Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Do not run ahead of the Lord, but walk with Him, pray for His guidance
and listen to His answers. Lord, let me put Your will first in my life.

S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y

"Peace, peace, to the far and the near, says the LORD; and I will heal
them." ~Psalm 57:19

M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y

When we look to God for strength to face responsibility and are quiet
before God, God's healing touch can cause the divine quiet to flow
into our very being. When in weakness we cry to God, God's touch can
bring healing, the renewal of our courage, and the power to meet every
situation and be victorious. When we faint by the way or are
distracted by feelings of inferiority, then we can rely on the touch
of God's spirit to support us on our way. Then we can arise and go
forth with confidence.

P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y

I pray that I may lay myself open today to the healing touch of God.
I pray that I may not falter or faint by the wayside, but renew my
courage through prayer.

Hello my friends! I always like this first sentence here - Do not run ahead
of the Lord, but walk with Him, pray for His guidance and listen to His
answers. Lots of food for thought in there!! Hope your day went well.
Today I spent a lot of time reading my book - Rome Sweet Rome by Scott Hahn,
which I highly recommend! Lunch with Lori -for Linus's early birthday - she
paid for our meal at Famous Dave's. Then our evening meal was made by our
dear friends, Ann and Ray! They made ribs, baked potato, wonderful salad,
green beans and even sweet potato, nothing at all that Linus couldn't have -
had a great visit with them, then we even watched Fr. Corapi's DVD - another
wonderful, spirit-filled talk! Now we have to move our clocks ahead!! It
was a good day!

Homily of the Day


March 12, 2011

He Went to the Desert to Face Himself
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Gn 2:7-9; 3:1-7 / Rom 5:12-19 or 5:12, 17-19 / Mt 4:1-11

There’s a sequence in an old film in which a husband is lying wide awake,
staring at the ceiling in the middle of the night. He shakes his wife:
“Gladys,” he says, “may I ask you a question?

“Oh, what is it?” she groans.

“Is your love for me beyond temptation? If Robert Redford were trying to woo
you away, would you still love me?”

“Of course, dear,” says Gladys. “And I’d miss you very much!”

+ + +

Things are not always as simple as they seem! Sometimes we’re not even clear
about our own motives, what we really value, and what makes us tick. That’s
why the Spirit led Jesus far out into the desert, to a place of absolute
silence, for 40 days and 40 nights: to face Himself, to look deep inside and
see the gifts the Father had entrusted to Him, and to see that those gifts
could be wasted and betrayed, if He forgot His vocation.

Jesus didn’t forget His vocation. He didn’t get lost inside His own ego. He
took those extraordinary gifts of His — His understanding heart, His ability
to forgive, His calm and total trust in His Father, His delight in being
alive, His special talent for friendship, and finally, His very life — He
took it all, and He gave it all to us. And in giving it all, He found His
life’s purpose and His joy.

The Spirit is calling us now to face ourselves, to name our gifts and
rejoice in them, to see where those gifts are calling us, and to see also
the dark side of our gifts — how they can be, or perhaps are being, misused,
betrayed, or wasted.

Finding and facing our true selves isn’t done in a moment or in an
afternoon. Getting a clear picture takes time and focus. And the truth
reveals itself only by stages.

So many times we’ve watched friends or important public figures with great
gifts just squander them. So many times we’ve deplored and lamented the
waste. But have we ever taken those tragedies as challenges to face
ourselves and to probe our own stewardship deeply? Probably not. It’s so
easy to take the cheap shot and run.

There’s a wise little prayer from Kenya entitled “Deliver me, Dear Lord”:

From the cowardice that dares not face new truth,

From the laziness that’s contented with half truth, and

From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,

Deliver me, dear Lord.

That’s a prayer we all could pray. And it’s a prayer the Lord wants to
answer right now!

There is nothing in this world we cannot face, and nothing we cannot handle,
because we are not walking alone: His hand and His heart are guiding us —
guiding us to find our gifts and to give them, and in the process of giving
them, to find our purpose, our joy, and our life.

Lent is a time to reflect upon our lives; to see what in our lives may prove
to be obstacles to our salvation, and learn how to overcome them; and to do
penance for the times when we transgress the Commandments of God. It is
also a time of great hope; for it is when we are truly sorry for our sins,
and wish sincerely to make amends for them, and avoid them in the future,
that we begin to understand the depths of God's Mercy

Lord, God,
Trinity of Love,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
I praise You,
I worship You,
I adore You,
I love You.

Father, Creator,
I thank You for the gift of life.
May I do Your will this day.

Jesus, Son, Savior,
by Your death on the Cross,
You showed me the Father's love.
May I be willing to die to myself
in order to live for You.
May I share Your "Good News" this day
with all those around me.
May Your love be reflected
in every kind word, thought, and deed.
And if I fail, be there to raise me up.

Spirit, Sanctifier,
shower Your life
upon all the peoples of the world.
Grant us the gifts of peace and love.
Amen.

