Ron will be home tomorrow from his "adventure" and I will be truly glad...I've had about all the excitement I can take for one week...
Thanks be to God!!!!!
An occasional bit of wit 'n' wisdom as gleaned from the wise and learned. Family fun and times to share.
Cor gaudens exhilarat factem
('A joyful heart light up the face')
SalomoSt. Teresa of Avila says, "Deliver us from frowning saints!" This doesn't mean that we are to be Pollyannas, blind to the harsh realities of life; but it does mean that in our hearts we know that whatever happens, the Lord is dealing with us as we should be dealt with.
When we realize that whatever we are experiencing is something to help us along the road to eternal life, we can bear it, and we can bear it in hope. That inner hope then finds its way to our countenance, and we'll live the truth that Paul expresses in Romans when he says, "We rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope" (Romans 5:3-4).
The joy in our heart that we experience when we realize that the Lord loves us and would never leave us will reflect His light for all to see.~^~^~^~^~
Thanks be to God.
But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here."
~Mark 16:6~Today we remember, mourn and pray for the faithful departed. We're not the first to do this. A couple of thousand years ago, some women watched their friend and teacher die. They saw his lifeless body carried to a tomb and see the tomb sealed with a stone, separating them from their loved one forever.
Or so they thought until three days later when they found the tomb empty and heard these words: "do not be alarmed." The words came first from the angel, and then from the teacher himself--Jesus, no longer dead but alive. No longer gone but present. The call was clear: Be not afraid for death had been conquered and is no longer the end.
So today we remember, we mourn--because we are human-- and we pray. But we do so in hope no longer afraid.~*~*~*~
Loving God, my the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace.
***And for this family of God I say,
Thanks be to God!
"In Chapter 1 Teresa writes of her childhood. She tells of a time when she was 7 and her brother was 11. After having read the lives of the saints, they decided that martyrdom was the quickest and easiest way to get to heaven.
We settled to go together to the country of the Moors, begging our way for the love of God, that we might be there beheaded; and our Lord, I believe, had given us courage enough, even at so tender an age, if we could have found the means to proceed; but our greatest difficulty seemed to be our father and mother.
The footnotes indicate that the two children set out on their journey but shortly after leaving they were met by one of their uncles who brought them back to their mother. Teresa herself says that she really wasn’t motivated by love of God but by the thought of quickly getting to heaven to enjoy the wonderful things she had read about!"
Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth,
break into song, sing praise.
Sing praise to the Lord with the harp;
with the harp and melodious song,
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
shout with joy to the King, the Lord.
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell there.
Let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with joy,
Before the Lord who comes...
Psalm 98:3-8~~~~~~~Thanks be to God!!
"Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh."
~Luke 6:21~
~~~*~~~Those images will never leave us. We sat, stunned in front of our televisions, seeing the unthinkable happen over and over again in the footage replayed and the images were seared into our souls.
One plane, then another. Still more. Buildings in flames, then, unbelievably, collapsing. A hell of flames and choking dust and debris. Worst of all, bodies falling. Our imaginations not allowing us to stop picturing the mothers clutching their babies, teachers holding fast to their young students; nor could we stop hearing the brave calls home with last words of love.
To believe that one day all this weeping could ever be overwhelmed by joy would require answering a radical and some might say bizarre, promise.
Jesus knows the weeping. And nevertheless, he promises.~~~*~~~
Lord, today we pray for all victims of violence over the past year. We pray for peace.
***Thanks be to God.
An economics textbook I used in college noted that money captivates people. It is the only commodity that has no value in and of itself--it will not feed, clothe, shelter, or entertain us. It has value only when we use it. . .
The wise, stammering old Benedictine monk in the best-selling book Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul by Tony Hendra says, "P-p-possessions are the extension of the self, you see. . .The more possessions, the less likely will be your release from the p-p-prison. in our community, property is forbidden because it gets in the way of love and trust between its members. if every man had his own private property, the community would just be a collection of individual p-p-prisons, wouldn't it?"
Have we become a collection of individuals in prison with cable television and Internet access in each cell? The christian community know detachment from possession is the "Get Out of Jail Free" card that releases us from the imprisonment. . .Hard earned riches and even those won rather freely are worthy blessing from God. In theory, no harm comes from owning things or from the pleasure derived from their ownership.
Then why did Christ freely adopt poverty and simplicity when, as the Son of God, he could have easily chosen a more lavish lifestyle? Christ associated with those who had means, but his message called them to use their means for a greater end. The rich man in the parable is not condemned because of his wealth nor because he dressed and ate well. (See Lk 16:19-31.) When John Paul II visited New York City in October, 1979, he stressed that the rich man was condemned because he ignored the beggar, Lazarus: Christ does not condemn the mere possession of material good, but he does have harsh words for those who use their possessions selfishly without caring about their neighbor who lacks life's necessities. In essence, the Pope was saying that those who know how to detach themselves from their possessions and their power so as to put them at the service of the needy are blessed.
Christ commands us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strenght; that we should also love with our pocketbooks is implied. The second commandment is to love others as much as we love ourselves. (See Jn 13:34.) Love of God and others becomes two side of the same coin, for when we love one another God dwells in us and God's love within us is perfected. (See 1 Jn 4:12) Those who adhere to Christ's commandment of love "are not far from the kingdom of God" (Mk 12:34). Conversely, love of mammon over God takes us away from the reign of God, as demonstrated by the young man who "went away grieving, for he had many possessions." (Mk10:22).*****
Enough said! Thanks be to God.
Casus non datur. ("There is no such thing a chance") St. Thomas Aquinas