Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Do not be discouraged if it seems that there is no response to your prayers
at this time. God always responds. Lord, Your wisdom always responds to
my needs with unceasing peace and love and when I listen and give thanks
I am blessed with results that bring goodness to me in better ways than I expect.


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

"I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God
that has been given you in Christ Jesus, for in every way you have
been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind-- just as
the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you-- so that you
are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of
our Lord Jesus Christ." ~1Corinthians 1:4-7

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

The grace of God is an assurance against all evil. It holds out
security to the believing soul. The grace of God means safety in the
midst of evil. We can be kept unspotted by the world through the
power of God's grace. We can have a new life of power. But only in
close contact with the grace of God in its power realized. In order
to realize it and benefit from it, we can have daily quiet communion
with God, so that the power of God's grace will come unhindered into
your soul.

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

I pray that I may be kept from evil by the grace of God. I pray that
henceforth I will try to keep myself more unspotted by the world.

Hello my friends! Hope you all had a great day today - Here it was a blessing that Linus got yard work done In time and now it's raining - Praise the Lord - we need it to see green grass! Two couples were over tonight and we played Farkel - and it got late with visiting etc. after lunch. It was nice seeing them again, and we'll do it again sometime. Our weather has truly been a great blessing! We spent time out in the porch - ate there and visited and had our coffee there this morning for the first time. Hope to again in the morning if it isn't too cold after the rain. Here's wishing all of you a very blessed and restful Sunday!

Homily of the Day


April 9, 2011


He Already Knows
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Ez 37:12-14 / Rom 8:8-11 / Jn 11:1-45

A priest was teaching his weekly Bible class, and he asked the members how they’d introduce themselves to the Lord when they got to heaven. The first one said, “Lord, I’m Joan. I was married for 47 years; I raised three wonderful children, and I always baked the cupcakes for school. That’s who I am.”

Another said, “Lord, I’m George. I was the biggest contractor in the county. Almost all of my buildings were good; and I tried to watch out for the little guys. That’s who I am.”

And another said, “I’m Harry. I was the school janitor all my life. Kept the place real clean, and was never mean to the kids either. That’s who I am, Lord.”

And so it went till finally it was the turn of the oldest man in the group. He spoke very softly: “I won’t need to introduce myself,” he said. “The Lord already knows who I am.”

The Lord already knows who we are from the inside out, and he looks at you and me with the same love that he had for his dear friend Lazarus. He knows out successes and our triumphs. He knows how much they cost us. And he’s very proud of us.

But he also sees what’s dead in us, just as clearly as when he looked at the dead Lazarus. He smells the smell. He sees the parts of us that are locked up behind solid rock, as Lazarus was. He sees the parts of us that are so tied up that we can’t move. And he calls out to us by name, just as he called Lazarus. “Come out!” he says. “Don’t stay in that place of death any longer. Come out into the fresh air and the light; and be released from your bonds, whatever they are. Come out, and live, and share our friendship. Come out!”

That is Jesus’ call to each of us this day. “Leave behind what cannot give you life, and come into deeper friendship with those who can give you life: the Lord and his good people.” That is Jesus’ call.

If we are to answer his call, we must name the parts of ourselves that are wounded or dead, imprisoned or in darkness, and then give those parts of ourselves to him to be healed, resurrected, and set free. That is what he’ll do for us, if we let Him.

So let us spend a little while with him in the quiet of our heart. Let us name our darkness, our prison, our woundedness — whatever it may be — and give it all to him. We can count on him and trust him, because he loves us even more than we love ourselves. Thanks be to God!

Short Meditation:

Companions of Jesus

God does not test us beyond our ability,
so we can trust him in whatever trials
and temptations come our way.
This enables us—and not only during Lent—
to be companions of Jesus
and to let the driving power of his Spirit
be our courage and strength.

from God’s Mercy Revealed: Healing for a Broken World

Your Cross - St Francis de Sales
+ + +

The everlasting God has

in His wisdom foreseen

from eternity the cross

that He now presents to you

as a gift from His inmost heart.


This cross He now sends you

He has considered with His all-knowing eyes,

understood with His divine mind,

tested with His wise justice,

warmed with loving arms

and weighed with His own hands

to see that it be not one inch too large

and not one ounce too heavy for you.


He has blessed it with His holy Name,

anointed it with His consolation,

taken one last glance at you

and your courage,

and then sent it to you from heaven,

a special greeting from God to you,

an alms of the all-merciful love of God.

