Community Chat

[gloriajean]

God's blessings come in packages both large and small. Sometimes
they are expected and sometimes not. Sometimes they are recognized
and sometimes not. Lord, thank you for the joy You light in me, even
in times of sorrow. Please use me to bless someone else.


Scripture for the day:

"But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and
tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you--you of
little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you
are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world
that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need
them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to
you as well." ~Luke 12:28-31

Meditation for the day:

When we seek to follow the way of the spirit, it frequently means a complete
reversal of the way of the world which we had previously followed. But it
can be a reversal that leads to happiness and peace.
Do the aims and ambitions that a person usually strives for bring peace?
Do the world's awards bring heart-rest and happiness? Or do they turn to
ashes in the mouth?

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may not be weary, disillusioned or disappointed. I pray that
I may not put my trust in the ways of the world, but in the way of the Lord.

Hello my friends! How was your day? I worked all day today - then we with Lori went out to eat for a fund raising event. Lori's friend, Julie's Dad is snowmobiling some 20,000 miles for a cancer drive. He started doing this last year and will again. After the dinner, we did some Christmas shopping for Darla, and now we just have to get something for Greg yet and we're done except for stockings and that should be easy - the girls want fresh spices.
Tomorrow Linus works 9 hours!! and Sunday too, but he'll get off earlier so we can go to Mass at night at St. Mary's Cathedral.
He told his boss he has to get to Church, as that's more important than work.
My blessings today - a Christmas card from Deil, finding Georgia's email address so I could email her that Lori and Linus both do like my hair color and the way she styled it.
Another blessing is talking to Darla on the phone tonight and coming here and seeing all your posts - which really blesses me!! Thanks for being in my life!



Homily of the Day


December 17, 2010


God Can Turn Great Evil Into Good
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Gn 49:2, 8-10 / Mt 1:1-17

Today’s Gospel does seem to be a rather strange package to be dropped on us just a few days before Christmas — all those strange names, most of which we don’t even recognize. But the Church has a purpose in asking us to listen once every year to the genealogy of Jesus according to the flesh. And that purpose comes clear when we examine the list more closely. There are kings there, the wise King Solomon and the hero King David, his father. There’s Abraham, the ultimate man of faith and father of the Jewish people. There are people like the holy woman Ruth. But there are also rascals aplenty and “horse thieves” as well, none worse than the adulterer and murderer King David.

What does it all mean? It means that God can bring good out of the worst of circumstances and the most rotten of human prospects. God can bring life out of what appears to be dead. That’s what the Lord wants us to hear and take to heart as we listen to this long, boring genealogy: Whether we are facing some incomprehensible evil or suffering, or are confronting our own intractable sins, we need to know and to be absolutely certain that God can turn evil into good, if we trust Him and cooperate with Him.

Don’t let your impatience or the shallowness of your trust get in the way. Let God be God for you, and make yourself available for the great and good work that He wants to work through you.


The Last Eight Days of Advent




During the last eight days of Advent, it is useful to reflect on the different titles given to the Lord who is to come. The titles are Old Testament titles, here conferred on Jesus, showing he is the promised Messiah.

Wisdom
St. Paul tells us that God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. He is saying that it is hard to imagine the Wisdom of God, who knows all things, because God has created all things. This title of God reminds us especially of the Book of Wisdom in the Old Testament - a beautiful hymn in which wisdom is personified, and is active in the world.

Adonai
A name for the Most High God, whose true name could not be uttered, and of whom it was said that no-one could gaze on the face of God and live. Adonai is the Lord of armies, who will march out to save the people in battle.

Stock of Jesse
Jesse was the father of King David, and Jesus is a descendent of David. From David comes the association of Jesus as royal, of David's line. Jesus inherits the throne of David, re-defining his role as King of the Jews.

Key of David
Jesus is not simply a ruler descended from David, but a liberator, a redeemer. This name echoes the mission of Jesus to bind and to loose, a mission Jesus passes on to his disciples.

