symbol of them) many of His disciples left him. Why else would they leave Him if not because they didn’t like what he said? They understood His meaning perfectly.

“So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God (John 6: 67 -69)”

‘Believing in Jesus’ is not the same as ‘believing that He exists.’ Even the Devil believes that Jesus exists.
 
Jesus says in John 11:26: “And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
 
Believing in Jesus means taking His Words at face value, because Jesus is Truth. It means following His precepts, including eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood.
 
It means not making up a more palatable version (pun intended) of Holy Communion, dumbing it down by calling it a ‘symbol’ and thereby depriving ourselves of the unique gift God gave us of His real Flesh and Blood to help us get to heaven.
 
Christ could not have made His intentions any clearer.
 
 
Perhaps it will help to read accounts of the Eucharist being alive to help you realize that it is the Body and Blood of Christ? 
 
https://www.catholiccompany.com/getfed/pope-francis-eucharistic-miracle-in-argentina/
http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/a3.html

​“Seeing is believing” is how we humans operate, since it’s far easier to have faith in visible things than those we can’t see.

Maybe you don’t believe in God because you can’t see Him?

Yet there are many invisible things you do believe in. Why is God not on your list?

​If You Believe These Exist … 

Gravity
If it weren’t for gravity, we'd be floating in space. We believe this, not because we can see gravity, but because we see it in action. It keeps us on the earth. We witness the absence of gravity through images of astronauts in space capsules without gravitational force holding them down. We know gravity exists.

Oxygen
We cannot see oxygen, but cannot live without its function. Oxygen plays an essential part in our breathing processes and metabolism. Without invisible oxygen, we would die. We have no choice but to believe in oxygen!

The Wind
No one sees the wind. But we see it operating all the time. The wind has the power to move things – making the grass and branches sway. In its extreme form it causes trees and power lines to fall. We harness the wind’s energy for our purposes. No one can deny that the wind exists.

Life & Death
We cannot see life.  We cannot see death. But we know what it looks like to possess life and be deprived of it. Without life, we are dead. We cannot ignore the reality of life or death.

Personality Traits & Moods
Some people have sunny dispositions, others are surly. There are sociable people and there are loners. Everyone shows these feelings and characteristics by the way they behave. We cannot see characteristics, but we don’t deny their reality simply because they aren’t tangible.

Evil
You cannot see evil, but you observe its manifestations daily. Hatred, jealousy, cruelty, envy, which lead to war and murder – all these are the workings of evil which none of us can ignore.

(And evil personified is the Devil - an argument for another post!)

… Then You Believe in God 

The above is not an exhaustive list. But it illustrates our willing belief in things we can’t see through our witness of their operation in our lives. Our eyes observe them at work.

The greatest invisible essence of all is Love. Love is God manifesting Himself through His Creation and good works.

Christ said, “believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don't believe me (what I say).Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father
(John 10:3 8 )." (My italics.)

If you do not believe in God’s Word, which existed ‘in the beginning’ and ‘was God,’ (John 1:1) then look at His Love operating through selfless acts. When Love is at work, God is at work.


We are being irrational and illogical if we separate the existence of God from the existence of other intangibles (all of which He made!). 

As Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me. (John 20:29).”

If you subscribe to the monthly Magnificat Magazine, you’ll know that, in addition to daily Mass readings, each issue contains a wealth of other information.

It includes meditations for every day, and every so often one of them strikes a deep chord within me. The March publication contained a real gem which I want to share with you.
​
It was written by Father Gerald Vann, an English Dominican who had this to say:
​
“Good people are so often worried and distressed because, they say, they feel no devotion; they feel no love of God in their hearts, no readiness to suffer anything for him, no zest for sacrifice. Then they have to be told that feelings are of no account: devotion is a question not of feelings but of will.” (Magnificat, March 2016, p.150)

Feelings Have Their Place

​By no means does he discount the emotions. Feelings can be of enormous help in giving strength to our will. When we are emotionally invested in our daily duties they are easier to carry out: we have greater energy and enthusiasm for them.

“God gives the emotional zest in his service to show us that his burden is light,” writes Father Vann, and this helps us to “form the habit of working for him with vigor and constancy.”
​
But we must beware of judging the genuineness of our spiritual life by our feelings. Otherwise we’ll lose heart and equate not feeling zeal for God’s will with not loving Him.

What Happens When Those Feelings Are Absent? 

Father Vann brilliantly describes the situation we all find ourselves in at times. “When he takes the joy away and gives us fatigue and boredom…our hearts feel dead within us … (and) ...everything connected with his service seems purposeless and futile and perhaps cruel.”

Our enthusiasm wanes and we feel that God no longer loves us. We wonder what we did wrong to deserve his desertion?

Father Vann poses a better question: “provided we go on with the thing to be done, have we cause for despair or depression?”

He points out that “It is then that we can show, and know, that we really are devoted…that it is really God we love and not his gifts.”

When we continue to do God’s work without earthly consolation we prove we’re in it for the love of Him, not the feel-good factor. St. Peter writes:
​
“These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (1 Peter 1:7)”​

Spiritual Dryness Puts Us In Good Company

Many saints wrote about experiencing periods of spiritual desolation, sometimes lasting many years. 

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta went through a fifty year period of dryness with almost no relief. “For years, she grieved over it, wondering what she could possibly have done to make the Lord withdraw from her. Was there some secret sin or defect on her soul? Had she displeased him in some way?”

It took her a long time to come to “understand what was going on in her. ‘I have come to love the darkness,’ she wrote, ‘for I believe now that it is a part, a very, very small part of Jesus’ darkness and pain on earth.’ In this … Mother Teresa showed that she had come to see her painful situation as a way of sharing in Jesus’ life—a mysterious sharing in his suffering and in his cross.”
​
And so she continued to carry out God’s will for her among the poor and homeless, sustained by faith alone.

The Saint of Calcutta is a perfect example of the truth that love is not a feeling, but an act of will.

Father Vann sums it up well:
​
“Whenever you do in fact do what God tells you, then you are growing in the love of God, no matter what your feelings may be.”