Have a Great 2 0 0 8

Prayer for a Blessing on the Gift of a New Year~ who knows what it may hold...

Let us Pray
O sacred and adorable Trinity, hear our prayers on behalf of our holy Father the Pope, our Bishops, our clergy, and for all that are in authority over us. Bless, we beseech You, during the coming year, the whole Catholic Church; convert heretics and unbelievers; soften the hearts of sinners so that they may return to your friendship; give prosperity to our country and peace among the nations of the world; pour down your blessings upon our friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and upon our enemies, if we have any; assist the poor and the sick; have pity on the souls of those whom this year has taken from us; and be merciful to those who during the coming year will be summoned before your judgment seat. May all our actions be preceded by your inspirations and carried on by your assistance, so that all our prayers and works, having been begun in you, may likewise be ended in You. Amen. catholicprayers.com

Christmas Prayer

Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter, we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us: for shining star and angel's song, for infant's cry in lowly manger. We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child. We behold his glory, and are bathed in its radiance. Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas, the incomprehensible comprehended, the poetry made hard fact, the helpless Babe who cracks the world asunder. We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wisemen. Help us to rise bigger than we are. Amen

On Being the Manger

A manger must be ready and willing to receive and to accept. It gets no choice as to what is being placed in it. I need to let go of self will, plans and opinions if I want to be empty. A filled manger is not helpful and gets by-passed. True, it’s hard to wait in emptiness for Jesus to come. The paradox is that a filled manger may be useless but when I’m empty I feel useless. I have to be comfortable or at least peaceful being empty of myself. If I fill my manger with things or people that don’t belong there I’ll still be empty…wanting. So I can’t get past it. In emptiness is my fulfillment.

When I give up my things and opinions my wants and plans I have to stay soft. Can’t get crusty! I’ll need to smile, to welcome, and to forgive others. My eyes still need to tear and my heart needs to melt at the sight of others’ pain. Forgetting myself cannot make me cold. I have to practice tenderness in dealing with others – seeing each one as God’s special child and welcoming them into my day. I need to figuratively stop looking in mirrors. It’s all about meekness, 1Cor 13-ness and simplicity.

How much do I want Jesus to stay in my manger?

Be the Manger

A manger must be available, receptive, empty, waiting, and patient. Most of all a manger fulfills its tasks in humility, going unnoticed.

To become the manger I need to transform. I need to change what I look and act like, giving up part of myself to receive Jesus. It may hurt to let go or lose what I’m holding on to. I’ll need some extra help and grace.

The important part about being the manger that receives Jesus is that it be empty. A filled manger is useless.

A manger for a newborn should be clean, free of any kind of sinfulness.

It’s important too that the manger be soft and warm so Jesus can rest comfortably there. No hardness of heart or mind can offer that.

A manger needs to be stable and balanced so as to contain the Lord safely. It must be steadfast and never allow harm to come to Jesus or to anyone who represents Him.

Lastly it needs to be filled with softness and warmth, which are our acts of self-denial and good deeds. Fill your manger every day if you can with an act of selflessness or generosity to others.

When Christmas Eve comes make of yourself an invitation to God: “Come, dwell here!” Then wait. He will surely come.

Dear St. Therese,

~ Little Flower~

Please teach me how to be completely dependent on God so that I recognize my nothingness. I cannot correct my faults but I insist on trying – as tho I had the ability to do that or anything else on my own. I understand that my good deeds are only done with the graces and talents God has given me. Why do I think my faults/sins could be corrected on my own? What ability do I falsely think I have?

I am neither good nor bad as I am nothing. You’ve described your body as an envelope. You’ve described yourself as a grain of sand. Those are things that are completely ignored. An envelope is empty and useless once it has fulfilled its purpose. What envelope or grain of sand is appreciated, remembered or even noticed?

It is only God; His talents thru me and His mercy to me. I should spend my time praising and thanking Him rather than on self focused activities.

I understand your way but I get too tangled up to be able to live it. Will you help me please? I humbly thank you.

I thirst

Grace is free flowing like water. It must be. Water will find a way thru any barrier. It can smooth out a stone. Such is grace. No matter how high my self imposed wall is (self will) God’s grace eventually permeates my soul and drenches me with forgiveness. His grace fills in the cracks of the dried up clay I become and allows me to be malleable in God’s hands. When I feel empty and when I thirst God’s grace blesses me with sustenance. This world is not satisfying; rather it actually creates a hunger and a thirst for something of greater substance. It’s a chronic soul ache that can only be sated by God’s grace. Nothing or no one else has the capacity to fill that void. “God alone suffices” St. Teresa of Avila aptly said, because the Artist knows His design.
See: www.bibletruths.net

I beg for your grace, Lord.
What is grace to me? It’s the help you give me Jesus. It’s a warm touch that thaws a cold heart. It’s what rounds off the sharp edges of my personality. It’s the hand on my shoulder that calms me when my insides are shaking. Your grace is the bit of energy I get to carry me thru when I’m exhausted and I still have a To Do list. Your grace is what keeps my tongue still and my mouth shut when I’m feeling the urge to verbally strike out or to talk about another person. It’s the connection you make with me during a busy day that reminds me of who I really am and who You are.

