Quick Bytes #24: Pass It On

(This Quick Byte was inspired by one of Victor's comments on my blog.)

That great meal we had.  How many people did we tell?
That awesome sale we found.  How many people did we tell?
The courteous customer service we received.  How many people did we tell?
The tear-jerker movie we saw.  How many people did we tell?
The "We-can't-believe-it" reality show finale. How many people did we tell?
That juicy bit of shocking gossip.  How many people did we tell?

That moving sermon.  The inspirational Bible passage.  God's word.
How many people did we tell?
.

Quick Bytes #23: Recognize

.
Dear Michael,

Instead of wondering how on earth the disciples
could not recognize Jesus after the Resurrection,
perhaps you should ask yourself how many times
you did not recognize Him in your own life.

Sincerely,
The Mirror
.
.

Catholics Called to Witness

This 2012 election is it.  

The time is fast approaching. 

The HHS Mandate is no small matter.  

Religious Freedom is at risk.  

Where do we want our nation to go?  

Will God forsake us for our spiritual apathy?  

Our tolerance of immoral issues?

Pro Life Action League along with others are working hard to organize another Religious Freedom Rally all across our nation on June 8, 2012.  This time, they are trying to get our bishops to lead a procession in each city with the Blessed Sacrament.  I'm praying that the bishops will heed this call and join the priests, nuns and lay people in peaceful protests across our nation.

Last month, over 63,000 Americans gathered at rallies in 145 cities for a massive rally in protest of the HHS Mandate.  I went to the one in Chicago and it was reported to have over 2,500 people that showed up in the pouring rain!  God blessed us and stopped the downpour in time for the rally to start!  

Catholics and Christians need to vote with God's values in mind if we want to 

change the course of American History.  

We need to pray about it, ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit and act on it.  

Tell others about it.  

We can't keep it to ourselves and hope it'll just turn out alright.

We can't just ask Him yesterday for His Divine Mercy and then do nothing.  

God is calling us to action and vote!

Easter Blessings,

Noreen

FREE BOOK - Father Ignatius Teaches

My latest book FATHER IGNATIUS TEACHES is now available for you to download FREE from HERE.

Please feel free to copy it and distribute it to your family and friends. Or tell others about it on your Blogs.

KINDLE Version is available HERE.

Thank you. God bless.

Easter - Lies and Realities

As we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord let us remember that this particular event gave rise to many speculations and rumours all those years ago, and indeed over the years since then.

Let’s consider the facts as we know them.

A man claiming to be the Son of God was crucified and died a most horrible death.

After His death, His followers claimed that He rose from the dead as He had said He would.

Now let’s look at the rumours and the conspiracy theories.

It is possible that Christ’s disciples and followers stole and hid the body of Jesus to perpetuate the story that He is the Son of God and that His Father raised Him from the dead.

But if that were the case; what benefit is there to them to disseminate this story knowing full well that it is a lie? Why suffer persecution, imprisonment, torture and death for something you know to be false? Would you do that?

The other theory is that the Jews, the Sadducees or Pharisees, removed the body in order to stop any beliefs that Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God.

But if that were the case; then why not produce the body once the disciples said that Jesus rose from the dead and invalidate the story of the Resurrection right from the start? Isn't that what one would expect in such circumstances?

Another hypothesis is that Christ never died at all. He just lost consciousness or was in a coma, and He woke up once again and walked out of the tomb.

But the Romans were very thorough people. They made sure that those crucified were indeed dead by breaking their legs whilst hanging there. They did not do so to Jesus because when they checked He was already dead. Even so, they did pierce His side with a spear just to make sure.

And then; there is of course the fact:

Christ died on the Cross and rose from the dead.

 There are times when a light turns on in your head and you see something clearly for the first time and understand something new you’d never realized before.

Father Ignatius was a studious type of person spending many hours reading the Bible as well as many books on theology, ancient history and similar subjects which would soon send any lesser head spinning widely.

One evening he retired to the room he called “my meditation corner” and after reciting the Rosary he started reading the Bible and cross-referencing certain passages with other books to better understand what God is teaching through His Word.

One passage in particular caught his interest. After Christ’s death and burial, we are told that Mary Magdalene visited the tomb and found the stone rolled away from the entrance. She ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple and told them what she had seen. Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb. When Simon Peter got in and went inside he noticed the linen wrappings lying there, but the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head was folded and lying to the side.

There it was, in the Gospel of John Chapter 20 Verse 7.

Father Ignatius puzzled about this for a moment or two. He’d read that chapter many times and nothing specific occurred to him. But this time, as if a small voice buzzing in his head, he kept wondering the significance of what he had read.

