“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:14
Merry Christmas
Peace!
Tag: Holy
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A most blessed Solemnity of the Assumption of Mary to all.
Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, we turn to thee,
O Virgin of virgins, our Mother. To thee we come, before thee we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, do not despise our petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer us. Amen.
Below you will find the link to the declaration, of this splendid and beautiful day, which is not only thought provoking, but timeless.
APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF
POPE PIUS XII -
As we celebrate Pentecost, I am filled with reflections through the years, of how our Lord has continued to enter the hearts of His faithful and in them, light the fire of His Love.
What are the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit?
Wisdom helps us recognize the importance of others and the importance of keeping God central in our lives.
Understanding is the ability to comprehend the meaning of God’s message.
Knowledge is the ability to think about and explore God’s revelation, and also to recognize there are mysteries of faith beyond us.
Counsel is the ability to see the best way to follow God’s plan when we have choices that relate to him.
Fortitude is the courage to do what one knows is right.
Piety helps us pray to God in true devotion.
Fear of the Lord is the feeling of amazement before God, who is all-present, and whose friendship we do not want to lose.
Breathe into me, Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may all be holy. Move in me, Holy Spirit, that my work, too, may be holy. Attract my heart, Holy Spirit, that I may love only what is holy. Strengthen me, Holy Spirit, that I may defend all that is holy. Protect me, Holy Spirit, that I may always be holy.
Saint Augustine
As I was praying last night, I was reminded of this post from 2011 and started to ponder all that was here and how our Lord does love us all.
Washing The Kitchen Floor With The Holy Spirit
My typical Saturday…with only one difference. I got my lazy but off the computer for a break to wash my kitchen floor and had a friendly chat with the Holy Spirit while doing so. It went something like this:
Holy Spirit: Hey Peg?
Me: Yes?
Holy Spirit: Remember back when you were so distraught and didn’t have anyone left to turn to regarding the state of your soul and the mortal sins you were covered in? Remember when your eyes were so swollen from crying, thinking that God would never forgive you and that He must be punishing you, and you thought God hated you?
Me: Yes. I’ll never forget that day. Or the days that followed.
Holy Spirit: Remember when you dropped everything you were doing, got in your car, drove to find any Catholic Church, and parked your car, walked in and sat in the pew, and broke down in tears again, begging God to forgive you?
Me: Yes. I don’t know how I got there or how I brought myself to do that.
Holy Spirit: Remember there was only one other person in that church, that just happened to be open? A church building where the doors were not locked? Remember then after sitting in tears, the Catholic Priest who just happened to be there, who just happened to tap you on the shoulder and ask you if he could help you?
Me: Yes. I was lucky that day!!
Holy Spirit: Luck? HAHA! Remember it being as if the Priest was pulling your teeth, for him to get you to confess your sins? Remember Him asking you if you would like to confess them and you did everything you could not to and told him that God would never forgive you but you confessed your sins anyway?
Me: Yes. For many years after, I struggled with thinking He was very angry with me. I walked out that day thinking, pfft, yeah. My life then was hell. I hated being there but didn’t know how to get out. I wasn’t sure if I could. In the state of hell that is. I didn’t want to leave the church.
Holy Spirit: Do you understand now, it was I who was with you, before you acted on my Love for you and you decided to go? Do you know now that it was I who carried you out of that hell you were living in and continue to keep you from there? Do you know now, that is God’s Grace? Do you know now, it was I who planted the seeds of repentance? I who made it possible for you to find the open church? I who made sure the Priest was there for you? I who was with you when you left and stayed with you? I who am STILL with you? I who Love you? I who made everything so EASILY possible for you to return to me? All you did was listen and followed your heart, where I can always be found. Do you know now how much God loves you? How much God loves ALL his children?
Me: I do now. Thank you Lord!
More like the Holy Spirit washing the floor with me…..
*Self Knowledge
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“During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah”
She traveled in haste, meaning she left very quickly after the Angel Gabriel revealed to her, what would be. The above photo is from the Church of the Visitation in Ein Kerem, Jerusalem. The site where our Blessed Mother recited her song of praise, the Magnificat. The site where St. John the Baptist leaped in St. Elizabeth’s womb. Where our Holy Mother stayed with her cousin to attend to her in her time of need, waiting on her, helping her, as she herself was carrying our Lord in her womb.