I beg for your grace, Lord.

I'm hungry...

That I want Thee. Only Thee – let my heart repeat without end. All desires that distract me, day and night, are false and empty to the core. As the night keeps hidden in its gloom the petition for light, even thus in the depths of my unconsciousness rings the cry – “I want Thee. Only Thee.”

As the storm still seeks its end in peace when it strikes against peace with all its might even thus my rebellion strikes against thy love and still its cry is “I want Thee. Only Thee.”
-by Tagore Gitanjali

said another way......
Text: Luke 19:28-40
...Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.”

and another way.

Everything else is just something on the journey toward Him.

About drinking the cup...

When arrested in the garden and Peter the apostle cut off a soldier’s ear Jesus said, “Put your sword away. Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Jn 18:11

We pray lots of prayers and go to church every Sunday. But when it’s offered to me thru some relationship issue, health problem or life situation ~

Shall I not drink the cup?

It all leads up to that. I’m not 20 yrs old anymore nor new to the Catholic life. If I can’t actually drink the cup then it’s all talk.
Jesus knew what was going to happen but being fully human it must have hurt him terribly to have his friend apostle Judas betray him. Jesus’ response was the return of an embrace to Judas and the question,

“Shall I not drink the cup?”

* When my to do list is longer than the hours in a day
* When ‘a friend’ turns on me or gossips about me
* When my health or that of a loved one moves beyond regular aches and pains into something more serious
* When expenses go up but my paycheck doesn’t

Each answer should be “Shall I not drink the cup?”

Jesus left His Word in the Bible so we’d know what to do and how to act. He did that so we could follow His example. Knowing we can’t even do that without His help and grace~ let’s each go on our way today abandoning our independence and self will armed with his grace to drink the cup we are offered today.

A Special, Secret Place

“Close behind and close in front you fence me around,

shielding me with your hand.”

Ps 139

I’m in a protective bubble – the bubble is your grace Lord. Bad things, words, events might try to penetrate and they may actually get to my body…but they won’t reach my soul. It is yours, my Lord. It is your life within me, my Jesus. I won’t deny you and you won’t deny me so we’re kind of stuck together in the protective bubble of my soul. It’s an intimate place where we can enjoy each other’s company. No one in the world knows where it is so they can’t know the way there. That’s between you and me. It’s our place and our time together.
So special. So sacred. So holy. So ours. Amen

YOU ARE

You are my strength, O God, the source of grace. You are my purpose and goal. You are my model. You challenge me and call me to grow. You do not let me stay where I am comfortable but lovingly call me forth. You are the Extreme example of how to love others. You are 1Cor13. You have unbelievable patience and gentleness and accept what I offer you. You are parent and brother, Beloved and friend, spouse and companion, teacher and Lord. You are faithful and loving and available to me day after day, mood after mood, need after need. You are my comfort and peace. You are my hope during struggles and what I look forward to at the end of my days. Ours is a relationship I treasure and work at because I hunger for you. You wisely feed me when I’m hungry but not when I’m full. You pursue me but do not bind me. I am ordinary but special to you. I am overwhelmed by your goodness.

Praise and thanks to you, Lord!

This Is What I Yearn For

“Like thirsty ground I yearn for you.”
Psalm 143:6

I yearn for wisdom in decision making.
I yearn for peace of mind during troubling times.
I yearn to finally recognize you in others.
I yearn to see you one day face to face and be dazzled by your glory.
I yearn to be the person you always wanted me to be.
I yearn to live 1Cor13 so my life will bring others to you.
I yearn to be a comfort for you.
I yearn for the day when the world will see you and believe you. When all humans ask for your forgiveness and offer you praise and thanks. When you will be worshipped as you so deserve.

My simple prayer… Amen.

Distrust Yourself

…and trust in God. I’m learning how useless I am without God’s grace. I cannot even keep the promises I make to God without His grace. And when I fail I cannot right things without His forgiveness. On my own I am helpless. I don’t mind admitting that, in fact, I need to confess it more than I do. I’m so dependent that I don’t care about my own weaknesses. What should I expect? In God alone I should have confidence. And with His grace alone can I improve.

“The more upset I get about my own failures the more self dependent I am.”
Fr. Lorenzo Scupoli
“We are too apt to overestimate our own abilities.” Fr. J.P. de Caussade
http://www.aquinasandmore.com/index.cfm/author/Lorenzo-Scupoli/FuseAction/store.AuthorSearch/Author/482/inde

What Is Love

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

Lauren - age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you."

