Community Chat

[gloriajean]

The most important things in life can't be held in your hands. Lord, may I
never be shy in showing the people in my life how much I value them.


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

"'Well done, good and trustworthy servant; you have been trustworthy in
a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy
of your master." ~Matthew 25:23

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

"Well done, good and trustworthy servant. Enter into the joy of your
master." These words are for many ordinary people whom the world may
pass by, unrecognizing. Not to be world-famed, the proud, the wealthy, are
these words spoken, but the quiet followers who serve God unobtrusively yet
faithfully, who bear their crosses bravely and put a smiling face to
the world. "Enter into the joy of your master." We can pass into that
fuller spiritual life which is a life of joy and peace.

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

I pray that I may not desire the world's applause. I pray that I may
not seek rewards for doing what I believe is right.

Hello my friends! Hope your day went well and everything's good! Here I
report an ordinary day except for the fact that I saw a cute little tree
frog on my raspberry leave as I was picking raspberries. It didn't move away
from me, just sat there looking cute! I picked all around it and it just
stayed there like I wasn't even close. Interesting, huh? They sure are
small and green like the leaf! It sure is cooler out now - all week it won't
get much higher than 77 - with 79 on Friday. I do hope and pray that Darla
is staying safe there in Texas. She never mentioned anything about the
fires. I'll try to call her later tonight. For supper tonight I made a
kind of a hot dish with a lot of our tomatoes and it turned out delicious!
Thought I'd use up some tomatoes in cooking first before I start making
spagetti sauce. Thursday evening we've invited our friends over (the ones
we went to the Fair with) for a fish fry. Linus will fry the fish in the
garage so it won't be stinking the house up. I'll make a large good salad,
and maybe some sweet potatoe fries, or fresh potatoes out of the garden, and
maybe we'll have some more fresh green beans to pick, I know our carrots are
ready too, and for dessert, ice cream with raspberries on top, or if I get
time, I'll make an apple dessert with ice cream. It should be nice enough
to eat out in the patio, I hope not too cool.

Homily of the Day


September 6, 2011


What Are You Not Seeing?
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

Col 1:24-2:3 / Lk 6:6-11

Imagine a man living all his life with a withered hand. People stared at
him, his playmates gave him a cruel nickname, and there were all sorts of
things he just couldn’t do. And then suddenly, after a lifetime of that, he
was made whole — in an instant.

Now what would be the normal, healthy reaction to seeing that happen? Wouldn’t
it be delight? Of course! But that’s not what happened in today’s gospel.
The Pharisees flew into a frenzy because the healing took place on the
sabbath. It was a violation of the commandment: keep holy the Lord’s day.

Jesus tried to wake them up by asking, “Is it lawful to do a good deed on
the Lord’s day?” Now we’d assume there’s no better time, no better way to
keep the day holy. But those Pharisees just didn’t get it. Instead, they
launched a conspiracy to get Jesus.

It was a case of total blindness: they couldn’t see that their actions made
no sense. And they couldn’t see their own motives, which were plain enough
to everyone else.

Blindness like that isn’t rare. We see it in various forms all around us.
And that should raise some questions about ourselves: What am I not seeing?
Are some of my motivations distorted or self-serving? Am I closing my eyes
to circumstances in which I habitually do harm? What faults am I hiding
under layers of denial?

Those are hard questions, but we all need to ask them fearlessly. We can do
that, even in the worst of cases, because we know that Lord who healed the
man with the withered hand can heal us too. And he will, if only we name
what needs his healing, and give it to him, and don’t take it back.


Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Help Us to Listen

Dear God,
help us to listen
to all the angels and saints you send us,
especially those disguised as
our fellow companions in faith.
Amen.

from Joan of Arc: God’s Warrior

Mother Teresa Said...

"If we are careful of silence it will be easy to pray and to pray fervently.
There is so much talk, so much repetition,
so much carrying of tales in words and in writing.
Our prayer life must suffer so much because our hearts are not silent,
for as you know "only in the silence of the heart, God speaks."
Only after we have listened can we speak from the fullness of our hearts."