While we wait for the descent of the Holy Spirit to come upon us, may we, in haste, pull closer to our beautiful Mother, whom the Holy Spirit has already descended upon, and deeply reflect on her perfect humility, love and dedication to the Holy Trinity, in mind, spirit and body.
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The Magnificat
- My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
- Magnificat anima mea Dominum,
- Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salvatore meo,
- Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes,
- Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est: et sanctum nomen eius,
- Et misericordia eius in progenies et progenies timentibus eum.
- Fecit potentiam in brachio suo: dispersit superbos mente cordis sui;
- Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles
- Esurientes implevit bonis: et divites dimisit inanes.
- Suscepit Israel puerum suum: recordatus misericordiae suae,
- Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros: Abraham et semini eius in saecula
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Why are we hated by so many for loving our Lord? Because there are many who refuse to face reality. So many do not know Him.
“There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist” – St. John Paul II
This Holy Thursday, I pray for our Priests and for the laity to pray for our Priests, to look deeper into the need for all of them and to seek to understand our Lord in the Eucharist in a more profound way, then one had known before.
Please read St. Pope John Paul II – ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA, in its relationship to the Church. Also, to pray for vocations to the Priesthood, and for all our Priests today.
A Prayer for Priests
By St. Therese of LisieuxO Jesus, eternal Priest,
keep your priests within the shelter of Your Sacred Heart,
where none may touch them.Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Your Sacred Body.Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with your Precious Blood.Keep pure and unearthly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.Let Your holy love surround them and
shield them from the world’s contagion.Bless their labors with abundant fruit and
may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here and in heaven their beautiful and
everlasting crown.Amen.
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How can one make this Holy Week, truly Holy?
Welcome our Lord into your heart and keep Him there for this upcoming week, and strive to keep Him there forever. Grow in faith. Hold on to the conversion of heart He is offering you.
Receive the Sacrament of Confession which returns your soul to the state it was in the day you were baptized. A clean and beautiful temple to receive our Lord.
Attend Holy Mass and pay attention. Listen to every word, participate when you are to participate. Sing when you are to sing. Listen intently to what is being read. Follow with your heart as the Priest speaks. Forget distractions seeing to pull you away from our Lord.
Receive our Lord in the Eucharist. Speak to Him when you do receive Him.
Pray more this week. Try praying the entire Rosary daily, or add praying Divine Office (Liturgy of the Hours). Just speak to our Lord in all ways, in all instances, at every moment you are awake. Be aware at all times that He is truly with you in what you are doing and INVITE Him in to your activities, like you would invite your best friend. Try Lectio Divina, “Divine Reading” – Lectio Divina”, a Latin term, means “divine reading” and describes a way of reading the Scriptures whereby we gradually let go of our own agenda and open ourselves to what God wants to say to us.
You can also pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Reflect on the Gospels of this week. Stations of the Cross is a beautiful reflection on how great our Lord suffered for us. Try to attend Daily Mass every day this week. Especially during the Easter Triduum, “The Easter Vigil is the “Mother of All Vigils.” If you can’t attend daily Holy Mass, look for it on EWTN, or any other Catholic TV station via the internet. You can find it online, for rebroadcasts any time of day.
The Easter Triduum:
- Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Thursday)
- Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion
- Mass of the Resurrection of the Lord
Don’t forget that Easter does not end after you have your family meal together Sunday after attending Holy Mass. Easter has just begun. Come Monday, while everyone returns back to work, and lent done, Easter has just begun and is not over until the coming of the Holy Spirit, Pentecost Sunday. We often forget that after our Lords Resurrection, many things took place and Easter lasts for FIFTY days after Easter Sunday.
Divine Mercy Sunday is the Sunday following Easter Sunday. The Divine Mercy Novena begins on Good Friday at 3:00 PM, the hour our Lord gave Him self for us.
This is the season we are to look forward to. The great celebration that comes from repenting, turning away from the old self and putting on the new man, working with our Lord to live as He has called us. Let Him into your heart. Let Him roll away the stone in your heart and live with Him in His peace and joy. Leave the tomb of self behind. Allow yourself this week, to be crucified with Him and therefore, rise with Him.
