Daily Positive Thread for Thursday

gloriajean — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 05:50:12 GMT

We only have so much time and so much energy in a day. To use it grumbling
leaves less time for enjoyment and accomplishment. Lord, may I focus on looking
for Your blessings in every part of my life.

S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y

"Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.'" ~John 20:29

M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y

In improving our personal lives, we can have unseen help. We were not
made so that we could see God. It takes an act of faith, a venture of
belief to realize God's unseen power. Yet we have much evidence of
God's existence in the strength that many people have received from
their act of faith, their venture of belief. God's unseen help is
effective here and now. This has been proved in thousands of changed
lives.

P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y

I pray that I may make the great venture of belief. I pray that my
vision may not be blocked by intellectual pride.
============================================

Greetings to you all! Hope your day went well - it was so nice out today - again I love it when I can go out without my boots! Went again to the noon Mass - it was so nice. Good Homily, too. It sure was a blessing when I went to the freezer to get my cut up potatoes out to fry them after the Mass because the freezer was unplugged somehow and they were not frozen - but everything was still good enough to stay frozen - not thawed out much - wow! That would have been awful to lose all that stuff in there! I wouldn't have gone in there either if I didn't make a mistake. I know I froze the left over cooked turkey and chickens but I didn't mean to freeze the cooked sliced potatoes that was ready to fry - but I searched the whole fridge and they were not to be seen so I went to the freezer, and there they were, not frozen - so Linus was right there building the closet pieces for Lori's closet and he checked it and found the problem and now it's working!! Praise God!! Must have been my Guardian Angel to prompt me to go to the freezer to get the potatoes. Or maybe I was supposed to put them there by mistake so I could get the freezer working again! No coincidences, just Divine Providence! Today my blessings besides that one would be the Mass, seeing Linus' project taking hold, oh and the wonderful weather He's given us to enjoy! We ate our lunch in the patio for the first time this season.
It was nice as it was almost 70 degrees there!! Tomorrow should be nice out too, but they talk about snow for Sunday and more cold, but we all know that Spring is in the AIR!!!

Homily of the Day

February 16, 2011

You´re Not Bad, You´re Just Not Done Yet!
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Gn 8:6-13, 20-22 / Mk 8:22-26

The tale of Noah and the ark which we read from Genesis contains a curious passage which the ancient writer put into the mouth of God. As the flood subsides, God is depicted as saying to Himself, “Never again shall I doom the earth because of man, since the desires of man’s heart are evil from the start….” It’s a welcome pledge, but the reason isn’t very encouraging!

So how bad off are we? In the story of man’s creation, just a few chapters earlier in Genesis, didn’t the sacred writer have God say at the end of that “day” that what He had made, namely man, was good? And don’t we believe that God who is good simply cannot make anything that is evil? Indeed so! God made us good, no doubt, but He didn’t finish us. That’s our job, with His help. And that’s where the problems arise and evil makes its entry.

Think for a moment about the child who would dine permanently on cake, ice cream, and candy if mom weren’t watching. It wouldn’t be good for him, but how does he know that at such a young age? He has to grow into that understanding, and he has to learn self-restraint if he is to act in accord with what he knows to be true. And that’s not so easy, as all sorts of our overweight and alcoholic friends can tell us. Either our heads are fuzzy or our hearts refuse to follow them.

Growing up into wholeness is a lifetime task and it’s hard work. So don’t get discouraged. You aren’t supposed to be done yet. God understands mistakes, and if you let Him, He’ll help you make them right.

My Never Again List

Never again will I confess "I can't" ...
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

Never again will I confess lack ...
"My God shall supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory by
Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Never again will I confess fear ...
"For God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and love and
discipline." 2 Timothy 1:7

Never again will I confess doubt and lack of faith ...
"God has allotted to every man a measure of faith. If I have faith as a
mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible to me." Romans 12:3 and Matthew 17:20

Never again will I confess weakness ...
"The Lord is the strength of my life. The people who know their God will
display strength and take action." Psalm 27:1 and Daniel 11:32

Never again will I confess defeat ...
"But thanks be to God, who always leads me in His triumph in Christ."
2 Corinthians 2:14

Never again will I confess ignorance ...
"I am in Christ Jesus, who became to me wisdom from God." 1 Corinthians 1:30

Never again will I confess sickness ...
"By His wounds I am healed. He Himself took away my infirmities, and carried
away my diseases." Isaiah 53:5 and Matthew 8:17

Never again will I confess worry ...
"I cast all my cares on Him, because He cares for me." 1 Peter 5:7

Never again will I confess bondage ...
"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Corinthians 3:17

Never again will I confess condemnation ...
"There is therefore now no condemnation because I am in Christ Jesus."
Romans 8:1

Never again will I confess discontent ...
"I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."
Philippians 4:11