Rising Sun
The sun is a sign of God's creation, God's endurance, and a sign of God's glory. God's glory outshines the sun, and will endure after the sun and moon have failed. Psalm 84 describes God as the sun:

"For the LORD God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the LORD withhold from those who walk uprightly." (Psalm 84:11 NRSV)

King
God is the king above all kings, and the prophet Samuel is reluctant to anoint a king for the Israelites as this will seem like a rejection of God's rule. Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king; Jesus answers indirectly, because his kingship does not accord with the expectations of the Romans, the Jewish authorities, or even his followers.

Emmanuel
The prophecy of Isaiah foretells a sign to be given by God: a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son whom she will call Emmanuel: a name which means God is with us. Jesus is the word made flesh, God in the midst of the people.

If I Were a Christmas Tree

I'd
like
to be a
Christmas
tree with pres-
ents all around;
with golden ropes,
and silver
tinsel hanging
to the ground. I'd
trim my boughs with
crystal balls of red and blue
and white, and watch them glow
and catch the gleam of every Christmas
light. I'd wrap myself in
candy canes and popcorn balls,
and such. And, last, I'd have a shining
angel for my crowning touch! Then early
Christmas morn when little ones, with shouts
of joy, rush in to see and claim and treasure every
wondrous toy, I'd lean my boughs to brush up close and
touch each child like this, and place upon each shining cheek my
loving
Christmas
kiss!

—Bonnie Compton Hanson

SANTA, CAN YOU VISIT MY GRANDDAUGHTER?
Author Unknown


Three years ago, a little boy and his grandmother came to see Santa at
Mayfair Mall in Wisconsin. The child climbed up on his lap, holding a
picture of a little girl.

"Who is this?" asked Santa, smiling. "Your friend? Your sister?"

"Yes, Santa," he replied. "My sister, Sarah, who is very sick," he
said sadly.

Santa glanced over at the grandmother who was waiting nearby, and saw
her dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

"She wanted to come with me to see you, oh, so very much, Santa!" the
child exclaimed. "She misses you," he added softly.

Santa tried to be cheerful and encouraged a smile to the boy's face,
asking him what he wanted Santa to bring him for Christmas.

When they finished their visit, the Grandmother came over to help the
child off his lap, and started to say something to Santa, but halted.

"What is it?" Santa asked warmly.

"Well, I know it's really too much to ask you, Santa, but ..." the old
woman began, shooing her grandson over to one of Santa's elves to
collect the little gift which Santa gave all his young visitors.

"...The girl in the photograph .. My granddaughter . Well, you see ...
She has leukemia and isn't expected to make it even through the
holidays," she said through tear-filled eyes. "Is there any way,
Santa . Any possible way that you could come see Sarah? That's all
she's asked for, for Christmas, is to see Santa."

Santa blinked and swallowed hard and told the woman to leave
information with his elves as to where Sarah was, and he would see
what he could do.

Santa thought of little else the rest of that afternoon. He knew what
he had to do.

"What if it were MY child lying in that hospital bed, dying," he
thought with a sinking heart, "this is the least I can do."

When Santa finished visiting with all the boys and girls that evening,
he retrieved from his helper the name of the hospital where Sarah was
staying.

He asked the assistant location manager how to get to Children's
Hospital.

"Why?" Rick asked, with a puzzled look on his face.

Santa relayed to him the conversation with Sarah's grandmother earlier
that day.

"C'mon .... I'll take you there," Rick said softly.

Rick drove them to the hospital and came inside with Santa. They found
out which room Sarah was in. A pale Rick said he would wait out in the
hall.

Santa quietly peeked into the room through the half-closed door and
saw little Sarah on the bed.

The room was full of what appeared to be her family; there was the
Grandmother and the girl's brother he had met earlier that day. A
woman whom he guessed was Sarah's mother stood by the bed, gently
pushing Sarah's thin hair off her forehead. And another woman who he
discovered later was Sarah's aunt, sat in a chair near the bed with
weary, sad look on her face. They were talking quietly, and Santa
could sense the warmth and closeness of the family, and their love and
concern for Sarah.