Keeping you all in my prayers, praying you “Be not afraid” and “Follow Him”. “Be holy”.
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Never forget who you are called to follow…
Never forget who you are called to worship….
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD
Edit to Add: How to Win The Culture War
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The only polls that ever mattered, or will…. Hint – Stick with the One in the center.
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Photos of Holy Mass taking place on the Pennsylvania Turnpike as thousands get stuck on the way home from #MarchForLife to end Abortion.
Jesus Christ is LORD. Not government. Not political leaders. Not unjust laws. Jesus Christ is LORD of the USA the entire universe. That is why we march for life. All life is sacred. We must end abortion, euthanasia and all things contrary to the Culture of Life. Repent and believe in the Good News.
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Eucharist. Greater payout for all eternity than a 1.5 billion dollar powerball ticket.
Pure joy.
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I am requesting prayers for the Parishioners and Clergy of Mission San Diego de Alcalá, as San Diego is experiencing extreme rain and flooding. I love this Mission and spend a lot of time here, in Holy Mass, Exposition of our Lord and time pondering. Its heartbreaking to see, but I know our Lord allows the rains to fall. He also allows the sun to shine. May souls be sent to help clean up, and worship resume in this little Mission in San Diego very quickly. Please keep all souls effected by the stormy weather in your prayers.
“Dew and rain, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.”
Video taken by Father Peter Escalante (Early Wednesday AM)
UPDATE from Yesterday Morning (keep in mind the rains are still falling and serious flooding conditions still stretch out all over San Diego and Southern California. Please keep us in your prayers)
Storm floods Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcaláhttp://www.kusi.com/clip/12119961/father-peter-escalante-takes-us-inside-mission
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Pondering: Vatican II (inside the church) not being the reason souls left the pews, but the temptation of the ‘sexual revolution” (on the outside), being the “apple” many “fell for” that lead souls astray and out of the pews. Therefore our Lord was already prepared to address the needs of a society of souls far off, and the Father meeting them on the road to welcome them back home.
If souls were “obedient” and in love with our Lord, there wouldn’t have been a mass exodus. It’s as if a fear of something other than of our Lord gripped the souls in the pews rather than “trust” and “obedience” to our Lord, which holds all souls in love.. Just as a temptation that “original sin” is a thing of the past grips souls today and holds them in that same lack of “obedience” to God.
BUT “patience obtains all things” and “all things work for the greater glory of God”.
Just pondering….
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REPENT…
All over the MSM you see “Love Wins” in regards to the same sex marriage law being man made legal in 50 US states. Yes. Love most certainly does win but most do not know who He is yet. I pray that many will receive the grace from our Lord for understanding of who He is.
Again SCOTUS chants “We have no king but Caesar”. Just as it was chanted through the pen for Abortion and now for Marriage. Jesus Christ is MY King, not the USA. It was Saint Augustine of Hippo who stated that “An unjust law is no law at all”. Just as an unjust law is no law at all, so to are the men and woman who enforce the unjust law. So to are those who follow the unjust law. I will not. I OPENLY refuse to worship the “Golden Calf” of the nation. Jesus Christ is my King. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
“Regardless of what a narrow majority of the Supreme Court may declare at this moment in history, the nature of the human person and marriage remains unchanged and unchangeable. Just as Roe v. Wade did not settle the question of abortion over forty years ago, Obergefell v. Hodges does not settle the question of marriage today. Neither decision is rooted in the truth, and as a result, both will eventually fail. Today the Court is wrong again. It is profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.”
Please continue to read at the link.
Repent. Pray Divine Office 3X daily. Pray the Rosary daily. Pray before every meal. Attend daily Holy Mass (if you can) and if you can not, participate in it through EWTN rebroadcast. Pray without ceasing. Receive the sacraments frequently. “LOVE one another as I have loved you” – Be not afraid. DO not give into disrepair. Give in only to our Lord Jesus Christ. Teach your children to do the same! LIVE the faith. Don’t just talk about it.
The Sacrament of Marriage will never change.
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Last night my family and I attended the San Diego Padres game. We bought tickets through my girls school to sit in a section dedicated to all the school. My youngest child got in some trouble earlier in the day the second I dropped her off for school, so I actually thought of keeping her home and letting my husband and older daughter go.
