Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Never tell yourself that it is "I" who has done all of this for me.
Lord, I pray and give thanks because it is You who has given me
the abilities and talents that I have to do all that I do.


Scripture for the day:

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." ~Matthew
11:28-30

Meditation for the day:

Our spiritual life depends upon the unseen. To live the spiritual
life we can believe in the unseen. We can try not to lose the
consciousness of God's spirit in us and in others. As a child in its
mother's arms, we can stay sheltered in the understanding and love of
God. God can relieve us of the weight of worry and care, misery and
depression, want and woe, faintness and heartache, if we will allow
it. We can lift up our eyes from earth's troubles and view the glory
of the unseen God. Each day we can try to see more good in people,
more of the unseen in the seen.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may rest and abide in the presence of the unseen God. I
pray that I may leave my burdens in God's care.

Hello my friends! Hope your day was great!! We had beautiful weather here
again - first freezing overnight, then it got warmer during the day and we
could sit out in the porch again comfortably. Finally tonight I got word
from one of my sisters that Sister LaDonna had a four hour procedure done -
holy cow! Never thought it would be such a long one. They cemented her
tailbone onto her spine as it was off! They say it was successful, but they
have to wait a week to see if it worked well. No wonder she was in such
severe pain! Let's all pray that it takes well and she'll be healed once
and for all and have no more pain! My sisters are planning on going there
tomorrow to surprise her. I cannot go - I live too far from them to get a
ride, but Lori offered to take me a week from Sunday! On a positive note,
I'm relieved that it's over with, and now she can start to heal - a great
blessing indeed! Praise the Lord! Today on his day off, Linus did some
garden work - replanting some things, like hydrengias and he planted some
tulip bulbs. Looking forward to seeing tulips in the spring! It's so
colorful! For me - an ordinary day - prayed a lot for my sister, of course.
We went to Mass this morning and offered it up for her, too.

Homily of the Day


October 21, 2011

When You Stumble, He´ll Pick You Up
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Rom 7:18-25 / Lk 12:54-59

Once again St. Paul demonstrates his special knack for cutting to the heart
of the matter and speaking wisely for us all. Reflecting on his own life, he
says, “What happens is that I do, not the good I intend, but the evil I don’t
intend.” Isn’t it the truth! We set out with the best of intentions, and
then everything goes awry. Sometimes it’s just poor planning or not seeing
the matter at hand in all its complexity. That’s the easy part, and better
planning and more thoughtful analysis can fix it.

What’s far more frustrating is to set out with a good plan and the best of
intentions and then to make a mess of it all because our ego, or our fears,
or our loves or hates get in the way and send us off in the wrong direction.
The worst part of all is knowing at the very moment that we act that what we’re
doing is stupid, wrong, and counter-productive. We’ve all been there — many
times! And we’ve found ourselves crying out in anguish with St. Paul, “Who
can set me free from all this?”

That question tormented Paul for the many years before he found Jesus. He so
much wanted to do the right and to be right with God and with his neighbor.
And his failures broke his heart. So, when he finally met Jesus, his relief
and his gratitude were beyond all telling. And that’s the experience he
wants to share with us: Don’t despair. Open your heart to the Lord. He will
give you what you need. And when you stumble, he’ll pick you up and help you
try again … and again … and again. He never gives up on you, so don’t ever
give up.

Some of Mother Teresa's own words:

Love

To do ordinary things with extraordinary love

Let us love one another as God loves each one of us. And where does this
love begin? In our own home. How does it begin? By praying together

God told us, "Love your neighbor as yourself." So first I am to love myself
rightly, and then to love my neighbor like that. But how can I love myself
unless I accept myself as God has made me?

Contemplatives in the heart

We are not social workers. We may be doing social work in the eyes of some
people, but we must be contemplatives in the heart of the world.

Created to love

God has created us to love and to be loved, and this is the beginning of
prayer--to know that he loves me, that I have been created for greater
things.

Something beautiful for God

What I can do, you cannot. What you can do, I cannot. But together we can do
something beautiful for God.

