Divine Mercy

Donna Cori Gibson - Divine Mercy Chapletwww.catholic.org/video/?v=220

Pslam 16

Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord apart from you I have no good thing."
... I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made [known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace

No one honored Mary, mother of Jesus, more than God Himself when He chose her to be the mother of His son. And so when we honor the mother we honor the Son.

"Hail, through whom creation is renewed ...
Hail, through whom and in whom the Creator is adored ...
Hail, heavenly ladder, through whom God has descended ...
Hail, bridge leading those on earth to heaven."

The great Akathistos Hymn (6th century) of the Byzantine Rite

God is Watching Us

Before Ascending into Heaven Jesus said to His Disciples:

"I am with you always, to the close of the age."

There is a song that plays on the radio that everyone loves and it drives me nuts.
I think it is sung by Bet Midler. It's lyrics go something like..God is watching us, God is watching us, He is watching us from a distance..." Whenever I hear it, I feel like shouting .." NOT QUITE..!" After all God became man, lived and walked among us, suffered,died, was risen and sent us His Holy Spirit with the promise that He would be with us always.
God is watching us but He is Not watching from a distance. (Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;1 Cor)He longs for us to know Him intimately and he knows us intimately. He suffers in us and with us. When we feel discouraged we can remember that the life of Christ and God's Word tells us that God is Near and that His Holy Spirit abides in us .
Deuteronomy 31:8

:"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

The Fire of His Love

Luke 24:30
When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them.
31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.
32 They said to each other, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?"

They recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread and their hearts burned upon hearing his words. In this testimony of the resurrection of our Lord we hear the call to see Christ present in the Holy Eucharist. Oh ,that we would take the time to read His Word with faith so that our hearts too would burn within us and set the world on fire with the power of His Love.

Hope Pope Benedict XVI

"...the Gospel is not merely a communication of things that can be known—it is one that makes things happen and is life-changing. The dark door of time, of the future, has been thrown open. The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life. ...........

Taken from the ENCYCLICAL LETTERS PE SALVI OF THE SUPREME PONTIFFBENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS PRIESTS AND DEACONS MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS AND ALL THE LAY FAITHFUL ON CHRISTIAN HOPE

Divine Mercy

A - Ask for His Mercy. God wants us to approach Him in prayer constantly, repenting of our sins and asking Him to pour His mercy out upon us and upon the whole world.
B - Be merciful. God wants us to receive His mercy and let it flow through us to others. He wants us to extend love and forgiveness to others just as He does to us.
C - Completely trust in Jesus. God wants us to know that the graces of His mercy are dependent upon our trust. The more we trust in Jesus, the more we will receive.

Taken from www.thedevinemercy.org and www.marion.org

Happy April Fools Day

1 Corinthians 1:18

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved,

it is the power of God."

True Love is found in the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The prayer of the Church venerates and honors the Heart of Jesus just as it invokes His most Holy name. It adores the incarnate Word and his Heart which, out of love for men, he allowed to be pierced by our sins.
Christian prayer loves to follow the way of the cross in the Savior's steps.-- From the Catechism. P: 2669J

John 15:13 " Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends"

St. Thomas Aquinas

Quotes from St Thomas Aquinas

"The things that we love tell us what we are.”
"Happiness is secured through virtue; it is a good attained by man's own will."
"Most men seem to live according to sense rather than reason."

Life is Good

" The Lord chooses you, the Lord loves you."

Pope Paul VI

Isaiah 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob,And He who formed you, O Israel,

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;I have called you by name; you are Mine!

Throughout Scripture we see that God is merciful . Our God is a God who saves. Life is Good!

Choose Life

We must not be surprised when we hear of murders, of killings, of wars, of hatred. If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other."~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta ~

"Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in America. 78% of their clinics are in minority communities. Blacks make up 12% of the population, but 35% of the abortions in America. Are we being targeted? Isn't that genocide? We are the only minority in America that is on the decline in population. If the current trend continues, by 2038 the black vote will be insignificant. Did you know that the founder of Planned Parenthood, Margaret Sanger, was a devout racist who created the Negro Project designed to sterilize unknowing black women and others she deemed as undesirables of society? The founder of Planned Parenthood said, "Colored people are like human weeds and are to be exterminated." Is her vision being fulfilled today?" blackgenocide.org

Prayer For Mothers
Father in Heaven, we thank you for the gift of life.
Grant that all mothers who give birth may welcome their babies with love.
But if some mothers feel they are unable to raise their babies, grant that they may be compassionate toward the life which You have given and not destroy it before birth.
To those children who have been wantonly deprived of earthly life grant whatever happiness to which they are entitled, and to the mothers who have denied them life in this world, grant Your merciful grace of repentance and reconciliation with our Savior so that they may obtain eternal life in the next!
With ecclesiastical approval
Most Rev. Romeo R. Blanchette, D.D.

http://birthright.reachlocal.net/866-576-2764 http://www.saintgianna.org/
http://www.hopeafterabortion.com/

Made New

Ezekiel 36:26"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Isaiah 42:9"Behold, the former things have come to pass, Now I declare new things; Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."10Sing to the LORD a new song, Sing His praise from the end of the earth!

