Community Chat

[gloriajean]

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.

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

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


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

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 really
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.

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

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.

Hello my friends! Today was a day of blessings to share: first that Darla
is OK with all those tornadoes going on in Texas. She first called me to
light a candle, she was scared, and then she called to let me know when it
was over and she was ok and said the candle worked! The candle didn't work,
Faith worked! Yes, that was a huge blessing to know she's alright. Then
Linus came home from work - his feet were much better - praise God and being
this is my birthday month, he bought me a dozen all colored roses!!!!!!!
How beautiful they are! There is some white, yellow, rose colored and I
think some red. My goodness, what a nice surprise and blessing that was!!
Then a nice phone call from Ann saying what a nice time they had here
Saturday night, we had a nice, long visit. She called to find out how Darla
is with the tornadoes there. One more day and then Linus is off until the
14th when we get back from Texas. He's so looking forward to it and then
hoping the new appliance job will be ready for him so he can give his
notice. Continue praying for this, ok? It's so appreciated!

Official Prayer to ask favors thru the intercession of Blessed John Paul II

O Blessed Trinity, we thank you for having graced the church with Pope John
Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your fatherly care, the glory of
the cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through
him. Trusting fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession
of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has
shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life
and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you. Grant us, by his
intercession, and according to your will, the graces we implore, hoping that
he will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.

JESUS' DEATH - 60 SECONDS ~~~


For the next 60 seconds, set aside whatever
you're doing and take this opportunity!
Let's see if Satan can stop this...

THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF JESUS
At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the death penalty.

At the time crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals
condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus, for
unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion Jesus was nailed to
the cross by His hands and feet, rather than tied...
Each nail was 6 to 8 inches long.
The nails were driven into His wrist. Not
into His palms as is commonly
portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that
extends to the shoulder. The Roman guards knew
that when the nails were being hammered into the
Wrist, that tendon would tear and
break, forcing Jesus to use His back
muscles to support himself, so that He could breathe.

Both of His feet
were nailed together. Thus He was forced to
support Himself on the single nail that
impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could
not support himself with His legs for long because of the pain,
so He was forced to alternate between arching His back
and using his legs just to continue to
breath. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the
suffering, the courage.

Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours.

Yes, over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of
suffering? A few minutes before He died,
Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water
from his wounds.

From common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear
wound to His side...
But do we remember the many wounds
made to his body. A hammer
driving large nails through the wrists, the feet overlapped
and a nail hammered through the arches, then a
Roman guard piercing His side with a spear. And...
before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and
beaten. The whipping was so severe that it tore the
flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His
face was torn and his beard ripped from His face. The
crown of thorns (two to three inch thorns) cut deeply into His scalp. Most
men
would not have survived this torture.
He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His
wounds. The human adult body contains about 5 liters
(just over a gallon) of blood.

Jesus poured all 5 liters of his blood;
He had three nails hammered into His
body; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond
that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His chest.
All these without mentioning the humiliation He passed after carrying His
own
cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd spat in his
face and threw stones (the cross beam was almost 30 kg of weight, to which
His hands were nailed).
Jesus had to endure this experience,
so that you may have free access to God.
So that your sins can be "washed" away.
All of them, with no exception!
Don't ignore this.

God of such unwavering love,
how do I "celebrate"
the passion and death of Jesus?
I often want to look the other way
and not watch,
not stay with Jesus in his suffering.
Give me the strength
to see his love with honesty and compassion
and to feel deeply
your own forgiveness and mercy for me.
Help me to understand
how to "celebrate" this week.
I want to be able to bring
my weaknesses and imperfections with me
as I journey with Jesus this week,
so aware of his love.

With permission from: Creighton U Online Ministries

GOD ANSWERS PRAYER

I know not by what methods rare,
But this I know - God answers prayer,
I know not when He sends the word
That tells us fervent prayer is heard.
I know it cometh -- soon or late:
Therefore we need to pray and wait.
I know not if the blessing sought
Will come in just the way I thought.
I leave my prayers with Him alone,
Whose will is wiser than my own.

Lord let me capture the pure spirit of a loving child when I speak Your
name.
Let me pray as a child prays, asking little for myself,
much for other souls and for Your beautiful world.
Protect me, sleeping and waking, from evil.
Lead me by the hand to good works.
Let me praise You in simple words and in glorious silence through all
the days and the nights of my life.
Amen.

~ Author Unknown ~

Ten Rules for Ending Resentment
by NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

FIRST: When anyone hurts you, put "spiritual iodine" on the wound at once.
That is, pray hard about it. If you do not do this it will fester.

SECOND: If resentment has hardened in your thoughts, apply grievance
drainage. That is, open your mind and let the grievance flow out.

THIRD: Do this by unburdening yourself to a trusted counselor or write a
letter to the person against whom you have the resentment. Then tear it up
and and while holding the pieces in your hand pray for the person and
forgive them.

FOURTH: Become fully aware of the harm resentment can do to you, even to
making you ill. Think of that whenever a hate thought comes.

FIFTH: Don't stop with forgiving a time or two. Do it, if necessary, seventy
times seven---490 times to be literal.

SIXTH: Thinking about forgiving is not enough. You must come to a specific
moment when you say "With God's help I now forgive."

SEVENTH: Repeat the Lord's Prayer inserting your offender's name, "Forgive
me my trespasses as I forgive..........."

EIGHTH: Pray for the other person, asking specific blessings for them,
especially concerning matters which have previously annoyed you the most.

NINTH: Speak in a kindly and complimentary manner and as often as possible
about the person against whom you harbor antagonism.

TENTH: Make a sincere study of the personality factors which created an
unhappy relationship so that the "mistake pattern" in yourself may not
recur.

Praying for all of you to have a very good Holy Week and Joyful Easter!