As we waited for my husband to get home so they could go, I kept hearing in my heart, its a family occasion. My daughter who got in trouble at school had already been punished at school for her behavior and I just was not settled completely what I was deciding. At the last second, I decided that we would all go.
As we go there and made our way to the fantastic seats and began to settle in, my older daughter pretended to be a princess, blew kisses to all and went to throw herself in her seat. Well, much to her surprise she fell back hard. Really hard and smacked her elbow on the arm rest as the seat she though was there had folded up and she slammed into the ground. It hurt. No one from her school had seen what she had done so it saved her little pride moment but she was hurt. We sat for a moment as I checked out her elbow to see what damage had been done and the pain on her face was there. She couldn’t move it and streaked at the thought of moving it.
For the first two innings of the game I comforted her and kept vigil for her and the elbow to see if maybe she had broken something. We couldn’t just jump in the car and go to the hospital to get her checked out as we had taken the train to get to the park. The more the tears flowed the more I became to worry if she had in fact broken something. I got up and walked her to the First Aid station. All we needed was ice.
As we walked through a maze of different directions we go there. Looked through the window and a group of souls opened the door for us. The immediately brought her in and placed her on a medical chair and began asking the questions and checking her out. The nurse and the EMT checked her over and she was given an ice pack to keep any swelling down. They talked to her and had her bend it and move it to see where she had gotten hurt. After a while, then they handed her a Padres hat and a baseball. I was never expecting that.
As I sat there I was flooded with thoughts of our Lord. How much more then will your Heavenly Father give to you? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
I have worried about so much in my life taking place that I had in the past allowed the worry to replace Life. Even for the benefit of others, as that is the basis for all worry I have had. Worry does no good. Its the parable of the 10 Virgins that strikes me here. In all that I do for our Lord, I can not give my prayers and works to others to use for their salvation. God doesn’t have grandchildren. Only you can say yes to the adoption to be His child. I can’t share my holiness with you for your salvation. I can be a model of holiness, but I can not be a fountain. That is reserved for our Lord. You have to become holy using His grace. You have to trim your lamps at all times. Which is done through prayers, receiving the sacraments and obedience to Him. You have to use His grace for your salvation.
When I first noticed and acted upon my conversion of heart, all I was looking for was to go to heaven. When you realize what comes with Heaven, you can only start to understand, all I wanted was an “ice pack”.
My daughter is fine, just a bruise and is playing today, a little more guarded over what she had experienced last night.
Thanks be to God for no broken bones.
Thanks be to God for all His gifts. Thanks be to Jesus Christ our Lord for the gift of Life. Thanks be to the most Holy Spirit for giving gifts of the Father and the Son. All praise and honor and all glory to the most Holy Trinity for You are all we truly need. Amen.
From Catholic Online:
Glory be to the Father,
Who by His almighty power and love created me,
making me in the image and likeness of God.
Glory be to the Son,
Who by His Precious Blood delivered me from hell,
and opened for me the gates of heaven.
Glory be to the Holy Spirit,
Who has sanctified me in the sacrament of Baptism,
and continues to sanctify me
by the graces I receive daily from His bounty.
Glory be to the Three adorable Persons of the Holy Trinity,
now and forever.
Amen.One point I feel a need to make..
The San Diego Padres beat the “Pits” burg Pyrites
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A suggestion for Catholic Media outlets, yes, Michael Voris & Church Militant TV, who always find a need to point out what is wrong, what needs to be fixed, what looks dirty….
Rather than complain about the dirt on the floor, don’t you think it would be more helpful to help clean it up? Maybe teach others how to clean it up? Rather than teaching souls how to point at it and blame the “cleaning lady” for not doing a good enough job? Oh No! There is trash on the floor! We have to MOVE!!!!!!!
Don’t we all live in the same house?
If you don’t feel your Priest is doing enough to teach how about asking him if you can help? See if he has other projects that may need your expertise in different ways. Its our job as Laity to teach our children and when we refuse to teach them about the faith, we can’t just toss them to the Priests and say, here, its your problem. It bothers me that we are so quick to point out what the Priest is not doing, and refuse to look within our own homes and community to see where WE can help and not hinder..
