Quick Bytes #40: Thanksgiving in 2040

What if we opened the digital newspaper on November 22, 2040 and saw this ...

WASHINGTON DC  (AP)  Today, the President of the United States declared this would be the final Thanksgiving in United States' History.

"It is with mixed emotions that I bid farewell to a wonderful U.S. tradition," he told reporters.  "Over the past few years, Americans have finally learned to thank God every single day for what He has given them.  They do it with such passion, and dedication, that I really didn't see the need to force everyone to set aside a day in November anymore."

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Flower Petal Rosary

Monica from Equipping Catholic Families who is also the owner and creative force behind Arma Dei Shoppe, had asked me to review one of her Cathletics Craft Kits called Spiritual Bouquet of Prayer Petal Flowers.  This particular kit has 3 prayer crafts in 1.  You can use the provided templates to make either a Flower Petal Rosary, Rosary Garland or Divine Mercy Chaplet.  Once you purchase her kit, Monica will send you the file to download and print off of your own computer.  You can choose to print it on colored paper or white paper for coloring. I printed the templates first on white cardstock and then used them to make color copies.

I had a chance to use the Flower Petal Rosary over the weekend with my first graders.  I decided to informally test them on their prayers using this craft.  My class size is small so I had each student take 2 Hail Mary petals and sit in a circle.  I placed down the stem with the mysteries of the rosary and explained we would pray the first decade from the Joyful Mysteries.  My instructions were that as a group, we would pray the Our Father together and then each student would lead 2 Hail Mary's as we went around the circle. They could choose whether they wanted to recite it by memory or read it off of the petal.  As each student started their prayer, they placed the petal around the Our Father circle.  Then we would all say the Glory Be and Fatima Prayer together at the end.

Here are a few photos of our prayer circle:



By using this prayer craft which also felt like a game to the children, I could easily identify in a non-threatening way, if the children knew their prayers or not.  My conclusion~ we need more practice.  It's much easier to recite them in a group than to say it out loud on your own!

This kit can be used at home, school or religious education program at any time of the year.  Even though Divine Mercy Sunday is in April every year, I think I will teach the children that prayer early now that I have a fun and hands on way of doing it.  Thank you Monica for this opportunity to review your Spiritual Bouquet of Prayer Petal Flowers! 

Blessings,
Noreen

Lighting Darkness

One candle lighting the Darkness

Two candles and then three

Many candles and then even more.

The Darkness is lit

And the Word is read.

One candle goes out in the Darkness

Sadly missed and not replaced.

More candles give up their brightness

Darkness steals the Word away.

Every Christian Blog must shine brightly.

What is yours doing now?

Quick Bytes #39: The Only Thing

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Everything good we have - and do - is because of God.

The only thing we can claim as our own is sin.
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Worry and Doubt. Peace and Certainty.

It was a lovely Spring evening, quite bright and warm for this time of year, when Steven Milliner, the Youth Club leader, decided to take the children to the park opposite St Vincent Catholic Church for some fresh air and exercise.

Most of the boys had gathered with two Club Leaders at the far end of the park to play football. The rest of the children stayed in the playground area and played on the swings, the slides, round-abouts and seesaws; supervised by a couple of Leaders and Father Ignatius who’d turned up to help.

The priest sat on a bench and kept a watchful eye when he was joined by Tony a young volunteer who helped at the Youth Club every now and then.

“Could I ask you something Father?” he said hesitantly as he sat down.

“Fire away …” replied the priest.

“How is it that you priests can be so strong and steadfast in your Faith. You and Father Donald are so saintly and you preach on Sunday so well … I mean, do you ever have doubts?”

Father Ignatius smiled. “If only you knew …” he thought silently.

After a moment or two Father Ignatius spoke gently.

“Well … Father Donald may well be saintly I suppose … as for me … hmmm … what makes you think I’m saintly?”