“Why are we told that the cloth which covered Jesus’ head was folded and lying to the side? What’s so important about that?” Father Ignatius asked himself.

Yet somehow, John thought it important enough to mention it. Why?

Father Ignatius checked the other three Gospels but they did not mention this fact. “But why did John consider it so significant to point it out” he wondered silently.

After hours of searching other books and checking on ancient traditions he came upon something he’d never known before.

In ancient Hebrew tradition the folded napkin was symbolic between the master of the house and his servant.

When the servant set the dinner table he made sure that everything was perfectly set out as the master wished and then he would wait out of sight until the master finished eating.

The servant would not clear the table until the master had finished.

When the master finished his meal he would wipe his fingers and mouth with the napkin and then toss the napkin on the table.

The servant would then clear the table, because in those days a tossed napkin meant “I’ve finished.”

However … and this is the significant bit which Father Ignatius discovered for himself, if the master left the table but neatly folded the napkin and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not touch the table.

Because the folded napkin meant “I’m coming back!”

“He’s coming back …” mumbled Father Ignatius in wonderment.

That’s what John was trying to tell us in his Gospel.

More stories about Father Ignatius HERE.

Easter

Best Wishes for a Blessed and Happy Easter

to all our readers and contributors

May God Bless you and your families always

Quick Bytes #22: Not So Quick but Unbelievably Powerful

The following was written by Matthew Kelly in a book called Rediscovering Catholicism.  I posted it once on my blog, but wanted to share it with this group of readers because it is one of the most powerful analogies of what we are celebrating this week that I have ever read.   It is an easy read, so please share it.

Have a Blessed Triduum.

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You're driving home from work next Monday after a long day. You tune in your radio. You hear a blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died suddenly, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. It's not influenza, but three or four people are dead, and it's kind of interesting, and they are sending some doctors over there to investigate it. You don't think much about it, but coming home from church on Sunday you hear another radio spot. Only they say it's not three villagers, it's 30,000 villagers in the back hills of this particular area of India, and it's on TV that night. CNN runs a little blurb: people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta because this disease strain has never been seen before.

By Monday morning when you get up, it's the lead story. It's not just India; it's Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and before you know it, you're hearing this story everywhere, and they have now coined it as "the mystery flu." The President has made some comment that he and his family are praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone is wondering, "How are we going to contain it?"

That's when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from India, Pakistan, or any of the countries where this thing has been seen. And that's why that night you are watching a little bit of CNN before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping woman is translated in English from a French news program. There's a man lying in a hospital in Paris, dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe.

Panic strikes. As best they can tell, after contracting the disease, you have it for a week before you even know it. Then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms. And then you die. Britain closes its borders, but it's too late. South Hampton, Liverpool, North Hampton, and it's Tuesday morning when the President of the United States makes the following announcement: "Due to a national-security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, I'm sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure for this thing."


Within four days, our nation has been plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are wondering, "What if it comes to this country?" And preachers on Tuesday are saying it's the scourge of God. It's Wednesday night, and you are at a church prayer meeting when somebody runs in from the parking lot and yells, "Turn on a radio, turn on a radio!" And while everyone in church listens to a little transistor radio with a microphone stuck up to it, the announcement is made. Two women are lying, in a Long Island hospital, dying from the mystery flu. Within hours it seems, the disease envelopes the country.


People are working around the clock, trying to find an antidote. Nothing is working. California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders.


And then all of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. It's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected, and so, sure enough, all through the Midwest, through all those channels of emergency broadcasting, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: Go to your downtown hospital and have your blood analyzed. That's all we ask of you. When you hear the sirens go off in your neighborhood, please make your way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospitals.


Sure enough, when you and your family get down there late on that Friday night, there is a long line, and they've got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your spouse and your kids are out there, and they take your blood and say, "Wait here in the parking lot, and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home." You stand around, scared, with your neighbors, wondering what on earth is going on, and if this is the end of the world.


Suddenly, a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me." Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. "Wait a minute. Hold on!" And they say, "It's okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We want to make sure he doesn't have the disease. We think he has the right blood type."

Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses crying and hugging one another-some are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week, and an old doctor walks up to you and says, "Thank you, sir. Your son's blood is perfect. It's clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine."

You begin to sign, and then you see that the box for the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty. "H-h-h-how many pints?" And that is when the old doctor's smile fades, and he says, "We had no idea it would be a little child. We weren't prepared. We need it all!"



"We are talking about the whole world here. Please sign. We...we...need to hurry!"

"But can't you give him a transfusion?" 

"If we had clean blood we would. Please, will you please sign?" 

In numb silence you do. Then they say, "Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin?"