The Blessed Virigin Mary, Mother of God

Cyril of Alexandria"I have been amazed that some are utterly in doubt as to whether or not the holy Virgin is able to be called the Mother of God. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how should the holy Virgin who bore him not be the Mother of God?" (Letter to the Monks of Egypt 1 [A.D. 427]). "This expression, however, ‘the Word was made flesh’ [John 1:14], can mean nothing else but that he partook of flesh and blood like to us; he made our body his own, and came forth man from a woman, not casting off his existence as God, or his generation of God the Father, but even in taking to himself flesh remaining what he was. This the declaration of the correct faith proclaims everywhere. This was the sentiment of the holy Fathers; therefore they ventured to call the holy Virgin ‘the Mother of God,’ not as if the nature of the Word or his divinity had its beginning from the holy Virgin, but because of her was born that holy body with a rational soul, to which the Word, being personally united, is said to be born according to the flesh" (First Letter to Nestorius [A.D. 430]). "And since the holy Virgin corporeally brought forth God made one with flesh according to nature, for this reason we also call her Mother of God, not as if the nature of the Word had the beginning of its existence from the flesh" (Third Letter to Nestorius [A.D. 430]).
___Photo taken from http://www.crossroadsinitiative.com/pics/Virgin_Mary_Mother_of_God.jpg

Christmas in July, and August ...

  What was Christmas like for me?  Did I experience it as  one of the people in Bethlehem who were so busy they passed by the stable unaware that the cry they heard was the cry of their Savior? Did I take the time I should have to adore our Savior ,who came as a babe that was hungry for love, hungry to forgive and hungry for souls, my soul?
This  past Christmas, did I  miss what could have been an Epiphany or was I  like one of the shepherds who dropped their work and did  seek Christ ,and do what they could to diligently find Christ in the crowds?
Who did I  most relate to in the story of Christ's Birth?
This Christmas was I  like the Wise men - "seeking" by the light of the Church to find Christ? Or like the shepherds present in adoration and ready to receive and spread the Good news? Or like the Innkeeper who was too busy to notice or honor the Christ Child in others and closed the door of his heart to the Holy Family? Or like Herod opposing Christ altogether? Did I suffer loss for Christ's sake as did the the mothers of the Holy Innocents? Did I listen to the call to be like St Joseph, obedient and faithful or like Mary, in love with God, surrendered and obedient or like Jesus, little, poor, humble, forgiving, life giving?... Christmas meditations can keep me busy all year.

"Come to Bethlehem and See"

Luke 2:15
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
I am so impatient to get our shopping done.
My experience preparing for Christmas made me consider how impatient we all can be with ourselves and others. I guess that is par for the course as we live in a world that expects immediate results often achieved at a click of a button.

Ideally, we would like to embrace the trials of the season with joy that we are sharing in God’s plan to bring Christ into the world with a kind word or an open heart. I know that Christ will always remain in Christmas and keeping Him there is not the real problem. The real problem is making a way to remain with and in Him.

Little Boy,Little Fish, Big Faith

John 6:9  9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
The little boy gave the little he had trusting that nothing was impossible with God. He may of been one of the smallest among Christ followers but he had big faith that when we give Jesus our gifts no matter how small and limited we may think they are and no matter our weaknesses, Jesus can and will work wonders.

the Good News

In the Rosary God calls us to recall and contemplate not only the Sorrowful mysteries of the life of Jesus and Mary but also the Glorious, Joyful and those filled with the Light of God. In doing so we are called to be a people of Hope and Glory not doom and gloom. It is beautiful to discover that thehe mysteries of their lives are the mysteries of our own lives. The Rosary when recalled and prayed in union with the Church reminds us that the world and our lives are not hopeless. Like Jesus and Mary we too can persevere through our sorrow and so we are called to hope and Glory with Christ.
Church tradition calls us to pray the following Mysteries on certain days. Notice how only two days out of seven are we called to contemplate Christ's sufferings. The other five days we focus on joy, glory and light both in the lives of Jesus and Mary and in our own lives. A nice reminder to focus on the Good News !

Monday -Joyful
Tuesday -Sorrowful
Wednesday-Glorious
Thursday -Luminous
Friday-Sorrowful
Saturday-Glorious
Sunday -Glorious
For how to pray the Rosary go to http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/rosary/how_to.htm

In Memory of Michaela Rose Petit

"YOU MUST BE THE CANGE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD."
by Mohandas Gandhi
I read this quote in the newspaper today. It was in an advertisement which was actually a letter written by Mr. Petit who suffered the horrific loss of his wife and two daughters this summer in a violent home invasion. His daugher Michaela wrote this quote in her facebook. This month, 11-17-95, was her birthday. SHe was my daughters age.
The violence that struck this family has stricken us all and peirced all our hearts but Glory to God for the words and life of Mr. Petit and his family who continue every day to pierce our hearts with heroic acts of faith hope and love. Someone said once that nothing good last forever.
HOW WRONG THEY WERE.
ONLY WHAT IS GOOD LASTS FOREVER. Their horrible evening has ended but their powerful witness of love remains and will remain for eternity.
Let us pray for the Petit family and all those who are victums of violence. May the love of God that conquered death and violence through the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus Christ bring healing and resurrection in their lives and the lives they touch. Amen

Prayer for Families

Heavenly Father,
you have given us the model of life
in the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Help us, O Loving Father,
to make our family another Nazareth
where love, peace and joy reign.
May it be deeply contemplative,
intensely eucharistic,
revived with joy.
Help us to stay together in joy
and sorrow in family prayer.
Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families,
especially in their distressing disguise.
May the eucharistic heart of Jesus
make our hearts humble like his
and help us to carry out our family duties
in a holy way.
May we love one another
as God loves each one of us,
more and more each day,
and forgive each other's faults
as you forgive our sins.
Help us, O Loving Father,
to take whatever you give
and give whatever you take with a big smile.
Immaculate Heart of Mary,
cause of our joy, pray for us.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
Holy Guardian Angels,
be always with us,
guide and protect us.
Amen.
(Author: Mother Teresa of Calcutta)