If you feel the priests are not doing enough to teach souls about birth control and abortion, etc why are you not helping to teach souls rather then sit there and heckle the priests for not doing enough? Its like pointing how filthy your bedroom is and blaming your mom for your mess. Sloth is a killer…
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53 They led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together.
54 Peter followed him at a distance into the high priest’s courtyard and was seated with the guards, warming himself at the fire.
55 The chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin kept trying to obtain testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they found none.
56 Many gave false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree.
57 Some took the stand and testified falsely against him, alleging,
58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands and within three days I will build another not made with hands.’”
59 Even so their testimony did not agree.
60 The high priest rose before the assembly and questioned Jesus, saying, “Have you no answer? What are these men testifying against you?”
61 But he was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him and said to him, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Blessed One?”
62 Then Jesus answered, “I am; and
‘you will see the Son of Man
seated at the right hand of the Power
and coming with the clouds of heaven.’”63 At that the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further need have we of witnesses?
64 You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as deserving to die.
65 Some began to spit on him. They blindfolded him and struck him and said to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards greeted him with blows.
Mark 14 53:65
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Ah, holy Jesu, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.Who was that guilty? Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesu, hath undone Thee.
’Twas I, Lord, Jesu, I it was denied Thee!
I crucified Thee.Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
For man’s atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.For me, kind Jesu, was Thy incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy life’s oblation;
Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.Therefore, kind Jesu, since I cannot pay Thee,
I do adore Thee, and will ever pray Thee,
Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.“Ah, holy, Jesu, how thou hast offended” by Choir of the Abbey School Tewkesbury; Words: Johann Heerman, Devoti Musica Cordis, 1630 (Herzliebster Jesu); translated from German to English by Robert S. Bridges, 1899.
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He has risen as He said…
The Resurrection of Jesus.
But at daybreak on the first day of the week they took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb; but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were puzzling over this, behold, two men in dazzling garments appeared to them. They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee,
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified, and rise on the third day.” And they remembered his words. Then they returned from the tomb and announced all these things to the eleven and to all the others.The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,but their story seemed like nonsense and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone; then he went home amazed at what had happened.
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Nikolai Ge’s 1891 painting Conscience, Judas
Not sure where I found this painting or the words:
Nikolai Ge’s 1891 painting Conscience, Judas shows us a more layered Judas, here grasping his cloak tight around him, the darkness closing him, the light of Jesus being led away shrinking in the distance, the weight of his betrayal sinking in. Treachery has left its mark on all involved. The betrayed as well as the betrayer. Jesus as well as Judas. Here, alone in the dark, Judas finds himself — as I so often find myself — betraying that which he was meant to love. We, as Christians go with Jesus to the cross. Yet, we as Christians, too, stay with Judas in the garden as the dark closes in, mourning our betrayals.
For as long as I could remember, before my conversion began, I used to think of Judas as just a misunderstood soul, trapped for some reason, in the “Bad Guy” role for what he had to do to our Lord. Until I came to hear and ponder this scripture:
“But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,”Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” John 12:4-6
With the imagery of Judas, being a thief while he was with our Lord and the Apostles, stealing from them, I can’t help but ponder now, the Good Thief and the Bad Thief, crucified alongside our Lord. The Good Thief being the Apostles who did repent and turn back to our Lord, and Judas, having the time and being given everything he could to turn back to our Lord, being the bad thief and not changing, not taking advantage of the grace he was given to repent in the presence of our Lord.
For someone to hang himself for what he had done, I do know he was a troubled soul with a conscience that would not allow him to rest, who was unable to face life anymore, who was unable to go to the Apostles to seek forgiveness from his brothers because of one simple thing. Pride. The rest of the Apostles were just as guilty of other sins, but did not take their own lives. They repented. They held their ground and asked for forgiveness.
I don’t like to think about Judas as I am sure not many do like to think about him. We all hate to come to the realization that we all have a little Judas in us at some time, that truly needs to be purged and replaced with grace and mercy.
Lord Jesus, you were betrayed by the kiss of a friend:
be with those who are betrayed and slandered and falsely accused.
You knew the experience of having your love
thrown back in your face for mere silver
be with families which are torn apart by mistrust or temptation.