Could you walk back? Could you walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?" Could you take his hands and say, "Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never, ever let anything happen to you that didn't just have to be! Do you understand that?" And when that old doctor comes back in and says, "I'm sorry, we've got to get started. People all over the world are dying," could you leave? Could you walk out while he is saying, "Dad? Mom? Dad? Why...why have you abandoned me?"

And then next week, when they have the ceremony to honor your son, and some folks sleep through it, and some folks don't even bother to come because they have better things to do, and some folks come with a pretentious smile and just pretend to care, would you want to jump up and say, "EXCUSE ME! MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DON'T YOU EVEN CARE? DOES IT MEAN NOTHING TO YOU?"

I wonder, is that what God wants to say? "MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DOES IT MEAN NOTHING? DON'T YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE?"

Mary's Tears

Victor kindly suggested that I offer this post from my blog of March 1, 2010 for Holy Week on this blog. The post was titled "Mary's Tears."

I really wanted the image at the end of this post but was unable to figure out how to do it. Also, it should be bigger, but when I dragged the corners, the print blurred, so I hope older readers don't have to get a magnifying glass to read it.

The last few days I've been working on this art piece in my digital art program. It's my first try at this kind of look and seemed like a good Lenten project.

Late last November we had rain and, looking out the window, I saw how beautiful the raindrops were on the nandina bushes. The sight made me think of Mary's tears at the cross, so I took my small digital camera out and snapped a few shots. Finding an area on one that I liked, I cropped it and painted the image. Then through other digital machinations I finished the image, wrote the poem and voila!

Why no one asked Jesus.

Father Ignatius tried something new with his congregation. He suggested they held an “Any Questions” meeting whereby members of the audience would ask him and Father Donald any question, totally unprepared and unscripted, and they would try to answer it.

It was the first such event held at the church center and that evening in question was well attended. About fifty people turned up, which by all standards was a good attendance on a cold winter evening. Some volunteers had prepared hot chocolate and tea and plenty of cakes had been brought in and enjoyed before the meeting started.

At first the questions were somewhat tentative and easily dealt with by either priest, mainly relating to the running of the church, Mass times in winter, and the diminishing amount received in Sunday collections.

But then a young lady stood up and asked the top table: “May I read something before I ask my question?

“While Jesus was eating, a woman came in with an ababaster jar full of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus’ head. Some of the people there became angry and said to one another, ‘What was the use of wasting the perfume? It could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins and the money given to the poor!’ And they criticized her harshly.

But Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a fine and beautiful thing for me. You will always have poor people with you, and any time you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me.’

“This is from Mark 14 3-7,” she concluded.

“My question to you Fathers is ‘Why?’” she then asked hesitantly.

“Why what?” asked Father Donald in his broad Glaswegian accent.

“Why did Jesus say ‘You will always have poor people with you?’”

Before either priest could answer a man at the front said; “Good point … Is Jesus saying poverty will be with us always? Is He saying that all our efforts to help the poor are in vain?”

“Might as well not bother,” mumbled another man sitting beside him.

The two priests looked at each other. Father Ignatius cleaned his glasses slowly and said nothing at first.

“Of course we should bother …” declared Father Donald, “it is our duty to help the poor. Jesus was making the point that He would soon be Crucified and gone from the people, whereas the poor will always be with us. Don’t you agree Ignatius?”

“Well …” replied Father Ignatius slowly, “two thousand years later and we still have poverty in this world. So Christ was not far wrong with what He said.

“But let us look at what Jesus said in a wider context.

“Could He perhaps be talking about something more than just material poverty?

“Is He maybe reminding us that there will always be someone worse off than us? Someone who is poor in material things, someone poor in spirit, poor in health, poor in education or even poor in Faith. This may be miss-interpreting Him perhaps but still worth considering.

“We all have a responsibility towards those in poverty in one way or another. No matter how their poverty manifests itself.

“We should always readily recognize our blessings and share them with those less well off than us.

“If we are fortunate to be financially rich, we should give to those who have not.

“If we are in good health, we should help those who are sick. Visit them at home or in hospital, and give a hand when needed.

“If we are clever or intelligent we should be more tolerant towards those not as bright as us and help educate them where we can.

“And if our Faith is strong, we should help and pray for those who falter and fail in their walk with the Lord.”

“Wow … I never saw it this way …” commented the original questioner.

“We’ve all been given some talent or other” added Father Donald, “and we should use them for the benefit of others.”

“So I suppose Jesus could be referring to poverty in the wider sense, as well as physical poverty of course,” continued Father Ignatius, “and such poverty, whatever it may be, will continue with us as a permanent reminder of our responsibilities towards others as well as towards God Himself.

