Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Forget the useless and unhealthy things of your past that clutter your mind so that you can live a life that is alive and vibrant. Lord, help me to discard all that clouds my day so that I am able to live the life that You intend me to live.

Scripture for the Day
"Jesus woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?' And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, 'Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?'" — Mark 4:39-41

Meditation for the Day
We can withdraw in to the calm of communion with God. We can rest in that calm and peace. When the soul finds its home of rest in God, then it is that real life begins. Only when we are calm and serene can we do good work. Emotional upsets can make us useless. Life in God brings calmness and when we enter into that life, then we live as eternal beings. Calmness is based on complete trust in God. Nothing in this world can separate us from the love of God.

Prayer for the Day
I pray that I may wear the world like a loose garment. I pray that I may keep serene at the center of my being.

Greetings to all you positive pals and grateful gals! How was your day? We've had a very nice day today - in the mid 40's and in the 60's in the porch. Soon, very soon!
I'm thinking of moving a bunch of my plants into the porch tomorrow already - hope it doesn't freeze anymore.
I've been reading the Mother Teresa thread over at Viewpoints today - what a woman she was! It's good that her quotes live on forever!! They are all so meaningful!
I am so blessed to have her book, "No Greater Love" . It's really a wonderful read. I just gave it to Linus to read. I'm sure he'll enjoy every word. He just finished reading Scott Hahn's book on Mary - "Hail Holy Queen", and said it was a good book, I'll be reading that shortly. We are not watching TV, but reading good spiritual reading.
I am so blessed to have my dear husband - and that he prays with me - he didn’t always, it's an answer to prayer that he does now for the last year, I mean the Rosary and Divine Chaplet. We prayed some other prayers together years before. God does answer prayer!

Homily of the Day
March 16, 2011
Your Patterns Can Free you or Numb Your Soul
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Jon 3:1-10 / Lk 11:29-32
It’s fascinating to look at how we actually spend our days. For the most part the patterns, whatever they are, are remarkably stable and unvarying. We rise at a certain time, and wander through our morning rituals with barely a thought about them. And so goes the day.
In many ways our rituals and habits are a good thing: they let us accomplish all sorts of routine but necessary tasks without demanding anything of our brains, which thus can be free for far more interesting things. But the key phrase there is ‘can be free,’ for all too often nothing is going on in our brains and all we have are our routines — mind-numbing ruts of repetition.
Complacency and stagnation are perpetual hazards for every human being. They can deprive us of life’s richness, and they can leave us blind victims of the unhealthy and destructive patterns that may be emerging in our daily living.
In today’s Old Testament reading, Jonah threatens the Ninevites with destruction from the heavens if they don’t repent and change their ways. In fact, we don’t have to wait for fire and brimstone from the heavens, for the destruction comes from within when we have chosen wrong paths and have sinned. What we ought to fear is being so brain dead that we don’t even notice what’s happening as we proceed in our self-destruction.
Now is the time to open our eyes, turn on our brains, and look closely at the patterns in our lives. Re-pent means re-think, and there’s no better time for that than Lent.

Short meditation
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Prayer of a Prophet
Lord, grant that I may never fear
to give witness to your gospel.
from Daily Reflections for Lent

PSALM 23
Author Unknown
The Lord is my boss, and I shall not want.
He gives me peace, when chaos is all around me.
He reminds me to pray, before I speak in anger.
He restores my sanity.
He guides my decisions that I might honor Him in all I do.
Even though I face absurd amounts of e-mail, system failures, copier
jams, back-ordered supplies, unrealistic deadlines, staff shortages,
budget cutbacks, red tape, downsizing, gossiping co-workers and
whining customers, I won't give up, for You are with me.
Your presence, peace and power will see me through.
You raise me up, even when the boss fails to promote me.
You claim me as your own, even when the company threatens to let me go.
Your loyalty and love are better than a bonus check.
Your retirement plan beats any 401K, and when it's all said and done,
I'll be working for you a whole lot longer!
Thanks be to God!
Give your life to Jesus
When Jesus comes into your life,
and dwells within your heart,
You'll never be the same again,
and that's the greatest part.
For man is weak and sinful,
and he struggles to survive,
But when Jesus isn't in his life,
he's only just alive.
Material wealth is not enough,
this he'll find is true,
The reason he'll not understand,
and he'll know not what to do.
For happiness and peace of mind,
are elusive as the breeze,
His heart and soul are restless,
like the ever endless seas.
But Jesus is the savior
of man's sick and troubled soul,
And He can take a broken life,
and make it new and whole.
So give your life to Jesus,
let Him cleanse your heart and soul,
And eternal life in heaven
will be your life's new goal.
by
Peggy Allman

The Ten Most Wanted Men
The man who puts God's business above any other business.
The man who brings his children to church rather than sending them.
The man who is willing to be the right example to every boy he meets.
The man who thinks more of his Sunday school class than his Sunday sleep.
The man who measures his giving by what he has left, rather than by the amount he gives.
The man who goes to church for Christ's sake rather than for himself or for someone else.
The man who has a willing mind rather than a brilliant mind.
The man who has a passion to help rather than a passion to be helped.
The man who can see his own faults before he sees the faults of others.
The man who is more concerned about winning others for Christ than he is about winning worldly honor.

THE GIFT GOD GAVE YOU
God, how beautiful is Your creation, how marvelous is Your goodness, how fantastic You are to give it all to us!
The gift you gave, carries a grave responsibility: we are to care for your gift, share your gift with others, see that your gift is not misused, develop your gift make your creation grow and prosper.
God, You made us in Your image and likeness. You loved us so much that You became like us. You remain with us each day to assist us.

