Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Many people need you in many different ways. No one else can take
your place. Lord, You blessed me with special abilities and need me
to use them in this world. Thank you.

Scripture for the day:

"He has said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you.' So we can say
with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What
can anyone do to me?'" ~Hebrews 13:5-6

Meditation for the day:

"I will never leave you or forsake you." Down through the centuries,
thousands have believed in God's constancy, tirelessness, and
unfailing love. God has love. Then forever we can be sure of God's
love. God has power. Then forever we can be sure;, in every
difficulty and temptation, of God's strength. God has patience. Then
always there is one who can never tire. God has understanding. Then
always we can understand and be understood. Unless we want God to go,
God will never leave us. God is always ready with the strength and
power we need.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may feel that God's love will never fail. I pray that I
may have confidence.

Hello my friends! Hope your day went well - it was very nice out today after
the sun came out! We were able to sit in the patio this afternoon so we'll
enjoy it while we can. We went out to eat at our fav restaurant again
tonight - Jim came and sat with us, and we had a great time together - lots
of laughter and just nice being together. In about two weeks he and his
wife will come for supper and he'll bring the wine! It's for appreciation
for all he's done for us. When we got back home, I got updates on Sister
LaDonna from my sisters who went up there to see her today. They had a nice
visit and she was very surprised they drove all that way to see her. She
had chest pains this morning so they had her on another floor today to
monitor her heart, and it turned out fine. A nurse asked her on a scale of
1 - 10 what her pain is now and she said about a 3! They are giving her Oxy
conton - which is another powerful drug, next to morphine. They tried to
have her sit on a chair, no way yet. She thinks she'll be able to come home
to the Motherhouse by next week, we'll see. We still need to pray that
this procedure takes, and they won't know for sure until at least a week.
There was a large crack that had to be cemented. Friends, thanks so much
for your care and your prayers.

Homily of the Day


October 22, 2011

The Great Commandment
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Ex 22:20-26 / 1 Thes 1:5c-10 / Mt 22:34-40

By the time that Jesus came, the Israelites had been pondering, probing, and
struggling for many centuries to hear what God had to say to them. Ever so
slowly, as is recorded in the Old Testament, they had come to understand a
great deal about who God is and what he has in mind for us. But what they
had were still fragments.

Jesus put those pieces together and provided the missing links. And nowhere
is that more plain than in today’s gospel. In answer to the lawyer’s
question, “Which law is the most important?” Jesus gave an answer that looks
so easy but is in fact a brilliant melding and expansion of Old Testament
texts.

He starts by quoting Deuteronomy verbatim, “Love God with your whole heart,
with your whole soul, and with all your mind.” And then he takes a text from
Leviticus, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and transforms the word
“neighbor” to mean everybody and not just your countrymen.

And finally, he connects the two passages, the one about God and the one
about neighbor, and makes them indivisible, telling us, “you can’t say you
love God whom you cannot see, if you don’t love your neighbor whom you can
see.”

No wonder Jesus made the lawyers nervous. It’s a tough and demanding way of
living, but it’s the only way that will ever bring us joy, the only road
that will ever lead us to communion.

Joy and Prayer

One day a novice in Rome came to me. She was crying. I asked her, "What is
the matter?" She had just come back from a family and said, " Mother, I have
never seen such suffering. They had nothing in the house. There was this
terrible sickness, the terrible cancer, and I could do nothing. Please allow
me to do a little bit of extra penance. I want to share in that suffering."
She was a young sister, scarcely three years in our congregation, but it was
painful for her to see the suffering of the others.

Joy is prayer, Joy is strength. Joy is love. Joy is a net of love by which
you can catch souls. God loves a cheerful giver. He gives most who gives
with joy. The best way to show our gratitude to God and the people is to
accept everything with joy. A joyful heart is the normal result of a heart
burning with love. Never let anything so fill you with sorrow as to make
you forget the joy of Christ risen.

This I tell my sisters. This I tell you.

Take...

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.
Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.
Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

The Ant and the Grasshopper
(Author Unknown)

A mother of a 9 year old boy, Mark, received a phone call in the
middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son's school.

"Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son's third
grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I
thought you should know about it immediately."

Mother seldom want to hear from their child's teacher in the middle
of the day. The mother was uneasy and nervous by such a beginning to
a phone call. "What now?" the mother wondered.

The teacher continued, "I have been teaching for many years and
nothing like this has happened until now. This morning I was teaching
a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of
the ant and the grasshopper. The ant works hard all summer and stores
up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no
work.

Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no
food. So he hops to the ants house and begins to beg. 'Please Mr.
Ant, you have much food please let me eat, too.' Now boys and girls
your job is to write the ending to the story.