“Our talents are to be used for His glory to help others”

“Talking of talents,” interjected Father Donald, “may I remind you that if any of you has a talent for singing do not confine it to singing in the bath. The choir is always looking for new singers so come along to rehearsals.”

“As long as you don’t bring your bath with you,” chuckled Father Ignatius.

More Father Ignatius stories HERE.

In Truth, Jesus is the Son of God

Jesus was nailed to the cross at 9 a.m.

From 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. there was darkness all over the land.  Jesus was on the cross not for 3 hours, but for 6 hours, after being brutally scourged, and after being beaten and abused by the Temple guards, leaders, and people before being handed over to the Romans.

Some meditations say that from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. was when Jesus experienced the soul torments of hell that come from sin.  

These meditations teach us to flee from sin as all sin contributed to the suffering and death of Christ from the original sin to the sins before the Incarnation, to the sins of all those living with the knowledge and understanding of Salvation History.  These meditations also teach us to flee from hell by not turning our eyes, understanding and hearts to the right or to the left, but instead everyday, under the guidance, sanctifying grace, and coaching of the Holy Spirit, remaining faithful in prayer, reading and studying the Bible, and taking God's and Jesus's commandments as musts, not guidelines or recommendations for how to live our lives.

Why did Jesus yell out "My God, My God, why have you deserted me?"

I have heard this explained as similar to when a father needs to hold down a son for a necessary but painful medical treatment.  He keeps his son from moving through act of will, because he knows it is for his good, but he tends to avert his eyes from looking at the face of his child, because it is more than his father's heart can take.

Maybe God the Father, who did not spare his Son for our salvation, averted his inward gaze away from his Son during this time because while he willed for this atoning sacrifice of his beloved Son so that we might have eternal life, joy, love, and communion with him forever, in this moment where his son was nailed to the cross, abandoning his divine power to escape the agony, and suffering the internal soul torment due to our sins, he looked away as his Father's heart was so pained to see the one he loved so much suffering internally, in addition to his external torments, what no one before or since has suffered.  Jesus had never experienced this before, and now here in his worst suffering he doesn't feel the gaze of his father.

It was also Jesus invoking the prophetic words of Psalm 22 written 1000 years earlier by King David.

"But Jesus gave out a loud cry and breathed his last.  And the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  The centurion, who was standing in front of him, had seen how he had died, and he said, 'In truth, this man was the Son of God.'" Mark 15:37-39

Fr. John Bartunek in The Better Part in meditations on Mark 15:21-29 reminds us, 

The souls of those faithful men and women who had trusted in God, and in God's promise during the centuries before the Incarnation were not yet in heaven.  They had died in friendship with God, but the gates of heaven were still closed, because no one had yet atoned for the sin of mankind that had closed them in the first place.  Now Jesus comes and achieves the atonement.  And the first thing he does is go and announce the good news to the souls who were waiting their redemption. . . . Now the mystery of God's saving love is revealed to them in the piercing, loving gaze of their Savior.  Now they can experience what they longed for with vibrant faith and faithful hope, the full presence of God as they await the resurrection of their bodies and the final judgment. . . . 

Christ's self-sacrifice on the cross reveals that God's love for weak and selfish sinners has absolutely no limit. . . . Love is self-giving for the good of the beloved. . . . His love has no limits . . . . 

Paraphrasing Fr. Bartunek . . . Jesus loved us so much that He:

• Left the Heavenly Glory to become one of us
• He lived among us
• He worked and suffered the grind of ordinary life
• He taught and healed and revealed God's heart
• He founded the Church to extend his presence and grace throughout all time
• He let himself be betrayed, humiliated, condemned, mocked
• He subjected himself to excruciating physical torments
• He hung helpless on the cross in our place
• He took upon himself our sins, suffering internal torments, also in our place
• He the Creator and Lord of all, did not have his life taken from him, he laid it down for us his friends
• His love was completely self-giving
• His love has no bounds

Truly, Jesus is the the Son of God.  Truly, Jesus is one of the three persons in one God, one of the Glorious and Holy Trinity.  As God, He knows:

• Jesus is always with you
• Jesus understands you completely
• Jesus's compassion toward you is more perfect than you can imagine
• Jesus knows that you don't know this
• Jesus longs for you to know this because . . . 

Jesus yearns for you to trust him.  He knows this isn't easy for you.  It may be easy in a given moment, but how constant are we in this trust?

He has done so much for us.  Lord, please give us the grace to more faithfully pray:

Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.  

Jesus, Son of God, I trust in you.  

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

"You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same." (Colossians 3:12-13)

I am losing my Faith.

Thank you Colleen @ ID for suggesting that I link to my post HERE.

God bless.