“You’re always so calm Father. Nothing seems to rattle you. And your Faith is so strong …”

“Well Tony …” Father Ignatius said after a short pause, “priests are human beings just like everyone else. Just because we wear a white collar, or have been ordained as priests, does not make us Saints. Of course we have doubts every now and then … perhaps not as much or as often as other people, but we are no less immune to the attacks and temptations of the devil.

“A person’s Faith depends on a lot of factors. We all have different levels of Faith … if I can put it this way. Some people have a strong Faith in the Good Lord and can withstand no end of suffering and hardship … others fold at the first stumble …”

“So, if you do have moments of doubts Father, how do you fight it?” asked Tony.

“Prayer … constant prayer,” the priest answered, “one of my favorite prayers is what the man in the Bible said to Jesus. ‘I believe Lord; help my unbelief’. Look it up in Mark 9:24.”

“Yes Father … I remember reading that …” Tony replied.

“Priests are no different to anyone else,” continued Father Ignatius, “some have strong Faith indeed, living Saints as you call them … whilst others do struggle sometime, just like anyone else.

“Anyway … why do you ask? Having any problems?”

Tony hesitated a little before replying.

“Well … sometimes I have doubts …” he said, “… and yet at other times I feel totally certain about my Faith. I believe and totally trust in God, especially when all is going well in my life.

“I suppose the problem is that I don’t trust myself to believe enough. It’s as if I should believe and trust more … yet it does not seem or feel enough. I doubt myself in what I believe. Do you understand what I mean?”

Father Ignatius said nothing for a while as he cleaned his glasses.

“Look at that seesaw over there …” he said finally, “Do you see how one child at one end is up in the air one moment and then down again the next, whilst the other child in turn is up in the air? And then the first child is up again … and down again …

“Life is a bit like that sometimes. You have at one end of the seesaw Worry and Doubt; and at the other end Peace and Certainty.

“Sometimes Worry and Doubt are in the ascendant and together what powerful adversaries they make! We start questioning our Faith. We ask ourselves ‘What if I got it all wrong? What if there is no God at all!’. We worry about our family, our friends, our finances and worldly goods. I’m sure you can imagine what it’s like.”

Tony nodded silently.

“But at other times, especially after prayers or Bible readings, the seesaw tips the other way and Peace and Certainty are up in the air. We remember the many times God was there for us when we needed Him. And the many situations He saved us from and helped us through.

“It’s at these times that we know for certain that He exists alright, despite what others might lead us to believe.”

“That’s a good analogy,” said Tony quietly.

“I suppose we can’t control the up and down movement of the seesaw,” continued Father Ignatius in his calm voice, “that’s what it was designed to do. But with constant prayers we can ensure that Peace and Certainty are there high up for all to see in our lives for as long as possible.”

More Father Ignatius stories HERE.

More priests

Here are some more priests with something important to say.

IMAGINE

Please take time to listen to these two priests  

Father Jeffrey Mickler

  

Father Francis Maple

The Sign of the Cross

 

When I was in hospital I saw something I'd not seen since I was a child.

They have a chapel in hospital. The door to the chapel is an ordinary door, like all the others in a long hospital corridor. It says on it "Chapel" as opposed to "X Ray" or "Pharmacy" or whatever else is posted on the other doors.

I noticed that several people whilst passing by this door did the Sign of the Cross. A few opened the door and looked in for 5 or 10 seconds, did the Sign of the Cross, and then continued on their way.

Now this is something I've not seen for many years when, as a child, we were taught to do the Sign of the Cross whenever we passed a Church. I certainly did not expect to see it in secular Britain.

So ... what is the Sign of the Cross?

It is first and foremost a Prayer.

When we Cross ourselves and say "In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost", we acknowledge God as our only living God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. We acknowledge a fundamental mystery of our Faith. God is three persons in one. We pray that in His name we will be loved and protected by Him.

The Sign of the Cross is also an acknowledgement that God's only Son, Jesus, suffered and died for us on the Cross.

The Sign of the Cross is our protection, our shield against all evil. When we Cross ourselves we acknowledge that no evil can pass through the Cross and harm us.

