Community Chat

[gloriajean]

When life seems hard and filled with troubles, look for reasons
to be thankful. Lord, Your beautiful presence is always with me.


Scripture for the day:

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
~Matthew 6:10

Meditation for the day:

The world would sooner be brought close to God and God's will would
sooner be done on earth, if all of us who acknowledge God gave
ourselves unreservedly to being used by God. God can use each one of
us as a channel for divine love and power. What delays the bringing
of the world closer to God is our reluctance to follow. If each one
of us lived each day for God and allowed God to work through us, then
the world could be drawn much closer to God, its creator and
preserver.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may be used as a channel to express God's love. I pray
that I may so live as to reveal God's spirit God's life in me.

Greetings to you all! Hope your day went well - ours went very well - Linus is off now for 5 days in a row. He had a dentist appt at 8 AM, followed by taking Sammy to the Vet for a check up and getting his shots up to date - and Sammy is just fine. Seems like there's no sign of his testing positive for Lyme's disease anymore! Tomorrow Sammy gets groomed again, he really doesn't care for that, but he looks so nice afterwards. At 3 Fr. Jerry is coming and staying for supper and I told him to stay after supper as long as he can so we can all have a nice visit. Really looking forward to his coming. We'll have him pray with us, too, for the sale of our house, be that God-Willing. Hope we won't have to have a house showing tomorrow. Blessings today was going out to eat - with Lori joining us and I didn't have to cook! Another blessing, I could relax - no house showing today.


Homily of the Day


May 26, 2011

Are You a Policeman or a Liberator?
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Acts 15:7-21 / Jn 15:9-11

There’s something of the policeman in most of us. Perhaps it comes from being given so many rules as children — and so many little “talks” from parents, teachers, and others about the importance of keeping those rules. The fact is, of course, that laws and rules can be liberating. They can make life more safe and more secure, and they can free us from having to think much about lots of ordinary things. But they can also be spirit-killers.

That was the case in the first generation of Christians, when converts from paganism to Christianity were also required to observe all the religious rules and regulations of orthodox Jews as well. It was a huge burden, under which most of Jesus’ contemporaries had been spiritually crushed or had simply given up. And it was so unnecessary, so utterly beside the point of Jesus’ teaching, which was to bond to the Lord and to one’s neighbors in self-giving love — to love as one wants to be loved.

But old habits die hard, whether they make any sense or not, and it took the Apostles awhile to see the truth. When they did see, they set out to set the people free. Isn’t that what we really want to do for one another — set one another free from the things that don’t matter, the things that can’t give us life?

Be like Jesus and his Apostles. Be a liberator, not a policeman!

Psalm 22
This is a touching story which shows us that we can feel abandoned even when we are trying to live our life for God. (Following are some familiar verses...)

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
My strength is gone, gone like water spilled on the ground.
All my bones are out of joint; my heart is like melted wax.
My throat is as dry as dust,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have left me for dead in the dust.
A gang of evil men is around me;
like a pack of dogs they close in on me;
they tear at my hands and feet.
All my bones can be seen.
My enemies look at me and stare.
They gamble for my clothes
and divide them among themselves.
(Psalms 22:1,14-18)

David wrote Psalm 22 about a thousand years prior to Jesus' death. Crucifixion wasn't invented at that time, so the verse "they tear at my hands and feet" is quite extraordinary. (Crucifixion was invented by the Persians between 300-400 B.C.)

It may seem strange that God would prophecy His own death, but The Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament tells us that it wasn't so strange after all. "But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the Lord made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved." (Is. 53:4-6) The Lord says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed." (Is. 53:10)

Why did God do this? He did it because he is both righteous and loving. Because he is righteous, God cannot overlook sin—he must punish it with death. Because he is loving, he provided a sinless substitute to bear our sin and to take God's wrath for us.

This is why John the Baptist introduced Jesus as "the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world" (Jn. 1:29). This is why Jesus said that as God's Son, he did "not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mk. 10:45). Jesus came to die on a cross because there was no other way that a holy God can be reconciled to sinful people like you and me. And to make sure that we would know this was his plan, he predicted centuries before he did it.

Now that you know this, you have to act on this knowledge by personalizing it. Have you acknowledged to God that you have gone astray and turned to your own way? Have you agreed with God that your sins put Jesus on the cross? Have you told God that you trust in Jesus' death as the only payment for your sins? This action is what makes this knowledge life-changing. The moment you call out to God in this way, He will forgive you of all your sins, and give you eternal life, and begin a relationship with you by indwelling you through his Spirit. Do you want this? Then make your move.

Leaving The City of Regret

I had not really planned on taking a trip this time of year, and yet I found myself packing rather hurriedly. This trip was going to be unpleasant and I knew in advance that no real good would come of it. I'm talking about my annual "Guilt Trip."

I got tickets to fly there on Wish I Had airlines. It was an extremely short flight. I got my baggage, which I could not check. I chose to carry it myself all the way. It was weighted down with a thousand memories of what might have been. No one greeted me as I entered the terminal to the Regret City International Airport. I say international because people from all over the world come to this dismal town.

As I checked into the Last Resort Hotel, I noticed that they would be hosting the year's most important event, the Annual Pity Party. I wasn't going to miss that great social occasion. Many of the towns leading citizens would be there.

First, there would be the Done family, you know, Should Have, Would Have and Could Have. Then came the I Had family. You probably know ol' Wish and his clan. Of course, the Opportunities would be present, Missed and Lost. The biggest family would be the Yesterdays. There are far too many of them to count, but each one would have a very sad story to share.

