Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Each day there are lessons to learn and lives to touch. Lord, You
have done so much for me. Help me to repay You.


Scripture for the day:

"And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all
peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up
death forever. Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all
faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the
earth, for the LORD has spoken. It will be said on that day, Lo, this is
our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the
LORD for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his
salvation." ~Isaiah 25:7-9

Meditation for the day:

We can live today in the consciousness of God's contact, upholding us in
all good thoughts, words and deeds. If sometimes there seems to be a
shadow on our lives and we feel out of sorts, we can remember that this
is not the withdrawal of God's presence, but only our own temporary
unwillingness to realize it. The quiet gray days are the days for doing
what we must do, but we can know that the consciousness of God's
nearness will return and be with us again, when the gray days are past.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may face the dull days with courage. I pray that I may
have faith that the bright days will return.

Hello my friends! How was your day? Such a beautiful nice, fall day here
again today! Linus worked out in the garage - it was so nice. Patio times
today too!! He put up the Christmas decorations today while it was nice
out. Another nice blessing besides the weather, Lori was over for a while
tonight - very nice visit and we played some farkel. We talked about Ethel,
when I called her today to give her the report on Sister LaDonna, she was
down. Ethel has a daughter, DeAnn, who isn't very nice to her. She's
single, and doesn't want to be with Ethel, and that hurts her so much! She
already lost another daughter and son to cancer. She has another daughter,
Denise, and they will be gone for Thanksgiving to Florida, so they had
Thanksgiving meal early with Ethel, so on Thanksgiving Ethel said she'll be
alone. Lori got the idea to let's just invite ourselves over there for
Thanksgiving and called Ethel - she wasn't home at the time, but she left a
message to call her back. Later Lori called to say that Ethel would be
delighted if we came there for Thanksgiving and she'll make the turkey and
dressing and Lori said she'd make a green been casserole, and they didn't
know yet what I should bring!! Well Lori made her happy today - and she has
this to look forward to. Another blessing - I talked to Sister LaDonna
about an hour today and she had a very nice night last night and was doing
good today - wow!! She's off that oxy-contin drug for about 3 days now,
just taking tyl. 6 for pain, but the pain has lessened to where she can
tolerate it now. Thanks be to God and thanks for all your prayers!!! She
walked with her walker to the computer room there and got a new email now
and sent me an email. Great!!! Praise God for good news!!!

Homily of the Day for Sunday


November 12, 2011


You´re Sitting on a Gold Mine
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 / 1 Thes 5:1-6 / Mt 25:14-30 or 25:14-15, 19-21

There’s an old legend that after God finished the creation, all the animals
danced about happily, discovering the wonder things their new bodies could
do — all, that is, except the birds!

While the other animals had fine legs to run with or big fins to swim with,
all the birds had were spindly little legs to hop a few steps with. And what’s
more, there were heavy bags of feathers attached to their shoulders.

“Why us?” moaned the birds. “Why do we have to hop, with these heavy weights
on our backs, when all the other animals get to run and swim and have fun?
Why doesn’t God love us as much as he loves everybody else?” And with that,
they sat down and sulked.

After a long time a quiet voice came to them in the breeze. “Unfold that
heavy package on your back, open it wide, and wave it in the breeze.” And,
somewhat reluctantly, that’s what the birds did. They unfolded those heavy
“bags of feathers,” opened them wide and discovered they were wings! They
flapped those wings as hard as they could. And in a trice, they were flying,
soaring high above all the other animals. And their hearts sang, “God loves
us best of all!”

They thought they were poor, but in fact they were very rich indeed!

+ + +

God has blessed each of us with our very own “care package” of special
gifts, perfectly fitted to our life’s work at each STAGE of our life. Yet,
few of us have ever seen or really trusted in even half the gifts and powers
God has put in our hands. And as a result, our lives are poorer and less
happy than God ever intended.

Why does this happen? Perhaps because we’re like those birds, who learned
how to hop and then thought that was all there was for them — just hopping,
forever and ever. They stopped looking and exploring before they got to
their best gift.

That’s what we do quite often, sometimes because we’re afraid there’s
nothing more IN us, and sometimes because the pressures of life to “do
something!” — choose a major, choose a career, choose a mate — cause us to
shut our eyes and “floor it,” leaving some of our best gifts untouched and
unseen, and that means leaving us without some of the essential tools we
need to build a whole life. Imagine trying to build a house without a hammer
or a saw!

God wants happy lives for us. That’s why he gave us so many gifts, so many
good tools. In Sunday’s Gospel, he’s asking us to take another look at what
he’s given us: Have we really seen it all? Are we using it all? If not, we’re
literally stealing happy lives from ourselves and from those who love us.
Jesus is begging us not to let that happen.

Listen to him. Take another look: You’ll be amazed at the gold mine you’ve
been sitting on all these years! You’ll be amazed, and God will be so
pleased!

