Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Hello my friends! Just got back from a birthday meal with one of his brother's. All his brothers and sisters and spouses were there. A nice restaurant where they have a chicken buffet - always a good time. Next month is another one - the birthday person chooses the restaurant. Today Linus was busy in the garage building a stable for our Nativity set. It's big! It will be so nice. I am blessed with a good husband who likes to create things, and takes good care of me always - and I'm so blessed by having 2 daughters who love and care. Sammy is a blessing too, and he shows no more signs of arthritis in his leg. He runs, he jumps, he's like a little puppy and still plays the piano with joy!! He doesn't sing though! Praying for you all!

There is always something to thank God for. Lord, may my attitude of

gratitude last a lifetime.

Scripture for the day:

"O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love

endures forever." ~Psalm 106:1

Meditation for the day:

Gratitude to God is the theme of Thanksgiving Day. The pilgrims

gathered to give thanks to God for their harvest which was pitifully

small. When we look around at all the things we have today, how can we

help being grateful to God? Our families, our homes, our friends; all

these things are free gifts of God to us. "But for the grace of God,"

we would not have them. God gives us this day too, to rest and to give

thanks.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may be very grateful today. I pray that I may not forget

where I might be but for the grace of God.

THE LITTLE PRAYER ROCK

I AM YOUR LITTLE PRAYER ROCK

AND THIS IS WHAT I'LL DO -

JUST PUT ME ON YOUR PILLOW

UNTIL THE DAY IS THROUGH

THEN TURN DOWN THE COVERS

AND CLIMB INTO YOUR BED

AND WHACK, YOUR LITTLE PRAYER ROCK

WILL HIT YOU ON YOUR HEAD,

SO THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER

AS THE DAY IS THROUGH

TO KNEEL AND SAY YOUR PRAYERS

JUST AS YOU INTENDED TO.

WHEN YOU ARE ALL FINISHED

JUST DROP ME ON THE FLOOR.

I'LL STAY THERE ALL NIGHT LONG

TO GIVE YOU HELP ONCE MORE...

AT WAKING IN THE MORNING

CLUNK, I'LL STUB YOUR TOE

SO YOU WILL REMEMBER

YOUR MORNING PRAYERS BEFORE YOU GO.

NOW PUT ME ATOP YOUR PILLOW

WHEN YOUR BED IS MADE

AND YOUR CLEVER LITTLE PRAYER ROCK

WILL CONTINUE IN YOUR AID.

BECAUSE YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER

CARES AND LOVES YOU SO,

HE WANTS YOU TO REMEMBER

TO TALK TO HIM, YOU KNOW.

Unknown

CRUSHING THE SHELLS

By Marion Smith

October 3, 2009

Ephesians 6:13-17

As I walked along Ponte Verde beach recently had a bizarre desire to

tramp directly upon the shells and pulverize them. Some would crushed

and turned to powder under my feet, but some of them survived the

onslaught. The tough ones pushed down into the sand as I applied

force to them and others just seemed to withstand the pressure, not

cracking or crumbling. The actual size of the shell didn't’t seem to

make much difference - it was the thickness that determined its

“crush ability” ..The shells which remained intact reminded me of the

Christian, clothed in the armor of God. Paul tells us in Ephesians

6:13-17 that God has given the Christian an armor to don. This armor

gives us extra protection and makes us “less easy to crush”, just like

those dense shells.

For years I have tried to memorize this passage of scripture from

Ephesians, as I wanted to clothe myself in Gods armor each day. I was

unable to do so until recently when my friend, Donna, told me her

method. Now I have it down pat, and put the armor of God on each

morning before I even get out of bed. I not only dress myself in it,

but my husband, daughters, son in laws and grandchildren! I place the

helmet of salvation on our heads- it protects my mind and all my

thoughts. It allows us to rest in the reality of who we am in

Christ. Next is our breastplate of righteousness(protecting our

hearts), belt of truth, shoes of peace(so we may spread the true

peace, which is available in God). I pick up our shields of faith to

protect us from Satan’s attacks and the sword of the spirit (God’s

Word.) Now we are ready to face the day- dressed in the armor of God.

Satan will not crack our faith or crush our spirit with insults,

temptations, or setbacks, for we are dressed- head to foot: plus some

extras- to face him head on! For He that lives within us is grater

than he who is in the world. I hope you will consider dressing

yourself and perhaps your loved ones each morning, also! It’s a GOOD

thing to do!

Thank you, Lord, for your Word and also for a special friend who

taught me how to memorize it.

