Hello my friends! Good Friday already! Lent is almost all over - I was planning on going to the Holy Thursday Mass tonight with Linus, was all ready to go, but again started to feel too tired and weak, so thought it better not to go out. I do want to go to the Easter Vigil Saturday night and Sunday's Easter Mass - hope that will work out. Tomorrow he works, so we can't go to the Good Friday's Service, he works a seven hour day both tomorrow and Saturday. Saturday he gets off at 2. Today's blessings - when Linus went over to Lori's to let Ollie out, he does this when he's available and she's too busy to come home, he said her counter that just got painted to look like granite is just beautiful! Now her kitchen is complete, and it looks lovely - we have Phoebe here with us until Easter, she's nothing to take care of - she's such a sweetheart kitty! She's getting old, though - but doesn't act like it! And she's at home here with us - I raised her and gave her to Lori! Enough babbling, I think I'll go lie down for awhile - but wanted to get the thread out for tonight. Remember, too, that you all are my blessings!!
No matter what you must confront today, know that God is with you.
Lord, today is part of Your plan for me. I do not doubt You and therefore
I will not doubt You within me.
Scripture for the day:
"Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the
door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone
who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."
~Luke 11:9-10
Meditation for the day:
Persistence is necessary if we are to advance in spiritual things. By
persistent prayer, persistent, firm and simple trust, we can achieve the
treasures of the spirit. By persistent practice, we can eventually obtain
joy, peace, assurance, security, health, happiness and serenity.
Nothing is too great, in the spiritual realm for us to obtain, if we
persistently prepare ourselves for it.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may persistently carry out my spiritual exercises every day. I
pray that I may strive for peace and serenity.
Offering Up Our Suffering
Having a bad day today? Feeling sad? Are you in pain? Is someone in your
family sick? The Church teaches that we can offer up our sufferings and
unite them to Jesus’ agony on the cross. In this mysterious way, Our Lord
allows us to assist Him in the salvation of the world (Col 1:24). This is
truly an incredible concept that is made possible when we unite our
sufferings to that of Christ. Accepting suffering is also a way for us to
express our love for God.
St. Teresa of Avila states,”In Heaven we shall have no further need of
suffering to prove our love, because then we shall love in the unfailing
cloud of the beatific vision. But here below, where we love in the obscurity
of faith, we need to prove to God the reality of our love. If our love is
perfect, it has this quality of leading us to forget our own pleasure in
order to please Him whom we love; it has the power to make us accept our
trials with joy and take the bitter with the sweet, knowing that to be His
Majesty’s will.”
Today, even though it may be painful, let's try to embrace our crosses and
thank God for the opportunity to express our love for Him. Even if we aren't
suffering greatly at the moment, we all encounter minor annoyances
throughout the day. Such things as traffic, bad weather, tiredness,
difficult coworkers can all be offered up and united with Christ's
suffering.
Or, we could just complain about them...
Prayer For Growth in Love
Father, You have loved us from eternity without conditions.
Whether we are beautiful or plain, rich or poor, saintly or sinful,
makes no difference to You.
Why can't we be that way toward each other?
Why do we magnify each other's shortcomings and ignore the good features?
Help us to grow in love, a love that doesn't gloss over failings,
but one that accepts them and then goes on to stress what is good in all we
meet,
what can be built on, to help the other person become fully himself or
herself.
Then Lord, as we increase our ability to love as Jesus did,
we will come closer to the kingdom He preached. Amen.
Christopher News Notes, January 1999
Count Your Blessings
Count your blessings instead of your crosses,
Count you gains instead of your losses,
Count your joys instead of your woes,
Count your friends instead of your foes.
Count your courage instead of your fears,
Count your laughs instead of your tears.
Count your full years instead of your lean,
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.
Count you health instead of your wealth,
Count on God instead of yourself.
~ Author Unknown
The Kindness Pledge
I Resolve to:
1. Speak kindly of someone at least once a day.
2. Think kindly about someone at least once a day.
3. Act kindly toward someone as least once a day.
4. Avoid speaking unkindly to anyone.
5. Avoid acting unkindly toward anyone.
[Source: The Hidden Power of Kindness, by Lawrence G. Lovasik]
INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIFE
1. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2. Memorize your favorite poem.
3. Don't believe all you hear.
4. Don't spend all you have.
5. Don't sleep all you want.
6. When you say, "I love you", mean it.
7. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.
8. Be engaged at least 6 months before you get married.
9. Believe in love at first sight.
10. Never laugh at anyone's dreams.
11. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way
to live life completely.
12. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
13. Don't judge people by their relatives.
14. Talk slowly, but think quickly.
15. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and
ask, "why do you want to know?"
16. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
17. Call your parents.
18. Say, "God bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.
19. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
20. Remember the 3 r's: respect for self; respect for others;
responsibility for all your actions.
21. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
22. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct
it.
23. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
24. Marry a person you love to talk to. As you grow older, his or her
conversational skills will be as important as any other.
25. Spend some time alone.
26. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
27. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
28. Read more books and watch less tv.
29. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back,
you'll get to enjoy it a second time.
30. Trust in God but lock your car.
31. A loving atmosphere in your home is so important. Do all you can to
create a tranquil, harmonious home.
32. In disagreements with loved ones, deal with a current situation. Don't
bring up the past.
33. Read between the lines.
34. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
35. Be gentle with the earth.
36. PRAY. There's immeasurable power in it.
37. Never interrupt when you are being flattered. Say, "thank you".
38. Mind your own business.
39. Don't trust a person who doesn't close his or her eyes when you kiss
them.
40. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
41. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are
living. That is wealth's greatest satisfaction.
42. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.
43. Learn the rules, then break some.
44. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each
other is greater than your need for each other.
45. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
46. Remember that your character is your destiny.
47. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
-- Author Unknown
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