Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Think good and wise thoughts over and over again until you make them
your own. Lord, You have given me a strong foundation and the strength
to stand firm for what I believe.


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

"Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another
with whatever gift each of you has received." ~1 Peter 4:10

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

We can try to be thankful for whatever vision we have. We can try to
perform, in the little things, faithful service to God and others. We
can do our small part every day in a spirit of service to God. We can
be doers of God's word, not hearers only. In our daily life we can
try to keep faith with God. Every day can bring a new opportunity to
be of some use. Even when we are tempted to rest or let things go or
to evade the issue, we can make it a habit to meet the issue squarely
as a challenge and not to hold back.

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

I pray that I may perform each task faithfully. I pray that I may
meet each issue of life squarely and not hold back.

Peace of Jesus to you all! Hope your day is going well, and hope you have a wonderful evening and night! I'm doing some cleaning, little bit at a time, and trying to keep up with it - a challenge, but a must. Getting the Spring Cleaning Fever! Tonight's supper was stir fries and chicken breasts on the grill. Very filling! We don't have potatoes as often anymore since this diet. But plan to use my left over potatoes from Monday night tomorrow, they will be fried in olive oil. To me, it was a blessing when I quit the cityville game on Facebook, which was time comsuming and now I feel so much more free - I'm liking FB better. Love it when my daughters post there and send pictures, also my nephews and nieces. I thought I'd start out each morning with something inspirational too, some people do that there. My Facebook page usually is very inspiring as I'm getting Inspiriational thoughts there, and Relevant Radio is there, maybe some inspiring things there I could copy for here. Today Linus had a better day at work, his feet didn't hurt too much - must have been the prayers. Another blessing for today was a nice email from Ann (Twinnie). She reads this, but doesn't feel comfortable to post just yet. I hope she does soon as we miss her and care for her a lot. She is praying for us all. Thank you, Ann!
I do enjoy getting this thread out when the sun is shining yet!! Love the sun. Another cardinal was in our feeder tonight after supper! May you all have peace!

Homily of the Day


March 30, 2011

Tell It to Your Children!
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Dt 4:1,5-9 / Mt 5:17-19

One of the most common complaints between husbands and wives is that they take each other for granted. And how predictable that is! Two people live in the same house, share the same life, follow the same daily routines, doing what needs to be done, keeping things afloat. It takes conscious effort not to settle into seeing one another’s goodness and caring as no more than one’s right and no great gift. What an illusion that is and what an extraordinary presumption.

If we do that to one another, what surprise is there that we regularly do the same to the Lord. We take for granted His wonderful gifts, and we so easily call them our own. And some of us persist in that illusion until the very moment when we’re called to give them back. What a stark and dreadful awakening that can be.

Thankfulness for life and for all of God’s gifts is the starting point for anyone who seeks to be truly wise. But it’s no burden. To see the truth of how undeservedly beloved we are is to find some sense of how valuable and important we tiny, mortal creatures are to the Creator of this grand universe.

“Tell it to your children,” says today’s Old Testament reading. And so we must. But tell it to yourself first, over and over again: The dear Lord Who made me loves me with an everlasting love, and He will never let me go, never let me perish.

Thank you, dear Lord!

Sayings of Mother Teresa


Suffering, If it is accepted together, borne together, is joy.
Remember that the passion of Christ ends always
in the joy of the resurrection of Christ,
so when you feel in your heart the suffering of Christ,
remember the resurrection has to come.
The joy of Easter has to dawn.
Never let anything so fill you with sorrow
as to make you forget the joy of the risen Chirs

Whisper Jesus

Today I got a burden,
And I felt that I should pray
For God's spirit seemed to tell me,
That you needed prayer today.

I don't know what the problem is,
But I sure do know the cure
And if you'll only let Him
God will keep you safe and secure.

In life there's always problems
Cropping up to spoil our day
But my friend you know the answer
All you have to do is pray.

If you still feel you're defeated
And you want to run and hide
Just reach out and I'll be there
Standing right there by your side.

So remember, Whisper Jesus,
For He's just a prayer away,
He's so close that you can touch Him
All you have to do is pray.

(author unknown)

Daily Prayer This Week
This is a pivotal week of Lent. We can solidify the patterns we have begun or we can make a new start, if we haven't been able to get started yet. If we have begun to recognize what needs realigning in our lives and have begun to fast and abstain from some things that get in the way of our relationship with the Lord, then we are engaging in a struggle.

We are likely uncovering resistance and experiencing our personal sinfulness face-to-face. This is all preparing us for a deeper conversion, a readiness for reconciliation with God and the graces that will allow us to be a source of reconciliation with others. This is the time when we begin to see and experience how much God loves us at a new and more personal level. These graces prepare us to keep our eyes focused on Jesus in the weeks ahead - to learn from him, to fall in love with him more deeply and to be drawn to imitate him more completely.

If we are just getting started with our Lenten journey, renewing our desires for these graces will be all we need to begin with a renewed openness. God does not need a lot of time to convince us of his love for us.

This is a week about God's love for us and our call to love others the same way. It is a week to keep our daily focus on naming a desire each morning. The day ahead will shape what we ask for as our feet hit the floor in the morning. Pausing to thank the Lord for this day and to ask for the grace to let our mind and heart be renewed in the concrete circumstances, relationships and obligations of our day.