The child

The child is God's gift to the family. Each child is created in the special
image and likeness of God for greater things - to love and to be loved.

Family

The family that prays together stays together, and if they stay together
they will love one another as God has loved each one of them. And works of
love are always works of peace.

Holiness

Holiness is not the luxury of the few; it is a simply duty, for you and for
me.

Time is the treasure of life. Time IS life. Time is the willing sacrifice
that you offer up to the worship of what you love. Don't tell me what you
love. Tell me where you spend your TIME and I'll tell YOU what you love.

The dispensing of time, the investment of time is the exposure of what you
truly love. You give your time to your cherished treasure. You do.

Frenzy says that there is no time left for God. Hurry cannot live the life
of Mary.

Haste insults HIM. It says there are other important, more urgent activities
than being with the Lord of the Universe.

It takes giving the costly gift of time to find Him, to hear His heart, to
gain the wisdom of where to spend your riches of time.

Many give their lives to Him, who do not give their time.

To the frantic, Mary's life was a waste. The waste of time and energy on
Jesus.

To the busy, time is always critically short. There is not enough time for
the ambitious...and the worried.
Their many works are more than their shoulders can
carry, more than their hours can cover.

They are like Martha, always behind and even in self pity because of it.

Their efforts are their own. Jesus did not call for them and cannot be
blamed when the efforts do not succeed or give fulfillment.

Time is the shining jewel Satan steals. We do not understand its value as
much as he does. If he can get your time, he has... you... without God.
Your time is your life. So by noble demands and foolish distractions, he
ekes away the minutes of your eternity.

There is all out war for your time, a relentless and clever scheme to fill
your days with what is not God -
what is not for Him or even about Him.

Martha was the unwitting instrument of that fiendish enemy to call foolish
and irresponsible in Mary what was really... God's highest and best.

Thus it always will be. There is a fight to be a Mary.
And it takes a strong-hearted resistance to defend the preciousness of your
own time.

To lose your time is to lose your destiny. To squander time is to waste
your only wealth.

There is abundant time for your assignment... for God's authentic will.

Plenty of time to listen and ample time to accomplish.
God set the earth on the axis of Time and when He rules it, it is - like all
His gifts - an extravagant supply.

God requires in this day, the offering of time. Give time to God and you
become rich in Him. For to give time is to give your self and He gives
HIMSELF in return.

God is ever real about time and humanity's limited span. So whatever is
given to Him is multiplied by the mystery of His transcendence over Time and
Space. Time given to Him is returned enlarged, expanded by a multiplication
that cannot be comprehended.

Mary lavished time on Him... because she deemed Him worth it. Martha had no
time for Him, only a period to work for Him, a labor He rejected as a
real... waste of time.

To Martha, Jesus was not worthy of her focused attention, and this He
painfully knew by watching how she spent her... time.

Be careful how you use the time you have, use every minute wisely.

The Promise

This story tells of the man who set out to adopt a troubled teenage girl.
One would question his logic. She was destructive, disobedient, and
dishonest.

One day she came home from school and ransacked the house looking for money.
By the time he arrived, she was gone and the house was in shambles.

Upon hearing of her actions, a friend urged him not to finalize the
adoption. "You haven't completed the paperwork. You haven't signed any
documents. Let her go."

His response was simply, "But I've already promised her that she would be my
daughter."

God, too, has made a covenant to adopt his people. His covenant is not
invalidated by our rebellion. It's one thing to love us when we are strong,
obedient, and willing. But when we ransack his house and steal what is his?
This is the test of love. And God passes the test; Despite our sin, in the
face of our rebellion, He chose to adopt us.

- - -
Romans 5:8 - But God has shown us how much he loves us - it was while we
were still sinners that Christ died for us!

Matthew 9:12-13 - (Jesus said) "People who are well do not need a doctor,
but only those who are sick... I have not come to call respectable people,
but outcasts."

Ephesians 1:5 - God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would
make us his sons...

Let Go Of Sorrow

I've heard it said don't go to bed while hanging on to sorrow,
you may not have the chance to laugh with those you love tomorrow.
You may not mean the words you speak when anger takes its toll,
you may regret your actions once you've lost your self-control.