Your son, Mark, raised his hand. "Teacher, may I draw a picture?"

"Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you
must write the ending to the story."

The papers came in. As in all the years past, most of the students
said that the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant
and the grasshopper lived.

As always, a few children said, 'The ant said, "No, Mr. Grasshopper.
You should have worked in the summer and not played. Now, I have just
enough food for myself." So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.

But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child,
ever. He wrote, "So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper;
the grasshopper lived through the winter. But the ant died."

And the picture?
At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses. "He gave
everything to us so that we might live; but Jesus died."

THIS IS TRULY POWERFUL IN THE MIDST OF TODAY!


"Marvel at How Great God IS!"

He is the First and Last, the Beginning and the End!
He is the keeper of Creation and the Creator of all!
He is the Architect of the universe and The Manager of all times.
He always was, He always is, and He always will be...
Unmoved, Unchanged, Undefeated, and never Undone!
He was bruised and brought healing!
He was pierced and eased pain!
He was persecuted and brought freedom!
He was dead and brought life!
He is risen and brings power!
He reigns and brings Peace!

The world can't understand Him,
The armies can't defeat Him,
The schools can't explain Him, and
The leaders can't ignore Him.
Herod couldn't kill Him,
The Pharisees couldn't confuse Him, and
The people couldn't hold Him!
Nero couldn't crush Him,
Hitler couldn't silence Him,
The New Age can't replace Him, and
Donahue can't explain Him away!

He is light, love, longevity, and Lord.
He is goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and GOD.
He is Holy, Righteous, mighty, powerful, and pure.
His ways are right,
His word is eternal,
His will is unchanging, and
His mind is on me.
He is my Redeemer,
He is my Savior,
He is my guide, and
He is my peace!
He is my Joy,
He is my comfort,
He is my Lord, and
He rules my life!
I serve Him because His bond is love,
His burden is light, and
His goal for me is abundant life.
I follow Him because He is the wisdom of the wise,
The power of the powerful,
The ancient of days, the ruler of rulers,
The leader of leaders, the overseer of the overcomers, and
The sovereign Lord of all that was and is and is to come.

And if that seems impressive to you, try this for size.
His goal is a relationship with ME!

He will never leave me,
Never forsake me,
Never mislead me,
Never forget me,
Never overlook me, and
Never cancel my appointment in His appointment book!

When I fall, He lifts me up!
When I fail, He forgives!
When I am weak, He is strong!
When I am lost, He is the way!
When I am afraid, He is my courage!
When I stumble, He steadies me!
When I am hurt, He heals me!
When I am broken, He mends me!
When I am blind, He leads me!
When I am hungry, He feeds me!
When I face trials, He is with me!
When I face persecution, He shields me!
When I face problems, He comforts me!
When I face loss, He provides for me!>
When I face Death, He carries me Home!

He is everything for everybody, everywhere,
Every time, and every way.
He is God, He is faithful.
I am His, and He is mine!
My Father in heaven can whip the father of this world.

So, if you're wondering why I feel so secure, understand this...
He said it and that settles it.
God is in control, I am on His side, and
That means all is well with my soul.
Everyday is a blessing for GOD Is!

PASS THIS ON
I love the Lord and thank Him for all that he does in my life,
therefore, I'm passing this on. Yes I do love Jesus.
He is my source of existence and my Savior.
He keeps me functioning each and everyday.
Without Him, I will be nothing.
Without Him, I am nothing but with Him I can do all things.
Philippians 4:13

For all of you who are suffering or your loved ones:

A Fervent Prayer For The Sick and Suffering
O Almighty Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior. The same Lord that so
loves His children as to lay His life down for them. The same Lord that rose
from the dead on the third day, and Ascended into Heaven. The same Lord that
spoke the word and the Centurion’s Servant was immediately healed. The same
Lord that restored sight to the blind; cleansed lepers, cured the halt and
lame. The same Lord that with a word rebuked the seas and they were calm.
The same Lord that raised Lazarus from the dead. The same Lord that has been
given all power both in Heaven and on earth, do Thou, the same Lord visit
and heal Thy servant, (__name__), from the afflictions that they are now
suffering. Strengthen our faith like that of the Roman Centurion, so that we
may ask for this healing with the same faith, trust, and hope that Thy
servant, (__name__) will be healed in the same manner that the Centurion’s
servant was restored to health. O Holy physician of our souls and bodies,
hear this fervent prayer for Thy servant (__name__), and grant this request
as we hold this, Thy servant up before Thy glorious Throne. We ask this in
the victorious and Holy Name of our Lord, God, and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Good night and God bless your Sunday - May it be filled with many blessings!