Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Joy does not depend on your circumstances, but rather on your triumph over
your
circumstances. Lord, my joy comes from within where Your spirit fills my
soul
and You bless me with Your strength.


Scripture for the day:

"Be still and know that I am God." ~Psalm 46:10

A scripture that fits the Meditation for today, and is also
appropriate for a person without a computer!

Meditation for the day:


I can keep calm and unmoved in the vicissitudes of life. I can go
back into the silence of communion with God to recover this calm
when it is lost even for one moment. I can accomplish more by this
callmness than by all the activities of a long day. At alll cost I can
keep calm. I can solve nothing when I am agitated. I can keep
away from things that are upsetting emotionally. I can run on an
even keel and not get tipped over by emotional upsets. I can seek
for things that are calm and good and true ... and stick to those
things.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may not argue or contend, but merely state calmly
what I believe to be true. I pray that I may keep myself in that
state of calmness that comes from faith in God's purpose for the
world.

Hello my friends! Well we're back from the funeral now - and it was so good
to be there - seeing cousins I haven't seen in years makes it worth it.
Father Bernard wanted to be known for his writing, that he was always
writing something, a man of great talents. His funeral Mass had songs that
he composed, very nice indeed! They had his pictures displayed that he
painted of Jesus and Mary and other ones, along with his books. He was
sharp with his mind until the end. And he was well loved! It was a
blessing to see my sisters again, and to see Sister LaDonna - even with a
cane, walking so well! She never even used her walker - it was in the
trunk. What a difference she was compared to when we last saw her shortly
after her fall. The weather was great - couldn't ask for better weather in
Jan. in MN - thanks be to God! It was a blessing to come home again, to
see your posts and answer you. I wrote quite a bit on my last thread, about
my uncles and Fr. Bernard so I won't repeat it here. After the funeral Mass
we had a wonderful dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green
beans, cole slaw and many different kinds of bars! We were hungry not
having eating lunch so this was wonderful!! Thank you all for your prayers
for our safe trips. Found out that my sisters all got back safely too, and
Sister LaDonna got her shuttle back to the Motherhouse fine.. I bet she's
exhausted! We, hubby and I tried our best at the casino, but no, it was
no fun at all. We gave up! But our rooms were only 45.00 a night and that
was a good thing! Nice rooms too.

January 6, 2011

"I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living
reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your
unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor."
St. Faustina Kowalska
For Reflection:


In whose life would the Lord ask me today to be a conduit of His love and
mercy? (Hint: From whom would I most like to withhold love and mercy?) In
what practical way can I respond?



Friday, January 6, 2012

Help Me

Dear Lord, help me to cope with the reality of myself,
Help me to be aware of the things within myself
which push me away from you;
Let me take to myself as truth
the fact of your all-consuming love
And give me the hope
that comes from knowing that my sins are forgiven. Amen.

from Prayers From Franciscan Hearts: Contemporary Reflections From Women and
Men

The Word was made flesh, and lived among us.

God With Us

Today the Church calls us to reflect further on the implications of our
Lord´s birth. The external event was characterized by poverty but to the
eyes of faith it was much more than the birth of a poor child. In this child
God´s own Son began to exist as a human being. In other words, God began to
relate to us as a human being and to love us with a human heart. As
Scripture puts it: God´s Word/ Wisdom pitched its tent among us. This
season, then, is the great commemoration of God´s being with us.
PERSONAL PRAYER

Stay with us, Lord Jesus, as we meet you in the breaking of bread this day.
Help us to appreciate more your love for us and to perceive more clearly
what you want us to do. Help us with your strong hand when our faith shakes
and hovers on the brink of unbelief. Keep us in your presence when
temptation troubles us and, at the end, lead us into your immediate presence
and be for ever Emmanuel. Amen.

"Epiphany" East and West

The feast of the Epiphany, as we presently understand it, the adoration of
the Magi, is found very early in Gaul, where it probably predates Christmas.
The Council of Saragossa in 380 decreed a three-week fast before Epiphany.
The feast existed in North Africa in the time of Augustine. Several of Leo
the Great's sermons witness to the feast's observance in Rome. The principal
object in the Roman liturgy is the adoration of the Magi.

However, the feast of the Epiphany most certainly originated in the East,
where it is mentioned by Clement of Alexandria. It may have been assigned
its date in reference to a pagan feast. In the Egyptian calendar, the winter
solstice and the feast of the Sun-God were observed on January 6. On the
previous night, pagans of Alexandria commemorated the birth of their god
Aeon, supposedly born of a virgin. It was also believed that the waters of
rivers, especially the Nile, acquired miraculous powers and even turned into
wine on this night.

This may be a partial explanation why it is difficult to circumscribe the
original object of this feast in the East. By the fourth century Epiphany
could embrace the birth of Christ, His baptism, the adoration of the Magi,
and the miracle at Cana. According to some liturgists (cf. C. Mohrmann)
Epiphany was an idea feast (as opposed to an event feast) from the beginning
and admitted any manifestation of the divine power of Christ. As a matter of
fact, in classical Greek, epiphany or theophany designate the manifestation
of a divinity and, later, important events in the life of a king. Epiphany
is first used in a Christian sense by St. Paul for both the first and final
comings of Christ (Ti 2.11,13). The word Epiphany was soon used to describe
the miracles of Christ as manifestations of divine power.

