Hello my friends! Nice day today - at Mass there was a Baptism and a 50th Wedding Anniversary - Father Mark gave them a blessing. This couple is from my home town and we play cards with them in our card club. Blessings today - no rain and I got to pick a bunch of strawberries, lettuce, kale and collards. Got that all prepared now and in the fridge. I am learning all about oil pulling - and all the benefits - with Coconut oil. Please read about it on google or bing it like I did. Very interesting and I started to do it. This is good for a positive thread because it brings healthy positive results. Praying for all your needs.
To be successful in the projects you undertake today, you must believe in
yourself and your abilities even if you are walking on new ground. Lord,
guide me in my endeavors and open my mind to new solutions if things
aren't going as I have planned.
Scripture for the day:
"Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in
your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you
I wait all day long." ~Psalm 25:4-5
Meditation for the day:
There is much beauty in a God-guided life. There is wonder in the
feeling of being led by God. We can try to realize God's bounty and
goodness more and more. God is planning for us. God's ways are
wonderful. They are beyond our knowledge. But God's leading can
enter our consciousness more and more, and bring us ever more peace
and joy. Our lives are being blessed by God. We can count all
material things as loss if they prevent us from winning our way to the
consciousness of
God's guidance.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may earn the rewards of God's power and peace. I pray
that I may develop my awareness of being led by God.
Food for Thought:
REAL OR FAKE
By Sally I Kennedy
June 14, 2009
For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and
miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. – Jesus (Mark
13:22, Matthew 24:24)
My sister is quite a gardening nut. She loves more than anything to
be out in her yard, digging in the dirt, trimming, weeding, planting,
transplanting. Poison ivy gets her if she isn’t really careful, but
several bouts haven’t stopped her from her favorite pastime.
In spring, when we were visiting, she couldn’t wait to walk me around
outside. Excitedly, she pointed out this and that (names I can never
remember). Some flowers caught my eye; I remarked, “Oh! Irises. I
love irises! They are just beautiful!. She laughed and said, “Oh,
only the top ones are real. I just stuck the other ones in there.
They’re fake!”
They all looked real to me. So I got a little closer; they still all
looked about the same. I went up really close to inspect, and touched
the petals. Sure enough, the pinkish ones were artificial; the purple
on top, genuine.
Real, fake. Sometimes it is hard to tell which is which. I have been
fooled by plastic food displays, life-like statues, costume jewelry.
The difference is just short of polar, but I couldn’t tell.
In the Bible, there’s a warning: He (Jesus) replied: "Watch out that
you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am
he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. (Luke 21:8
Real? or fake? How can you tell which is which?. When it comes to
spiritual things, we can rely on the Holy Spirit, who witnesses to the
Truth, which always lines up with the Word of God.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all
truth. –Jesus (John 16:13)
That is good news.
Ephesians 4:11-16 1It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to
be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and
teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the
body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith
and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to
the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be
infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there
by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in
their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will
in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From
him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting
ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its
work.
"I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this
bread will live forever."
Jesus, The Bread of Life
The history of today´s feast can be traced back to the year 1264 when its
observance became obligatory and to the fourteenth century when it began to
be universally celebrated in the western church. At its core is the
institution of the Eucharist on Holy Thursday, a day with the Passion as its
backdrop. Today provides a separate day for commemorating that great gift.
Personal Prayer
Jesus, I believe that I have received Your Flesh to eat and Your Blood to
drink, because You have said it and Your word is true.
Jesus, my God, I adore You, since with You I am to be happy for ever.
Jesus, I love You. I love You with all my heart. You know that I love You,
and wish to love You daily more and more.
My good Jesus, I thank You with all my heart. How good, how kind You are to
me, Lord Jesus. Blessed be Jesus in this Holy Sacrament.
Jesus, receive my poor offering. Jesus, You have given yourself to me, now,
let me give myself to You : I give You my body, that I may be chaste and
pure.
I give You my soul, that I may be free from sin. I give You my heart, that I
may always love you.
I give You every breath that I shall breathe, and especially my last. I give
You myself, in life and in death, that I may be Yours for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Purpose of Pain
In the apple-growing state of Maine in America, I was visiting a farmer
friend and saw an apple tree so loaded down with fruit that the branches had
to be propped up to keep them from breaking under the weight of apples.