When you've lost your temper and you've said some hurtful things,
think about the heartache that your actions sometime bring.

You'll never get those moments back, such precious time to waste,
and all because of things you said in anger and in haste.

So if you're loving someone and your pride has settled in,
you may not ever have the chance to say to them again...

"I love you and I miss you and although we don't agree,
I'll try to see your point of view, please do the same for me."

Author Unknown

Dear Lord, I need a word with you
If you have time to spare.
I know that you're quite busy,
My time is also rare.
In fact, that's why I wanted
To talk to you tonight.
I need to explain to you
That I have seen the light.
For so long I have taken
For granted that you knew
My wants and my needs
And my desires too.
Not only that, but peace of mind
And happiness I seek
I'd like to be much stronger
Instead of being weak.
I thought that you would help me
If only I believed.
I waited for you, Lord,
In my time of need.
I'd rush to work each morning.
I'd rush through lunch as well.
I knew I had a lot to do;
I had no time to tell
You what was on my mind
Or what I needed now;
In my haste to live my life
I've forgotten to somehow
Make the time to spend with you
And ponder who you are.
I guess I've put you in the closet
Then forgot and closed the door .
I know this sounds so strange
But I just now realize
I've done it without thinking
But now open are my eyes.
How can I expect you to help me
When I don't even stop to say
I love you or make the time
Each day to you to pray?
Lord, thank you for not giving up
On me, I've been so wrong
And now I'm asking you to help me
From now on to be strong;
In remembering what I need to do
And as I open the closet door
I pray that you'll forgive me
And that you will restore
In me the values needed
To be what I should be
And that's to come and talk with you
Much more regularly.
I thank you, Lord, for loving me
Enough to stick around;
You said what I needed to hear
Yet never made a sound.
But that is just your gentle way
That I admire so
And how I want to be some day
But have a long way to go.
I know that I will make it
So long as you are near
And I have nothing in this world
That I will ever fear .
For I have you to lean on
My rock, my Lord, my all;
You're there to help me up again
Whenever I may fall.
I thank you, Lord, for taking
This time to spend with me;
It's more than I deserve,
I've seen the light, you see.
AMEN

We are one in the Spirit,
We are one in the Lord.
And we pray that all unity
May one day be restored;
And they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will work with each other,
We will work side by side.
And we'll guard each one's dignity
And save each one's pride;
And they'll know we are Christians by our love.

We will walk with each other,
We will walk hand in hand.
And together we'll spread the news
That God is in our land;
And they'll know we are Christians by our love.

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come.
And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son.
And all praise to the Spirit who makes us one;
And they'll know we are Christians by our love.

(Adapted from a hymn by Peter Scholtes)

- - -
Galatians 5:14 - For the whole Law is summed up in one commandment: "Love
your neighbour as you love yourself."


A Great Calm

Bible reading: mark 4:35-41
Peace be still (verse 39)

Some years ago in a summer Bible conference in Ontario, Canada, a dreadful
storm arose. The thunder drowned out the program in progress. A howling wind
tore at the tent. Torrential rain made rivers of the aisles.

Amid understandable confusion, while the audience took refuge by standing on
the benches, a voice rang out. A tall, stately figure rose on the platform.
In her
organ like contralto, Madame Lillian Jones, famed Negro soloist, her voice
transcending the storm, sang; And there was a great calm.

And there was. Somehow the singing had a calming effect on young and old
alike
in that great tent.

This is what the Lord does for us in the storms of life: those sudden
squalls of sickness,
financial, strain, frayed nerves, personal relationships that go awry.
Like the disciples we might be fearful that our little boats will sink; that
the Lord has
somehow forgotten to be mindful of our needs. He is not asleep. He does
know. He
does care. He will say. "Peace, be still" when the storm is at its height.
Our voyage lies beyond the brink of many a threatening wave; The world looks
on
to see us sink, but Jesus lives to save. By James McFarlane

Have a blessed weekend.

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