St. John Chrisostom explains the eastern meaning of Epiphany with these
words: "We give the name Epiphany to the Lord's baptism because he was not
made manifest to all when he was born, but only when he was baptized; for
until that time he was unknown to the people at large." In similar fashion,
St. Jerome, drawing upon his Palestine experience, declares that the idea of
showing forth (Epiphany) belonged not to the birth in the flesh, for then he
was hidden and not revealed, but rather to the baptism in the Jordan, when
the heavens were opened upon Christ.

According to oriental ideas it was through the divine pronouncement "this is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased," that the Savior was first
manifested to the great world of unbelievers. The western tradition of this
feast lies more along the line of what we are used to call "fides quaerens
intellectum" (faith seeking understanding). There is no overwhelming
Epiphany or divine manifestation on the path of the Magi. The Magi were wise
men who saw the star and its unusual brightness. Steadfast in the resolution
of following the divine call and fearless of danger, they travel, inquire,
explore, and let themselves be conducted by the star to the place where they
were to see and worship their Savior. But again, no divine pronouncement
thundering from open skies, only a poor babe in a manger. As St. Leo the
Great put it: "When a star had conducted them to worship Jesus, they did not
find him commanding devils or raising the dead or restoring sight to the
blind or speech to the dumb, or employed in any divine action; but a silent
babe, dependent upon a mother's care, giving no sign of power but exhibiting
a miracle of humility."

Eastern theology has always been eschatological in thrust, eager and anxious
to show the unabridged Godhead in all its splendor and majesty, beyond and
in spite of its manifestation in human condition and according to human
categories. Western theology in turn develops according to a different
religious sensitivity: it is more incarnational, amazed by and preoccupied
with the miracle of humility, God's being in the flesh and becoming one of
us. The spirituality of the East is a spirituality of vision, based on "ta
phota" (what is visible) or illumination; the Jordan-Experience; the
spirituality of the West is the spirituality of journey, originating in
God's call and transformative power; it is the "Magi-experience."

Yet, both traditions are but two different and complementary facets of the
same reality, just as ear and eye are dependent on and complement each
other. In a similar way, the Feast of the Epiphany manifests the
comprehensive reality of God's encounter with humanity: it shows not only
God's self-giving presence in the miracle of humility, but also his
authoritative self-disclosure at the baptism of Christ. Epiphany manifests
not only God's gratuitous and hidden presence to us, it also reminds us of
our personal and active role in this encounter with God, made explicit
through the acts and gestures of the Magi.

The Magi offer to Jesus as a token of homage the richest products their
countries afforded: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gold, as an
acknowledgment of Christ's regal power; incense, as a confession of his
Godhead; and myrrh, as a testimony that he has become man for the redemption
of the world. But even more important than gold, frankincense, and myrrh
were the dispositions the Magi cherished in their souls: their fervent
charity, signified by gold; their devotion, figured by frankincense; and
their unreserved sacrifice of themselves, represented by myrrh.

In the middle ages it was customary on this day (6th of January) to bless
homes with the newly blessed water, and with incense. Later the initials of
the names of the Magi (Caspar, Melchior, Balthasar) were written with
blessed chalk on or above the doors of homes. CMB stands also for Christus,
Mansionem, Benedicat (May Christ bless this home). May these initials be
carved on the doors to our spiritual homes, too; as a reminder, that each
one of us is called upon by God's Epiphany to the world to assume a
threefold role: that of the child, the disciple, and the steward.

As a child we receive and cherish God's Epiphany to us;
As a disciple we follow God's call to crib and cross;
and as steward we are accountable to God and the world for what we did to
his Epiphany, understood as vision and journey.

Epiphany Prayer

Dear Jesus, as You led the Three Kings to You by the light of a star, please
draw us ever closer to You by the light of Faith. Help us to desire You as
ardently as they did. Give us the grace to overcome all the obstacles that
keep us far from You. May we, like them, have something to give You when we
appear before You. Mary, Our Mother, help us to know Your Son. Amen.

SAILING INTO THE NEW YEAR
Author Unknown


God built and launched this year for you;

Upon the bridge you stand;

It's your ship, aye, your own ship,

And you are in command.

Just what the twelve months? trip will do

Rests wholly, solely, friend, with you.

Your logbook kept from day to day

My friend, what will it show?

Have you on your appointed way

Made progress, yes or no?

The log will tell, like guiding star,

The sort of captain that you are.

For weal or woe this year is yours;

Your ship is on life's sea

Your acts, as captain, must decide

Whichever it shall be;

So now in starting on your trip,

Ask God to help you sail your ship.

Recipe For A Successful Marriage

3 cups Tenderness
1 cup Commitment
1 cup Consideration
1 cup Courtesy
2 cups Unselfish support
2 cups Milk of human kindness
1 gallon Faith in God and in each other

Add:

2 cups -- Praise
3 cups -- Cooperation
1 small pinch of in-laws
1 realistic financial budget
3 T pure extract of "I am sorry"
1 cup Contentment
2 cups of open and honest communication
1 cup each: Confidence, Encouragement, Supportive friends, Blindness to each
other's faults, Individual interests and hobbies

Mix in: Several mutual activities and hobbies.

Flavor with occasional tokens of your love and a dash of happy memories.

Stir well and remove any specks of temper, jealousy, or criticism.

Sweeten well with a generous portion of love and keep warm with a steady
flame of devotion.

Never serve with a hot tongue or cold shoulder.

With that I'll say Good night and hope to see you all here tomorrow! God be
with you in all that you do!