Daily Positive Thread for Monday

gloriajean — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 01:01:10 GMT

Hello my friends!! God blessed us today with 73 degree temp and was that ever good! It still is that now at 6:45. Blessings today: A very beautiful Easter Mass - many, many flowers at the altar! I'm going to share a bit of Father's homily with you. He asked the people for a 20 dollar bill - promised to give it back when he was finished. So two people gave him a twenty and as he's crumbling up the twenties, he's talking about how life sometimes make us feel so down, and crumbled up, and so hurt sometimes, just like those twenty dollar bills. And he asked if even if the bills are so crumbled up, are they still worth their money? Of course they are, and so are we - we are all worth it - the feeling of us being so crumbled up is from the Devil, not God. He wants us to be happy and strong - the devil wants us to crumble and be hurt and he's such a lier! So people, remember that when you are feeling down and out, like the crumbled twenty dollar bill, we are worth a lot more, we are worth our full potential as the bill. He straightened out the bills and gave them back to the owners, and said to remember that we are worth a lot more than we think - Jesus gave His life for us - redeemed us by his Blood, and rose from the dead on the third day! We are so blessed to have Jesus as Lord of our lives. When we got home from Mass, Lori was here making us a delicious Easter meal with ribs, sweet potatoes, green beans and a salad with wine followed by a game of Dominoes in our patio - it was so nice and warm there!!! What a blessing. Another blessing was while we're there playing the game, here comes Mr. and Mrs. Mallard Duck walking so peacefully across our yard, both dogs, Ollie and Sammy watching them so quietly through the screened in porch (patio) and now we just got home from visiting with our new neighbors next door - and the ones next to them on their deck - what nice neighbors we have - another blessing - thanks be to God!! Hope you can share your Easter blessings.

No gift is so precious as love. Gratefully trust God and give Him your love.

Lord, I give You my heart.

Scripture for the day:

"Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus

Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and love." ~2 John 1:3

Meditation for the day:

God is with us, to bless and help us. God's spirit is all around us.

We need not waver in our faith or in our prayers. All power is God's.

We can say that to ourselves often and steadily. We can say it until our

hearts sing with joy for the safety and personal power that it can mean to

us. We can say it until the very force of the utterance drives back and puts

to nothing all the evils around us. We can use it as a battle cry. All

power is the Lord's. Then we can pass on to victory over all our sins and

temptations, and we can begin to live a victorious life.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that with strength from God I may lead an abundant life. I pray that

I may lead a life of victory.

Mother Teresa Said...

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

Why Did Jesus Fold the Napkin?

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His resurrection? I never

noticed this....

The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin, which was placed over

the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes.

The Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly

folded, and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the

tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus

loved. She said, 'They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I

don't know where they have put him!'

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. The other disciple out

ran Peter and got there first. He stopped and looked in and saw the linen

cloth lying there, but he didn't go in.

Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen

wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was

folded up and lying to the side.

Was that important? Absolutely!

Is it really significant? Yes!

In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to

understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day.

The folded napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every

Jewish boy knew this tradition.

When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it

was exactly the way the master wanted it.

The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out

of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not

dare touch that table, until the master was finished..

Now if the master were done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his

fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and

toss it onto the table.

The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the

wadded napkin meant, "I'm finished.."

But if the master got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it

beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table,

because..........

The folded napkin meant,

"I'm coming back!"

Have you noticed?

+++++++++++++++++++

Have you noticed how beautiful the world is today? Have you

seen some of the fresh, new opportunities that are coming to

life?

Have you remembered today what a unique and wonderful

blessing it is to be alive? Can you feel the richness that

lives in this very moment?

Do you understand how truly fortunate you are to be you? Can

you see the magnificent possibilities that are close enough

to touch?

Do you realize the immense value that your thoughts and

actions are able to create? Do you feel the power of your

own special purpose?

This is not just any day. It is the day that you now have to

work with, and a day in which you can accomplish so very

much.

Open yourself to the best possibilities. This day is now

yours to fulfill.

Ralph Marston

The Law of the Garbage Truck!

I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport . We were driving in

the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space

right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded, and

missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped

his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled

and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly.

So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car

and sent us to the hospital!"

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the

Garbage Truck."

