Which to choose, which to choose?

I've been given a great Gift, and it's so awesome. I love being Catholic! There are so many dimensions to one Catholic Church.  We can choose to be a member of the Church only, and we still reap so many benefits to being Catholic and partaking of the Sacraments (Reconciliation, Eucharist, Anointing....all available on a regular basis!). We also are blessed with lay-organizations that we can join; small parishes might have the Knights of Columbus and the Altar Society (or another women's group), and hopefully a bible study group; some parishes have schools, and with them, parent organizations.  Then, at larger parishes and dioceses, many more organized groups, such as Militia Immaculata, Legion of Mary, Daughters of Isabella, men's groups, and various other national/local groups.

Right now, I'm feeling called to explore the different groups and options, in order to grow my Faith, and to share it with others, as well as support them. But which one? I want to give my best to whichever group I decide to focus on. (God comes before ALL things, including service and social groups, prayer groups, or any other sub-group.)  I know I don't have to choose just one. I wonder how I'll know where I'm supposed to be. I'm going to trust God to guide me.  It also occurred to me tonight, that perhaps I'm not *supposed* to choose just one.  As mentioned, it's a great thing to have so many supporting groups to choose from, but it's easy for the groups to be 'divided', and not interact with each other.  Maybe His Plan for me will be to belong to more than one or two, and participate, as my time is pretty flexible right now.  When people get involved in one group, tunnel vision can strangle, or impede, growth. Plus, sometimes we might outgrow a group, or our focus or perspective changes. But if people aren't aware of other groups, they might just drift away, instead of re-focusing.

Created by a Carpenter

We know a little about Jesus as a child, and of course, a lot about Jesus as a 30-something adult. What about in between?

If I'm correct, Jesus was a carpenter with his dad, Joseph. I thought about how great it would be to discover something, or own something that Jesus made during that time!  Can you imagine having a table, or a carved 'something' from Jesus? Surely, many people owned wood items that He made. How we would TREASURE 'it'!  They would be greater than anything by Michelangelo, da Vinci, Wagner, Beethoven put together.

But do we treasure each other in the same way we would a table or a chair by Jesus, the Man? God created us even more carefully, each cell of our being, than a human carpenter (which many would have considered Jesus at the time, before knowing He was the Messiah) would have his items.

Let us view each other as His Creation.  More care and thought was put into each of us than an 'item' ever could be.  He knew our voice before our first breath.  He knew our hair color, our fingerprint, our personality, before we even knew ourselves.  Look upon each other as a great masterpiece, something priceless....which we are.
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Thank you Lord for creating us exactly how You want us. Help us to find our true potential that we may not have figured out yet.  Reveal Yourself to us in ways that each of us can understand, and show us how to share You with others.  Thank you for all your gifts and creations. Thank you Holy Spirit for the signs you have shared with me.

Thank you Father for this day, and the joys that we have received. Thank you for the trials that we are going through.  Forgive us, Lord, our shortcomings and sins.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.  Mama Mary, be at our side, and help us to love the Lord as you did, and to say 'Yes' to Him.  St. Joseph, pray for us.

For those suffering from the flu...here are some saints that can be with you during your suffering:

• Agathius - headache
• Agrippina of Mineo - bacterial diseases, and bacterial infections
• Apollonia - toothache
• Augustine of Hippo - sore eyes
• Bernardino of Siena - chest problems, lung problems,
• Blaise - ailments of the throat
• Crescentinus – headache
• Cyriacus - eye disease
• Denise -against headaches

From "The Imitation of Christ"

O good Jesus, shine on me with the brightness of Your eternal light and expel all darkness from the mansions of my heart. Restrain my many wandering thoughts and destroy the temptations that assail me.

Use your strength in fighting for me, and suppress those wicked beasts - those seductive sensual desires of mine. Establish peace in me and let fulsome praise of You resound throughout those sacred precincts found in a clear conscience.

Command the winds and tempests to obey. To the sea say "Be still" and to Aquilo, the north wind, "stop gusting! and there will be a great calm."

Choose Life

Thank you Lord for the life You have given us.  

We pray that all those whom You have given life receive it, and are born into a world that becomes better with them in it.  We pray for all those unborn children who were not given a chance at life. We pray for all the children born who do not receive the love of their parents. Hear our prayers, Lord, for the mothers and fathers who make the decision to abort their babies.  Show them the way to Your side, that they may see the Hope and Love You have for each of us. Show them the life choices that are better for all.  Let us not heap one sin upon another.  All of us are sinners, Father.  Let us not condemn each other for our different sins, but help each other to rise up against all sins.  Forgive us our sins when we call on you, Savior of man.  

We praise You, we bless You, we thank You, God Almighty.

Thank you God, for my birthmother Penny choosing life, and all mothers who choose life, and for the family that was chosen for me.

The more you give

I wrote recently about finding "Gloria" and how that changed my day.

Looking back, it did more than that. It changed me.  It helped me.  I wish I could find the people that I met that day, and tell them how they, by letting me help them that day, made a difference in MY life.  I'm sure they left that day thinking how I made a difference in theirs, but it was my heart that changed.

The more you give, the more you receive. By helping this couple, I found more 'glory' in my heart. I found love, compassion.  I received peace and joy.

Did I intend to receive and find anything? No, but that's how it happens. If you give in ORDER to receive, you will not get the full abundance of joy and peace, if any.  I've shared the story of finding Gloria that day, in a day where I needed it. I don't share that story in order to lift myself up of being a do-gooder.  I share it so that others might do the same thing and feel that warmth that you get back.  I make it clear that I did it with no intention of receiving thanks from the elderly couple, or anyone else.  I didn't want them even to know it was me. But God had other plans.  By finding out the woman's name was Gloria fulfilled His plan for me for that day, and the days since.