The rest of the answers..

Since I'm going on vacation for a week beginning Sun September 30th, I'll have to share the rest of the answers to the quiz about the Saints posted on 9/17/07...

1=g See post on this blog dated May 09, 2007 for info about St. Bridget of Sweden or this link:

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintb07.htm

2=e

3=b

4=c

5=f St. Joan of Arc- God’s Gracious Warrior.
She began hearing voices at age 13 which continued until her death at age 19. The voices became visions. She escaped being captured by jumping from the roof of a 60 foot tower which she miraculously survived. At the stake the executioner gathered up her ashes to throw into the Seine but could not get her heart to burn.

6=a

7=d


Hope you did well, but even more than that I hope
"The difference between our lives and the Gospel is the same as the difference between written and sung music" .

And # 2 is.....

E ! How're you doing? Will you get 100?

(see quiz on 9/17 post)

St. Therese- the Little Way to God
The way of trust and absolute surrender – a way that anyone at anytime could follow.
At age 9 she suffered from hallucinations and bodily tremors – a complete breakdown. Therese’s uncle told her she was a little flower that God wanted to gather. Her way of spiritual childhood meant “to recognize one’s nothingness, to expect everything from God as a child expects everything from his father, to feel incapable of earning one’s life or the eternal life of heaven.”
She found opportunities to show her love for Jesus by “not allowing one little sacrifice to escape, not one look, one work, profiting by all the smallest things and doing them through love.”
Her mission was to make others love God as much as she loved him.

The answer to #7 is

[see the quiz on Sept 17th post]

St. Anthony Mary Claret

Had the gifts of prophecy and miracles. Reported to have preached 10,000 sermons, published 200 works. Spread devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
When people got sick and came to him he simple made the sign of the cross over them and prayed. They recovered by the scores. He shook up the status quo and that won him enemies. Caused several attempts on his life. One mae slashed Claret’s throat disfiguring him from chin to cheek bone. “I had so long desired to shed my blood for the love of Jesus and Mary.” In imitation of Jesus, Claret refused to defend himself. He possessed and undying passion to bring
souls to the Lord.

Name That Tune and the Saints

see the quiz posted on September 17th...

St Francis de Sales wrote the following in his Treatise on the Love of God:
“It often happens among partridges that one steals another’s eggs with the intention of sitting on them. Behold a strange thing yet well supported by testimony – the young one which was hatched and nourished under the wings of a strange partridge at the first call of the true mother quits the thief partridge and goes back to the first mother.
Same thing happens with the human heart. At the first look it throws on God, at its first knowledge of Him the natural and first inclination to love God which was dull and imperceptible, awakens in an instant and suddenly appears as a spark from amongst the ashes.”
His emphasis was on the mercy and love of God. “Everything must be done through love, nothing through force. Obedience must be loved more than disobedience feared.”
“Nothing so impedes our progress in perfection as to be sighing after another way of life.”
St Francis said, “ The difference between the lives of the saints and the Gospel is the same as the difference between written and sung music.”
He also wrote Introduction to the Devout Life and is a Doctor of the Church and patron saint of writers.

Here's another answer to the quiz (click on the title)

St. Teresa of Avila
Her works on prayer are considered to be some of the greatest pieces of spiritual literature ever composed. Once when God told her to bring a message to someone she replied, “Why do you give me this trouble? Can’t you speak directly to him?” She wrote:
Let nothing disturb you.
Let nothing frighten you.
All things pass away.
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who has God finds he lacks nothing.
God alone suffices.
St. Teresa’s autobiography is called The Book of Her Life and was written under obedience to her superiors.

The answer is...

The Answer to #4 is C:
Blessed Migues Augustin Pro – the undercover priest
Refusing a blindfold he stood with a crucifix in one hand and a rosary in the other, arms outstretched like the cross, forgiving his enemies. He cried, “Vivo Cristo Rey!” “Long Live Christ the King!”
Five bullets then entered his chest and one final bullet went through his head.

Here's a short quiz....

If “The difference between the lives of the saints and the Gospel is the same as the difference between written and sung music” as a famous saint said. (Hmmm, who could that have been?) Then can you name that tune?

Match up the numbers with the correct letters~

1. Could smell sin
2. The “Little Way”
3. “Let nothing disturb you”
4. the Undercover Priest
5. Heart would not burn
6. Spiritual Exercises

7. Slashed from chin to cheekbone

a. St. Ignatius Loyola
b. St. Teresa of Avila
c. Blessed Migues Augustin Pro
d. Anthony Mary Claret
e. St. Therese of Liseaux
f. St. Joan of Arc
g. St. Bridget of Sweden

The answers will be printed in upcoming posts.