Daily Positive Thread for Wednesday

gloriajean — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 02:07:58 GMT

Keep your heart clean by constant spring cleaning. Then there will be a
place for beauty and peace. Lord, help me to remove carelessness and
disrespect from my heart and in all things may I celebrate Your love for me.

Scripture for the Day
"Those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the
cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things
come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones
sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit,
thirty and sixty and a hundredfold." — Mark 4:18-20

Meditation for the Day
If I have a singleness of purpose, I can do my part in God's work. I need
not let material distractions interfere with my job of improving personal
relationships. It is easy for me to become distracted by material affairs,
so that I lose my singleness of purpose. I don't have time to be concerned
about the many concerns of the world. I can concentrate and specialize on
what I can do best.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may not become distracted by material affairs. I pray that I
may concentrate on doing what I can do best.

Hello my positive pals and grateful gals! Hope your day is going well!
It's very nice day here in MN - in the 40's and the sun is shining! A
little too chilly yet for the patio but it's getting closer! I made a good
stir fry for supper tonight! We bought some frozen stir fries at Costco, and
I fried some turkey bacon, put that in there and even some frozen sweet
potato fries, and some teriyaki sauce and that was delicious! The frozen
veggies come in big bags there, so I divided it into smaller plastic bags
and refroze what I didn't use.
Today's blessing was Mass, and Adoration right after. We had a nice visit
with Ron, his brother, this morning he stopped in. I'm thinking of what I
want cleaning ladies to do when they come - Lori gave me six hours with a
housecleaning co. for Christmas. Never had that before. Guess I'll clean
only what I can, and them do the rest - I wonder if they do windows?
Praying for all you - may God grant healing and comfort and good news all
around for you!

Homily of the Day

March 15, 2011

Relax in the Lord
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Is 55:10-11 / Mt 6:7-15

If someone were to ask us what God is like, most of us would speak in terms
of a very dear Father who loved us so much that He sent His son to die for
us. And we’d be right. But if that same person were to listen to our
prayers, he might wonder if we were talking to the same God.

Many of us pray as if God had been absent for quite awhile and needed to be
brought up to date. Many of us also pray as if God were a miser or a
hard-nosed policeman, who doesn’t much like us, who doesn’t really want to
forgive us, and who certainly doesn’t want to give us what we need. So, as
Jesus says in the gospel, we rattle on, we beg, plead, and implore, and we
even resort to bribery: “Lord, if you’ll let me win this game, I’ll go to
Mass every day for a month,” and so on. We project our own smallness and
neediness on God, we shrink God down to our size, and then we try to
manipulate Him! What an illusion and what waste of time!

God already wants what’s best for us, and He’s long since promised to give
us what we need — not necessarily what we want, but what we need! Our task
in prayer is to trust that basic fact and to open our minds and hearts to
God’s way of seeing things. God’s mind doesn’t need changing. Our minds and
hearts do. They need to be reshaped into God’s likeness.

So relax in the Lord. Trust His love for you, and let Him reshape your
heart. Real contentment will be your reward.

BLESSINGS OF THE ROSARY

1. Sinners are forgiven.
2. Souls that thirst are refreshed.
3. Those who are fettered have their bonds broken.
4. Those who weep find happiness
5. Those who are tempted find peace.
6. The poor find help.
7. Religious are reformed.
8. Those who are ignorant are instructed.
9. The living learn to overcome pride.
10. The dead (the Holy Souls) have their pains eased
by suffrages.

BENEFITS OF THE ROSARY

1. It gradually gives us a perfect knowledge of Jesus
Christ.
2. It purifies our souls, washing away sin.
3. It gives us victory over all our enemies.
4. It makes it easy for us to practice virtue.
5. It sets us on fire with love of Our Lord.
6. It enriches us with graces and merits.
7. It supplies us with what is needed to pay all our
debts to God and to our fellow men; and finally, it
obtains all kinds of graces for us from Almighty God.

Take Me Too

I was driving to the grocery store just thinking of everything on
my list to do today. Taking the kids to soccer practice, cleaning the
house, getting groceries, getting the oil changed in the car, the list
went on and on. I was feeling overwhelmed and was already tired
before I had even gotten started.

On my way to the store I saw something horrible happen, a
train had run into a car that was crossing the tracks. I thought
"Oh no! This is horrible, there is no way the driver of that car
could have lived!!"

I was the closest car to the tracks so I put my car in
park and got out. I ran over to the car and looked in and could
not believe what I was seeing. Tears came to my eyes and I
just couldn't take it. Inside the car was a woman driving that
was obviously dead. In the backseat was a baby in it's car
seat bleeding everywhere and next to the baby was a little
girl who I guessed to be about 4 years old and she was bleeding also.

Just then the little girl spoke. She said, "Is my mommy and
baby sister okay?" I just looked at her and said, "Honey I
don't know. There is a doctor on his way right now."

Just then the little girl started crying saying, "Don't take my mommy
and my baby sister. Take me with you too!! Please!!" She was
pleading at who knows what to take her - but take her where???
I asked the little girl who she was talking to and she said,
"Don't you see? That Angel is taking my mommy and my baby
sister! I want to go with them too! My mommy is waving goodbye
to me and she is holding my baby sister and she is smiling!"

