Community Chat

[gloriajean]

No matter what you must confront today, know that God is with you.
Lord, today is part of Your plan for me. I do not doubt You and therefore
I will not doubt You within me.

Scripture for the day:

"Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the
door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone
who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."
~Luke 11:9-10

Meditation for the day:

Persistence is necessary if we are to advance in spiritual things. By
persistent prayer, persistent, firm and simple trust, we can achieve the
treasures of the spirit. By persistent practice, we can eventually obtain
joy, peace, assurance, security, health, happiness and serenity.
Nothing is too great, in the spiritual realm for us to obtain, if we
persistently prepare ourselves for it.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may persistently carry out my spiritual exercises every day. I
pray that I may strive for peace and serenity.

Hello my friends! Hope your Saturday was great!! Did you have plans for
the weekend? Today we celebrated our 47th Anniversary at the café - had a
good chicken dinner and a couple chocolate martini's. Visited with Jim
again, and he can tell in Linus' voice how relieved he is now about the
house. The stress is gone and Praise the Lord! Got a phone call from our
friends about the State Fair on Monday - we start out at 7:30 AM already.
It's an hour and a half drive there, but we'll all go together and Linus
won't have to drive. It should be fun, and the weather should be good too,
from what we hear. Every morning when I get up now I thank our Lord that
the house situation is over, and it's ours to keep! What a relief!! When
you almost lose it, you appreciate it so much more. We never would have
lost it, but even if we had to sell it, I would feel like we lost our house!
This is much better than renting. So grateful for Jim (our angel) and for
all of you who prayed for us! God is always there for us, that's for sure.
It took all summer, but He was there, and Mary was great in her
intercession! Today as I was walking Sammy around the yard, I went up to
the grotto again, and thanked Mary for the Miracle I've been asking her for
all summer, I did this before but thanked her again! Love that grotto! Did
I tell you that when we first moved here, Linus built it in granite? And
it's right by our neighbor's lilac tree - beautiful when lilacs are in
bloom. There are so many more blessings but it would take a whole page so
I'll stop here and pray for all of you for all your intentions and
especially you who are close to the hurricane. Be safe and God's Angels
take good care of you all!

Homily of the Day


August 27, 2011

The Only Truly Safe Investment In The World
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Jer 20:7-9 / Rom 12:1-2 /Mt 16:21-27

Not so long ago, when computers were not half as smart as they are today, a
group of experts developed a computer program to translate texts from one
language to another. After extensive work, they were sure they had it right,
so they typed in the very first text ever to be translated by a computer. It
was a familiar text from scripture: “The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, the computer printed out the translation
which read as follows: “The liquor’s still good, but the meat’s gone bad.”

Life is a struggle, from beginning to end, and few things ever come easy. At
the beginning of life we strain hard to stand upright without anybody
holding onto us. At the end of life we’re back to the very same task. And in
between, the struggles are laid end to end: raising kids, making a marriage,
finding our life’s work, taking care of those who need us, becoming faithful
friends, finding the money to do what needs to be done.

A lot of struggling is done right out there in plain view. But the real
struggle is always inside us: the struggle with fear which is always there
whispering in our ear, “Don’t get in too deep; you might lose or get hurt.
Save your strength for later.”

At every fork in the road, fear tells us not to invest: in this moment, or
in this person, or in whatever is at hand because there’s no guarantee we’ll
win, no guarantee that our kids will be good, that our spouse will be
faithful, or that our good work will bear fruit. “No guarantee,” says that
evil little voice inside, “so, stand pat; sit on your hands. Better safe
than sorry.”

Jesus responds to that lying little voice with a warning in Sunday’s Gospel:
“Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my
sake will find it.”

God has given every one of us some very clear life assignments. They’re
spelled out in our gifts and in the circumstances of our lives. Will we
accept God’s assignments and do the important work he’s given us? Will we
succeed in building our piece of his kingdom? Only if we invest everything
we’ve got — for the long term. But by ourselves that’s impossible, because
our fears are just too great.

However, we do have an alternative, and that is to look straight into our
Lord’s eyes — there on the cross — and ask ourselves if he can be trusted.
The answer is so obvious. The cross says it all. So, trust him! Invest your
whole heart in every moment. And remember that, in the end, the only
absolutely safe and sure investment in all the world is working as his full
time partner. You can count on it!


Letting Go

I cling to so much, Lord—
to people and things,
attitudes and ideas,
habits and desires.
Some are good, some not so good.
I cling because they seem part of me—
guideposts of myself.
When I look upon your cross and see your
outstretched arms,
I realize you did not cling to anything
except to God.
I want to be like you, Lord, clinging to
nothing but God.

from Catholic Prayers for Every Day & All Day

Mother Teresa Said...

"To become a saint one must suffer much,
and to love much, we must suffer more.
Suffering begets love,
but it is also fruitful because it begets life for souls.
How full of love we must be in order to be true to our name."

THE THREE THINGS IN LIFE
Author Unknown


Three things in life that, once gone, never come back -
1. Time
2. Words
3. Opportunity

Three things in life that may never be lost -
1. Peace
2. Hope
3. Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable -
1. Love
2. Self-confidence
3. Friends

Three things in life that are never certain -
1. Dreams
2. Success
3. Fortune

Three things in life that are most appreciated -
1. Generosity
2. Humor
3. Forgiveness

Three things that make a person -
1. Hard work
2. Sincerity
3. Commitment

Three things in life that can destroy a person -
1. Alcohol / Drugs
2. Pride
3. Anger

Three things that are truly constant -
Father - Son - Holy Ghost



Prayer For Growth in Love
Father, You have loved us from eternity without conditions.

Whether we are beautiful or plain, rich or poor, saintly or sinful,
makes no difference to You.

Why can't we be that way toward each other?

Why do we magnify each other's shortcomings and ignore the good features?

Help us to grow in love, a love that doesn't gloss over failings,
but one that accepts them and then goes on to stress what is good in all we
meet,
what can be built on, to help the other person become fully himself or
herself.

Then Lord, as we increase our ability to love as Jesus did,
we will come closer to the kingdom He preached. Amen.

Count Your Blessings

Count your blessings instead of your crosses,
Count you gains instead of your losses,
Count your joys instead of your woes,
Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your courage instead of your fears,
Count your laughs instead of your tears.
Count your full years instead of your lean,
Count your kind deeds instead of your mean.

Count you health instead of your wealth,
Count on God instead of yourself.


~ Author Unknown

AN ACT OF HUMILITY
Help me O Lord that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or
judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors' soul
and come to their rescue and that I may give heed to his needs, pains and
moanings, and above all to have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.
Amen.

Good night everyone - sweet dreams and here's wishing you all a very blessed
Sunday!! Remember to keep the Holy the Lord's Day!