Taking a deep breath, and forcing a smile on his face, Santa entered
the room, bellowing a hearty, "Ho, ho, ho!"

"Santa!" shrieked little Sarah weakly, as she tried to escape her bed
to run to him, IV tubes intact.

Santa rushed to her side and gave her a warm hug. A child the tender
age of his own son -- 9 years old -- gazed up at him with wonder and
excitement.

Her skin was pale and her short tresses bore telltale bald patches
from the effects of chemotherapy. But all he saw when he looked at her
was a pair of huge, blue eyes. His heart melted, and he ad to force
himself to choke back tears. Though his eyes were riveted upon Sarah's
face, he could hear the gasps and quiet sobbing of the women in the
room.

As he and Sarah began talking, the family crept quietly to the bedside
one by one, squeezing Santa's shoulder or his hand gratefully,
whispering "thank you" as they gazed sincerely at him with shining
eyes.

Santa and Sarah talked and talked, and she told him excitedly all the
toys she wanted for Christmas, assuring him she'd been a very good
girl that year.

As their time together dwindled, Santa felt led in his spirit to pray
for Sarah, and asked for permission from the girl's mother. She nodded
in agreement and the entire family circled around Sarah's bed, holding
hands.

Santa looked intensely at Sarah and asked her if she believed in
angels.

"Oh, yes, Santa ... I do!" she exclaimed.

"Well, I'm going to ask that angels watch over you," he said.

Laying one hand on the child's head, Santa closed his eyes and prayed.
He asked that God touch little Sarah, and heal her body from this
disease. He asked that angels minister to her, watch and keep her. And
when he finished praying, still with eyes closed, he started singing
softly,

"Silent Night, Holy Night ... all is calm, all is bright."

The family joined in, still holding hands, smiling at Sarah, and
crying tears of hope, tears of joy for this moment, as Sarah beamed at
them all. When the song ended, Santa sat on the side of the bed again
and held Sarah's frail, small hands in his own.

"Now, Sarah," he said authoritatively, "you have a job to do, and that
is to concentrate on getting well. I want you to have fun playing with
your friends this summer, and I expect to see you at my house at
Mayfair Mall this time next year!"

He knew it was risky proclaiming that, to this little girl who had
terminal cancer, but he "had" to. He had to give her the greatest gift
he could -- not dolls or games or toys -- but the gift of HOPE.

"Yes, Santa!" Sarah exclaimed, her eyes bright.

He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead and left the room.

Out in the hall, the minute Santa's eyes met Rick's, a look passed
between them and they wept unashamed.

Sarah's mother and grandmother slipped out of the room quickly and
rushed to Santa's side to thank him.

"My only child is the same age as Sarah," he explained quietly. "This
is the least I could do."

They nodded with understanding and hugged him.

One year later, Santa Mark was again back on the set in Milwaukee for
his six-week, seasonal job which he so loves to do. Several weeks went
by and then one day a child came up to sit on his lap.

"Hi, Santa! Remember me?!"

"Of course, I do," Santa proclaimed (as he always does), smiling down
at her. After all, the secret to being a "good" Santa is to always
make each child feel as if they are the "only" child in the world at
that moment.

"You came to see me in the hospital last year!"

Santa's jaw dropped. Tears immediately sprang in his eyes, and he
grabbed this little miracle and held her to his chest.

"Sarah!" he exclaimed.

He scarcely recognized her, for her hair was long and silky and her
cheeks were rosy -- much different from the little girl he had visited
just a year before.

He looked over and saw Sarah's mother and grandmother in the sidelines
smiling and waving and wiping their eyes.

That was the best Christmas ever for Santa Claus. He had witnessed --
and been blessed to be instrumental in bringing about -- this miracle
of hope. This precious little child was healed. Cancer-free. Alive and
well. He silently looked up to Heaven and humbly whispered,

"Thank you, Father. 'Tis a very, Merry Christmas!"


