John and family: Healing the Scars of Emotional Abuse by Gregory L. Jantz

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Healing the Scars of Emotional Abuse by Gregory L. Jantz

This is a very interesting book. It points out the symptoms of being emotionally abused and the affects it can have on your life. It is written with a Christian’s perspective in mind.

Emotional abuse is one of the most pervasive--and least recognized--kinds of abuse in our society. Whether you or a loved one has been abused by words, actions, or even indifference, this book will show you how to overcome the past.

Emotional abuse can permeate many aspects of your life, and you can learn what lasting effect it can have.
Criticism should be only given with good intentions and with love; there is a big difference between criticism & abuse. This book is a great help to recognize the difference between criticism and emotional & verbal abuse.

It helps to recognize some of the common traits all emotional abusers and potential emotional abusers exhibit and avoid another abusive relationship.

It also doesn’t assume the abuser is always a man which is seen in so many books of this kind.

It also warns about being controlling through emotional abuse and how to discontinue that kind of behaviour through self examination & prayer.

St Philip patron saint of joy and humour

St Philip patron saint of joy and humour was known to be spontaneous and unpredictable, charming and humorous.
Philip understood that it wasn't enough to tell young people not to do something -- you had to give them something to do in its place. So at Carnival time, when the worst excesses were encouraged, Philip organized a pilgrimage to the Seven Churches with a picnic accompanied by instrumental music for the mid-day break. After walking twelve miles in one day everyone was too tired to be tempted!
Not everyone was happy about this growing group and Philip and Buonsignore were attacked by the priests they lived with. But eventually Philip and his companions were vindicated and went on with their work.
Philip did not escape this spiritual mortification himself. As with others, his own humbling held humor. There are stories of him wearing ridiculous clothes or walking around with half his beard shaved off. The greater his reputation for holiness the sillier he wanted to seem. When some people came from Poland to see the great saint, they found him listening to another priest read to him from joke books.

Prayer:
Saint Philip Neri, we take ourselves far too seriously most of the time. Help us to add humor to our perspective -- remembering always that humor is a gift from God. Amen

St. Dominic Savio

Dominic is the patron saint of choir boys and of the falsely accused.

This latter title was given to him due to the following incident. One time, two boys filled the school stove with snow and garbage during the cold winter months. When the teacher came back into the room, they falsely accused Dominic of doing the “dirty” deed. Although disciplined in front of the entire class, Dominic refused to tell on the two mischievous boys. When the truth was later revealed, Dominic was asked why he didn’t confess to his innocence. He remarked that he was imitating Our Lord, Who remained silent during His persecutions and crucifixion.

St Dominic pray for us