The Sign of the Cross is our sign of respect and love to Our Creator and Saviour.

The Sign of the Cross is our witness to everyone that we are Christians and we believe in God, three in one, living today here and now; as He has always been in the past and will be in future. When those people made the Sign of the Cross as they passed the hospital Chapel door they made more than a sign of respect. They witnessed to everyone watching about God.

The Sign of the Cross. 

More than just a Sign of the Cross.

Blogging for God

 

Luke 12:8-12

Jesus said to the disciples, "And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God."

... And ... that's what Christian Blogging is all about. Once we've started Blogging we should continue to witness for the Lord.

Quick Bytes #38: Choices

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"Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor 
and you will have treasure in Heaven; 
then come, follow me."

Notice how Jesus did not make that rich man
sell his belongings.

Nor did Our Savior force the man to follow Him.

He gave him the choice.

Just as God gives us a choice every day.

To do something good.  Or not.

To help the poor.  Or not.

To do something ... anything ... to promote the Word.  Or not.

To break out of the rut we all get in ... the one where we spend too much
time focusing on the insignificance of this world.  Or not.

To follow Him.  Or not.

Yes, God has laid out the plan.  But the choice is ours.

Every minute of every day.
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Lone Voice Syndrome

John the Baptist preached in the desert and ate locusts and honey.

I wonder how many people listened to what he had to say in the hot desert. Let's face it, it's not exactly the center of the universe with crowds from all over the world mingling and shopping and gathering to hear a man dressed in camel hair. Apart from the odd geko, snake or scorpion who was there to listen to John?

He would have done much better at the city mall or the town center or church than wander in a hot desert with no umbrella or ice cream to keep him cool.

But yet ... he did have his successes paving the way for the arrival of Christ, and he did baptise quite a few people too.

How about us Bloggers?

Some of us Blog every day or so, others Blog less often and perhaps eagerly we check whether any one has commented, or we look at the statistics to see how popular, or not, our posts are.

We may well feel that each of our Blogs is a lone voice in the vast expanse which is the World Wide Web.

And perhaps this is so ...

But yet ... we never know who might be visiting us on this World Wide Web and to them, perhaps, our post is the first time they have read about Christ. Despite our advanced technology in the 21st Century there are still plenty of people who have not heard or learnt about God, and His only Son. Even in the so-called civilised world there are many who view God as a myth, a human invention, or someone in whom it is fashionable not to believe.

Our individual Blogs are important as lone voices in the wilderness witnessing for Him. One light, shining in the darkness created by the evil one in order to lead us astray.

One Blog is important. Many Blogs, working together, shine brighter throughout the world.

Every Christian Blog started should continue to shine for as long as possible.

Each post can spread more light if reflected elsewhere. Either here on this Community, or linked with/to other Christian Blogs or websites.

If, in our travels, we read a good Blog we can reflect it further by linking the post on our own Blogs. That way the readers of the original Blog and our own readers will have benefitted from the message on the post.

On a day when we have nothing to say on our Blog, and are not inspired to write; why not link to someone else's Blog post instead? That way, we have kept our Blog fresh and up-dated and we have aimed a mirror on someone else's light to shine brighter in the darkness.

John the Baptist did what he did without the aid of Blogger, Facebook or other modern technologies at our disposal.

So how much easier should it be for us to spread the Word with all the fancy contraptions we have today?

And you don't have to eat locusts to do it!

What about their rights?

Our "Witness to Life" activities are multiplying at my daughter's high school.  This is the group that I ended up being a regular driver and chaperone by chance (definition 7:  Holy Spirit's orchestration).  Instead of just the one Saturday trip to the Planned Parenthood in Aurora, Illinois - which was the largest abortion facility opened in the United States, when it opened.  Since then this evil organization has opened larger facilities.

Please link over to my blog to read the rest of this post.

Live for today

Difficult as it might be; living one day at a time is a wholesome self-control mechanism which teaches us patience and genuine reliance on our Lord.

