Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Begin each day with the certainty that today is the best day of your life
and watch what happens. Lord, I celebrate my life and give thanks for
everything because for everything there is a reason.

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

"For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and
rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your
strength." ~Isaiah 30:15

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

Confidence means to have faith in something. We could not live without
confidence in others. When we have confidence in God's grace, we can
face whatever comes. When we have confidence in God's love, we can be
serene and at peace. We can rest in the faith that God will take care
of us. We can try to rest in God's presence until God's life-power
flows through us. We can be still and in that stillness the still,
small voice will come. It can speak in quietness to the human mind that
is attuned to its influence.

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

I pray that I may find strength today in quietness. I pray that I may
be content today that God will take care of me.

Hello my friends! How was your day? It's getting colder again but no snow
until next week now I hear. We had lunch with Lori at Famous Daves - it was
fun. Linus bought her a nice card - we both wrote in it, and he bought her
an african violet plant. It was a nice time together. She'll keep in touch
when she gets there. This evening on Facebook I chatted with my old friend
who wrote she lost her sister. It was nice getting in touch again and
finding out what's going on in her life. She's a retired nurse, disabled now
and cannot work anymore. I've known her about ten years. She's very close
to Our Lord and she says it's so nice to talk to me on chat about Him.
She's really having a hard time grieving her sister's death, and she has
Asthma - and when she cries, she gets those attacks. Please pray for her -
her name is Sarah. And she also has a real bad cold. Today's blessings are
that - our luncheon and Sarah's chat - among all the ordinary blessings I
get daily but try not to overlook. What are your blessings?
Please pray for Becka as she emailed me that she is driving to Indiana to
visit family there and not used to driving so far alone. She prays for all
of us here.

Homily of the Day


February 24, 2011


Is What you Say and Do Changing Lives for the Better?
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Sir 5:1-8/ Mk 9:41-50

Very early in most standard ethics or philosophy courses there’s usually a
discussion of the self-evident proposition that we human beings are social
beings, and inescapably so. We need to live in the company of others if we
are to survive and thrive. And when we are deprived of that continuous
contact and exchange, we wither and die from within, as happens so often
among small children and the elderly who have been abandoned. We surely do
need one another if we are to thrive.

The gift of friendship, the willingness to share our company and our selves
with others is indeed a golden gift, but it can have its dark side too, as
today’s gospel reminds us. Just as our love and good example can lift up and
carry along the people around us, our bad example can drag our neighbors
down and can lead them into terrible paths they never would have found
without our active or passive urgings.

It’s not only our children who watch and imitate what we do. To a surprising
extent, our peers and often even our elders are influenced and moved by what
we say and do. It’s an immense power that we have in our hands, and we must
use it wisely and circumspectly as Jesus did at every moment.

You have a wonderful gift to give in the form of a life well and rightly
lived. Give that gift as truly as you can, and know the joy of living
without regrets.

Short Meditation:

Pray for Compassion

Ask Jesus for His heart of compassion even in the face of sin and
stubbornness.
Only He can change the hearts and minds of those we are trying to reach.

— from To Be Like Jesus

5 Ways To Live A Holier Life


Make more time for prayer:
Spending time together is the best way to get to know God better.

Practice sharing:
God wants us to take care of each other. Look for more ways to share your
money, time, and talents with someone who needs them.

Celebrate the Sacraments:
Make Sunday Mass the highlight of your week. Go to confession and celebrate
God´s forgiving spirit.

Be a voice in the wilderness :
When you notice and injustice, be the first one to speak out and take
action. Treat all people with the dignity they deserve as children of God.

Share your faith :
Talk about God with anyone who wants to listen. We shouldn´t keep his love
all to ourselves. There´s more than enough to go around.

The Praises of God
Lord God:
you alone are holy,
you who work wonders!
You are strong, you are great,
you are the Most High,
you are the almighty King,
you, holy Father, King of heaven and earth.

Lord God: you are Three and you are One,
you are goodness, all goodness,
you are the highest Good,
Lord God, living and true.

You are love and charity, you are wisdom,
you are humility, you are patience,
you are beauty, you are sweetness,
you are safety, you are rest, you are joy,
you are our hope
and our delight,
you are justice, you are moderation
you are all our wealth
and riches overflowing.