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.

There is hunger for ordinary bread, and there is hunger for love, for kindness, for thoughtfulness; and this is the great poverty that makes people suffer so much. I believe in person to person. Every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment.

There is but one love of Jesus, as there is but one person in the poor -- Jesus. We take vows of chastity to love Christ with undivided love; to be able to love him with undivided love we take a vow of poverty which frees us from all material possessions, and with that freedom we can love him with undivided love, and from this vow of undivided love we surrender ourselves totally to him in the person who takes his place.

Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living _expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.

When Christ said: ''I was hungry and you fed me,'' he didn't mean only the hunger for bread and for food; he also meant the hunger to be loved. Jesus himself experienced this loneliness. He came amongst his own and his own received him not, and it hurt him then and it has kept on hurting him. The same hunger, the same loneliness, the same having no one to be accepted by and to be loved and wanted by. Every human being in that case resembles Christ in his loneliness; and that is the hardest part, that's real hunger.

Do not think that love in order to be genuine has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired. Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

His Hands...

Are Wounded hands
that embrace your sorrow,

Strong hands
that support your weakness,

Healing hands
that restore your soul,

Reassuring hands
that bring you comfort,

Gentle hands
that calm your fears,

Loving hands
that hold you close.

~ Roy Lessin

Abundant Pardon

When Adam abandoned God, we did too. Is this fair? In athletics, when one player on a team commits an infraction, there is a penalty. The whole team suffers. Humanity is a team. When our forefather, Adam, did not play by the rules. The whole team suffered. We all lost.

We show our membership on the losing team in many ways. We promise fidelity in marriage and think nothing of cheating. We lie to the boss to cover mistakes. We pilfer pens, pencils, stamps, stationary, whatever, from the office. We are petty thieves and robbers. We tell "white" lies, only the "good" kind.

We need to return to the Lord. There is good reason to do so. Although we tend to be unforgiving and often vengeful, God is not like us. The way of God is the way of pardon and forgiveness. A teenage boy who pulls the trigger and kills his teacher suffers the penalty due for his crime. However, there is forgiveness in God. "Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:7).

Jesus Christ died on a cross as a sacrifice for human sin. There is abundant pardon from God based on this sacrifice.

by Dr. Dennis J. Prutow

“Self Worth”

Do not undermine your worth
By comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different
That each of us is special.

Do not set your goals
By what other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.

Do not take for granted
The things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as you would your life.
For without them, life is meaningless.

Do not let your life slip through your fingers
By living in the past nor for the future.
By living your life one day at a time,
You live all the days of your life.

Do not give up
When you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over
Until the moment you stop trying.
It is a fragile thread
That binds us to each other.

Do not be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances
That we learn to be brave.

Do not shut love out of your life
By saying it is impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love;
The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly.

In addition,
The best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Do not dismiss your dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope,
To be without hope is to be without purpose.

Do not run through life
So fast that you forget not only where you have been
But also where you are going.
Life is not a race but a journey
To be savored each step of the way.

Smile.... and let the sun shine through. For there's someone, somewhere, watching over you.

JESUS MISSED ME

When life is good and I'm ok,
my prayers go down to few .
But if I'm in need or having trouble,
I stop, I turn, and then I seek You.

Why can't I remember to pray,
during life's normal daily race.
Why must I suffer some misery,
before I turn and seek Your face?

I know I owe you everything,
you've taken special care of me.
I'm the one that is neglecting
the love you give so free.

When I forget the time to pray,
the guilt spreads over me.
I really feel You miss me too,
my time on bended knee.

But how can it be possible,
You miss our relationship?
With so many that worship you,
what value am I to Your Lordship?

Jesus, I know not what I am to you,
or why You value me.
I just know You paid the price,
when You hung upon that tree.

My faith restored, You take me in
Your arms of strength and grace.
Forgiveness is what You do,
When I ask for Your embrace.

I'll not forget again, O Lord,
Because now I know, I see
That every time that I forget,
You really do miss me.

Chester Smidt

Closing prayer:
Lord,
keep me safe from the pain and grief that sin brings,
from the dangers that I can't see,
or the ones that I think I can risk because of my experience (pride & carelessness).
Put up a supernatural barrier.
Protect me, Father, by your power!
Amen.

Good night all - God bless you and Sweet Dreams! May you all have a Blessing Sunday!