Morning Prayer

Good Morning, Lord!

Thank You for the good sleep I had last night.  I feel refreshed this morning.  Thank You for that.  I just wanted to tell You that I love You, and I'm looking forward to this day.   I trust that You will be with me all day.  Thank You for that gift, too.  You do send some interesting challenges to me.  I know that without You I could not get through my day.  There was a time when I wasn't sure that You even cared about me.  My days were so challenging then!  Thank You for the peace I have received. 

Father, Jesus my Brother, Holy Spirit, I thank You for the gift of You.  You are our triune God!  We praise and bless You!  I thank You for the way You have worked in my life.  I thank You for the way You continue to work in my life.  I thank You for the way You work in my children's lives.  I thank You for the blessings You have given me through my children.  Father, we are all Your children.  We praise You and bless You for this gift.  Jesus, my brother, thank You for all that You have done for us!  You suffered and died that we might have eternal life.  Thank You.  Holy Spirit, we need You.  Pour out your blessings and graces on our very troubled world.  Thank You, our Triune God!

Father, I need to ask You for some things.  Please hear my prayer.
Bless our troubled world and send Your Holy Spirit to rekindle the flames of Your love and peace. 
Bless my children.  Manifest Your love in their lives and let them recognize this gift from You.
In the greatness of Your love for us, send the graces of salvation to those who are living lives outside of Your graces.  Grant them peace and love and the gift of a beautiful death, especially if they are going to see You face to face today.
Bless the Souls in Purgatory.  Bring them some relief from their sufferings and release souls to be with You.
Bless my family and all of our friends.  Let them be blessed with the gifts of the Spirit that they might become Your Apostles.
Bless all of Your priests.  Embrace them with Your love.
Bless all of those people who are suffering.  Relieve their sufferings and strengthen them.  Give them hope.
Bless all of those people who are grieving.  Relieve their sense of loss and strengthen them.  Remind them that with each new dawn their loved ones are enjoying the vision of You and that they are happy.
Bless all of the homeless and hungry of our world.  Bless all those kind and loving people who minister to them. 
 Bless all of those people, both living and dead, who have no one to pray for them.  May their prayers be heard by You, and may they be blessed.

Thank You, Father.  Thank You, my brother, Jesus.  Thank You, Holy Spirit.

We praise and honor You.  Help me to walk in Your path today and everyday.  Help me to see the face of Jesus in all that I meet and realize that these people are a blessing of love to me.  Praise to You!  Thank You!  I love You! 

If I only had time

And Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.' Mark 16:15

How often we fail to do God's work here on earth because we're just too busy.

If I only had time ...

What do the words mean to you?

What do the prayers mean to you?


This is an exercise to help you think about the words you are saying when you pray.  Awareness.  This is also an excellent exercise for your prayer journal.

1) Begin with your favorite prayer to invoke the Holy Spirit.
2) Break your prayer down into phrases and leave a couple of spaces between each prayer.
3) Listen to the whispers of the Holy Spirit in your heart as you begin to fill in the blanks of your prayers.
4) Consider doing this exercise every couple of months.  Meanings often change and when you listen to the Holy Spirit, you are called deeper and deeper into prayer.

Here are 3 of our basic prayers and how I interpret the words in each prayer.  Awareness.  Your words will probably  be different from mine.  Let the words from the Holy Spirit flow through you from your heart to your paper. 


Our Father
The prayer taught to us by Jesus as the perfect prayer.

Our Father,
Papa, Dad, Daddy, Beloved Creator, Name above all names, Creator of the Universe,

Who art in Heaven,
You are where we want to be when we die.  We want to be with you in heaven.  Heaven is Your creation, too.  You made this home for us.  Where ever you are is heaven.

Hallowed be Thy Name,
All holy are You.  Your name is Holy.  Your name is love.

Thy kingdom come,
May Your Kingdom come to earth.  May Your peace and love spread through out the world.

Thy Will be done,
May all that You wish be done here on earth.  May we, as your beloved children, live as You would like for us to live.  May we, as Your beloved children, do that which You ask of us as did the Patriarchs old to whom You promised the Messiah.

On earth, as it is in Heaven,
May our earth be filled with peace as peace fills Your heaven.  May we bring this about by doing Your will on earth.

Give us this day our daily bread,
Give us the food we need to eat, the homes in which we need to live, the clothes we need to live,

Forgive us our trespasses,
Forgive us our sins,

As we forgive those who trespass against us,
Forgive us in the  way we forgive others who have sinned against us.  Forgive us so that we might forgive them.

Lead us not into temptation,
Lord, even though you test us, give us the strength and courage to resist sin and abandon our earthly attachments which will lead us into sin.