Of course, we all like to plan ahead, to be in control of our future, and to prepare for all eventualities. There’s nothing wrong in that, and it would be foolhardy to leave all to chance and do nothing.

Yet, at the same time, we should balance our every plan with the reality of what is now. We should live each day in gratitude for what God has given us today, rather than look ahead to what is yet to come.

They say “You never know what’s round the next corner”. How true. All it takes is a sudden event, an illness, an accident, something out of our control, to put all our plans into disarray.

Thank you Lord for another today.

 

Father Francis Maple

The Gift of Knowledge

With the continual advancement of technology we have evermore ways of worldly things and ideas intruding on our spirit and knocking God out of our consciousness.  Today's meditation from Divine Intimacy tells us what we need to transform our earthly vision into a heavenly vision: the gift of knowledge.

This paragraph shows us how important the sacrament of Confirmation is because through it we receive this and six other gifts of the Holy Spirit that aid us in keeping God in the forefront of our daily lives as Colleen wrote about a few days ago.  It's another good argument for moving the sacrament of Confirmation up to around seven years of age as it was when I was young.  Get the kids started in good spiritual habits early.

When a soul is profoundly enlightened by the gift of knowledge, creatures no longer hinder its ascent to God, for whether considering their nothingness or the beauty with which God has endowed them, whether in giving them up or in using them through necessity, they always urge the soul on to God, inspiring it to seek Him and love Him, the one infinitely beautiful Being.

I am guessing that the people lined up at 1:00 a.m. the other day to be the first to get the new iPhone5,  whatever that is versus earlier versions, need the gift of knowledge.  And those of us who have it need to ask for the grace to put it into action all day every day.

Where?

Where have all the authors gone?

They are resting. Or possibly praying. Or waiting for inspiration. Anyway ... when is the last time you posted here Victor? 

Ooops ... sorry !!!!

Finding God

Having a bad day?  Want to reach out and slap someone?  Take several deep breaths and and consider this from Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, O.C.D., from meditation #298 in Divine Intimacy:

God does not let Himself be found nor does He show Himself in the midst of disturbance and excitement, but only in interior peace and calm.

We often want to change others. What we really need to do is change ourselves, peacefully, calmly, and with the grace of God.

What is Trust?

Do you have people in your lives who you don't trust?  Have you ever thought much about trust or do you take it for granted?  A conversation with a close friend this past week got me examining my beliefs on the nature of trust.  I wrote a post on the subject because I think trust is one of the most important aspects of relationships between people, nations, and God.  If you'd like to read it, rather than my re-posting it here and incurring the wrath of Google-bots, click on this link: What is Trust?

God bless all.

Quick Bytes #37: Birth and Death

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A good name is better than precious ointment,

    and the day of death than the day of birth.
                            (Eccles 7:1)


We celebrate when a life comes into this world of sin, 
and cry when one departs for the beauty of Heaven.

I wonder if we've got this thing all backwards?
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Quick Bytes #36: In God We Trust

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"Our national motto is 'In God we Trust,' reminding us that 
faith in our Creator is the most important American value of all."
                                              - Marco Rubio at the RNC

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Impossible to Overstate the Love God has for Us

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Jesus in Matthew 6:3

Scott Hahn in the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible commentary writes, "Those who recognize their need for God and his grace . . . find their security in the Lord and rely on his mercy rather than their merits."

I don't think this is merely a promise for the end of time, after the last judgement or after our own personal judgement and meeting with Jesus after our death, I think we find the Kingdom of God within ourselves when we realize our powerlessness, our inadequacy, our ineffectiveness, our inability to bear fruit despite what others might say about our natural gifts and talents, unless we are rooted in the confidence, trust, and awareness of the magnitude of God's love for us.