To you, Jesus, who offered your face to your betrayer,
be honor and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
now and forever. Amen. -
Here is the thing.. There will come a time when he can’t do this anymore and he will need someone else to do this. To often we look and say, boy that was great when SO & SO used to do this or that.I miss that. I miss them..
The reality is we miss the message to pick up where he or she left off, and do it where we are, right now.
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From last night, on my Facebook page:
Spent some time with our Lord in Exposition. Strange thing took place, like always LOL. A thought of how wonderful it was to finally be back home (In the Catholic Church) after being separated for so long came, as I knelt in front of our Lord and as always I thanked Him for His grace and love..
I remembered something personal, about how the bells would ring out for a returning repentant sinner. LMBO as I got in my car on the way home, the radio station decided to play a Block of Bell songs. It was songs all about bells on my way home and the last one to play was If Only You Knew by Patti Labelle… You tell me.
As I got ready to go to bed, I opened Divine Office and began to pray. Part of the prayers for the night included:
1 Corinthians 2:7-10a
What we utter is God’s wisdom: a mysterious, a hidden wisdom. God planned it before all ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age knew the mystery; if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. Of this wisdom it is written:
“Eye has not seen, ear has not heard
nor has it so much as dawned on man
what God has prepared for those who love him.”Yet God has revealed this wisdom to us through the Spirit.
Glory to God!
LMBO! After posting this story on this blog, I tried to share it on Stumble. LMBO It wouldn’t let me. I couldn’t STUMBLE! LMBO Glory to God (Not making this up)
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This is what ZERO light from man looks like. The Church of the Good Shepherd on New Zealand’s South Island is surrounded by starlight, thanks in part to night-sky preservation efforts
This is what light pollution prevents you from seeing: The constellation Orion, imaged at left from dark skies, and at right from within the Provo/Orem, Utah metropolitan area.
In the photo above, I can imagine our souls, dim with sin looking the same way…
“Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.
” Revelation 12:4 Comes to mind…A Facebook Friend posted something very interesting this morning on Light Pollution. She said she had never heard of it and I found her comments rather sad. You see, when I was very little, my dad would break out his telescope and we would look at the stars. It was a time that was beautiful. He used to tell me all the time about light pollution. He would tell me of a sky FULL of stars where a telescope was not needed because the beauty was breathtaking as it was.
As cities grew and crime became a greater issue, more man-made lights became needed. All that was needed was one crime and blaming it on darkness (lack of light) rather than actual (darkness of evil). What causes a man to commit crimes? Certainly not the fact that it is dark outside, but rather there is a darkness within.
You see, when man loses sight of God and His creation, he forgets that God is watching him. He forgets that God is God. He begins to make himself a god.
Such is evil in this world in the ways it seeks to trick the soul into believing it needs what it is providing much more than what God has created for it, to see God in His creation, to adore Him and give Him the glory since the beginning. This is where evil separates man from God. When you can no longer see or hear Him, man forgets about his need for Him and life becomes “dark”. Slowly removing the Light of God, and replacing Him with mans own “creation”…
We had a MAJOR power outage in 2011. No power was available from San Diego to AZ. We were celebrating Rosaries for Peace and had a precession of Our Lady of Fatima planned just before the power went out. We continued on without electric. The moon was full and beautiful in the sunset sky as the procession began.
It was SPECTACULAR! Inside the Church everything was candlelit throughout the entire Mass. When I arrived home after, driving through town without any lights anywhere, I was amazed to see how BEAUTIFUL the sky was. How peaceful the night was. People were out and enjoying the evening.
I was able to see things I never dreamt of before. It was the most beautiful night I had ever had in my life. Granted, it was spent with our Lord in one of the most spectacular ways it could have been in this world. I am very happy without “light pollution”. As I am just as happy right now with it.
Revelation 22:5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Glory to God….
After understanding my FB Friend had no clue what I was talking about, and telling me good luck with banning the sale of light bulbs, I had to clarafy what I am actually speaking about to her:
The price has already been paid to let the light shine from within. But the world doesn’t want that. It wants to suck the faithful into the “black hole” of its “manufactured light”. All you have to do is “plug in” to what our Lord is telling you. The reason manufactured light is used today is for “security”. LOL Do you see what I am talking about now? Trying to stop the sale of light bulbs would do nothing nor is that even where my thoughts are. My heart knows, man is so infatuated with false security that they do not understand Gods security. We live in an imperfect world, I can not change that. I do however understand it.
