Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Keep your feet firmly planted in your faith and your eyes raised to the<br /> heavens.<br /> Lord, You are my strength, my encouragement and my source of all that is<br /> good.<br /> <br /> Scripture for the day:<br /> <br /> "To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; do not let me<br /> be put to shame." ~Psalm 25:1-2<br /> <br /> Meditation for the day:<br /> <br /> I can link up my frail nature with God's limitless power. I can link my<br /> life with God's force for good in the world. It is not the passionate<br /> appeal that gains God's attention as much as the quiet placing of our<br /> difficulties and worries in God's hands. So I can trust God like a child<br /> who places its tangled skein of wool in the hands of a loving mother to<br /> unravel. We can please God more by our unquestioning confidence than by<br /> imploring God for help.<br /> <br /> Prayer for the day:<br /> <br /> I pray that I may put all my difficulties in God's hands and leave them<br /> there. I pray that I may fully trust God to take care of them.<br /> <br /> Hello my friends! With Christmas on a Tuesday it almost seems today was a<br /> Sunday and tomorrow is Monday! I had to catch myself - it's Wednesday!! I<br /> goofed up enough on the Christmas Eve thread and couldn't edit it at all<br /> unfortunately! Today's blessings on this Christmas day started out with a<br /> very beautiful, prayerful, Mass - Choir singing Christmas carols - our young<br /> priest, Fr. Joe, even went to the choir and sang "O Holy NIght" - he has a<br /> great voice!! He said that he and another priest in the Seminary would<br /> always sing "O Holy NIght" in a duet and it just wouldn't seem right if he<br /> didn't sing it this morning - the choir did the refrains and it was just<br /> marvelous!! Then during the consecration he sang all the words, and that<br /> was so moving, too. This was his first Christmas here, and his first one as<br /> a priest! Another blessing - Lori was here for our dinner - then she left<br /> for her friend who is lonely today because she lost both parents. After<br /> Darla and Greg were at his parents, they stopped in here yet to see us<br /> before taking off for home tomorrow morning. She is still very sore and has<br /> migraines too, so please keep her in prayer - especially for their long<br /> drive home tomorrow. Greg has to be at work on Thursday - and it's a 1600<br /> hour drive. Tomorrow morning I get two teeth extracted! Praying for you all for your needs, thanks for your prayers for<br /> us.<br /> <br /> Christmas Poem<br /> This poem was written by a Marine<br /> <br /> TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,<br /> HE LIVED ALL ALONE,<br /> IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF<br /> PLASTER AND STONE.<br /> <br /> I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY<br /> WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,<br /> AND TO SEE JUST WHO<br /> IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.<br /> <br /> I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,<br /> A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,<br /> NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,<br /> NOT EVEN A TREE.<br /> <br /> NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,<br /> JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,<br /> ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES<br /> OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.<br /> <br /> WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,<br /> AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,<br /> A SOBER THOUGHT<br /> CAME THROUGH MY MIND.<br /> <br /> FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,<br /> IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,<br /> I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,<br /> ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.<br /> <br /> THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,<br /> SILENT, ALONE,<br /> CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR<br /> IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.<br /> <br /> THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,<br /> THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,<br /> NOT HOW I PICTURED<br /> A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.<br /> <br /> WAS THIS THE HERO<br /> OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?<br /> CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,<br /> THE FLOOR FOR A BED?<br /> <br /> I REALIZED THE FAMILIES<br /> THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,<br /> OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS<br /> WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.<br /> <br /> SOON ROUND THE WORLD,<br /> THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,<br /> AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE<br /> A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.<br /> <br /> THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM<br /> EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,<br /> BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,<br /> LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.<br /> <br /> I COULDN'T HELP WONDER<br /> HOW MANY LAY ALONE,<br /> ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE<br /> IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.<br /> <br /> THE VERY THOUGHT<br /> BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,<br /> I DROPPED TO MY KNEES<br /> AND STARTED TO CRY.<br /> <br /> THE SOLDIER AWAKENED<br /> AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,<br /> 'SANTA DON'T CRY,<br /> THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;<br /> <br /> I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,<br /> I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,<br /> MY LIFE IS MY GOD,<br /> MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.'<br /> <br /> THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER<br /> AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,<br /> I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,<br /> I CONTINUED TO WEEP.<br /> <br /> I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,<br /> SO SILENT AND STILL<br /> AND WE BOTH SHIVERED<br /> FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.<br /> <br /> I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE<br /> ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,<br /> THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR<br /> SO WILLING TO FIGHT.<br /> <br /> THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,<br /> WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,<br /> WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA,<br /> IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.'<br /> <br /> ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,<br /> AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.<br /> 'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,!<br /> AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.'