Our Refuge

When times are dark and dreary
and no one seems to care
Jesus is our refuge
when we go to him in prayer

He's always near to help us
and make our burden light
He's like a ray of sunshine
even in the darkest night

--clara potner

The Cross

The power of the cross...an incredible story

In 1967 while I was taking a class in photography at the University of
Cincinnati, I became acquainted with a young man named Charles Murray, who
was also a student at the school and training for the summer Olympics of
1968 as a high diver. Charles was very patient with me as I would speak to
him for hours about Jesus Christ and how He had saved me. Charles was not
raised in a home that attended any kind of church, so all that I had to tell
him was a fascination to him. He even began to ask questions about
forgiveness of sin. Finally the day came that I put a question to him. I
asked if he had realized his own need of a redeemer and if he was ready to
trust Christ as his own Saviour. I saw his countenance fall and the guilt in
his face. But his reply was a strong 'no'. In the days that followed he was
quiet and often I felt that he was avoiding me, until I got a phone call
from him. He wanted to know where to look in the New Testament for some
verses that I had given him about salvation. I gave him the references to
several passages and asked if I could meet with him. He declined my offer
and thanked me for the scripture. I could tell that he was greatly troubled,
but I did not know where he was or how to help him.

Because he was training for the Olympic Games, Charles had special
privileges at the University pool facilities. Sometime between 10:30 and
11:00 that evening he decided to go swim and practice a few dives. It was a
clear night in October and the moon was big and bright. The University pool
was housed under a ceiling of glass panes so the moon shone brightly across
the top of the wall in the pool area. Charles climbed to the highest
platform to take his first dive. At that moment the Spirit of God began to
convict him of his sins. All the scripture he had read, all the occasions of
witnessing to him about Christ flooded his mind. He stood on the platform
backwards to make his dive, spread his arms to gather his balance, looked up
to the wall and saw his own shadow caused by the light of the moon. His
shadow was in the shape of a cross. He could bear the burden of sin no
longer. His heart broke and he sat down on the platform and asked God to
forgive him and save him. He trusted Jesus Christ twenty some feet in the
air. Suddenly, the lights in the pool area came on. The attendant had come
in to check the pool. As Charles looked down from his platform he saw an
EMPTY pool which had been drained for repairs.

He had almost plummeted to his death, but the cross had stopped him from
disaster.
Galatians 6:14

Perfect Trust

Oh, for the peace of a perfect trust,
My loving God, in thee;
Unwavering faith that never doubts
Thou chooses best for me!
Best, though my plans be all upset;
Best, though the way be rough;
Best, though my earthly store be scant;
In Thee I have enough.
Best, though my health and strength be gone,
Though weary days be mine,
Shut out from much that others have;
Not my will, Lord, but Thine!
And even though disappointments come,
They, too, are best for me,
To wean me from this changing world,
And lead me nearer Thee.
Oh, for the peace of a perfect trust
That looks away from all;
That sees thy hand in everything,
In great events or small.
That hears Thy voice - A Father's voice -
Directing for the best.
Oh, for the peace of a perfect trust,
A heart with Thee at rest.

Good Morning Heavenly Father

Thank You dear Lord, for protecting and preserving me during the night and
for giving me this new day.

Good morning Heavenly Father, and thank you for the glory of the sun. And
thank you for the health I have to get my duty done.

I shall devout the hours of this golden day to You, by honouring Your Holy
Name in everything I do. I shall pursue my daily art without complaint or
fear and spend my every effort to be friendly and sincere

I know there have been many days that I have wiled away. But this is one
that I will try , to make Your special day.

And so once more, Good Morning Heavenly Father . And please depend on me
because I want to honour you for all eternity. Amen

Good night everyone - hope you all have a very positive and peaceful or just
an ordinary day tomorrow!! God bless you all and Sweet Dreams!