Happy Holy Days

Maybe ,there is nothing wrong with saying Happy Holidays but there is something wrong when freedom of speech is infringed upon in the work place, as it is when people are told it is wrong to wish people Merry Christmas.
Let's give people the freedom to say any greeting necessary.
Whether it be that we celebrate the Jewish Hanukkah and the seven days of African-American Kwanzaa or Christmas let's stop just tolerating each other and lets pray that we really and truly work to accept and respect one another.

Advent/ Christmas Ham

Do you remember the anticipation you felt as a child as you gleefully awaited Christmas Day?
This Advent can I turn to God in my need with the same childlike faith and expectancy? Will I place my hope in His Goodness and willingness to give me His blessings in Christ?

"Behold Jesus the Lamb of God'

Marshall McLuhan said: "We become what we behold"

"The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven, and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth,"
- Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Meditation of St. Francis of Assisi

For more go to http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/tes/quotes12.html

Romans 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Never Never Give Up

No battle was ever won by giving up.
Never give in to despair.
Persevere in all things.
Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
Matt 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
John 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

Mother Theresa and Abortion

"I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is "Abortion", because it is a war against the child... A direct killing of the innocent child, "Murder" by the mother herself... And if we can accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love... And we remeind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts... - Mother Teresa

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

John: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up,
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

The Holy Cross of Jesus Chirst, lifted up for all to see His adorable heart vulnerable and peirced by a sword. on this cross we see His love poured out for us, for all to see and recieve. Our hearts our so hard. We want to forgive but we don't know how. We don't how to love and to trust as Jesus did. But Jesus, who knows and who suffered for us the abandoment, betrayal and pain of the cross, longs to heal our hardened hearts. There is power in the cross and in meditating on the cross of Jesus Christ. When we suffer, when it is hard to forgive, we can look to the cross of Christ and pray...
Jesus meek and humble of heart make my heart like unto thine.

The Fifth Joyful Mystery, The Joy of Finding Jesus.

The Child grew in size and strength, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.His parents used to go every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, and when He was twelve they went up for the celebration as was their custom. As they were returning at the end of the feast, the child Jesus remained behind unknown to His parents. Thinking He was in the party, they continued their journey for a day, looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.Not finding Him, they returned to Jerusalem in search of Him. On the third day they came upon Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. All who heard Him were amazed at His intelligence and His answers.
Luke 2:40-47 " Sin is the loss of Jesus, and since Mary felt the sting of His absence she could understand the gnawing heart of every sinner and be to it,
in the truest sense of the words, "refuge of sinners". Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Mary pray for us that we may have the grace to persevere in seeking and finding Jesus when we fall. Remind us that he is always there waiting for us in our churches as He resides there in the Blessed Sacrament. Amen

Be a Saint

You cannot be half a saint. You must be a whole saint or no saint at all you will remain.
-- St Therese of Lisiuex

Happiness

"Don't spend your life sitting on the fence, keeping your options open, because only commitments bring fulfilment. Happiness comes from meeting our obligations, doing our duty, especially in small matters and regularly, so we can rise to meet the harder challenges," 

Cardinal Pell at the opening mass World Youth Day 2008 ( celebrates WYD08 Opening Mass at Barangaroo - Australia)

Saint Francis de Sales

Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections. Saint Francis de Sales Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly. Saint Francis de Sales

"Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs. "

"Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. " Saint Francis de Sales

Copy Cat

" You were born an original. Don't die a copy." John Mason

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!