The Holy Spirit has been teaching me this for the past several weeks.  What patience the Counselor has with me!  One of our priest's in the homily on August 12, 2012 on Matthew 18:23-35 explained how ridiculous the servant was to the master saying that he would pay back everything.  The NIV says the debt was ten thousand bags of gold.  The NRSV says ten thousand talents, and in the Oremus online reader there is a mouseover footnote that reads, "A talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a labourer."  Our priest explained that there was no way that the servant could repay his master.  It was ridiculous for him to make this promise as he fell prostrate before him begging for patience.  He could never repay the debt. 

The priest also explained that many times in Scripture the word debt is used in place of the word sin.  And this is why in one version of the Our Father  we pray or sing, "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."  Still the real debt is the inability we have to repay the great love God has for us.  This is our poverty, our wretchedness, our nothingness that we read about in the writings of our beloved saints.

The priest explained that the worst thing to happen in this world is not losing your job.  It is not getting diagnosed with cancer (and he knows what that is like).  It is sin.  And what is sin?  Sin comes from the prideful, self-absorption that moves us from the natural gratefulness and returning love for love that should be so natural to us if we consider the tender love and mercy God has for us.  Sin is choosing and seeking our own will and desires apart from God.  It is losing the humility and trust that should come so natural to the state of being the mere children we are, and instead following the example of our first parents, Adam and Eve, that lost that humility and trust when tempted to vanity and pride with Satan's promise, "to be like God." (Genesis 3:5)  That was the lie the serpent told, that we mere children could be like God, deciding good and evil based on what suits us.

I read once, in one woman's infertility blog, that it is an often repeated, but fallacious saying that God only gives us what we can handle.  (It is a variation on the actual scripture verse that we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear and without a means of escaping the temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13) Instead he gives us more than we can handle because this drives us to Him.  God does this with me in my worklife, in my marriage, with my children, with the mental health of my parents.  No doubt he does this with you too.

Without this overburdening, how rarely do I come out of my habitual self-absorption, and mental preoccupiedness (is that a word?), and come to him as David, his anointed prophet and King did so readily?  Instead, sadly, how often do I rely on my own thinking, or even consultation with those around me rather than simply acknowledging my own poverty and need for Him.  King Saul was also anointed and blessed by God, but instead of asking God when he should attack he consulted soothsayers angering God.

I've learned a few things this morning that you are probably aware of, but might appreciate the reminders:

1. We are all poor in spirit, the question is whether we realize it or not
2. Jesus is drawn to the weakest and poorest, to those who realize they are weak and poor, and to those who don't realize the truth that they are weak and poor (that covers most all of us, doesn't it?)
3. I need to contemplate regularly what God has done for us
4. I need to remember Jesus is everywhere present and longs for me to make the effort of will to come to him directly, relying on Him with all the trust he always expects from me
5. Jesus wants me to realize that just as he is filled with compassion and love for me, he expects me to follow in his footsteps, certain of the power of his love, opening my eyes and heart to the people around me---seeing their needs and reaching out to them as he has reached out to me.  He tells me, "Let your heart overflow to those who come near you."

Here's a scripture to help you through the rest of this post.  When I need several weeks to learn something the Holy Spirit is teaching me, the result is not a quick read!

"Better gain wisdom than gold,

choose understanding in preference to silver.

Pride goes before destruction,

a haughty spirit before a fall.

Those who listen to instruction find happiness;

whoever trusts Yahweh is blessed." Proverbs 16:16,18,20

From He and I:

Gabrielle:  I should so much like to do something for You!  Even in giving all of myself, I give you nothing.  What can I do?"

Jesus:  Come to me.  Rely on me with all the trust I always expect from you.  Come to me directly; I'm waiting for you.

Since I am yours, you are rich.  You are only poor when you count on yourselves and expect to act in your own unaided strength.  How destitute you are then!

But if you lay hold of My merits with humility and hope, what a priceless fortune is yours?

