O Come Let Us Adore Him

O Come Let Us Adore Him
The journey of the first Christmas included traveling, waiting, fighting the crowds, plans and preparations that were thwarted by the need to register to pay taxes. We all can relate to this, after all, it almost sounds like a modern day at the mall during Advent.
Mary's and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem included not only joy but frustration, rejection, poverty, and trials.
But then there was that “Silent Night” when the heavens were opened and the Christ child was revealed to the world.
And yes, there was the Epiphany! (Matthew 2:1-12 )
How we all long to experience an epiphany with God! But are we willing to recognize that it takes time and work? In order to find Christ, the Three Kings and the Shepherds had to engage in a journey which involved time, sacrifice, faith and trials. Are we willing, like the Wiseman, to sacrifice in order to prepare our hearts for Christ?
Like the wisemen we have been given a star to guide us; The light of the church is there to guide us to Christ, who is waiting for us in the tabernacle and in the Sacraments. How will we respond to the Good News of Christmas? Can we respond with the shepherds, who upon hearing the Good News said: "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."?
The good news is Jesus is in the Tabernacle in our Catholic Churches. Let us go to Eucahristic Adoration and SEE.

JOY

"Only When God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is ...There is nothing more beautiful than to be surprised by the Gospel, by this encounter with Jesus Christ. THere is nothing more beautiful than to know HIm and to speak to others of our friendship with Him" Pope, Benedict XVI

The Mass

"If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy." ~ Saint Jean Vianney~
"There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us." ~ Saint Jean Vianney~
"It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass. " ~St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), stigmatic priest~

Morning Prayer

I will raise myself up from this bed of sleep to adore my God and to labour for the salvation of my soul. Oh, may I rise on the last day to life everlasting!

Taken from a Manuel of Catholic Devotions Imprimatur May 3 1900, Archbiship Michael Augustine

Never Give Up

"Don’t let your weakness, faults, and sins deter you. Repent and get up again and again. You honor the Lord by such fidelity, and there is no limit to His patience and His forgiveness. May God bless you and lead you day by day. May the Christ of the Gospels capture your heart and your mind in such a way that you will never be the same.” - Sister Ann Shields

Dependence on God

"The disciples came to Jesus and said, " Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?", And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, And said truly I say to you, unless you are converted, And become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name, receives Me."

A little child completely trusts His Father to care for him. A little child is completely dependant on his father for all his needs.
Are we willing to admit that we need God? Can we trust Him like a little child?

Choose life!

Autumn

Change is in the air. The leaves are turning, changing falling. I have often reflected on how beautiful the leaves are just before they die. There is something so peacefull about watching the leaves fall gracefully and effortlessly to the ground. It makes me think about the paradox of the cross, that it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Change
Leaves falling in beautiful golds and reds,
Dying
While we give thanks for life
And reap the harvest;
Beautiful, mystical fall.

St Therese of Lisieux

"Our Lord needs from us neither great deeds nor profound thoughts. Neither intelligence nor talents. He cherishes simplicity."

"Jesus, help me to simplify my life by learning what you want me to be - and becoming that person."

- St Therese

"St Therese of Lisieux was born in Alencon, France in 1873. ...
During her short lifetime St Therese sought to approach God through a path of simplicity and love. She developed a path know as “the little way” The philosophy she developed was. to do the ordinary things of life with great love and attention.

“You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love at which we do them”

St Therese died of tuberculosis at the early age of 24. However her writings were published after her death and have inspired. St Therese is often associated with the rose as she had a particular fondness for roses and often roses appeared in miracles attributed to St Therese after he death." info found on
http://www.writespirit.net/spirituality/women-saints/st_therese_lisieux

To Tell the Truth

"There is nothing more important than Truth"
- Mother Theresa
The Truth sets us free to Love.
Mother Theresa also said
"Faith in Action is Love"
"Love in Action is Service"

Our Lord Jesus is the Way,the Truth and the Life. He showed us love in action his entire life. On this feast day of the exhaltation of the Holy Cross I give thanks to Jesus for is mercy and love poured upon us from His Cross. When I Gaze upon the cross and see that suffering has power and meaning it gives me strength. Suffering  need not lead us to despair but to hope and healing. He has truely showed us the way.
"Lord through your cross and resurrection, you have set us free, you are the savior of the world" Amen

Happy Birthday Mother Teresa

"I feel the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion." - Mother Teresa, in her 1979 Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

Never Doubt

"Never doubt in the dark what God told you in the light." Raymond Edman-

Put Your Hope in Christ

" In repentance and rest is your salvation,in quietness and trust is your srtength but you would have none of it....15 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion, For the Lord is a God of justice Blessed are all who wait for him" NIV ISAIAH 30:14-18

Multiple Sclerosis, Does God hear 0ur Prayers?