Melting Down Our Idols

The following is an excerpt from a post I wrote this morning. It is based on the passage from Exodus 32:7~8. You can read the rest by clicking the "read more" link. 

                                     

When I read and heard that passage from Exodus last week at Mass, it was one of those times when it seemed strike right where I live, so to speak. It would be very easy for us to stand back and say: "Those crazy foolish Israelites, a golden calf? Really?" However, looking at the world around us today in the 21st century, we see that as a culture, we have not come that far from where those crazy Israelites were. We have formed our own golden calves, perhaps even more dangerous than that statue they came up with. Our golden calves are in the form of money, power, sex, drugs, or whatever gets in the way of God in our lives. Take a look at a list of the seven deadly sins, and you will see that they are alive and well in our society today.

Read more...

Quick Byte # ZERO - Imitation

Michael is a great contributor to this site and his Quick Bytes posts make us all think seriously about what he has to say.

So with great respects to his writings I shall attempt just one post in imitation.

The subject of my post is ... the devil !!!

It was CS Lewis who I think said that the devil's biggest trick is to make us believe he doesn't exist. And you can quite understand why.

Imagine if the devil suddenly appeared to you in all his horrendous horrible evilness? You'd probably be so frightened that he'd scare the socks off you. I know I'd probably fall off my chair if I saw him.

In fact, if he appeared like as I describe, the chances are that he'd immediately convert people to Christianity through total fear of him. Which would be counter-productive from his perspective.

So instead, he appears in disguise as nice, cuddly, harmless, no sin implied temptations. And slowly, surely, many are attracted to him and hand in hand walk with him almost somnambulistically into hell.

Perhaps we should give the devil our 100% attention and ensure he has Zero% influence on our lives.

Make Hay

I am tempted to start with the song--There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...Because the song goes through all of the silly steps taken by the old lady....And that is sort of the saga of the grass at our house.  The hay, you see in the title.

We had an old mower, older-ish, and the spark plug had never been changed.  My hubby had a new spark plug, but we couldn't find the wrench thing to tighten it with.  I looked and looked. He looked and looked.  Finally on a beautiful spring day in March (and who cuts their grass in March?  This weather has been crazy!) I decided just to go to the hardware store 5 minutes from our house and get a wrench, take care of the spark plug and mow the lawn.

I watched the YouTube video on how to change the spark plug and followed the directions, but when I tried to start it, the spark plug shot out and the threads were stripped and that mower was of no use.  My hubby wasn't home for that little show.  He has a tendency to get upset about things like that and so the thought of telling him about it really made me upset.  Not to mention that the grass was just getting longer and longer.

We had talked about getting somebody to cut the grass anyway, so I called the number on a flyer that was delivered to our door.  I left a message.  There was nothing but to tell my hubby.  He was upset, but we got past it somewhat.  And the grass kept growing. It is March!

The professional mower called, and said our gates were too narrow, he couldn't do our grass. I priced mowers.  Hubby got the name of a mower repair.  We took the mower to the place. The man didn't say how long it would be to fix the mower.  And the grass kept growing.  It is March!  March!

I was praying all along about the situation. Who was the patron saint of lawn mowing? The grass has been a source of ongoing trouble since we moved to this house on the hill.  The boy across the street bought our truck last year.  As hubby and I were discussing our hay situation, we thought of the boy across the street.  We asked and he came and mowed.  He would be willing to do it on a regular basis. Problem solved.

This may not seem like a very spiritual story, but for me it is a reminder that God is good--all the time!  It is up to us to wait for His answer to our prayers and not to despair in times of trouble. (And I know that getting the grass cut is a small trouble, but a trouble.)

And I have decided that given the name of our mower young man, that the patron saint of mowers must be St. Nicholas.

A Call to Prayer

An Urgent Appeal From Mother Regina Marie, OCD
  To All of Our Friends,

Praised be Jesus Christ!

This special e-mail is a Call to Prayer.  It concerns the recent HHS health insurance mandate. By now you have certainly heard about it. This mandate cannot be taken lightly. It violates our deepest ethical, moral values. We Catholics cannot in good conscience follow this mandate. Because of the seriousness of this threat to our religious freedom, the time has come to join together – all of us – in prayer. That is exactly what our Catholic Bishops of the United States are asking us to do.


FROM THE U.S. CATHOLIC BISHOPS:
“We call upon the Catholic faithful, and all people of faith, throughout our country to join us in prayer and penance for our leaders and for the complete protection of our First Freedom—religious liberty—which is not only protected in the laws and customs of our great nation, but rooted in the teachings of our great Tradition. Prayer is the ultimate source of our strength—for without God, we can do nothing; but with God, all things are possible.” (United for Religious Freedom, A Statement of the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, March 14, 2012).