Who is anything beside the infinitely great God?  And you, particularly chosen to be showered with blessings, you are nothing but wretchedness.  I feed this wretchedness every morning with my Eucharist because I want to keep you in My friendship, for I am drawn to the weakest and the poorest.  Give me everything that you blame in yourself, since I am the One who transforms even the ugliest, the lowest into the gold of My Glory.  How?  By love. (from May 9, 1946 and April 26, 1946)

From The Better Part:

"The secret to perseverance in friendship with Christ is to draw our satisfaction not primarily from what we do, but from what God has done for us, and that requires the daily mental discipline of directing our thoughts again and again to God's goodness, cultivating an attitude of gratitude." (#186, meditation on Luke 10:13-24)

Again from He and I:

Jesus:  Follow me everywhere . . . . Let your heart overflow to those who come near you . . . . My poor little girl, enriched by my riches alone, may you be careful not to think that you are worth anything by yourself.  May you be conscious of your power through my power.

Tell Me that you are beginning to be more certain of the power of My love, although you know you are unworthy.

Tell Me this to comfort Me for the ones who do not believe. . . . Let us make an alliance between your poverty and my riches.  Never fail to lean on Me.

Have no confidence in yourself for even a moment.  Where would it lead you?

You don't think often enough that I am everywhere, that nothing exists where I am not present.  Think of this.  It will help you reach me.  One thing only I ask of you:  oneness with Me.  We are united in the morning in my Eucharist, let us not be separated by your indifference; it leads to constant mind-wandering.  When people are in love they never stop thinking of the beloved, do they?  Then what should I conclude if you don't think of Me?

Say to Me, "Have pity on me.  I am nothing but a poor sinner."  Believe it and I'll be moved to pity.  

Consider your nothingness.  If you could see it, you would be terrified if you didn't know My tender mercy.  Try to grasp the poverty of your soul, its destitution.  The you in you is nothing.  The vision of yourself as you are would be terrible for you if you couldn't count on my merits.  Make this your consolation in the meditation on my passion.  Look upon Me and discover My obedient death, accepted with the sweetness of My entire Being. (April 26, 1946; Holy Thursday - April, 1946, March 22, 1945)

8 He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. 9 For which cause, God also hath exalted him and hath given him a name which is above all names: 10 That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: 11 And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. 12 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, (as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but much more now in my absence) with fear and trembling work out your salvation.13 For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish, according to his good will. 14And do ye all things without murmurings and hesitations: 15 That you may be blameless and sincere children of God, without reproof, in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation: among whom you shine as lights in the world. (Philippians 2:8-15)

And still more from He and I:

Jesus:  Will you ever comprehend My sensitivity and how your every tender and compassionate thought thrills My heart?  But even if you don't understand very well, even if your love never gets beyond the stage of trial, I always take into consideration the earnest effort of your will, and this is My delight . . . .

My poor little girl, I love the nothing that you are so much that if you give me permission, I take up all the room in you.

Lose yourself in Me.  Surrender yourself.  Fade out of your own thoughts.  Enter into my eternal being and move and have your being in me. (April 10, 1947)

Finally in the midst of the homily on August 12, and the readings and learnings that concluded this morning, I received some helpful spiritual insights from our friend Patricia, between her comments on my comments on her blog and an email she sent me.  I don't think she'll mind me sharing these since much of the reason she blogs is to share these same insights with whomever might find them.

"Some people pass their whole lives without realizing how great God's love for them is.  How blessed are we, Colleen, to know and to believe in His Love for us!  I heard a priest mention in his homily once that 'a Saint is not so much one who loves God, as one who is absolutely convinced that God loves him.'  To feel safe and confident in God's Love, to know that He longs for us, will never reject us, sets us free to just run to Him and hold on, and be hugged and want to love Him back with all our might."

He (the lawyer) answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself.’ And he (Jesus) said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.’  Luke 10:27-28

To sum up:  I can only love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my strength, and with all my mind, and my neighbor as myself if I regularly contemplate the great Love that God has for me, and if I remain in that Love, follow his commands -- to see and love others as he has loved me and as he exemplified during his time on earth.  The more my job or anything else augments my vanity and pride, the more I have to run back to him, declaring my poverty of spirit, and my absolute need for him.

