Community Chat

[gloriajean]

As a mother sets aside gifts for her children long before they need them,
so,
too, has God prepared for our needs long before we call out to Him. Lord,
I give thanks and place my trust in Your loving arms.

Scripture for the day:

"Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in
you?" ~1 Corinthians 3:16

Meditation for the day:

We can gently breathe in God's spirit, that spirit which, if not barred out
by selfishness, will enable us to do good works. This means rather that God
can be enabled to do good works through us. We can become channels for
God's spirit to flow through us and into the lives of others. The works
that we can do will be limited only by our spiritual development. We can
let our spirits be in harmony with God's spirit and there need be no limit
to what we can do in the realm of human relationships.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may become a channel for God's spirit. I pray that God's
spirit may flow through me into the lives of others.

Hello my friends! A very restful day here - Mass, followed by coffee and
donuts and fellowship after Mass - very enjoyable. Mary Jo, who's at our
table at the Marion Retreat we do every Sunday night until next Sunday is
the last session - is a singer and she sang the Mass this morning - tonight
I complement her on her wonderful voice - she sings like an angel! She said
there is something that would require surgery in her neck that bothers her,
but it would require an operation on something there that she would never
sing again, so she won't have the surgery and live with it. I pray she can
be healed of that without surgery. Another very nice evening at the Marian
Retreat - and after that we were invited to a friend's house for coffee -
very nice visit - all blessings!! How are you all and what are your
blessings? Hope there are many! Praying for you all - thanks for your
prayers for us and God bless you!

THE MOUNTAIN CLIMBER
Author Unknown
December 2, 2012


They tell the story of a mountain climber, who desperate to conquer the
Aconcagua, initiated his climb after years of preparation. But he wanted
the glory to himself, therefore, he went up alone. He started climbing and
it was becoming later, and later. He did not prepare for camping but
decided to keep on going. Soon it got dark...

Night fell with heaviness at a very high altitude. Visibility was zero.
Everything was black. There was no moon, and the stars were covered by
clouds. As he was climbing a ridge at about 100 meters from the top, he
slipped and fell. Falling rapidly he could only see blotches of darkness
that passed. He felt a terrible sensation of being sucked in by gravity.

He kept falling....and in those anguishing moments good and bad memories
passed through his mind. He thought certainly he would die. But then he
felt a jolt that almost tore him in half. Yes!! Like any good mountain
climber he had staked himself with a long rope tied to his waist.

In those moments of stillness, suspended in the air he had no other choice
but to shout, "HELP ME GOD", "HELP ME!"

All of a sudden he heard a deep voice from heaven..."What do you want me to
do?"

"SAVE ME"

"Do you REALLY think that I can save you?"

"OF COURSE, MY GOD"

"Then cut the rope that is holding you up."

There was another moment of silence and stillness. The man just held tighter
to the rope.

The rescue team says that the next day they found, a frozen mountain climber
hanging strongly to a rope... TWO FEET OFF THE GROUND.

How about you? How trusting are you in that rope? Why don't you let it go?
I tell you, God has great and marvelous thing for you.
CUT THE ROPE AND SIMPLY TRUST IN HIM...