The Carmelite Sisters invite all persons of good will to join with us in praying a novena beginning on March 25 and ending on April 2, 2012 in response to the Obama Insurance mandate which seriously threatens the religious freedom and conscience rights of United States citizens.  Together with many others throughout our country, the Carmelite Sisters are observing these nine days of prayer and fasting during the month of March, asking Our Lady to intercede for our country. We are asking Mary, Patroness of the United States of America, to implore God’s loving mercy on us at this critical time.  We ask you to join us in saying the following prayer every day for the nine days, together with some form of personal fasting. Thank you and God bless you.

---

Act of Consecration of the United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
      Most Holy Trinity: Our Father in heaven, who chose Mary as the fairest of your daughters; Holy Spirit, who chose Mary as your spouse; God the Son, who chose Mary as your Mother; in union with Mary, we adore your majesty and acknowledge your supreme, eternal dominion and authority.
      Most Holy Trinity, we put the United States of America into the hands of Mary Immaculate in order that she may present the country to you. Through her we wish to thank you for the great resources of this land and for the freedom, which has been its heritage. Through the intercession of Mary, have mercy on the Catholic Church in America. Grant us peace. Have mercy on our president and on all the officers of our government. Grant us a fruitful economy born of justice and charity. Have mercy on capital and industry and labor. Protect the family life of the nation. Guard the precious gift of many religious vocations. Through the intercession of our Mother, have mercy on the sick, the poor, the tempted, sinners - on all who are in need.
      Mary, Immaculate Virgin, our Mother, Patroness of our land, we praise you and honor you and give our country and ourselves to your sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, pierced by the sword of sorrow prophesied by Simeon, save us from degeneration, disaster and war. Protect us from all harm. O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, you who bore the sufferings of your Son in the depths of your heart, be our advocate. Pray for us, that acting always according to your will and the will of your divine Son, we may live and die pleasing to God. Amen.

(Imprimatur, Patrick Cardinal O'Boyle, Archbishop of Washington, 1959, for public consecration of the United States to the Immaculate Heart of Mary; renewed by U.S. Bishops, November 11, 2006)

Quick Bytes #21: The Only Correct Answer

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Fr. Larry once left a comment on one of my posts that I have never forgotten.

He said:

"If we get to the pearly gates and God asks you why He should let you into Heaven, the only correct answer is 'Because Jesus, Your Son, died for me'."

I'm very thankful he reminded me of that, because my whole time-spent-with-Him argument wasn't working so well ...

God Bless (and thank you Fr. Larry!)

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Comfort for the Tough Times

Have you ever experienced a time of trial/suffering/testing of faith that is so troubling, so worrisome, so difficult and grave that you cease to be able to pray?

You know you should, you wish you could...but, you can't? The words won't come. One of those times when we are told that the Holy Spirit understands the gutteral moanings of our soul?


Recently, I was reading the writings of Blessed Mother of Teresa of Calcutta. If you are familiar with her story, then you know that she experienced what amounts to 2 decades of "a dark night of the soul"...dryness...emptiness...loneliness...feeling as Our Lord did upon His cross when He cried out,
"My God! My God! Why have You abandoned me?!"


I was immensely comforted (and thus, wanted to share this post with you so as to offer that same comfort) to read Mother's beautiful sentiments.

She said, that in those times, when all feels dark and lonely...when prayers with or without words won't come...it is then that JESUS goes before His Father, on bended knee, and prays FOR us.

Our sweet and loving Savior, does the praying that we CAN'T do.

This is not to say that He merely "prays for us" as in "Dear Father, please help Judy" in an intercessory way...

No.

He DOES do that, of course.

But, what Mother Teresa was talking about is something MUCH MUCH deeper....much more profound...much more unfathomable....

Jesus prays FOR us...meaning He "does the praying" that we should be and want to be doing but can't.


I spent the week pondering this amazing gift.

Kind and gentle Jesus...prays to His father for me...AS me...when I am unable to pray.

This led me to think of other times...such as when a marriage is in crisis...when one wants to love the spouse, but can't...or when one desires SO MUCH to BE loved by the spouse, but isn't.

Surely, if Jesus prays to His Father in our place...so too, does He LOVE OUR SPOUSE FOR US...when we are unable...and so, too, does He love US...when our spouse can not/will not.


The profound reality of these things is incomprehensible to me.

It means that there is NEVER and absence of prayer or love because for every person who ever lived, is living now, or will live...JESUS is praying for each when they can't and loving for each when they can't and loving each when they are unloved.

Mother Teresa's reflections overwhelmed me. Humbled me.

Comforted me beyond words.