I wrote this post, and then did a search for some Bible verses. Apparently, at some point in my life, I've read or heard this part of Scripture, but I didn't recall it; thank you Lord, praise you Jesus, bless you Spirit, for showing me to live it.

2 Corinthians 9:5-15

5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you, and arrange in advance for this bountiful gift that you have promised, so that it may be ready as a voluntary gift and not as an extortion.
6 The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work. 9 As it is written,
“He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
    his righteousness[b] endures forever.”
10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.[c] 11 You will be enriched in every way for your great generosity, which will produce thanksgiving to God through us; 12 for the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God. 13 Through the testing of this ministry you glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing with them and with all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you because of the surpassing grace of God that he has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Mother of Sweetness prayer

From: http://www.catholicdoors.com/prayers/english3/p02365.htm

Mother of Sweetness,
the faith and love with which thou giveth thy Divine Son
urges me to open my heart to the love of thy heart
so that the sweetness of thy Mother's love may touch me deeply.
May the sweetness of thy heart cause me
to share with others thy love for Jesus.

When I meditate on the mysteries of Jesus Christ
in the most Holy Rosary,
ever-Virgin Mother Mary,
reveal to me the sweetness of thine own Immaculate Heart.

Amen.
~~~~~

MARIAN PRAYERS OF
SAINT LOUIS DE MONTFORT # 2
(A.D. 1673-1716)

In the Arms of Your Mercy

O Mary, my Queen,
I cast myself in the arms of your mercy.
I place my soul and body
in your blessed care
and under your special protection
from this world.
I entrust to you all my hopes and consolations,
all my anguish and misery,
my life and the end of my life.
Through your most holy intercession
and through your merits,
grant that all my works may be directed and carried out
in accord with your will
and the will of your Divine Son.

Amen.

Silence!

I wrote this in December, but had not set it to publish, as I thought I had some work to do on it. In the meantime, Pope Francis beat me to the punch!
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/value-silence-encourages-pope/
Silence “helps us to discover our mystery: our mystery of encountering the Lord, our mystery of walking through life with the Lord,” encouraged Pope Francis.

The Pontiff then concluded his homily in the chapel of the Saint Martha guesthouse by praying that “the Lord would give us the grace to love silence, to seek it and to have a heart guarded by the ‘cloud’ of silence.”

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When was the last time you actually learned something by talking?  Most things we have learned have come by listening. Real listening requires being silent.  Not just being silent as you think of your next thought or comment, but active listening.  It seems to me that many of us RUN from silence.  What are we afraid of?

I used to avoid silence.  The television was always on when I was home, and the radio was on in the car. I fell asleep with the TV on. I do sometimes listen to my radio as I fall asleep though (Catholic Answers, or the Drew Mariani show, or a Catholic podcast).  I like to pray the Rosary as I lay down to rest, and will sometimes fall asleep to it.  Recently, my husband and I drove 5 hours without the radio on at all.  What an unexpected joy that was! After all these years, we still had plenty to share with each other. That wouldn't have happened without silence.

I love Mass. I love the hymns and songs, of praise, thanksgiving, penance and such. But where is the silence? In our parish, it seems non-existent much of the time.  Not before Mass begins, not after, and very little during. I miss it.  The silence is one reason I enjoy the weekday Masses I attend.  Even though I miss singing hymns and prayers, I miss the silence more on Sundays.

I pray to increase the silence in my head and heart, so that I can hear Him.  I think that's what many of us are hiding from when we fill our lives with 'noise'.  We don't want to hear what He has to say.  We are so afraid of His (righteous) judgment that we insulate ourselves from it.

The Rosary

I'd like to make this year, 2014, my year of the Rosary. I want to learn more about the Rosary; I want to use the Rosary as a beginning to praying better. I want to think of the Rosary as a 'crown of roses' for the mother of our Savior, of God.  I want to meditate deeper on the mysteries of the Rosary, as they reflect the life of Christ from birth, to death, to resurrection, to ascension.  I want to draw closer to Mary, and in turn, closer to Christ.


If anyone who reads this wants or needs a Rosary, I will send you one that is blessed by a local priest. It won't be fancy, but it will be sent with love.

Father, I ask you to help me become more devout, more holy, as I pray the Rosary even more this year.

http://www.ewtn.com/expert/expertfaqframe.asp?source=/vexperts/conference.htm
http://thevirginmary.com.au/how-to-pray-the-holy-rosary/

FIFTEEN PROMISES OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
TO CHRISTIANS WHO FAITHFULLY PRAY THE ROSARY

1. To all those who shall pray my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and great graces.
2. Those who shall persevere in the recitation of my Rosary will receive some special grace.
3. The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy.
4. The rosary will make virtue and good works flourish, and will obtain for souls the most abundant divine mercies. It will draw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary will not perish.
6. Whoever recites my Rosary devoutly reflecting on the mysteries, shall never be overwhelmed by misfortune. He will not experience the anger of God nor will he perish by an unprovided death. The sinner will be converted; the just will persevere in grace and merit eternal life.
7. Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite my Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces and will share in the merits of the blessed.
9. I will deliver promptly from purgatory souls devoted to my Rosary.
10. True children of my Rosary will enjoy great glory in heaven.
11. What you shall ask through my Rosary you shall obtain.
12. To those who propagate my Rosary I promise aid in all their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have as their intercessors, in life and in death, the entire celestial court.
14. Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are my beloved children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion to my Rosary is a special sign of predestination.

Mary with Rosary: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/mary-with-white-rosary-beads-denise-daffara.html