The little girl started to cry because she did not want to
stay, she wanted to go with her mommy and her baby sister.
I felt so sorry for her. I didn't believe in God and I thought to
myself, where did an Angel come from? What kind of God would
take a mommy and a baby but not the little sister?

At that moment I saw the little girl start to smile so big
as she held her arms out to something, someone to pick
her up. I thought to myself that she must be delirious and
maybe she is hurt worse than I thought. Just then the little girl
closed her eyes and slumped over in her seat. She was dead!

I couldn't be sad even though this was a 4-year-old little
girl that had just died. You wouldn't be sad either if you could see
that beautiful smile on her face! I guess her mommy and baby
sister came back to get her. That was also the day that God
came to get me - as that was the day that I became a
believer and turned my life over to the Living God.

Jesus said, " if you are ashamed of me, I will be ashamed
of you before my Father."

Yes, I do love God.
He is my source of existence and Savior and
keeps me functioning each and
everyday. Without Him, I will be nothing.
Without Him, I am nothing but with Him
I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. (Phil 4:13)

The Smallest Piece
A fourteenth-century Italian stained-glass artist was summoned to design and
create a huge portrait for the window of a cathedral in Chartres France, a
place well known for its stained-glass work.
He laid all of the pieces he was going to use out on the floor of the
cathedral. They were beautiful to behold; most of them were large and
colorful. Some of the colors from that time cannot even be reproduced today.
Among these awesome pieces of glass was a small, clear piece about as big as
your fingernail. As the stained-glass portrait was assembled, that little
piece remained on the floor. Only the big colorful pieces of glass were
used.
On the day of the window's completion, the tiny piece of clear glass was
still lying on the ground. The entire city gathered to witness the unveiling
of the brilliant and beautiful stained-glass portrait. The artist stood in
front of the crowd, made his speech, and dramatically pulled down the cloth
cover. The crowd gasped at the beauty of the colorful window glowing in the
sunlight. After a few seconds, however, the crowd grew silent. They sensed
that something was missing, that the portrait was unfinished.
The great artist then walked over to where the little clear piece of glass
lay, picked it up, and placed it in the portrait, right in the center of
Jesus' eye. As the sun hit that little piece, it gave off a dazzling
sparkle.
The magnificent stained glass window still draws visitors. The first thing
they see is that sparkle in Jesus' eye.
Do you ever feel like that little piece of clear glass? You doubt you can
ever do anything for God. Let the story of that last little piece remind you
that God thinks of you as the apple of his eye.

A DIFFERENT APPROACH TO LENTEN FASTING

As we are in the season of Lent . Please spare a moment to read through as
it is something which will help you. It will bring you to a closer walk
with JESUS and you will experience great peace.

Lenten fasts have a tendency to be oriented toward things like giving up
food or television.
But there are many other creative ways we can welcome Jesus' healing touch
this Lent. Below are some suggestions you may want to consider.

Fast from: Anger and Hatred:
Give your family and everyone you come across, an extra dose of love each
day.

Judging Others:
Before making any judgments, recall how Jesus overlooks our faults.

Discouragement:
Hold on to Jesus' promise that He has a perfect plan for your life.

Complaining:
When you find yourself about to complain, close your eyes and recall some
of the little moments of joy Jesus has given you.

Resentment or Bitterness:
Work on forgiving those who may have hurt you.

Spending Too Much Money:
Try to reduce your spending by ten per cent and give those savings to the
poor.

You Shall Not Want
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1
To the lost sheep, He is the seeking Shepherd;
To the needy sheep, He is the providing Shepherd;
To the hurting sheep, He is the comforting Shepherd;
To the bruised sheep, He is the healing Shepherd;
To the anxious sheep, He is the peaceful Shepherd;
To the wandering sheep, He is the guiding Shepherd;
To the fearful sheep, He is the protecting Shepherd;
To the lame sheep, He is the carrying Shepherd;
To the discontented sheep, He is the fulfilling Shepherd;
To the parched sheep, He is the anointing Shepherd;
To the timid sheep, He is the reassuring Shepherd;
To the fallen sheep, He is the merciful Shepherd;
To the nervous sheep, He is the quieting Shepherd;
To the heavy laden sheep, He is the restful Shepherd;
To the lonely sheep, He is the ever-present Shepherd;
To the weary sheep, He is the restoring Shepherd;
To all His sheep, He is the Good Shepherd.

Closing Prayer:

Prayer of Love for the Crucified Lord
O Jesus, it is not the heavenly reward you have promised which impels me to
love you; neither is it the threat of h ell that keep me from offending you.
It is you, O Lord, it is the sight of you affixed to the Cross and suffering
insults; it is the sight of your broken body, as well as your pains and your
death. There is nothing you can give me to make me love you. For even if
there were no heaven and no h ell I would still love you as I do. Amen.

Good night everyone - Sweet Dreams and hope your Wednesday is a very
positive, peaceful day filled with many blessing along the way.

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Daily Positive Thread for Wednesday