May this also bring you, my brothers and sisters, in Christ, a bit of Lenten Comfort.

Feast of St. Patrick's Day

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day this year, I decided to be a bit more festive than usual.  For my inspiration, I went to Xhonane at Familia Catolica.  She has many great and fun crafting ideas to celebrate this fun feast.

My new camera broke so I brought it back to where I bought it and they've sent it in to be repaired or replaced.  So, I do not have any photos of my creations which turned out pretty good but not as good as the sources where they were found.  I'm going to use their lovely photos and give them the photo credit.  Here they are:

I made the cinnamon shamrock from Jessica of Shower of Roses and Catholic Cuisine Blogs.  It turned out very good.  To work with the cinnamon dough, you need to defrost it in the microwave for about 20 seconds so you can make the shamrock shape and then decrease the overall cooking time.  It should be baked for about 20-25 minutes instead of the 30-35 minutes  the Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls calls for.  If you don't know Jessica, you should.  She is the best at creative ideas for celebrating the feast days during the liturgical year.  She completely amazes me and I feel blessed "to know her" through the blogosphere.  Thank you Jessica!!

photo credit

This one came from Jill at Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons.  Mine did not turn out as neat as Jill's because my shamrock cookie cutter was a tad bit too big.   About half of my tops came apart in 2 pieces. I was able to put them back on top and they still look cute.  Jill has many other very fun and festive ideas for celebrating this day.  Thank you Jill!!

photo credit

This next one came from Lolly Jane Boutique and these twin sisters Kristi & Kelli are crafty geniuses!  I love their use of color in their decorating and they've kindly offered the St. Paddy's printable for free!  Head on over there if you'd like a copy yourself.  While you're there, peak around at their other very cute crafting ideas to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  Thank you Krist & Kelli!! 

photo credit

Here are some books that my son and I read over to learn more about St. Patrick the man.  They're all picture books but my son still enjoyed reading them over.  I found them through our local library.  I love that!

St. Patrick Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola:

St. Patrick's Day by Gail Gibbons.

Then, Saint Patrick by Ann Tompert.

The other day, I sent my godchildren and my RE first graders a St. Patrick's card with a couple of chocolate gold coins with an image of St. Patrick  Jessica from Shower of Roses created them and offered them for free!  Thank you Jessica!

This time I had a one inch circle punch which made it much easier!  They are so cute and festive!  Thank you to all the wonderful ladies whose generous hearts bless the rest of us!

St. Patrick, pray for us!

Blessings,
Noreen

Meditation for the 2nd half of Lent

Brooke Fraser - How Can You Refuse Him Now

You'll need to hit the x in the upper right hand corner of the ads' bar to get the ads out of the way.  Beautiful meditation to the powerful images from the Passion of the Christ.  Evokes the sorrow and love that are so helpful when we do the Stations of the Cross or Divine Mercy 3 p.m. hour devotions.

Thank you Jesus!  Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory, honor and power.  Thank you that we have the hope of salvation, to be washed and made clean in your Precious Blood.

Third Week of Lent Daily Prayers

The 1962 liturgical books have propers for every day in Lent at Mass. The collect, or prayer is what the Church asks for all the faithful and is prayed at every hour of the Divine Office except Prime. They are so powerful I wanted to share them with you. Each of these makes for good meditation subjects throughout the day.

Monday:

Pour forth in Thy mercy, O Lord, we beseech Thee, Thy grace into our hearts: that as we abstain from bodily food, so we may also restrain our senses from hurtful excesses. Through our Lord...

Tuesday:

Graciously hear us, O almighty and merciful God: and in Thy loving kindness grant to us the fruits of wholesome temperance. Through our Lord...

Wednesday:

We beseech Thee, O Lord, grant us that taught by wholesome fasting, and abstaining from harmful vices, we may the more easily obtain Thy pardon. Through our Lord...

Thursday:

May the blessed solemnity of Thy Saints Cosmas and Damian glorify Thee, O Lord: whereby Thou hast, in Thine ineffable providence, given to them everlasting glory and to us Thine aid. Through our Lord...

Friday:

We beseech Thee, O Lord, bless our fasts with Thy gracious favor: that as in body we abstain from food, so we may fast from sin in mind. Through our Lord...

Saturday:

Grant, we beseech Thee, almighty God, that Thy household, in mortifying the flesh by fasting from food, may follow after justice by abstaining from sins. Through our Lord...

Each day's prayer reminds us of the season and evokes different images in our minds. Even if I can't make it to daily Mass in the Extraordinary Form (or any other for that matter), I feel united with every Mass offered in the world when I pray these prayers and read all the other propers. The language reminds me of who I am and Who He is.