Never again will I confess unworthiness ...
"He made Him who knew no sin, to be sin on my behalf, that I might become
the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Never again will I confess confusion ...
"For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. I have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that I might know the
things freely given to me by God." 1 Corinthians 14:33 and 1 Corinthians
2:12

Never again will I confess persecution ...
"If God be for me, who can be against me?" Romans 8:31

Never again will I confess sin over my life ...
"As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed my
transgressions from me." Psalm 103:12

Never again will I confess insecurity ...
"When I lie down, I will not be afraid. My sleep will be sweet. For the Lord
will be my confidence, and will keep my foot from being caught." Proverbs 3:24,26

Never again will I confess failure ...
"But in all these things, I am a conqueror through Him who loved me." Romans
8:37

Never again will I confess frustration ...
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he
trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

Never again will I confess fear of the future ...
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, " plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah
29:11

Risking

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool

To reach out to another is to risk involvement

To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk
their loss

To live is to risk dying

To try is to risk failure

But the risk must be taken, because the greater hazard in life is to
risk nothing

The person who risks nothing, does nothing and is nothing

He may avoid suffering, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change, grow,
live

Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave

Only a person who risks is free

Take a risk

"If you don't take great risks for God, you will never do anything
great for Him" (St. Louis-Marie de Montfort)

from a book written by Paul Hayden

Meditation;
A Prayer

God preserve us from any sin, no matter how small.

from Thirsting for God: Mother Teresa

Greeting Mary
Hail Mary, hello, how are you?
I greet you with love,
And I thank you for being available.
Deeply, I breathe your roses,
The twelve fresh roses you place in my spirit
Every morning when I say hello to you.

Full of grace are you,
Grace spilling over Heaven's boundaries
Into my world, living water, bread and wine,
The unmerited favor of God
That you come carrying to me,
Your arms always full of gifts.

The Lord is with thee,
Jesus Christ the Messiah is with you,
And you teach me how to recognize
That the Lord is with me.

Blessed art thou amoung women,
Glowing with love for Jesus,
Pure blessedness never tainted
But alive with holy beauty.

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus,
The most blessed of humanity,
Delivered through you, Virgin Mary.
Jesus, the most cursed of humanity,
Who became a curse for me
So that I might be blessed
With his resurrection life.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Teach me to value motherhood,
Help me pray for mothers and fathers
To love and support each other.
Show me how God loves you.

Pray for us sinners now
And at the hour of our death.
Pray that I can live each moment
Consecrated to love, to Christ,
That I recognize each now
As the moment of salvation
So that I die prepared for eternal life.
Pray that I can crucify my passions,
Those passions that make me a sinner,
And that I can die to sin on the cross with Jesus
As you look on weeping and praying
But joyous, knowing that resurrection follows.

Hail Mary, full of grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners
Now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

If You Have

Eyes to See

by Blessed Mother Teresa

"Stay where you are.

Find your own Calcutta.

Find the sick,

the suffering

and the lonely

right there where you are in your

own homes and in your own families,

in your workplaces and in your schools.

You can find Calcutta all

over the world, if you have the eyes to see

Everywhere,

wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted,

unloved, uncared for, just rejected

by society,

completely forgotten,

completely left alone."

THE STRAGGLER
By Sally I. Kennedy
February 16, 201

Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest
commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' Matthew 22:37-39

It was morning, still early enough for there to be little traffic on
the street. From the kitchen window I could see a flock of ibis,
obviously on a mission, scouting for food. Our grass must have tasty
bugs; they quickly became engrossed in breakfast.

Ibis' slender stork-like legs are so graceful. One bird seemed to be
balleting through the meal. A leg was held out continually. Actually
it was dangling, I noticed, broken or perhaps the bird was lame, or
injured. This didn’t deter him from hanging right in there with the
group.

The straggler was out in the street, while the rest were diving and
pecking into the lawn. Then he was off by himself toward the front,
as they headed out to the next spot. He was with the crowd, yes, but
he was on the fringes.

I don’t know much about bird behaviour, but perhaps these beautiful
birds stick together for a reason. We need each other; no man’s an
island.

We need each other, and we need God. The Bible says, “Love God, and
love others.” (Matt.22) How simple; how perfect.

Lord, thank You for the thoughts and words You bring to mind through
your creations in nature. Help me be aware of You in everthing, Lord,
and to have a heart for loving You, and loving others. In Jesus’
name, amen.

Closing Prayer:

St. Francis Prayer before The San Damiano Cross

All-highest glorious God, cast your light into the darkness of my heart,
give me right faith, firm hope, perfect charity and profound humility with wisdom and perception,
O Lord, so that I may do what is truly Your Holy Will.
Amen

Good night everyone and sweet dreams to all - may your Thursday be blessed with many blessings all thru the day! May you all be blessed with good weather to enjoy the outdoors. Enjoy the Gift of God's Day!!

topic Daily Positive Thread for Thursday in Community Chat

Daily Positive Thread for Thursday