The Seventeen Evidences of a Lack of Humility

1. To think that what one says or does is better than what others say or do

2. To always want to get your own way

3. To argue with stubbornness and bad manners whether you are right or wrong

4. To give your opinion when it has not been requested or when charity does not demand it

5. To look down on another's point of view

6. Not to look on your gifts and abilities as lent

7. Not to recognize that you are unworthy of all honors and esteem, not even of the earth you walk on and things you possess

8. To use yourself as an example in conversations

9. To speak badly of yourself so that others will think well of you or contradict you

10. To excuse yourself when you are corrected

11. To hide humiliating faults from your spiritual director, so that he will not change the impression he has of you

12. To take pleasure in praise and compliments

13. To be saddened because others are held in higher esteem

14. To refuse to perform inferior tasks

15. To seek to stand out

16. To refer in conversation to your honesty, genius, dexterity, or professional prestige

17. To be ashamed because you lack certain goods

From the Writings of Bl. Josemaria Escriva

Homily of the Day

They Know They´re Little

Gn 2:18-24 / Heb 2:9-11 / Mk 10:2-16

A newly-ordained priest was about to perform his first wedding, and he was very nervous. So he asked his pastor for help. The old monsignor told him everything he needed to know and then ended with some advice. “Father,” he said, “if you get lost and can’t think of what to say, quote scripture. It’s always safe, and you’ll never go wrong.”

With that the young priest went off to church and did a fine job of conducting the wedding … until the very end, that is, when he was to pray the solemn blessing over the bride and groom. At that crucial moment, with hand outstretched and every eye upon him, he froze. He couldn’t find his place in the prayer book. His mind was a blank. He had no idea of what to say. Then he remembered the monsignor’s advice: if you get lost, quote scripture. So he ended the wedding by quoting most solemnly the only verse he could remember, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

+ + +

Standing just inches away from a bride and groom as they exchange their vows, I find it difficult not to be awed and astonished at the immensity of what two fragile human beings are committing themselves to do and be for one another. To be faithful friends, to be truly one for better or worse, for the rest of their lives. How can such a thing be possible for mere human beings?

The same question always stuns me when a young couple present their new baby for baptism, and solemnly commit themselves to the immense task of being faithful models and guides for that child for decades to come. How can this be possible for ordinary humans? And the question rises yet again when I see a young man commit himself to serve faithfully as a priest for the rest of his life. How can this be possible for a mere human being?

Sometimes all of this surely does seem impossible. Sometimes all these solemnly-spoken commitments to be a faithful spouse, or parent, or priest seem just wishful thinking. And for all too many of us that’s how things actually turn out. But in today’s gospel, Jesus tells us that’s not the way things have to turn out, even with all our flaws and limitations. In this gospel, Jesus says the impossible is possible: we can be part of his kingdom, we can become the wonderful spouses, parents, and friends that we long to be, but so often have not been.

And how is this to happen? Jesus says quite simply, we must become like little children! But what are little children really like? And what makes them different from most of us? First of all they know they’re little, and they know that in order to live they need the help of people who love them. It doesn’t even occur to them to pose as invincible or seriously pretend to be what they are not. Little children trust the people they meet, and they presume the best about them. (That’s why they get all those lectures about taking no rides from strangers.) They don’t label others as enemies before there’s reason to do so.

Little children think of everything as possible and worth trying. You don’t hear a little child saying “you can’t do that” or “it’ll never work.” What you do hear is “when can we start”? Little children are compassionate to those who are even smaller and more helpless than themselves. Legions of stray cats, scrawny dogs, and birds with broken wings could testify to that.

Little children lack the attention span of adults. They have little physical strength, few skills, and only the sparsest of knowledge about the world. Yet they have what matters: they are transparently open and receptive to people, to God, to life. And that means that all that is good can get into their lives and help them.

Imagine what wonderful spouses, parents, and friends we could be — even with all our faults — if only our hearts were that open and receptive. No love, no joy, no person would ever be locked out. God and his whole universe would be inside working for us and filling in those parts of us that are damaged or weak. That is Jesus’ promise: we will get all that just by doing what little children know how to do, by opening the doors of our hearts.

So let us begin now by opening our hearts in prayer:

Lord, hold us in the palm of your hand and show us once more how to be like little children. Help us to lay aside our masks and our pretensions, and teach us to trust, to hope, and never to fear. Let our hearts become so open, so transparent, and so wide that every person and every love may find there a home. Amen.