<br /> <br /> LETTER FROM THE CHRISTMAS CELEBRANT<br /> Hello dear friend!<br /> <br /> Well as you know, it's time for my birthday again.<br /> <br /> Last year, they had a really big party for me and it seems like they will do<br /> it again this year. After all they've been shopping and preparing for it for<br /> months now, and there have been announcements and advertisements almost<br /> every day about how soon it's coming! They really do go overboard about it,<br /> but it's nice to know that at least on one day of the year some people are<br /> thinking about me a little.<br /> <br /> You know, it's been many years now since they first started celebrating my<br /> birthday. Back then they seemed to realize and appreciate how much fun it<br /> seems for the little children. Just the same, it seems that most folks are<br /> missing the point of it all.<br /> <br /> Like last year, for example, when my birthday came around, they threw a big<br /> party, but can you believe it? I wasn't even invited! Imagine! The guest of<br /> honor, and they forgot all about me? Here they had begun preparing for the<br /> festivities months in advance, but when the big day came, I was left out in<br /> the cold.<br /> <br /> Well, it happened so many times in recent years, I wasn't even surprised.<br /> Even though I wasn't invited, I thought I'd just quietly slip in anyway. So<br /> I came in and stood off to the side.<br /> <br /> Everyone was drinking, laughing and having a grand time, when all of a<br /> sudden in came this fat fellow in a bright red suit, wearing a phony white<br /> beard and shouting, "Ho Ho Ho!" He looked like he had more than enough to<br /> drink. When he collapsed into a big armchair, all the little children went<br /> running over to him excitedly yelling, "Santa! Santa!" I mean, you'd have<br /> thought he was the guest of honor and the whole holiday was just for him.<br /> <br /> Then he began telling them the most ridiculous story you've ever heard -<br /> that he lives at the North Pole with a crew of dwarfs and that every year on<br /> my birthday he rides in his sleigh pulled by a bunch of flying reindeer,<br /> delivering presents to children all over the world! I mean there wasn't a<br /> word of truth in anything he said! Imagine telling such poor, little,<br /> impressionable kids such far-fetched fables!<br /> <br /> Finally I just had to leave. I walked out the door. It was no surprise that<br /> no one even noticed that I had gone. As I walked down the street afterward,<br /> I felt about as lonely and forlorn as a stray dog. I could not remember the<br /> last time I'd felt that low. Maybe you don't think I cry?? The little manger<br /> scene you put in the corner of your living room is really touching! It's<br /> good that people commemorate my birthday like that. Did you know that<br /> nowadays, in some countries, the authorities wouldn't even allow manger<br /> scenes to be placed in parks, streets, or public place anymore! Not to<br /> mention their schools!<br /> <br /> I'm not talking about Communist countries! I'm talking about the good, old<br /> USA. Imagine! What could be more innocent than a manger scene to remind<br /> people of my birthday? Yet it is banned! They've actually passed laws<br /> against it and made it illegal!<br /> <br /> What's this world coming to? Another thing that amazes me is how, on my<br /> birthday, instead of giving me presents, most people give gifts to each<br /> other! And to top it all off, it's usually all kinds of stuff they don't<br /> even need! Let me ask you what if, when your birthday came along, all your<br /> friends decided to celebrate it by giving each other presents and never gave<br /> you a thing?<br /> <br /> Someone once told me, "Well, it's because you're not around like other<br /> people are, so how can we give you a present? You know my answer to that<br /> one. Give gifts of food and clothing to the poor, help those who need it. Go<br /> visit the lonely! Any gift you give to your needy fellow man, I'll count as<br /> if you gave it to me personally! (See Matthew 25:34-40)<br /> <br /> Well sad to say, things are getting worse each year. You can just imagine my<br /> shock a few years ago when I began seeing them taking my title out of my<br /> birthday greeting and replacing it with an X. What an insult? Think of it!<br /> Xmas! What if I wrote you a birthday card and said Happy Birthday X! You'd<br /> probably never talk to me again! That is just about how I feel. What more<br /> could they do to push me right out of the picture on my own birthday?<br /> <br /> It reminds me of what happened recently to a friend of mine, a sweet elderly<br /> fellow. He's from the poorer side of town, and he's been trying<br /> unsuccessfully for years to join the church. It was a very exclusive church<br /> for the proper kind of folks, and they just did not think he was good enough<br /> to be a member.<br /> <br /> I found him one day sitting by the church steps with his head on his hands<br /> bowed. I asked him what was wrong. He told me about it. I put my arm around<br /> his shoulder and told him I knew just how he felt. I've wanted to enter that<br /> same church for twenty years and they've never let me in either!<br /> <br /> Well there is an end even to my patience. So I'm going to let you in on a<br /> secret. Now this is something I've been planning on doing for quite<br /> sometime. I'll have my own party! How about that? It's going to be the most<br /> fantastic feast you could possibly imagine! It might not happen this year,<br /> but I'm sending out the invitations now. I know you'll want to come.<br /> <br /> There is going to be room for billions, for everyone who wants to come! Some<br /> really famous old timers and celebrities are going to be there and I'll<br /> reserve you a seat of honor right with them! (Mat. 8:11) So hold on to your<br /> hat because when everything is ready, I'm going to spring it as a big<br /> surprise!<br /> <br /> Many people are going to be left out in the cold because they did not answer<br /> my invitation. Let me know right away if you'd like to come.<br /> <br /> I'll reserve you a place and write your name in large golden letters in my<br /> great big Guest Book!<br /> <br /> Much Love,<br /> JESUS<br /> <br /> The Holy Family<br /> <br /> December 25 - Christmas (family holiness)<br /> <br /> Sweet Jesus, You were born in a stable to become divine light in a dark,<br /> sinful world. Your little holy family was full of love, grace, kindness, and<br /> generosity. I ask Mary and Joseph to pray for my family to grow in the<br /> virtues that spring from unconditional love. I also ask them to pray for the<br /> growth of our faith. O Savior, increase our unity and give us a shared<br /> devotion to Your Holy Family. Purify me and teach me to identify my sins and<br /> change my ways so that Your light increases within me. Show me how to let<br /> Your light shine so brightly that my family sees You and is transformed by<br /> Your presence. Holy Family, pray for us. Amen.