Throughout the day, we can then return to those desires in background of our awareness. Our request for the Lord's help is always there and our awareness of it, will help us make the choices we desire to make, to let go of what we need to let go of, to add what we need to add. This will take us deeper and deeper into self-awareness and a sense of our need for a Savior, who is right there to embrace us and give us the graces we ask for with such longing.

"Who is Walking in Our Steps?"

My three year-old was on my heels no matter where I went. Whenever I
stopped to do something and turned back around, I would trip over him.

I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied. But he simply
smiled an innocent smile and said, "Oh that's all right, Mommy. I'd
rather be in here with you." Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me.

After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose
patience. When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up at me with sweet green eyes and said:

"Well Mommy, my teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps! I can't
see Him, so I'm walking in yours!"

The Book of Life

I hear the pages rustle as God looks back through time,

searching in the Book of Life and reading line by line.

His finger stops on my name recorded on that day

when I accepted His Son as Savior and my guilt vanished away.

My judgment has been paid for throughout all eternity,

for Jesus, as my Savior, gave up His life for me.

I hear the pages rustle, I call out Jesus’ name,

“Praise be to God Almighty,” I shout with full acclaim.

Then I listen for His voice to call your name loud and clear,

but the Father is still searching and my heart is filled with fear.

Though I told you oft’ of Jesus and prayed so faithfully,

I don’t know if you every met our Savior who met me at Calvary.

When the Lamb’s Book of Life is open, it’s too late to seek His face…

if your name’s not pre-recorded, you’ll have missed His saving grace.

It’s time to seek the Savior while He calls to you today;

time for you to ask forgiveness, time to have your sins washed away.

Oh, I hear the pages rustle as God searches one more time,

and I’m listening for your name to be called out after mine.

If you’ve turned your back on Jesus, you won’t stand there next to me

able to praise God for His grace and mercy throughout all eternity.

He’s whispering my dear friend; my loved ones, He’s calling you…

His voice thunders down from heaven, but there’s no more that I can do.

I’ve shared the Gospel message, been obedient to His word…

God will not force Himself upon you, but will wait until all the world has heard.

When the Lamb’s Book of Life is opened , then those whose names aren’t entered in

will be separated from God forever because they’ll die in their unforgiven sin.

Oh, come, oh, come to Jesus, before it is too late…

I’m waiting for you here in heaven, just inside the Eastern gate.

The Book is almost filled now...there’s no time left to waste!

My eyes are filled with tears as I look on my Savior’s face.

He’s reaching out His hand now...oh, please don’t hesitate…

once the Father tells His Son to “Bring them home,” it will forever be too late!

Dorothea K. Barwick © 1992

The House of 1000 Mirrors

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place
known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little
dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he
arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway
of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears
lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To
his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other
happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as
his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000
great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the
House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place.
I will come back and visit it often."

In this same village, another little dog, who was not
quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the
house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head
low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000
unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled
at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs
growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself,
"That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there
again."

All the faces in the world are mirrors. What kind of
reflections do you see in the faces of the people you
meet? What reflection do others see when they look at you?

STILL HE WALKED
-- Author Unknown

He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"...
He could hear the hatred in their voices,
These were his chosen people.
He loved them,
And they were going to crucify him.
He was beaten, bleeding and weakened... his heart was broken,
But still He walked.


He could see the crowd as he came from the palace.
He knew each of the faces so well.
He had created them.
He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear,
But now they were contorted with rage and anger...his heart broke,
But still He walked.


Was he scared?
You and I would have been
So his humanness would have mandated that he was. He felt alone.
His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him.
He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few.
Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered
And he knew that he would never be alone.
He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting
At him, throwing rocks at him and mocking him and he knew
That because of him, they would never be alone.
So for them, He walked.


The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through
The crowd. The sounds of his cries echoed even louder,
The cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet
Were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow.
Loudest of all was the still small voice inside his
Heart that whispered "I am with you, my son",
And God's heart broke.
He had let his son walk.


Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering,
But instead he asked God to forgive.
Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him.
As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death,
He looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd,
But also, the face of every person yet to be,
And his heart filled with love.
As his body was dying, his heart was alive.
Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us.
That is why He walked.


When I forget how much My God loves me,
I remember his walk.
When I wonder if I can be forgiven,
I remember his walk.
When I need reminded of how to live like Christ,
I think of his walk.
And to show him how much I love him,
I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him,
And I walk.


Inspirational
You’re Always There for Me
When the world comes crashing in
And chaos rules my mind,
I turn my heart to you, Lord,
And pure, sweet peace I find.
You lift me out of trouble
You comfort me in pain;
You nourish, heal and cleanse me,
Like cool, refreshing rain.
In times of joy and bliss,
When things are going right,
You lift me even higher,
And fill me with delight.
You listen to my prayers;
You hear my every plea;
I’m safe because I know
You’re always there for me.
By Joanna Fuchs

Closing prayer:

God our Father,
your Word, Jesus Christ, spoke peace to a sinful world
and brought mankind the gift of reconciliation by the suffering and death He endured.

Teach us, the people who bear His name,
to follow the example He gave us;
may our faith, hope and charity turn hatred to love,
conflict to peace, death to eternal life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Good night all - God bless you and sweet dreams! May your Thursday be very much blessed! Prayers being said for all of you and that also includes those who just read here and not post. God knows what's in each heart. Peace, love and joy be yours.