“We can find such reasons in the order and beauty of creation itself, which speaks of its Creator; in the longing for the infinite present in the human heart, which finds satisfaction in God alone; and in faith, which illumines and transforms our lives through our daily union with the Lord. By the witness of our living faith, may we lead others to know and love the God who reveals himself in Christ.” – Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Francis: anchor your heart in hope, not false security
Edit to add; 2/11/14
The flower-like image of this star-forming region in Earth’s southern skies was imaged using a 64-megapixel Mosaic imaging camera on the National Science Foundation’s Victor M. Blanco telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory.
Cometary globules are isolated, relatively small clouds of gas and dust within the Milky Way. This example, called CG4, is about 1,300 light years from Earth. Its head is some 1.5 light-years in diameter, and its tail is about eight light-years long. The dusty cloud contains enough material to make several Sun-sized stars. CG4 is located in the constellation of Puppis.The head of the nebula is opaque, but glows because it is illuminated by light from nearby hot stars. Their energy is gradually destroying the dusty head of the globule, sweeping away the tiny particles which scatter the starlight. This particular globule shows a faint red glow from electrically charged hydrogen, and it seems about to devour an edge-on spiral galaxy (ESO 257-19) in the upper left. In reality, this galaxy is more than a hundred million light-years further away, far beyond CG4. The image from the Blanco 4-meter telescope was taken in four filters, three of which are for blue, green and near-infrared light. The fourth is designed to isolate a specific color of red, known as hydrogen-alpha, which is produced by warm hydrogen gas.
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Pondering the thought of anyone who subscribes to “We have to save the Catholic Church”. Huh? She never needs to be saved. EVER! Our Lord said so. The Catholic Church does not need you to save her. She is here to save you. Period.
There is NOTHING to fix. There is NOTHING to save in regards to the Church. She is the perfection of our Lord. She is here to save us!
Wake up. Repent. BELIEVE!
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Let Him enter your heart. Let Him take hold of every aspect of your life.
Fill every day He has given you, and gives to you, with Him. In deed, in thought, in prayer in love.
Cast away your past sins and sinfulness. Don’t continue in the past but prepare for the future. A new year is upon us. Be the change in the world for the good of all and to the Glory be Gods. Live the faith, daily. Love God above all else, daily.
The Year of Faith has concluded. May we Christian Family’s, make it our Mission to ensure we do
the Will of God. Stand up and be what our Lord has called you to be, HOLY.Not just for 2014,but for all time, teach your children to be holy by your example. One need not be a Catholic Priest or Sister to be Holy or to be a Great Saint. We are ALL called to be saints first. Teach them to love God above all else as with this ONE lesson for life, everything falls into place in perfection of Christ Jesus, thus all society reaps the bountiful harvest of the fruits of faith. When you love God above everything, it becomes VERY easy to see, all sin stems from the soul breaking the very first commandment. “You shall have no other gods before me”
As a Catholic Parent, you have ONE job. To teach your children to love God above EVERYTHING else. Sainthood is the ONLY “Profession” we should encourage our children into. Profession of Faith. Parents are so caught up in wanting their children to succeed in the world and overlook how much more important it is to do the Will of God – the faith becomes secondary. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” Our Lord then doubled it to Love your neighbor as yourself.
With the first command to love God above all else and teach your children to also, the second command becomes natural and easy to do. If you love God above all else, doing the Will of the Father, becomes your will. The Great Saints placed God first. Not their desire to become “Scholars” as the reason they became GREAT Scholars is because of their Love for God therefore becoming Great Saints first. St. Augustine did not set out on the path to God thinking about how fantastic it was to write. He wrote everything he EXPERIENCED through God. Thus, doing the Will of God, and God giving him the title after his entering into Eternal Life. Leaving a visible path behind for others to our Lord, and thereby to Abba Father. As did all the great Saints.