Then Shattered Dreams would surely make and appearance. And It's Their Fault would regale us with stories (excuses) about how things had failed in his life, and each story would be loudly applauded by Don't Blame Me and I Couldn't Help It.

Well, to make a long story short, I went to this depressing party knowing that there would be no real benefit in doing so. And, as usual, I became very depressed. But as I thought about all of the stories of failures brought back from the past, it occurred to me that all of this trip and subsequent "pity party" could be cancelled by ME! I started to truly realize that I did not have to be there. I didn't have to be depressed. One thing kept going through my mind, I CAN'T CHANGE YESTERDAY, BUT I DO HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE TODAY A WONDERFUL DAY. I can be happy, joyous, fulfilled, encouraged, as well as encouraging. Knowing this, I left the City of Regret immediately and left no forwarding address. Am I sorry for mistakes I've made in the past? YES! But there is no physical way to undo them.

So, if you're planning a trip back to the City of Regret, please cancel all your reservations now. Instead, take a trip to a place called, Starting Again. I liked it so much that I have now taken up permanent residence there. My neighbors, the I Forgive Myselfs and the New Starts are so very helpful. By the way, you don't have to carry around heavy baggage, because the load is lifted from your shoulders upon arrival. God bless you in finding this great town. If you can find it -- it's in your own heart -- please look me up. I live on I Can Do It street.

Practice What You Preach


You can know all the scriptures,
Have all the bibles you can reach,
But when push comes to shove
Do you practice what you preach?

Anyone can go to church
And collapse on the floor,
But when Judgment Day comes
Will you be at Heaven's door?

You can have the biggest of fits
And say the Holy ghost passed through,
But is that really reflected
In the things you do?

You can yell far and wide
Proclaiming your love for Christ,
But what have you given him
When for you He gave his life?

You can lecture others
About the wrong things they do,
But before you look at others
You need to look at you.

You can dam n all the sinners
Tell them they're headed south,
But what have you done lately
Besides run your mouth?

You can call yourself a Christian
Spend all your days at church,
But while you are praising His name,
Have you been doing the Lord's work?

You can boast of good deeds
To show us the spirit is within
But why show it to us?
You should show it to Him!

You can memorize the bible
Know it from front to back,
But you don't use it to regulate others
Regulate how you act!

Take a good look at yourself
Not at what others do,
Because when He comes to get his children ...
Will He be coming for you too?

~ Author Unknown ~

Mother Teresa Said...

I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence - we need to listen to God because it's not what we say but what He says to us and through us that matters. Prayer feeds the soul - as blood is to the body, prayer is the soul - and it brings you closer to God. It also gives you a clean and pure heart. A clean heart can see God, can speak to God, and can see the love of God in others.

Food For Thought
We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these things
to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in
them. Acts 24:15b Has not my hand made all these things? Acts
7:50

The Great Inventor

When you were a child did you ever wonder how the ocean didn’t slide
off the earth? How all the water didn’t spill out and eventually there
would be no more water in the oceans? What a great invention!
Sometimes even now I think of how amazing is our God about soo many
things. Like how the ocean doesn’t.

Psalm 104 majestically tells of God, the great inventor. Who but God
could design oceans teeming with unimaginable sea creatures from
microscopic algae to gigantic whales and countless colorful marine
life? Plus grasses and coral and sand and, well, the list is
infinite.....

Years ago, our family did a little snorkeling and some diving. Under
the sea it was eerily silent, a whole other world. ‘Beautiful’ doesn’t
even come close to describing it.

The fabulous worship song by Nicole C. Mullen (Redeemer) proposes
these questions: Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning, Who
told the ocean you an only come this far? Who showed the moon where to
hide 'til evening, Whose words alone can catch a falling star? And the
lyrics answer perfectly: Well I know my Redeemer lives, I know my
Redeemer lives; All of creation testify, This life within me cries, I
know my Redeemer lives.

The Great Inventor and our Redeemer, one. One God. That is good news.

Praise the Lord , O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great; you
are clothed with splendor and majesty. He wraps himself in light as
with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the
beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his
chariot and rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his
messengers, flames of fire his servants. He set the earth on its
foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the deep as
with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your
rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to
flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the
valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they
cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth. He makes springs
pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains. They give
water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their
thirst. The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the
branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth
is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the
cattle, and plants for man to cultivate- bringing forth food from the
earth: wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face
shine, and bread that sustains his heart. The trees of the Lord are
well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted. There the birds
make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees. The high
mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the
coneys. The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go
down. You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the
forest prowl. The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from
God. The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in
their dens. Then man goes out to his work, to his labor until evening.
How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the
earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number- living things both large and
small. Psalm 10

Closing prayer: This can be my prayer and yours:

A Prayer for Guidance
Lord I stand before you with a heavy heart,
I don’t have all the answers,
I am turning to you for guidance.

I want to be happy and healthy,
not if it offends you.
I want to know I am making the right decisions,
decisions that will not hurt you.

I am human and know I make mistakes,
I am human and know I am weak.
Allow me to gain strength from you.
I am asking for help.

Give me the strength to fight for what is important.
Give me the strength to help people as they help me.
Help me to see right from wrong through the trials of my life.
Never let me just give up on myself.

Forgive me for my mistakes and failures,
know I am trying to be the best and strongest person I can.
Never let me quit! ´

Amen.

Good night everyone - Sweet Dreams - God bless your Friday!