Sniff!!! Sniff!!!

I appear to have caught some kind of "Spring Bug" unlike the much awaited "Spring Fever." Will be [sniff] back here [cough] as soon as I can [sniff, sniff]. I'm sorry to be missing all your wonderful posts. [cough, cough, cough...cough]. You all have a grand day!

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Thanks be to God!

The Glory of the Resurrection...

From the solemnity
of the
Cross on Calvary,

to the joy of the
Empty Tomb

All Glory and Praise to God our Father
through His risen son, Our Lord Jesus Christ
with the working of the Holy Spirit,

I wish you all the blessings and graces
of the Holy Easter!

Alleluia! Alleluia!!!

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Thanks be to God!

Good Friday

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his
mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother
"Woman, behold, your son." Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother."
(John 18:1-19; 42)

None of the other three Gospels mention that any of the family of Jesus--or any of the disciples--were near the cross

But the Gospel of John has two family members there--Jesus' mother and his aunt. We seldom think of his aunt at the cross. She was probably there mostly for her sister, Mary, who she knew was having a hard time.

There they are. His mother, his aunt, the beloved disciple, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Each of them concerned about Jesus and about each other.

At Christmas, we are touched by the crib scene. On Good Friday, we should let ourselves be touched by the cross scene. The wood of the crib has become the wood of the cross.

Put yourself in the scene. Spend some time with the Lord...and with his mother, her sister, Mary Magdalene and the beloved disciple.

The Little Black Book

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Thanks be to God!

Holy Thursday

Descending to Feet

The Last Supper picture of Jesus washing feet describes the process of incarnation, of spirit becoming flesh.

Jesus is aware "that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God" (John 13:2). This is his interior God-consciousness, in common with God and ready, in his very next action, to manifest God in whatever he does. All things are in his hands. He takes off his outer garment to reveal the inner self and, behold, he wraps a towel around his waist. The one whom the disciples know as Lord and Teacher is, in truth, a servant. Then he pours water into a basin. "Pouring" is how Spirit feels as it becomes flesh. It flows, coming from the inside to the outside. Then Jesus completes the action by washing and drying his disciple's feet. In other words, he refreshes their feet so that they might continue the journey of life.

What Jesus does, we can also do. We can share in his incarnation dynamics. First, we must realize that we are in communion with God and commissioned to manifest God's love in everything we do. Second, we must choose acts that have this revelatory potential, acts that get people back on the path to living the gospel. third, we must do in the flesh what we have conceived in the Spirit.

This may sound like drudgery and sacrifice, but it is not. Once you know you are a spiritual being becoming flesh through special acts of service, you will have found the joy that cannot be taken from you.

Daybreaks, Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter
by John Shea

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Thanks be to God!

Holy Wednesday~~Be Not Afraid~~

Music that touches the heart as we begin the journey into the Three Days of Ultimate Sacrifice, Salvation and Glory!

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Thanks be to God!

Holy Tuesday

Peep Hole 2
Originally uploaded by suzy33

Reflections from two whom I admire.

Like the air I breathe
this Divine Presence
is all around me and
within me
but never separate from me.
Thomas Merton

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Try today then to deliver into the hands of our Jesus all the care of the future, as well as all the anxiety about the past, and be assured that in leaving the past to the mercy of God and the future to [God's] Providence you will derive from your offering very great peace and very great consolation. ~Saint Mother Theodore Guerin~

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Thanks be to God!

An Understanding...

"An Understanding"

If it is almost dark
(or almost light)
and I bump into you
in living out becoming...
mistake me,
as only a friend can,
for what I intend to be.

Continue toward
what I should most want to say,
taking as realities
these boundless bewildering capacities.
Let your love rain down
to my parched places
and stay
shining through my muddled seasons
in presence to insure
an actual awakening
from laughing potential.
See tomorrow in me today
with quiet patience
until time and times merge as one
and I am grown up
into a full child
of God,
And we are one.

~~Gilchrist Conway, S.P.~~
+1984

From Gilchrist Revisited-for Hers is the Kingdom
By Betty Rysdon Moebs, Editor

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Thanks be to God!

