Community Chat

[gloriajean]

There is not one moment that we are separated from God's care unless
we choose to be. Lord, You provide for my daily needs and deliver me
from evil. You are my refuge.

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

"When you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears
shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'"
~Isaiah 30:21

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

"When you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears
shall hear a word behind you, saying, 'This is the way; walk in it.'"
There seems to be a right way to live and a wrong way. We can make a
practical test. When we live the right way, things seem to work out well
for us. When we live the wrong way, things seem to work out badly. We
seem to take out of life about what we put into it. If we disobey the
laws of nature, chances are that we will be unhealthy. If we disobey
the spiritual and moral laws, chances are that we will be unhappy. By
following the laws of nature and the spiritual laws of honesty, purity,
unselfishness and love, we can expect to be reasonably healthy and
happy.

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

I pray that I may try to live the right way. I pray that I may follow
the path that leads to a better life.

Hello my friends! How was your day today? Our snow stopped for now - roads are clear, driveway plowed out again! Temp is 23 now. My blessings today would have to be his day off and we went to Mass this morning and Adoration this afternoon. Made simple meals, got everything cleaned up now for left-overs. I think I'll make a beef roast tomorrow.
Haven't had beef in awhile. I got up real early this morning, so I had a nap before we went to Adoration. More blessings - and won't take them for granted - food in our freezer and pantry - so we won't go hungry. Friends who are always with you - an email away or a phone call away! Our Lord Who never leaves you - just call upon Him and He's there for you!
Can't forget Mary - what a blessing she is to all of us - Our own Heavenly Mother! I could go on and on and on about our blessings - our house, our patio, our Sammy, my wonderful husband and girls, and our good neighbors who help us when we need help, willingly! Living here in the US instead of the war countries is a great blessing.
Thanks friends for all your posts and for keeping this thread alive and well!! If it wasn't for you, this would die.

Homily of the Day


February 22, 2011


Upon This Rock
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.

1 Pt 5:1-4 / Mt 16:13-19

Today the Church celebrates the feast day of the Chair of Peter. This celebration dates back to at least the fourth century. The Calendar of Philocalus, made in the year 354 and having dates going back to the year 311, marks February 22 for this feast. According to very ancient Western liturgies, February 22 was the date that Christ appointed Peter to sit in His place as the authority over His Church. What we read in the Gospel of Matthew when our Lord said to Peter, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18) is said to have occurred on this date.

The “chair” of course, is the position, the authority that was given to Peter. This can also be called the Petrine authority or the authority of the pope. Peter, alone among the Apostles, was given the keys to the kingdom. Jesus said to him, “I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” The Apostles would immediately understand, as would any first-century Jew, what Jesus was referring to when He said “keys to the kingdom”. This was a reference to Isaiah 22 where it refers to a king delegating his special authority over his kingdom to his prime minister. In essence, Jesus was setting up His kingdom on earth (the Catholic Church) and he was delegating His authority to Peter to rule over it until He comes again. In giving Peter the authority to bind and loose, Jesus was essentially stating that He would back up the decisions that Peter would make. Of course, the Church teaches us that this does not refer to all Peter’s actions, but in matters of faith and morals, Peter does have the authority to speak for Christ.

Christ promised to send the Holy Spirit to guide His Church. This promise is made to guide Peter and the popes throughout the ages, in union with the bishops, in shepherding His Church. Peter, or the pope, however, is the shepherd who watches over the flock until Christ returns. We see this in Scripture also when Christ, after His resurrection and just prior to His Ascension, says to Peter, calling him by his former name (before Christ changed it):

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” (Referring to the other apostles)

Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”

He said to him, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”

Peter was distressed that He had said to him a third time, “Do you love Me?” and he said to Him, “Lord, You know everything, You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep” (Jn 21:15-17).

Jesus is our true Shepherd, but He has asked Peter to watch over His flock until He returns to earth. Christ is the King of Kings and He has delegated His authority to Peter and all those after Peter who would sit in the “Chair of Peter” throughout the ages until He comes again in His glory. And so Scripture makes it very clear why the Church celebrates this special occasion.