When I remarked about the fruitfulness of the tree, my friend said to me,
"Go over and look at that tree's trunk down near the bottom."
There I saw that the tree had been badly wounded by a big gash across its
side. The farmer explained, "That is something we have learned about apple
trees. When the growing tree tends to run to wood and leaves and not to
fruit, we stop it by wounding it, by cutting into its bark. And we don't
know why, but almost always the result is that the tree turns its energies
to producing fruit."
Could that be a parable for some of us human apple trees in the human
orchard?
NO MORE WITH ME
Author Unknown
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me! I don't mean to hold you up," he said
as he struggled to get off the escalator.
I'll admit to it. There have been times when walking or driving behind
an older person I've gotten impatient and upset. I've huffed and
zoomed around them because I was in a hurry to get nowhere. Perhaps
I'm more aware of it now because I see myself there one day soon.
Today I saw myself in this old man's shoes and it caused me to slow down,
stop and ask for his forgiveness.
He was about five or six people ahead of me. I was in a hurry and saw
him as an obstacle. I've seen people get off the end of an escalator
and stop dead in their tracks, gather their things and suddenly
there's a pile up of angry
people behind them. You can't stop an escalator full of people behind
you. Like the Energizer bunny, they keep on goin'.
This man was well aware of the challenge. He tried desperately to step
aside. Fumbling with his small packages, struggling to gain his
footing, you could see how troubling this was for him. "I'm sorry.
Please forgive me! I don't mean to hold you up," he said as he
struggled to get off the escalator.
I suddenly saw this in a whole new light. It was like I was watching
my future. I felt sorry for him. I felt sick to my stomach because
this man was apologizing to everyone, when we should have been helping
him and calming
his fears.
One by one, people zipped around him. I heard a few angry comments
whispered as one lady passed by him.
I saw me.
By the time I got to him he was just about steady on his feet.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know there was more," he said.
"No, sir. No more with me," I said. This really hit me hard. I
realized right then how sad it was that the world was in such a hurry.
That, of course, included me. But...no more with me. Count me out.
This wonderful man paid his dues. For whatever time he had spent on
this earth, he most likely walked many rough roads and too many
important miles. Now he should be apologizing for moving slower?
My heart ached as I looked into his eyes. I wished that I could see
what he had seen all those years. His face weathered from life itself,
was creased and wrinkled. The small soft pockets under his eyes and
the gentle lines
that curved up and around them told me he had many happy moments, too.
Those were traces left behind from laughter and a smiling, happy man.
"My friend, can I help you with those things?" I asked.
Hesitant at first, he finally said, "Well, yes, thank you!"
I placed my hand under his left arm and walked with him a safe
distance away from the rush of people.
"So what are you shopping for, sir?"
"Oh, just a little something for my neighbor. She's a young mother
raising kids on her own. She's always so nice to me. I thought a box
of candy for Mother's Day..." he said, stopping suddenly as he
searched his inside pocket of his sport coat.
"Do you need something?" I asked.
"Oh, no. Here. I think I have it right here. I always carry them with
me," he said. Then pulling out a hand full of papers he shuffled
through them and handed me a business card that read:
"John A. Pomicter
Friend to all...enemy to no one!
I said a prayer today and you were the answer. Thank you!"
"That's for you," he said. "Thanks for stopping to help an old man."
"My friend, you helped me. I discovered that I was unhappy with the
world and I was part of the problem. Now I'll be part of the solution.
No more with me!"
"Then this was meant to be," he said smiling.
"You know God sends me gifts every day and always at least one special
person. You were my gift for today! Let's go get some chocolates, my
friend."
Strength and Courage
It takes strength to be certain,
It takes courage to have doubts.
It takes strength to fit in,
It takes courage to stand out.
It takes strength to share a friend's pain,
It takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to hide your own pain,
It takes courage to show it and deal with it.
It takes strength to stand guard,
It takes courage to let down your guard.
It takes strength to conquer,
It takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to endure abuses,
It takes courage to stop them.
It takes strength to stand alone,
It takes courage to lean on a friend.
It takes strength to love,
It takes courage to be loved.
It takes strength to survive,
It takes courage to live.
May you find strength and courage
in everything you do,
And may your life be filled with
Friendship and Love!
- Author Unknown
Blogs & Forums
Forums
Blogs