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around

full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger and full of

disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it

and sometimes they'll dump it on you.

Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well and move on...

Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home,

or on the streets.

The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take

over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so.....

"Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't."

AN EASTER REFLECTION / HAPPY EASTER!!!

The passion and death of Jesus initiated a process through which the old

order was passing away and a new was dawning.

At the death of Jesus Matthew reports that many strange events took

place: darkness, earthquake and holy people rising from their tombs.

Similar events occur in Matthew's story of the resurrection of

Jesus.

"Towards dawn on the first day of the week", the women who had

stood firm through the tragedy of the Cross, Mary Magdala and the other

Mary go to visit the sepulcher of Jesus. The setting of the following

events "towards dawn" on the first of all Easter Sundays

promises the reader that the women will find more than a sepulcher. A

new light is breaking into the darkness of the night.

For a moment the women on their journey are forgotten, as a series of

"end-time" events are reported as happening at the tomb. In a

way similar to the events surrounding Jesus' death on the Cross,

there is a violent earthquake. An angel of the Lord descends from

heaven, rolls away the stone and sits upon it. Through his angel, God

enters the story. . The description of the angel "his face was like

lightning, his robe white as snow" adds the terror of the moment and

the guards, collapse to the ground like dead men. At the cross the

Gentiles came to faith in Jesus, here the guards are part of the

description of an anticipated "end-time".

The angel speaks to the women, assuring them that they need not fear.

They need no longer search for the crucified one. He has been raised.

The tomb, the place of death, is empty. However, it is not enough simply

to gaze in awe at an empty tomb. The women are commissioned to carry the

Easter proclamation to the disciples: "Go quickly and tell his

disciples, `He has risen from the dead, and now he fore you into

Galilee, it is there you will see him."

The women recognize they have been touched by the action of God: it is

the reason for their awe. They are also filled with great joy at the

privilege given to them. But on their way back to the disciples, the

risen Jesus meets them and they fall down and cling to him. He greets

them, and repeats almost exactly the same message as the angel,

commissioning the disciples to go into Galilee. However, there is an

important difference. While the angel told them to speak to Jesus

disciples, Jesus himself refers to them as my brethren. It is not failed

disciples who must go to Galilee; it is a group of people who once again

belong to the family of Jesus.

Earlier in the Gospel the disciples had forsaken Jesus and fled. All

such failures have now been forgiven. The broken bond has been healed.

The resurrection of Jesus has completed the turning point of the ages

which began with his death. Now the women are filled with joy; now the

sinful disciples are restored to the family of Jesus. Shortly he will

indeed meet them in Galilee, to send them out to the whole world.

May Easter lead us to awe and joy as we recognize the greatness of our

God who raised his Son to life that we too might have life, no matter

how often and how seriously we have fled from Him.

By Fr. John Cef Ledesma

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Monday

lovestopaint — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 13:10:32 GMT

Wow! that was quite a homily your priest gave Gloria. It sure was food for thought.

Counting my Blessings.

Harlene(lovestopaint)

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Monday

Cakers1 — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 13:59:29 GMT

Gloriajean: The crumpled $20 bills really hit home. Thank you for sharing.

Hello to Harlene and all who post here.

Very thankful that we could share Easter with family and hoping everyone had a peaceful day.

{{{Felicia}}} Thinking of you.

Please keep Boston in thought and prayer today for the Marathon. Boston Strong!

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Monday

Bobbi sue — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 14:20:36 GMT

Gloria, nice read today. Hello to all the posters here. Have a Dr. appointment today. Wish me well please. Blessings to all.

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Monday

MissMadi — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 17:27:12 GMT

gloriajean ~~

((((Dee))))

Re: Daily Positive Thread for Monday

gloriajean — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 22:27:00 GMT

Harlene - Yes, it was a powerful homily which we could relate to.

Cakers - Oh they hit home here too - you'd better believe it!! Linus and I both nodding our heads during his talk. How did the Boston Marathon do?

Bobbiesue - hope you get help from your doctor for you COPD - how was your appt? And you're lucky you have 70 degrees - we had that yesterday - today it's only up to 60 something and very windy.

MissMadi - Thanks! and welcome to our thread!!! You should know you're welcome here anytime! Those are great gifts - who'd want anything more? Love your graphic!

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