Short Meditation
The Little Love

Where is the little love in my life,
and how can I make a difference?


from The Simple Way: Meditations on the Words of St. Francis


Mother Teresa Said...
Jesus, you have given everything, life, blood, all.
Now it is my turn.
I put everything into the field also.
The common soldier fights in the ordinary lines

Prayer for Missionaries

O almighty God, Lord of the harvest of souls, we ask You to guide and bless all who have gone forth to preach the gospel. Endow them with the gifts of generosity and concern. Send your Holy Spirit on them, that He may strengthen them in weakness, comfort them in trials and direct their efforts. May He open the hearts of their hearers to receive Your message. Let Your revelation enlighten all minds for the salvation of souls, and let Your love heal every heart and body for the happiness of each person. May all people consciously acknowledge You and serve You by living the teachings of Your Son. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Read till the end:
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any." (Mark
11:25)

Few people realize just how closely connected faith and forgiveness are.
Jesus taught about that connection in His sermon on mountain-moving faith
that's recorded in Mark 11:22-26.

He said, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive."

Jesus backed those two sentences up together on purpose. He wanted us to
know that releasing those who have wronged us is fundamental to receiving
from God. He wanted to impress on our hearts the fact that we cannot have
our prayers answered and hold grudges in our hearts at the same time.

Unforgiveness clogs the faith channel and keeps you powerless against the
mountains in your life!

If you've been praying for something and you just can't seem to get an
answer, check your heart for unforgiveness. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring any
grudge that's hidden there to light. Unclog the channel of faith and you
will soon see things you've been praying for come to pass.

Scripture Study: Matthew 18:21-35

The Apple Tree


A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the tree top, ate the apples, took a nap under the shadow... He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by... the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree everyday. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad.

"Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy.

"I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore." The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them."

"Sorry, but I don't have money... but you can pick all my apples and sell them. Then you will have money." The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy (now a man), returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me" the tree said.

"I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?"

"Sorry, but I don't have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house." So the man cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the man never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted. "Come and play with me!" the tree said.

"I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?"

"Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy." So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.

Finally, the man returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry, Sir, but I don't have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you..." the tree said.

"I don't have teeth to bite" the man replied.

"No more trunk for you to climb on"

"I am too old for that now" the man said.

"I really can't give you anything... the only thing left is my dying roots" the tree said with tears.

"I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years." The man replied.

"Good! Old tree roots is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, Come sit down with me and rest." The man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears...

This is a story for everyone. The tree is our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad... When we grew up,we left them... only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they can to make you happy. You may think the boy is cruel to the tree but that is how all of us are treating our parents. love your parents, no matter where they are.








A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.


He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock . Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it. We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.
There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you.. Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.


APPRECIATE EVERY SINGLE
THING YOU HAVE, ESPECIALLY YOUR FRIENDS!
LIFE IS TOO SHORT AND FRIENDS ARE TOO FEW!


Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to MOVE your Feet'

ASAP
Always Say A Prayer

Remember that ASAP means "Always Say A Prayer"

Closing Prayer:

Prayer for Sick Children
Father of tenderness and compassion, you sent your Son to share our human nature,
to redeem all people, and to heal the sick.
Look with love on your children who are sick.
Support them with your power, give them hope in times of suffering
and keep them always in your care.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
+ + + + + + + + + +
PARENT’S PRAYER
Lord, I am angry and afraid today as I try to cope with my child’s illness.
You prayed in your agony Lord to let this chalice pass.
Give me the strength to watch over my little one well
And to say with you ‘let your will be done, not mine’.
+ + + + + + + + + +
Lord, give all sick children the inner strength to cope with the pressures that their illness brings. Help them to accept the love and care which their families have for them during this difficult time and give them the courage to let their parents know they love them.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Good night everyone - Sweet Dreams to all and may you all have a wonderful middle day of the week - Wednesday - with blessings abundantly!
See you then! God bless you all!!