Carl's Garden
Carl was a quiet man. He didn't talk much.
He would always greet you with a big smile and a firm handshake.
Even after living in our neighborhood for over 50 years,
no one could really say they knew him very well.
Before his retirement, he took the bus to work each morning.
The lone sight of him walking down the street often worried us.
He had a slight limp from a bullet wound received in WWII.
Watching him, we worried that although he had survived WWII,
he may not make it through our changing uptown neighborhood with its ever-increasing random violence, gangs, and drug activity.
When he saw the flyer at our local church asking for volunteers for caring for the gardens behind the minister's residence, he responded in his characteristically unassuming manner. Without fanfare, he just signed up.
He was well into his 87th year when the very thing we had always feared finally happened.
He was just finishing his watering for the day when three gang members approached him.
Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simply asked,
"Would you like a drink from the hose?"
The tallest and toughest-looking of the three said, "Yeah, sure," with a malevolent little smile.
As Carl offered the hose to him, the other two grabbed Carl's arm, throwing him down..
As the hose snaked crazily over the ground, dousing everything in its way, Carl's assailants stole his retirement watch and his wallet, and then fled.
Carl tried to get himself up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg.
He lay there trying to gather himself as the minister came running to help him.
Although the minister had witnessed the attack from his window, he couldn't get there fast enough to stop it.
"Carl, are you okay? Are you hurt?" the minister kept asking as he helped Carl to his feet.
Carl just passed a hand over his brow and sighed, shaking his head.
"Just some punk kids. I hope they'll wise-up someday."
His wet clothes clung to his slight frame as he bent to pick up the hose.
He adjusted the nozzle again and started to water.
Confused and a little concerned, the minister asked, "Carl, what are you doing?"
"I've got to finish my watering. It's been very dry lately," came the calm reply.
Satisfying himself that Carl really was all right, the minister could only marvel.
Carl was a man from a different time and place.
A few weeks later the three returned. Just as before their threat was unchallenged.
Carl again offered them a drink from his hose.
This time they didn't rob him.
They wrenched the hose from his hand and drenched him head to foot in the icy water.
When they had finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off down the street, throwing catcalls and curses, falling over one another laughing at the hilarity of what they had just done.
Carl just watched them.
Then he turned toward the warmth giving sun, picked up his hose, and went on with his watering.
The summer was quickly fading into fall Carl was doing some tilling when he was startled by the sudden approach of someone behind him.
He stumbled and fell into some evergreen branches.
As he struggled to regain his footing, he turned to see the tall leader of his summer tormentors reaching down for him. He braced himself for the expected attack.
"Don't worry old man, I'm not gonna hurt you this time."
The young man spoke softly, still offering the tattooed and scarred hand to Carl. As he helped Carl get up, the man pulled a crumpled bag from his pocket and handed it to Carl.
"What's this?"
Carl asked. "It's your stuff," the man explained. "It's your stuff back.
Even the money in your wallet." "I don't understand," Carl said. "Why would you help me now?"
The man shifted his feet, seeming embarrassed and ill at ease. "I learned something from you," he said. "I ran with that gang and hurt people like you we picked you because you were old and we knew we could do it But every time we came and did something to you, instead of yelling and fighting back, you tried to give us a drink.
You didn't hate us for hating you. You kept showing love against our hate."
He stopped for a moment. "I couldn't sleep after we stole your stuff, so here it is back."
He paused for another awkward moment, not knowing what more there was to say. "That bag's my way of saying thanks for straightening me out, I guess." And with that, he walked off down the street.
Carl looked down at the sack in his hands and gingerly opened it. He took out his retirement watch and put it back on his wrist. Opening his wallet, he checked for his wedding photo. He gazed for a moment at the young bride that still smiled back at him from all those years ago.
He died one cold day after Christmas that winter. Many people attended his funeral in spite of the weather.
In particular the minister noticed a tall young man that he didn't know sitting quietly in a distant corner of the church.
The minister spoke of Carl's garden as a lesson in life.
In a voice made thick with unshed tears, he said, "Do your best and make your garden as beautiful as you can. We will never forget Carl and his garden."
The following spring another flyer went up. It read: "Person needed to care for Carl's garden."
The flyer went unnoticed by the busy parishioners until one day when a knock was heard at the minister's office door.
Opening the door, the minister saw a pair of scarred and tattooed hands holding the flyer. "I believe this is my job, if you'll have me," the young man said.
The minister recognized him as the same young man who had returned the stolen watch and wallet to Carl.
He knew that Carl's kindness had turned this man's life around. As the minister handed him the keys to the garden shed, he said, "Yes, go take care of Carl's garden and honor him."
The man went to work and, over the next several years, he tended the flowers and vegetables just as Carl had done.
During that time, he went to college, got married, and became a prominent member of the community. But he never forgot his promise to Carl's memory and kept the garden as beautiful as he thought Carl would have kept it.
One day he approached the new minister and told him that he couldn't care for the garden any longer. He explained with a shy and happy smile, "My wife just had a baby boy last night, and she's bringing him home on Saturday."
"Well, congratulations!" said the minister, as he was handed the garden shed keys. "That's wonderful! What's the baby's name?"
"Carl," he replied.

Closing Prayer:

Lenten Prayer
Father, you have taught us to overcome our sins by prayer, fasting and works of mercy. When we are discouraged by our weakness, give us confidence in your love. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Good night everyone and hope your Thursday be filled with many blessings!! Sweet Dreams!! God bless you!!! See you then!