A MAN WAS BORN


2000 YEARS AGO THERE WAS A MAN BORN CONTRARY TO THE LAWS OF NATURE. THIS MAN
WAS REARED IN OBSCURITY. EARTHLY RICHES WERE NOT IMPORTANT TO HIM. HE DID
NOT TRAVEL EXTENSIVELY, ONLY ONCE DID HE CROSS
THE BOUNDARY OF THE COUNTRY IN WHICH HE LIVED AND THAT
WAS DURING HIS EXILE IN CHILDHOOD TO EGYPT. IN INFANCY HE STARTLED A KING;
IN CHILDHOOD HE AMAZED JEWISH
LEADERS, IN MANHOOD HE RULED THE COURSE OF NATURE, WALKING
UPON THE BILLOWS AS IF PAVEMENT. HE HUSHED THE SEA TO SLEEP. HE HEALED
MULTITUDES WITHOUT MEDICINE AND MADE NO CHARGE FOR
HIS SERVICE HE NEVER WROTE A BOOK, AND YET ALL THE LIBRARIES OF
THE COUNTRY COULD NOT HOLD THE BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN
ABOUT HIM, HE NEVER WROTE A SONG, AND YET HE HAS FURNISHED THE
THEME FOR MORE SONGS THAN ALL THE SONGWRITERS COMBINED. HE NEVER FOUNDED A
COLLEGE, BUT ALL THE SCHOOLS PUT TOGETHER
CANNOT BOAST OF HAVING AS MANY STUDENTS. HE NEVER PRACTICED PSYCHIATRY AND
YET HE HAS HEALED MORE
BROKEN HEARTS THAN ALL THE DOCTORS FAR AND NEAR. NAMES OF GREAT SCIENTISTS,
PHILOSOPHERS, AND THEOLOGIANS HAVE
COME AND GONE; BUT THE NAME OF THIS MAN ABOUNDS MORE AND
MORE. HEROD THE GREAT COULD NOT DESTROY HIM AND THE GRAVE
COULD NOT HOLD HIM. HIS NAME STANDS HIGHEST OF HEAVENLY GLORY,
ACKNOWLEDGED BY ANGELS AND FEARED BY DEVILS. "FOR THE LIFE OF THE FLESH IS
IN THE BLOOD AND I HAVE GIVEN IT TO
YOU UPON THE ALTAR TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR YOUR SOULS; FOR IT IS
THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT FOR THE SOUL" AS THE LIVING
PERSONAL CHRIST, THE MESSIAH AND SAVIOUR, THE REDEEMER OF MAN.
HERE IS GOD'S APPOINTED SACRIFICE FOR SINS. LONG AGO GOD'S DIVINE PRINCIPLE
WAS ESTABLISHED, THAT "WITHOUT
SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO REMISSION" TODAY GOD, IN WONDROUS LOVE TELLS
US, "THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON, CLEANSETH US FROM ALL SIN" JESUS IS
THE ONLY ONE THAT HAS FULFILLED ALL OF THE SCRIPTURES
REGARDING MESSIAH'S BIRTH, MINISTRY, DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
THERE ARE OVER 300 PROPHETIC SCRIPTURES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
CONCERNING MESSIAH'S INCARNATION. JESUS FULFILLED THEM ALL. GREAT IS THE
MYSTERY OF GODLINESS GOD WAS MANIFEST IN THE
FLESH IN ORDER THAT HE MIGHT DIE FOR YOU. HE CAME TO EARTH BUT WAS REJECTED
BY THE PEOPLE AS THEIR KING
AT THAT TIME. HE IS GOING TO COME TO THIS EARTH AGAIN AND THEN
HE WILL BE ACCEPTED AS NOT ONLY KING OF THE JEWS. BUT AS KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS TIME HERE ON EARTH IS SHORT ETERNITY IS FOREVER SOON JESUS
WILL
RETURN TO CLAIM HIS BELIEVERS ~~~ I KNOW I WILL BE ONE OF THEM
BECAUSE I SAID A SIMPLE PRAYER FROM MY HEART THE BIBLE SAYS WHEN YOU ASK FOR
FORGIVENESS AND EXPRESS YOUR
KNOWLEDGE THAT JESUS IS YOUR SAVIOR THE ANGELS REJOICE.

Catch of a Lifetime

He was 11 years old and went fishing every chance he got from a
dock at his family's cabin on an island in the middle of a New
Hampshire lake. On the day before the bass season opened, he and his
Father were fishing early in the evening, catching some fish and perch
with worms. Then he tied on a small silver lure and practiced
casting. The lure struck the water and caused colored ripples in the
sunset, thin silver ripples as the moon rose over the lake. When his
pole doubled over, he knew something huge was on the other end. His
Father watched with admiration as the boy skillfully worked the fish
along side the dock. Finally, he very gingerly lifted the exhausted
fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, but it
was a bass.

The boy and his Father looked at the handsome fish, gills playing
back and forth in the moonlight. The Father lit a match and looked at
his watch. It was 10 p.m. - two hours before the season (contest)
opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy. "You'll have to put
it back, Son," he said.

"Dad!" cried the boy.

"There will be another fish," said his father.

"Not as big as this one," cried the boy.

He looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were around
in the moonlight. He looked again at his Father. Even though no one
had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the
fish, the boy could tell by the clarity of his Father's voice that
the decision was not negotiable. He slowly worked the hook out of the
lip of the huge bass and lowered it into the black water. The
creature swished its powerful body and disappeared. The boy suspected
that never again would he see such a great fish.

That was 34 years ago. Today, the boy is a successful architect in
New York City. His Father's cabin is still there on the island in the
middle of the lake. He takes his own son and daughters fishing from
the same dock. He was right. He has never again caught such a
magnificent fish as the one he landed that night long ago. But he
does see that same fish - again and again - every time he comes up
against a question of ethics. For, as his Father taught him, ethics
are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of
ethics that is difficult.