Today a nurse came to the house to start a five day regiment of steroids as prescribed by my doctor to help with relieve symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis. The nurse had to ask my about my symptoms and med. history. Upon telling her she looked at me in amazement and was speechless. I asked her what was wrong and she said that she sees people every day and hears their stories. Having heard mine she knows that I have been through hell and that I should be miserable like the rest of her clients. She shared how she was amazed at the peace and positive attitude I have. She asked me how that could be. She did not know tht my strength comes from knowing that Christ is going through this with me and that my hope is in Him.
I was able to share with her how God gives me strength, that my peace comes from my faith in God but more importantly from the grace to exercise my faith every day. Faith isn't always easy and fighting the temptation to feel sorry for ourselves is hard for everyone. For me it is easier when I depend on the Sacraments and God's word. I could see that she believed in God but did not know how to put her faith in to practice. She did not know how to trust him.
Trust comes from building relationship. It takes work. It is not easy to read scripture every day, pray the Rosary daily or make Mass as often as possible but neither is it easy for an athlete to work out every day. But like the athlete who knows he has muscles and also knows that having muscles is simply not enough; we have faith and we must know that that is not enough. Someitmes I  have to remind myself that  in order to persevere I need to exercise our faith daily, in good times and in bad, through commitment to prayer and service. The athlete knows that he has to exercise his muscles in order for them to be a blessing to him and others. The Christian needs to persevere in the same way,exercising his or her spiritual muscles through practicing ones faith.

If you feel like God is not hearing your prayers, persevere. Make a commitment to seeking him in His Word, the Sacraments,and in prayer. Don't wait until a trial comes to grow strong in the Lord. Seek him now and grow strong now so that when the trial comes it does not take you by surprise and you will stand ready to fight with faith, hope and love.
Back to the Nurse and her inability to cope with her own difficulties and the suffering she sees every day.
She kept asking me about my testimony and I shared it with her. God touched her heart. It was a beautiful thing to see that the way God blessed me in my sufferings (with God's grace) gave her joy and the faith to persevere.
Dear Lord Help us to be instruments of faith, hope and love and to the truth that you will never leave us nor forsake us but that you will work all things together for good for those who love you. Should we in our weakness despair help us to persevere. Without you and your grace we can do nothing. Glorify your name and deliver us from every evil. Amen
Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Don't Quote Me on Laughter

You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it.” Cosby
"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.” Twain
-"A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.."ECC
-"Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh."Luke 6:21

Suffering with Christ

I heard a soul say try to explain the mystery of suffering today. He said that some souls, if it is possible Jesus loves more. I disagree.
He said this in an effort to explain the mystery of why some suffer more than others.
First of all, who can measure how much suffering each one of us has? Impossible.
Secondly, Peter and Jon were called to be set apart at least twice; Once when they climbed the mount of transfiguration, where they received the great consolation of seeing Christ in his divinity, and then again in the garden of Gethsemane where they witnessed his agony.
They were close to him both in his sufferings and in His Glory.
Christ loves all and calls some to be closer to him than others. Those who are closer may experience His sufferings more readily but they also experience his joys and glories in greater ways. Good always conquers evil.
It serves us well to remember that there were two people crucified with Christ. One chose to be angry and bitter, but the other chose to accept it and in doing so he heard the voice of His savior promise him paradise.JD

Grace

I heard someone say today that God will give the grace that you need for today.
Don't worry about what might happen tomorrow. You're not there yet,nor are the graces that are prepared for it.
Matthew 6
31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Jesus Loves Us This I Know

"When you look at Jesus on the cross you remember how he loved you 2000 years ago and when you look at the Euchrist you see how he loves now" Taken from EWTN's special on St Margaret Mary

Romans 5:3

3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

What is the reason for your hope? Trust in the Lord. He will not disappoint. Come Holy Spirit fill us with your love overflowing.

-- Psalm 55 liv, 17-19,22

But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and He shall hear my voice: He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near to me...

22 Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.

Psalm 34:19

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;

Truth - St. Maximilian Kolbe

"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hetacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?"
~ St. Maximilian Kolbe

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven did promise to send the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my soul, the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit of Counsel that I may ever choose the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord with the sign of Your true disciples, and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.

Jeremiah 17: 7- 8 Trust

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is the Lord. He is like a tree planted beside the water that stretches out its roots to the stream: It fears not the heat when it comes, its leaves stay green; in the year of the drought it shows no distress, but still bears fruit."
Jeremiah 17: 7- 8

Theresa of Avila

Consider seriously how quickly people change, and how little trust is to be had in them; and hold fast to God, who does not change." Theresa of Avila

A Last Prayer Mother Theresa

Mother Theresa writes..

The devil may try to use the hurts of life,
and sometimes our own mistakes,
to make you feel it is impossible that Jesus really loves you,
is really cleaving to you. This is a danger for all of us.
And so sad,because it is completely the opposite of what Jesus is really wanting,
waiting to tell you. Not only that He loves you, but even more, He longs for you.
He misses you when you don't come close. He thirsts for you.
He loves you always, even when you don't feel worthy.
When not accepted by others, even by yourself sometimes,
He is the one who always accepts you.
Only believe, you are precious to him.
Bring all you are suffering to His feet,
only open your heart to be loved by Him as you are.
He will do the rest.
- Mother Teresa, 1910-1997 For more see side bar

Don't Quote Me - Mother Theresa

"If I can give you any advice, I beg you to get closer to the Eucharist and to Jesus... We must pray to Jesus to give us that tenderness of the Eucharist." -Mother Teresa of Calcutta