Broken Spirit

I have heard there is a monastery in Greece perched high on a cliff, several
hundred feet in the air. The only way to reach it is to be suspended in a
basket which is pulled to the top by several monks who pull and tug with all
their strength. Obviously the ride up the steep cliff in that basket is
terrifying.

One tourist got exceedingly nervous about halfway up as he noticed that the
rope by which he was suspended was old and frayed. With a trembling voice he
asked the monk who was riding with him in the basket how often they changed
the rope. The monk thought for a moment and answered serenely, "Whenever it
breaks."

We are shocked that someone would wait that long before changing the rope.
It makes sense that the rope ought to be changed long before reaching that
point. But it dawned on me that God operates the same way in our lives.

If we ask God when He will change our lives, His answer might be, "Whenever
you break." You see, our lives can only change once we have what the Bible
refers to as a "broken spirit." As long as we remain arrogant and determined
to do things our way, God can't shape us and mold us. Like a wild stallion,
we remain useless until we are "broken."


--Alan Smith

Times Of Our Lives

There will be times in all of our lives

where we're treated very harshly and unfair.

And no matter how hard we look for the justice

we find that it just isn't there.

When we're offended and in pain, our normal response

is to retaliate and somehow repay.

For we want that person to see how it feels

to have the heartache we're feeling that day.

But as natural as it seems to want to get even

it's the opposite of what God says is true.

For He is desiring that His servants be different

and be Christ-like in all that we do.

As incredible as it sounds, He wants us to repay them

with a blessing instead of more pain.

And He will give us the power we need to be kind

and the strength we need to refrain.

We have to trust Him and fully believe Him

Knowing His ways truly are best.

We have to be encouraged knowing He saw the injustice

and let Him give us comfort and rest.

The person who offends us is not declared innocent

by the kindness we place on their head.

But God takes all the heartache retaliation would bring us

and gives us a blessing instead.

- Sheila Gosney -

THE OLD MULE
Author Unknown


A parable is told of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell
into the farmer's well. The farmer heard the mule 'braying' -- or
whatever mules do when they fall into wells.

After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with
the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the
trouble of saving.Instead, he called his neighbors together and told
them what had happened...and enlisted them to help haul dirt to bury
the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.

Initially, the old mule was hysterical! But as the farmer and his
neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hit his back...a thought
struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of
dirt landed on his back... HE SHOULD SHAKE IT OFF AND STEP UP! This he
did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up...shake it off and
step up...shake it off and step up!" he repeated to encourage
himself.

No matter how painful the blows, or distressing the situation seemed
the old mule fought "panic" and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND
STEPPING UP!

You're right! It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and
exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of that well!

What seemed like it would bury him, actually blessed him... All
because of the manner in which he handled his adversity. Hey, that's
life!

If we face our problems and respond to them positively and refuse to
give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity... the adversities that
come along to bury us usually have within them the potential to
benefit and bless us!

Remember that forgiveness -- faith -- prayer -- praise and hope all
are excellent ways to "shake it off and step up" out of the wells in
which we find ourselves!


MY DAILY CREED
Author Unknown



Let me be a little kinder,

Let me be a little blinder

To the faults of those about me.

Let me praise a little more,

Let me be, when I am weary,

Just a little bit more cherry.

Let me serve a little better,

Those that I am striving for,

Let me be a little braver

When temptations bid me weaver.

Let me strive a little harder

To be all that I should be.

Let me be a little meeker,

With the brother that is weaker,

Let me think more of my neighbor

And little less of me.

Prayer When in a Bad Mood

Heavenly Father, I awoke this morning in a bad mood, and I have been unable
to shake it so far. Everything bothers me and everyone rubs me the wrong
way.
I just cannot seem to get my true bearings. Help me to think of your
salvation---
your countless gifts and overwhelming love for me.
Let me relax and forget life's cares by placing myself wholly into your
hands. Grant that this mood will soon pass and I will be able to bask in
your love and communicate it to others. Amen.


The Lord will not abandon his people. (Ps 94)

God, our Creator, we have those moments in life where we sometimes feel like
you have abandoned us. Yet, we know you are with us always, until the end
of time. Help us to value the gifts that are all-around us, to share the
fruits of your presence with those we meet and to share the wonders of your
creation with our brothers and sisters. We ask this through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, forever and ever. Amen

RIGHT TO LIFE PRAYER

O heavenly Father, strengthen us against the mounting forces of anti-life;
enlighten those who walk in this deadly ways that they may see the enormity
of their sin and return to the generous observance of the divine law. We
pray, too, for mothers, that they may bring up their children in the holy
love and fear of God, thus saving their own immortal souls and furthering
the honor and the glory of their Maker. Through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Good night everyone - Sweet Dreams and wishing you all a blessed Sunday as
we all go to our Churches tomorrow to get spiritually fed.