Do we do right when no one is looking? Do we refuse to cut corners
to get the design in on time? We would if we were taught to put the
fish back when we were young. For we would have learned the truth.
The decision to do right lives fresh and fragrant in our memory. It
is a story we will proudly tell our friends and our grandchildren.
Not about how we had a chance to beat the system and took it, but
about how we did the right thing and were forever strengthened.

Friends, give up the bass, for one day you'll catch THE whale!

The Three Comings of Jesus

While Considering One, We Prepare for Another

One way of really enriching our Advent journey is to keep in mind the three
comings of Jesus, and how they relate to one another.
Jesus was born into our history - at a fixed point in time in the past.
Jesus comes to us now, in a whole variety of ways. Jesus promised that he
will come again in glory, at the end of time.



The Incarnation: Jesus has come.

This is not the coming we await. The first coming of Jesus has already
happened. Our preparation to celebrate his birth is the occasion for our
deeper reflection. On the first level, it is so important that we really
let ourselves experience the power of the Incarnation: God is with us.
That God became one of us means that "human" is one of the ways God can be.
The deeper we contemplate this mystery the more we enter into the grace of
"God with us." The more we let ourselves be touched by this mystery, the
more we see the connection between Christmas and Easter: all of this is
"for me" - for my salvation - to free me from the power of sin and death.

My Life Now: Jesus comes to me.

When we open our hearts and our mouths and plead, "Come, O Lord," we are
most directly experiencing our desire for the Lord to come to us and touch
us with the grace of salvation - that we might live it with greater freedom
and peace. Jesus is present whenever we need him to be present: actually,
whenever we turn to him - even with empty hands. Jesus is alive and active
in us when we read God's Word and let it into our hearts. Jesus promised to
be present with us whenever two or three are gathered together in his name.
And, we know Jesus comes to us whenever our sacrifices and our sufferings
unite us with his own mission. Advent is a special time to experience our
longing for the presence of Jesus with us now - in all the places we need
him most.

Our Future: Jesus comes again, in glory.

One of the most transforming graces of Advent is given us as our longing
deepens. The more grateful we become for how God saved us in Jesus, the
more deeply we enter into the mystery of how Jesus is with us now. The
closer we come to experiencing joy at how our Lord, Jesus Christ came into
our world, faithful to God and faithful to our life journey in the flesh,
the closer we come to experiencing the mystery of salvation in our everyday
lives. And, as our longing is filled with the utter fullness of God's gift
to us, we begin to long with the ultimate freedom: we long to be with him
in God. We live more at home in this world because our God made a home in
this world. But the whole story draws us to a complete picture of who we
are and where we belong. Then our prayer begins to change, in our hearts
and on our lips. We still are singing, "Come, Lord, Jesus!" but our song is
transformed into the free and complete song of the lover: "Come, and take
me with you."


Now we watch for the day,
hoping that the salvation promised us will be ours
when Christ will come again
in his glory.

- From Preface 1 of Advent

"Taken from Creighton University´s Praying Advent Site
<a href="http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/"> http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/Advent/</a>
Used with Permission.”

"Stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming" (Mt
24:42)

A Time to Prepare for the Coming of the Lord

The season of Advent begins today. At the heart of Advent is the idea of
preparation for the coming of the Lord not only at Christmas but also at the
end of our life. We mark this special character of Advent by the colour
purple and by omitting the Gloria. One aspect of preparation is to be aware
of where the Lord comes into our life, where we meet him in t he events of
the day.

PERSONAL PRAYER

Jesus, I believe that I have received your flesh to eat and your blood to
drink, because you have said it and Lord, make me aware of your presence.

Give me the eyes to see you in the events of today, in the faces of those I
meet, in the minds and hearts of those who think of me, in the lives of
those whose paths will cross mine today.

Today, the first Sunday of Advent, the Church begins four weeks of
preparation to welcome you on Christmas day. Grant me your grace that I may
not fail in my personal preparation during this season of Advent.

As I prepare myself for Christmas, let my thoughts be on you and my less
priviledged brothers and sisters in the society. Let my preparation be more
a spiritual one rather than a material one. Amen.

Dialogue with Christ: Lord, help me during this Advent Season, which begins
today, to see that the priority in my life is preparing myself and those
around me for a truly “spiritual” Christmas. I know it is a busy time of
year. Help me remain focused on what is essential -- you being born into our
hearts.

Resolution: I will begin some form of daily Advent reminder for myself and
those I live with so we can prepare our hearts for Christmas: Advent wreath,
Advent calendar, Jesse Tree etc.