You are beauty, you are gentleness,
you are our shelter, our guard
and our defender,
you are strength, you are refreshment,
you are our hope.
you are our faith.
you are our love,
you are our complete consolation,
you are our life everlasting,
great and wonderful Lord,
all powerful God, merciful Savior!

Amen.

HOW LIFE IS MEASURED
Author Unknown


I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago whose
husband unexpectedly and suddenly died of a heart attack.

About a week after his death, she shared some of her insight with a
classroom of students.

As the late afternoon sunlight came streaming in through the classroom
windows and the class was nearly over, she moved a few things aside on
the edge of her desk and sat down there. With a gentle look of
reflection on her face, she paused and said, "Before class is over, I
would like to share with all of you a thought that is unrelated to
class, but which I feel is very important."

"Each of us is put here on earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and
give of ourselves. None of us knows when this fantastic experience
will end. It can be taken away at any moment. Perhaps this is a way of
telling us that we must make the most out of every single day."......

Her eyes beginning to water, she went on, "So I would like you all to
make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way
home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be
something you see, it could be a scent -- perhaps of freshly baked
bread wafting out of someone's house, or it could be the sound of the
breeze slightly rustling the leaves in the trees, or the way the
morning light catches the autumn leaf as it falls gently to the
ground.

Please look for these things, and cherish them. For, although it may
sound trite to some, these things are the "stuff" of life. The little
things we are put here on earth to enjoy. The things we often take for
granted. We must make it important to notice them, for at any
time...it can all be taken
away." The class was completely quiet. We all picked up our books and
filed out of the room silently.

That afternoon, I noticed more things on my way home from school than
had that whole semester. Every once in a while, I think of that
teacher and remember what an impression she made on all of us, and I
try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we all overlook.

Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today.
When you go home, Go barefoot. Or walk on the beach at sunset. Stop
off on the way home tonight to get a double-dip ice cream cone.

"For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we often
regret, but the things we didn't do."

“Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened."

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the
moments that take our breath away."

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER
Author Unknown

I know not by what methods rare,
But this I know - God answers prayer,
I know not when He sends the word
That tells us fervent prayer is heard.
I know it cometh -- soon or late:
Therefore we need to pray and wait.
I know not if the blessing sought
Will come in just the way I thought.
I leave my prayers with Him alone,
Whose will is wiser than my own.


Lord let me capture the pure spirit of a loving child when I speak
Your name.
Let me pray as a child prays, asking little for myself, much for other
souls and for Your beautiful world.
Protect me, sleeping and waking, from evil.
Lead me by the hand to good works.
Let me praise You in simple words and in glorious silence through all
the days and the nights of my life.
Amen.

The Friend Who Just Stands By

When troubles come your soul to try,
You love the friend who just stands by.
Perhaps there's nothing she can do,
The thing is strictly up to you.

For there are troubles all your own,
And paths the soul must tread alone.
Times when love can't smooth the road,
Nor friendship lift the heavy load.

But just to feel you have a friend,
Who will stand by until the end.
Whose sympathy through all endures,
Whose warm handclasp is always yours.

It helps somehow to pull you through,
Although there's nothing she can do.
And so with fervent heart we cry,
God Bless the friend who just stands by.


- Author Unknown

Closing prayers:

Enough

Dear God,

Please give me...

Enough tears to keep me human,

Enough humor to keep me wise,

Enough setbacks to keep me humble,

Enough accomplishments to keep me confident,

Enough waiting to teach me patience,

Enough hope to teach me trusting,

Enough friends to give me love,

Enough memories to give me comfort.

Just What I Need

Dear God, give me strength to do what I must
And to remember that it's You who I should trust.
Let me be kind in my words today
Despite my pain, I'll have nice things to say.

Show me Your wisdom found deep in Your Word
Perhaps there's a message I have not yet heard.
When I want to give up; keep me close to You
So I know You are with me no matter what I go through.

Those times when I stumble and fall right on my face
Remind me it's because I stepped out of my place.
You are my Healer and time is Your key
Someday soon there will be a miracle in me.

Waiting on You God, is a step of faith and hope
But knowing You're faithful is just how I cope.
This illness can't last forever, so in You I rest
Trusting always in the One who knows best.

- Author Unknown

Good night everyone and sweet dreams to all! Have a wonderful Friday and
wonderful start of another weekend. Got plans? Stay safe and warm.
Enjoy the Gift of God's Day and God bless you all and answer all our
prayers.