Deliver us from evil,
Do not let us fall into the pit.  Give us the courage and strength to pick ourselves up when we fall and return to Your paths.

Amen.
So be it.

Read more at "His Unending Love."  Click HERE.

Quick Bytes #74: The Worst Evil

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"The worst evil is not the crime committed,
but the failure to do the good one might have done."
                                                  - Leon Bloy


P.S.  Want to see another thought-provoking quote
from Leon Bloy?  See my post at Reach Paradise.
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Prayers to St. Peregrine

Prayers to St. Peregrine

If you are afflicted with cancer:

St. Peregrine, whom Holy Mother Church has declared Patron of those suffering from Cancer, I confidently turn to you for help in my present sickness. I beg your kind intercession. Ask God to relieve me of this sickness, if it be his Holy Will. Plead with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Sorrows, whom you loved so tenderly and in union with whom you have suffered the pains of Cancer, that she may help me with her powerful prayers and loving consolation.
But if it should be God’s Holy Will that I bear this sickness, obtain for me courage and strength to accept these trails from the loving hand of God with patience and resignation, because he knows what is best for the salvation of my soul. St. Peregrine, be my friend and patron. Help me to imitate you in accepting suffering, and to unite myself with Jesus Crucified and the Mother of Sorrows, as you did. I offer my pains to God with all the love of my heart, for his glory and the salvation of souls, especially my own. Amen.


For another prayer to St. Peregrine go to "His Unending Love."

You're the best friend ...

Have you heard the joke about ...

The comedian stood on the stage and shouted "12".

And the audience laughed in unison.

He then said "15" and they laughed even louder.

He cried out "23" and they stamped their feet with delight as they laughed and applauded.

He continued with his repertoire "24 ... 33 ... 39 ..." and the audience were in tears with laughter as he kept calling out various numbers.

After about fifteen minutes or so on stage I asked him afterwards in his room what all that was about.

He explained, "This is a very loyal audience who follow me everywhere wherever I do a show. Over the years they got to know all my jokes and they enjoy hearing them over and again. In order to make the show go faster, and so that I can pack in more jokes, I have printed them all out and numbered them. The audience have memorised all the jokes. Now all I have to do is call out the number, they remember the joke, and laugh at it!"

I was amazed at what he had just said. "Why ..." I asked hesitantly, "why did they not laugh when you said 42?"

"They had not heard that joke before!" he answered.

Over the passed few days we have heard the story of Christmas read out in church several times.

A pregnant Virgin and her husband go to Bethlehem on a donkey. There is no room in the inn. They go to the stable where a baby is born and placed in a manger. An Angel appears to shepherds and announces the Birth; and a star guides three Kings from the East to the stable.

We've all heard the story many times before and no doubt we will hear it again next Christmas and beyond.

Is it yet another old story from folklore which tradition repeats every twelve months and, like that comedian's audience, we remember once again and smile silently as we celebrate with family and friends?

Or is it perhaps something more important than that? In fact, the most important event that has ever happened in the history of the world.

God, the Creator of the whole Universe and what is in it and beyond it, loved us so much that He decided to make Himself flesh and visit us on earth as a human being.

I wonder how many people, as they celebrate the "12" days of Christmas from the 25th to the 6th, stop for a moment and really and seriously think about the awesomeness that this event really means?  

1? ... 3? ... 7? ... 100? ... More?

Quick Bytes #73: Even the Holy Family

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I complain all the time about this thing or that thing.

How small all those problem felt as I thought about the Holy Family this Christmas.

Are any of my decisions as difficult as Joseph's decision to stay with Mary after she inexplicably became pregnant?

Is any of my pain as bad as what Jesus felt when nails were being driven through his body?

Is any of my suffering even close to what Our Blessed Mother had to endure watching her Son die for us?

Of course not.

So if the Holiest of Families had to go through all that, how can I possibly complain about any of my little crosses?
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Looking Forward to 2014

Lord, 
Knowing that nothing good is accomplished without Your Love and Your Help, I ask You to bless us, to bless me, as we look forward to the year 2014.  Father, You are the God of all creation.  It was a gift of Your Love, that Jesus came to earth as a tiny babe.  As a Man, Jesus would come to save our world from sin.  Holy Spirit, You were sent to us by  the Father and Jesus to guide us in our earthly sojourn.  You fill us with Your gifts and graces that will lead us to the Father, the Son, and to You, Mighty Spirit of God who live and reign forever and ever.  Amen.

Praise be to You, Mighty God and Father.
Praise be to You, Jesus, the Son of God and our brother.
Praise be to You, Holy Spirit, giver of gifts and graces, Counselor.

In 2014, I ask for these graces.
Read More HERE at "His Unending Love."