Jesus Our Hope

"The LORD is my light and my salvation;

Whom shall I fear? Psalm 27:1

"Be strong and let your heart take courage, All you who hope in

the LORD." Pslam 21:34

Hope in Christ

"I will lead the blind on their journey; by paths unknown I will guide them.

I will turn darkness into light before them, and make crooked ways straight. " (Revelation 14 ) The CCC says that Hope is the confident expectation of divine blessing and the beatific vision of God.." We all need to join the blind man in the gospel when he cried out... "Lord help us to see". We all need to put our hope in Christ.

HOPE from the Flowers

Our lives, like the tulips endure the long dark winter days. Their bulbs hidden under the ground amaze me. It seems a small miracle to watch as every spring they rise up out of the darkness, their colors brightening the earth while giving glory to God. These little signs of hope and resurrection encourage me as I contemplate God’s goodness and power to use the darkness and cold of winter to produce such life and beauty.Once we see the tulips winter seems almost forgotten.Dear God help us to trust you to bring new life, joy and beauty out of the winters of our lives.Amen

"Prayer of Discernment."

Happy Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness of my heart and give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity, sense and knowledge, Lord that I may carry out Your holy and true command. Amen. St Francis of Assisi

Lent - Season of Joy

At lent we contemplate the passion of Christ and so we are reminded of Our Lord Jesus's great love for us.
When we recieve this love it sets us free and gives hope. There is great joy in contemplating His personal love for us. A real love that proved itself in suffering in all things. But we can't recieve His love if we do not have open hands and open hearts and so we empty ourselves through prayer, fasting and sacrifice. The sacrifices we make though sometimes difficult are made lighter with the knowledge that it is the fruits of His Sacrifice on the cross that we all recieve. Freedom in Christ and the joy of eternal life .
"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. " Mother Teresa

The Sacred Heart Happy Valentines Day

"Behold this Heart which has so loved men that it has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming itself, in order to testify its love. In return, I receive from the greater part only ingratitude, by their irreverence and sacrileges, and by the coldness and contempt they have for me in this Sacrament of love... "-- Third apparition of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Sacred Heart of Jesus

In all my temptations, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my weaknesses, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my difficulties, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my trials, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my sorrows, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In all my work, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In every failure, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In every discouragement, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In life and in death, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
In time and in eternity, I place my trust in You,O Sacred Heart of Jesus.
[From: Catholic Book of Prayers]

Seeing Things in a New Light.

The light of Christ can change the way we see everything. How do we find His light?
I was reminded today that meditating on the scriptures everyday is an essential part of living in the light of Christ. For me this has always been true. When we come to Him humbly seeking him in the scripture, His word really does pierce our coldness of heart. Come Holy Spirit guide us in your Word.
Hebrews 4:12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hope for the Flowers

Only a month ago we celebrated Christmas and Lent is only a few weeks away.
Each day the sun shines a little longer. The days are literally getting brighter as we approach springtime. I see this as an invitation to contemplate Jesus the light of the world. His light warms the earth so that it can bear its fruit in due time. Sooner than we think the springtime sun will melt the snow and frost away and we will see the crocus flowers appear. I pray we all may experience His light, the light of God's Son, in a way that will warm our hearts, melting the frost of winter away so we can radiate His Love and Hope in all that we do. AmenEphesians 1:18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Titus1:31Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3and at his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,

Prolife

I heard on the news today that Abortion is the NUMBER ONE KILLER of African Americans in this country.

Let us pray for the conversion of President Obama that he would follow in the footsteps of Lincoln who freed the slaves. May he use his power to free all children from the horrors of abortions. May he have the courage and conviction to fight for the right to life of all and so do what it takes to eliminate the killing of all preborn children. Amen

A Mighty Lighthouse

As I cross on life's tumultuos seas,
Sailing from earth to Heaven's bright shore,
Christ is like a mighty lighthouse, Helping me to navigate my course.

He guides me safely through tides of temptation,
Over dangerous reefs of sin,
Lighting my way through dark troubled waters,
Til the glorious port of Heaven I win
Author Unknown

Saint Francis Xavier Seelos

"If you want to be happy, be holy. If you want to be very happy be very holy."
St.Francis Xavier Seelos

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