(by Father Paul M. Keeling, CRSP)

Lenten Reflection

Identifying Christ

"What I have written, I have written." John 19:22

Pilate had an inscription placed over Jesus' head that read, "The King of
the Jews." But Pilate sticks to his guns in this quote. What he wrote stays.
People today still try to chip away at our assertions of who Jesus is. That
is when we need to remember that what is written in God's Word about Christ
is God-breathed, not the baseless rantings of human beings.

Lord, let your Word - and not the words of skeptics - dwell in me richly.
Amen.

I HAVE MOVED
Author Unknown


Can't remember if I told you all, but:

I have moved out from 1 Beggars Alley, located at 2 Poverty Lane at
the corner of Bleak and Buster Circle. As of today, I have a brand new
home.

My new address is: Living Well on 3 Abundance Drive, located at the
corner of Blessings Street and Prosperity Peak. No longer will I
allow my self to travel on Begging Peter to pay off Paul route,
located at a dead end intersection called I Don't Have, it connects
with Borrowers Junction.

I no longer hang out at Failure's Place, near Excuses Avenue, next to
Procrastination Point. I've moved on to an Upscale community called
Higher Heights with unlimited potential and opportunities for me to
succeed.

Look at me. Each day that I'm awake, I am thankful to be a product of
my new environment. All my clothes are tailor made. I'm dressed in
life's finest. Let me introduce you to all of them: Divine Favour,
Conceive, Believe, Act on Faith, Be Persistent, and Always be Prepared
to Achieve.

Life is good because God is good! Care to change your address? There
are many vacancies!

GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS

I AM WELL BLESSED AND SO ARE YOU!!!!!

'DON'T TELL GOD HOW BIG YOUR STORM IS, TELL YOUR STORM HOW BIG OUR GOD
IS'

O Jesus crucified,
for us you suffered, for us you died,
on the cross.

How can we pass by and not care?
It was our sins that nailed him there...
See the crowd unpitying stare,
"Forgive them Father," is his prayer...
Thorns the only crown he must wear,
Thirst and wounds our King must bear...
See our high priest makes his great prayer,
Himself the victim, bleeding bare...
Let our lives, by giving, declare;
Amen, Amen to that great prayer...
May we die to sin and so share,
The triumph he enacted there...

On the cross.

(James Phillip McAuley)

The Lord keeps a clean house


I heard someone knocking at my heart´s door,
and I looked to see that it was Jesus the Lord.
I knew right away that I couldn´t let him in,
because my heart was too dirty from the stains of sin.

Jealousy and strife hung on the walls
Lying and cheating litered the halls
Envy and lust hung on the shelf
Along with alcohol and drugs that I had put there myself.

Hatred and malice was scattered all around.
Murder and robbery could even be found.
Fornication and adultery were plentiful too.
Jesus kept knocking, but what could I do?

I said, "Lord, it´s too dirty for you to come in.
Wait another day, and come back again.
Let me clean it up the best that I can,
so that when you return, I´ll be a better man".

But the Lord said, "Child, you listen to me.
There´s no possible way you can get it clean.
You´ve tried and you´ve tried, but it still looks the same.
But I´ll clean it for you by the power of my name.
It´s something that you just cannot do alone.
But I´ll wash it with my blood, because it is my home.
So open the door and let me come in.
I´ll clean up those dirty stains of sin".
I opened the door and he was faithful and true.
He cleaned it right up, now everything´s new.
Now when my heart gets dirty, it doesn´t stay for long.
Because Jesus, my Lord, keeps a very clean home.


Anonymous writer

" WITH MY BLOOD "

I see you in the distance and tremble with fear
As I thrash and splash flailing about in turbulent water
You come toward me and say, "I am here, my daughter,"
And you firmly say to the evil one, "I have caught her!
Depart you son of darkness, with my Blood I bought her!

"O, ye of little faith," I hear you say;
"When you doubt I respond to your plea.
When you flounder and feel like you're drowning,
I rush and reach for you in Love abounding,
Hold on, it is me, Jesus, I am He."
In the raging waters of the stormy sea,
Even then, Lord, you come to save me.

You still the turbulence and the sea becomes calm;
Your Presence soothes my soul like comforting balm.
Your Heart and my heart cleave together in love;
It is why the Father sent you from above
Sent the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove
Lost in your love is all I can think of.

Peace has come; my soul can rest now;
Before you, O Lord, I gratefully bow.
In worship and praise all of my days
My spirit is renewed through your grace;
To you be all glory, honor and praise.

Depart you son of darkness, with my Blood I bought her!
Depart you son of darkness, with my Blood I bought him!
Depart you son of darkness, with my Blood I bought them!

Mel Patterson

Closing prayer:

Prayer for Solace by

John Cardinal Newman

May Christ support us all the day long,

till the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes,

and the busy world

is hushed,

and the fever of life is over and

our work is done.

Then in his mercy may he give us

a safe lodging,

and holy rest

and peace at last.

Amen.

Good night everyone - Sweet Dreams! May you all have a wonderful Sunday -
may your Mass or Service fulfill you! Keep holy the Lord's day!! This is the
First Sunday in Lent.