Hello my friends! Today Lori took me shopping for her to find a good head board and night stands for her room, tomorrow she's getting a new mattress - she is so excited! And she found these items today on a good deal! Praise the Lord! We had a beautiful New Year's Mass this morning at 8 AM - Church almost full! Choir sang beautifully, good homily, Fr. Mark is usually quite humorous too and gave us good ideas for improving ourselves throughout the year. What a wonderful way to start out the New Year! Our first New Year's blessing!
Jesus came to us to serve not be served. Lord, help me to set aside
my self-serving behaviors and model my life after You.
Scripture for the day:
You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head
will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives."
~Luke 21:12-19
Meditation for the day:
It's not easy to be a true Christian. The price is laid out on today's
Gospel. "You will be hated by all because of my name." We may think this
does not apply to us. Then we need to ask ourselves if our faith realy
and truly sets us apart from others around us. And we can be comforted to
hear, "... but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your
perseverance you will secure your lives.
Prayer for the day:
I pray that I may be a true Christian. I pray that I may trust in the
security the Lord gives me as He helps me see the importance of working
for those things which last forever.
THE APPLE BASKET
Author Unknown
November 25, 2009
One day an elderly man entered into a hospital. He was grumpy from
being on medication and the nurses thought him to be insane, as he
yelled for his wife to get the apple basket. By the time they had
checked him into his room the nurses were exhausted from the fight he
was putting up.
"Sir you have to calm down we are doing everything we can for you"
they would try to explain.
"I don't need your help" the grumpy man would yell "I want my apple
basket". He finally slept. The nurses sighed with relief and talked
among themselves whether they should call the hospital psychologist
about the old man and his obsession with the apple basket.
As they talked and laughed about the situation the wife came in
carrying the basket of apples. They looked kind of stunned as she
asked if she could see her husband and deliver his basket. Sure, they
agreed as they watched her slip past into his room.
Curiosity consumed them over the next few weeks as they tended to the
elderly man. He was eaten with cancer and the doctors had given him no
hope of survival. He turned out to be a very calm, happy man once he
had his basket. His wife, they noticed, would come in with apples and
go out with apples and the curiosity grew even more till one nurse
couldn't stand the suspense.
One night as he was nearing the end, the nurse sat down in a chair by
the wife." May I ask why do you have that apple basket? I just don't
understand the significance. "
"I am an apple farmer by trade he sighed. From the time I was 20 till
the day I do die I will forever have my apples." The nurse nodded
thinking she understood. He just likes his work, she thought, assured
now he was a little bit crazy.
As she started to leave, the old man asked her to sit down. "At age 20
I was saved, I accepted the Lord as my Savior." Oh no, the nurse
thought. Here comes the lecture on religion. The old man continued.
"The day I accepted the Lord as my Savior I got this basket, and each
time I had a problem or concern that I could not handle, I put an
apple in the basket un-shined."
"Why?" the nurse said shaking her head.
"Because it reminded me to give those problems to the Lord for him to
shine. See my basket now," he stated. "As my problems disappear so do
the apples. As I get new problems, ones I cannot handle alone, I put
an apple in."
The humble nurse looked into the basket...only one apple was there.
With that, he took a big breath and grabbed his wife by the hand and
faded into eternal sleep. The wife paused for a moment and got up from
her place to take from the basket the last remaining apple. She
whispered in his ear that his reward awaits him in heaven.
The nurse stayed still and asked with tears in her eyes, "what do you
think his riches will be?"
The wife knew what they were, eternal life with Jesus Christ. But she
could see the concern and sadness upon the young nurses' face and
handed her the apple and said "the biggest apple pie you can imagine!"
That was the day the young nurse was saved, and from that day on she
always had a basket by her bed.
A Prayer to Padre Pio
Beloved Padre Pio, today I come to add my prayer to the thousands of prayers
offered to you every day by those who love and venerate you. They ask for
cures and healings, earthly and spiritual blessings, and peace for body and
mind. And because of your friendship with the Lord, he heals those you ask
to be healed, and forgives those you forgive.
Through your visible wounds of the Cross, which you bore for 50 years, you
were chosen in our time to glorify the crucified Jesus. Because the Cross
has been replaced by other symbols, please help us to bring it back in our
midst, for we acknowledge it is the only true sign of salvation.
As we lovingly recall the wounds that pierced your hands, feet and side, we
not only remember the blood you shed in pain, but your smile, and the
invisible halo of sweet smelling flowers that surrounded your presence, the
perfume of sanctity.
Padre Pio, may the healings of the sick become the testimony that the Lord
has invited you to join the holy company of Saints. In your kindness, please
help me with my own special request: (mention here your petition, and make
the sign of the Cross).
Bless me and my loved ones. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
A lot of people have had answers to prayer with his intercession.
Prayer For Easing of Stress and Anxiety
Lord, there has been too much change in my life recently, and I feel
overwhelmed. Because I try to be a responsible person, I sometimes forget
that it is unwise for me to allow my sense of duty to override my common
sense.
Lord, help me to allow myself more time to rest, relax, and pray. Guide
me toward something spiritual to read every day and a quiet time
afterwards to reflect on what I have read and how it pertains to my
life. I truly want to simplify my life and live more as Christ did. Help
me remember that there is no loss or problem I must face alone. You are
always near, with Your love and compassion to comfort me. Amen.
Mother Teresa Said...
"One day at a meeting, I was asked to give a message.
So I told to people, "Husbands smile at your wives smile at your husbands
and children."
They could not understand how I was able to tell them this sort of thing.
"Are you married?" one of them asked.
"Yes", I replied "and sometimes I find it difficult to smile at Jesus
because He can be so demanding."
And it is true. By our vow of chastity we are married to Jesus."
Enjoy this: Auld Lang Syne by Sissel (Live) Happy New Year - YouTube
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