THE CHRISTMAS TEN COMMANDMENTS


1. Thou shalt give thy heart to Christ. Let Him be at the top of thy Christmas list
2. Thou shalt prepare thy soul for Christmas. Spend not so much on gifts that thy soul is forgotten.
3. Thou shalt not let Santa Claus replace Christ, thus robbing the day of its spiritual reality.
4. Thou shalt not burden the shop girl, the mailman, and the merchant with complaints and demands.
5. Thou shalt give thyself with thy gift. This will increase its value a hundred fold, and he who receiveth it shall treasure it forever.
6. Thou shalt not value gifts received by their cost. Even the least expensive may signify love, and that is more priceless than silver and gold.
7. Thou shalt not neglect the needy. Share thy blessings with many who will go hungry and cold unless thou are generous.
8. Thou shalt not neglect thy church. Its services highlight the true meaning of the season.
9. Thou shalt be as a little child. Not until thou has become in spirit as a little one art thou ready to enter into the kingdom of Heaven.
10. Thou shall not forget to share your joy, hope, peace and faith with those around you.

THE CHRISTMAS GIFT
Written by Arlene Spanos
December 17, 2010


T’was eight centuries before Christ came to the earth,

The Holy Scriptures foretold of the Messiah’s Birth.

The world was in peril with distress and gloom,

Far and wide there was destruction and doom.

People were lost - they were deaf, blind and dumb;

God promised a Savior one day would come.

The prophesies gave the details of His Birth,

It was certain He’d come to transform the earth.

He’d be born of a virgin, laid in a manger with hay,

Then His Hands and Feet pierced on His final day.

It was told where He’d be born and His Ancestral Line,

He would be King of Kings, completely Divine.

An angel told Mary that she would be the one

To give birth to God’s Child, His Only Begotten Son.

The Lord had a purpose for which He came;

God would be with us – Immanuel, His Name;

Mankind would learn about peace, hope, and joy;

It would all come about in this small Baby Boy.

He was the Prince of Peace, a real Beacon of Light;

Reverent and Righteous; He taught wrong from right.

He came to restore us and showed us to care

And to help one another; He taught us to share.

Many followed and listened to all that He said.

Hearts and lives changed as their souls had been fed.

His Wisdom was divine, far beyond what they’d known;

Many traveled great distance; crowds really had grown.

He was a Humble Servant as He showed us pure love.

He taught us to know our Heavenly Father above.

He was Holy and Sinless, never even told a lie.

He was mocked, and beaten, then crucified to die.

Folks were amazed and confused with all that went on,

They didn’t understand…until He was gone.

He made the sacrifice for our debt to be paid.

For upon Him all of our sins had been laid.

He was Goodness and Grace and came to relieve

The wretched grasp of satan to all who believe.

He was God as a Man to His last dying breath,

Then rose from the dead with His power over death.

This all actually happened, it isn’t folklore.

He told us of Heaven and showed us there’s more.

Christ had come to save the souls on earth,

He offers deliverance and a second birth.

We call Him Jesus and He is with us today;

He is Lord of all Lords and He is the Way.

He’s the Counselor, Comforter, Redeemer and Friend,

He Reigns over all; His Rule never will end.

We celebrate His Birth and all that it means

With songs and displays of Nativity scenes.

His Amazing Grace is the actual reason

That we recognize and rejoice this season.

Again this year we celebrate His Holy Birth;

Merry Christmas to all and to all Peace On Earth!

Good night everyone and sweet dreams to all! May you find many blessings this Saturday all day! Enjoy the Gift of God's Day!!

Closing prayer:

Blessings

God bless those I love
(say the name(s) of those you love)
And all the people in the world
The sick, the poor, the needy,
The hungry, the homeless,
The lost and the lonely
Show them Your presence, oh Lord
Let them know You love them
Help us to love You, to respect You
To honor You and to obey You
All the days of our lives
We ask You this through Jesus Christ,
Our Lord, Amen

;