Again as Patricia wrote in a comment:  "We should gaze on Jesus lovingly in the midst of whatever else we are doing, as St. Teresa of Avila (and Brother Lawrence too) wrote, 'finding God among the pots and pans.'  As I am so small and helpless, I beg for his power to fill me with that grace of recollection, of turning to Him with a gaze or sigh, as we do with those we so love."

Glory to you Lord Jesus Christ, King of Endless Glory!

Quick Bytes #35: Where Shall We Go?

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"As a result of this,
many of his disciples returned to their former way of life
and no longer accompanied him.
Jesus then said to the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?"
Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life."
                            - Jn 6:66-68

Not accompanying Jesus.  It sounds so ridiculous.   
Walking away from Him to go back to a life filled with garbage.  

Those silly disciples.  

Surely we don't do that today ... right?
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True Charity

In the last months of her life St. Therese of the Child Jesus wrote, "Now I know that true charity consists in bearing all my neighbor's defects, in not being surprised at mistakes, but in being edified at the smallest virtues" (St. 10).

How often do we focus on the imperfections in others and then "pick a little, talk a little" (from The Music Man) about them to others or criticize people to their faces?  Wouldn't it be better to develop the habit of looking for something to praise and imitate in them?  It's just a change in orientation but it can transform the sourness of life into sweetness and make us more humble and pleasing to God, don't you think?

Quick Bytes #34: Flying

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Seen on a church sign ...

IF GOD IS YOUR CO-PILOT
      SWAP SEATS
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Catholic Lingo Bingo

In exchange for my review, I was given the fun opportunity to review the game called Catholic Lingo Bingo created by Monica from Arma Dei Shoppe and Equipping Catholic Families.

Monica created this game in English and then Xhonane from Familia Catolica worked with Monica to create a Spanish version of this wonderful and educational game.  The purpose of this game is to learn the various sacramentals, vessels and vestments that are used in the Catholic Church. Some of these items you see at every mass and others on occasion so it was very interesting to me, that I didn't know the names of some of the vessels! Such as the aspersory and aspergillum.  I recognized the picture immediately but had never heard it's name before so even I learned something new!  Thank you Monica!!

Catholic Lingo Bingo can be used at home with your family or in the classroom.  Once you purchase it from the Arma Dei Shoppe for $12 plus shipping if mailed or for $9.99 to have it sent to you electronically through cyberspace to be received instantly.  I followed Monica's instructions and printed them out on white card stock paper for durability and then worked on coloring them.  

15 Bingo Cards need to be colored and then the master call cards so it is time intensive for coloring.  

If you have a classroom full of students or a few children then the work of coloring is broken up into manageable parts.  I chose not to color the calling cards because as I was coloring the bingo cards, I did not replicate my color choices for each matching picture.  Meaning every time I came across the picture of the Monstrance, I colored it at whim.  When we played the game with some friends, and most were unfamiliar with these words, I showed them the picture and went around checking their cards to help them. Another mom was with us and helped out too.  We did play by filling up the whole card and that each child's card was filled so we could learn all the words. I could see though that after playing this game a couple of times, the kids will recall the words quickly.

To recap, this fun and educational game can be played with up to 15 children. There are 9 pictures on each bingo card that are large enough for little children to understand.  It's for all ages and can be purchased in English or Spanish.  As another use, you can also take a few of these bingo cards and cut the pictures out and use it for a matching game.  

Monica does a fabulous job at creating fun games and crafts that teach our children and adults, about our Catholic Faith!  It's her passion, it's her ministry and we are all blessed by it!

Blessings,

Noreen

Quick Bytes #33: Forgive

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"and forgive us our tresspasses, 
as we forgive those that tresspass
against us."

I say these words every day, but the
truth is, I sure hope God doesn't use my
forgiveness of others as a model for
how to forgive me!

God Bless.
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