Quick Bytes #20: Education

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We spend countless hours learning about finance so we don't end up poor.


We spend countless hours learning about our jobs and the skills we need to stay competitive.


We spend countless hours learning the ins and outs of the latest social media craze, touchscreen tablet, or smartphone.


We spend countless hours learning about the intricacies of our hobbies, whatever they may be.




Do we spend the same number of  hours learning about our religion?


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Crafolic Giveaway

Jennifer from Crafolic is a creative mom of 9 children who works diligently to instill the faith in her children.  One way she does so, is to create games or activities to help her children make the connection in a hands-on way.  Recently she sent me her latest game called Journey's End to review.  I did with my family and blogged about it HERE.  This is an active game that involves lessons on sin, grace that comes through confession and eternal destinations.  The players pick a card during each stop and do as the card indicates (i.e. you've committed a venial sin, walk forward with one hand over your eye or you've gone to confession and are now in a state of grace). The last stop is when the player picks the "At Death" card and the player does as the card states and ends up in Heaven, Purgatory or Hell.

This game was a great way for spontaneous conversations to develop about sin and how it affects our souls.  I highly recommend this game for teaching faith formation to children.

You're in luck!  She has offered one game as a giveaway on my blog Rosarymom.  Head on over there and leave me a comment for a chance to win Journey's End.  The winner will be picked on Friday, March 16th.
 
Or if you're interested in getting ideas for creative yet simple Catholic crafts, Jennifer has many of them to check out!  I'm always heading on over to her blog in search of ideas on how to teach the faith to my son as well as my first graders.

Blessings,
Noreen

My subconscious and I

Me: Hmmm … I have a few days free right now and maybe I should …

Subconscious: Oh good … we’re going on holiday!

Me: Holiday? No … of course not …

Sub: But, we haven’t been on holiday for sometime …

Me: Yes we did … we went to the seaside for the weekend two years ago … that was nice …

Sub: Wasn’t it just? OK … what will you do with your free days?

Me: Well, I was intending to plan …

Sub: Oh no … not more plans. You’re always planning something; and writing documents, and filing all sorts of bits of paper. It’s your need to be in control of everything. Always planning! Why can’t you let things be? Surprise yourself. Be instantaneous. Let things happen for a change, without any plans and schedules. What is it you’re planning this time?

Me: Well … my funeral, as it happens.

Sub: What?

Me: My funeral.

Sub: Are you feeling well? No aches and pains I should know about? Apart from your brain that is! What’s brought on the sudden need to plan your funeral?

Me: Well … It helps get things organized … you know … when the time comes. It saves the bother and worry for those left behind to have to sort things out.

Sub: But … the whole purpose of dying is to get others to sort things out. It gives them something to do and stops them moping around with miserable faces.

Me: It would be nice to organize the funeral service in church. My favorite readings … favorite hymns …

Sub: Oh no … not those sad hymns. What is it with people and sad hymns at funerals? Why not sing something cheerful?

Me: Like what?

Sub: Like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Maybe people would like to sing those at your funeral rather than your sad hymns.

Me: But people always have mournful songs at funerals.

Sub: Don’t they just? And what is it with that song from the movies? What’s it called? And I will always love you. With that very long elongated … I … which goes on and on before singing will always love you. What’s all that about?

Me: It’s sad. It depicts the love people have for the person who has died.

Sub: What nonsense. If you really love someone you tell them so when they’re alive. When they’re with you. And you show that love through the way you treat them. Not tell them all about it when they’re dead … When it could be too late.

Me: You have a point there …

Sub: I always do. Take my advice. Forget about planning your funeral and go and show your love for somebody.

Me: How well put …

Sub: And another thing … you’re a pain in the neck … working your way South!

Love Him in Them

A prayer from My Other Self, by Clarence Enzler:

Dear Lord, may I always remember:  Whatever I do to them, I do also to You.

May I never forsake Your command, "Love one another as I have loved you."

May my thoughts of others be no longer my thoughts, but Your thoughts.

May my love of others be no longer my love, but Yours.

In my speech with others may my words be no longer my words, but Your words.

May I serve others as You served all men, seeking not to receive but to give.

May I see others no longer, but You in them.

May Your thoughts dwell in my mind, Your love in my heart, Your words on my lips- that I may learn to love all men even as You, dear Lord, love me.

 

 

 

Quick Bytes #19: Deal

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Often times, when a deal is being made, one side has to offer up a token of "goodwill".

Sometimes it is a small one.

"Here, hold my watch as collateral".

Sometimes it is huge.

"If you want this loan you have to give me thousands of dollars as a down payment."

And sometimes it is unimaginable.

"Here is my Son for you to Crucify."


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