Palm Sunday

Seeking Peace

A poem by G. K. Chesterton tells the story of the donkey Christ rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The lowly and misshapen donkey speaks the entire poem and, after three stanzas of self-flagellation, brags that he had his hour:

One far fierce hour and sweet
There was a shout about my ears,
And palms before my feet.

However, the glory of the donkey is not only his privileged role in salvation histroy. The irony goes much deeper. The lowly donkey is an unimposing ride, a symbol of peace. It is contrated with the horse. Triumphal entries were usually the stuff of generals who rode their warhorses through the gate of the conquered city. Jesus' entry in Jerusalem is a mock of military might.

"Peace" summarized Jesus' whole life and message and sets the tone for his passion. death, and resurrection. At his birth the angels sang about peace on earth, during his life Jesus promised his follower a peace the world could not give, and "Peace" was the first word of the resurrected Christ of his disciples. also, when Christian missionaries visited homes, they were supposed to say, "Peace." Many think if the Christian faith could be expressed in one word, it would be "peace."

But personal and collective peace is as elusive as it is prized. We find ourselves interiorly anxious and fearful. We watch as our world continues old wars and begins new wars. Peace is what we hunger for more that what we feed on. But the desire to be at peace--with ourselve, with others, with the universe, with God--never leaves our heart.

Daybreaks, Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter
John Shea

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As we begin this Holy Week, please know I offer you all the the peace our Savior can give. I wish you peace at home, at work, and in your community.

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Thanks be to God!

Join GoPoem at Weaving the Hours It's an opportunity to share your gifts with others and meet new friends.

Friendship...

Ten years. Yes, ten years. Can you believe it? We have met for breakfast once a month for ten years. The friendship began in the clinic at which we worked. As we went our separate ways, Lisa to dialysis, Rhonda to OB, I stayed, we chose to stay in touch over breakfast. It's worked. We have grown in compassion, thoughtfulness, humor and sincere concern for one another. I don't know where the last 10 years have gone. We are wiser...so we think. We are more beautiful...so we think. Our lives are fuller...so we think. Our laughter is more contagious and are tears more sincere. We are sisters. Amazing!!!

Friend ship
Loving, caring
Requires give and take
Heart and mind unified
Companion.

It's truly a grand day! I'm wishing you the same!

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Thanks be to God!

Join GoPoem at Weaving the Hours It's an opportunity to share your gifts with others and meet new friends.

Taking Up the Cross

Take a walk with me as we journey through this last Friday before Holy Week begins. The last day before the mundane days of Lent take on the true celebration of who we are as Catholic Christians. The reason we are who we are, the reason we endeavor to walk and live this life of holiness, though it be fraught with pot holes, road blocks, greed, and selfishness. Please reflect on the words of John Shea.

Taking Up the Cross

Taking up the cross comes with the territory of discipleship. Once we begin to be as compassionate and inclusive as Jesus, we rankle other people. They make moves against us and we begin to suffer.

At this moment, we are invited to adopt an attitude toward our suffering. Here is a teenager's rendition of how Jesus suggests we should act:

Jesus was no dummy. He sees the cross coming. Look at what he was doing! He's touching qll the unclean people, eating with outcasts, breaking up the temple money game, criticizing corruption. He wants a better world, but a lot of people are doing real well in the world as it is. They are not going to give up and fade away. This is notnew.

Now Peter--there's a dummy. Jesus lays it out for yim--the cross, the resurrection, the whoe thing--and he says, "No way."

Jesus is not happy.

So Jesus says to him, "Not only for me but you too, Peter."

So now Peter is not happy.

So Jesus tells him--and here's the thing I like--Jesus tells him, "Don't let them lay the cross on you, Peter. Take it up. Don't let them lay it on you. Take it up."

Wow! You gotta love Jesus for that.

When we know the price of following Jesus and are willing to pay it, the inevitable sufferings do not make us victims. We become provocative, taking into ourselves the cost of discipleship.

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Engage the struggle for a better world;
embrace the suffering that comes with it.

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Enough said!! Have a blessed and holy Friday!

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Thanks be to GOD!!!