In 2014, let’s make it clear to the entire world that as Christians, we love God above all else. Placing worldliness and sinful behaviors behind us. And if you fall, He will pick you back up to continue on through His Sacraments. If we do just this one thing, the entire world would never be the same. Don’t allow 2014 to become just another secular year, make it HOLY. Dedicate it to Him who gave His life to you. What is just one year to give Him in return? In one year, living the faith with your entire heart, you will never want to return to who you once were without Him. You won’t be able to remove your eyes from Him ever again.
I for one am looking forward to placing 2013 in the past. I am grateful for all God has done for me and my family. Lord may we all move forward into the new year, with YOU and never without You O Lord. May we apply all the gifts you have given to us, in all aspects of our lives, to give Abba Father all the glory and honor through Jesus Christ and the most gracious Holy Spirit, Three, eternally in the One God of all. Amen
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Margaret Leo of McLean, pray for us.
Please read her entire story at the link below..
The Littlest Suffering Souls, part 2: Margaret Leo of McLean
By Austin Ruse
Friday, 31 May 2013Her special gift was joyful friendship. In an elevator, she would pepper strangers with questions, with a steady gaze and big smile. “What is your name?” “Where are you going?” “What is your birthday?” They sensed she really wanted to know. The girl had no artifice. Even Supreme Court Justices can be attracted to that.
What they did not know, because she never mentioned it, even to her family, was that she was likely in unimaginable pain. Think of a titanium rod being bent by your spine, and about to poke through the skin of your neck. Or a shunt inside your brain.
No one describes her as a “spiritual athlete.” Her faith was profoundly childlike. Her whole life she prayed out loud the simple prayer her mother taught her as a child, “Jesus, thank you for coming to me in the Eucharist.”
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“Let us begin this journey together – a journey for the Roman Catholic Church.” Pope Francis
Pope Francis’ Motto: “lowly and yet chosen” (“miserando atque eligendo”)
¡Viva Cristo Rey! ¡Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe!
Moments after he stepped out to as us to pray for him, I see this on twitter: “Anyone else think Pope Francis looked like a Soviet ruler standing there. Regardless, I love him.”
I couldn’t help but respond back with the following: No Soviet leader but I did see the Vicar of Christ and all worldly leaders don’t add up to him
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio
Pope Francis, first Francis Pope, first Jesuit Pope and first from Latin America.
“REBUILD MY CHURCH!”
Thank you Lord.
<St. George, pray for us. May East and West come together in Christ through His love. Amen
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Lord help me to focus and work on all that is needed for You in 2013. Help me to live as You have intended me to live. Help me to be as You have created me to be. Help me Lord to be there in times of need for those You have placed in the life you have created for me. May I lead all souls back to You O Lord in my words, actions and way of living. May I always seek You first in all things, especially in my sufferings and trials. May I find joy in You and through You my Beloved Lord, and share this joy with the entire world, so that in its times of sadness and bitterness, it may hold on to your sweet compassion with both hands, and eat only what You give to them. May I continue to win the battles over evil in my soul and in my life, with You and all your Saints and Holy Angels at the ready. May all the holy souls in Purgatory be released from their bondage and accept you’re pardon and mercy my Lord. May the children you have given to me, pull ever closer to You this year and stay at Your side. May we all grow in all the gifts of the most Holy Spirit. May the murder of all you’re children through the heinous act of abortion come to an end. May Your One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church and all her members come to know You better and serve only You. May those who have left, return to You. If my death in exile should come this year, I unite it to Your death and give You my Love, all the glory and honor. I hope to spend eternity with You. May I become so lost in You, that all I find, is You, all I see, taste and touch and know, is You. May you have mercy on us all. I ask this through the Immaculate Heart of Mary our Mother, to Your most Sacred Heart O Lord. Amen
Have a blessed and Christ centered New Year.
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Eucharist: the Greek noun εὐχαριστία (eucharistia), meaning “thanksgiving”
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-24)
Is thankful our Lord called me when He did. Is thankful our Lord pulled me from the pit and cleaned me off. Is thankful Mama Mary said yes and gave us the model of faith in God to become Handmaids of the Lord. Is thankful our Lord corrects me and comforts me but most of all, forgives me. Is thankful our Lord is our Lord, our God and our King.
Thank you Lord.
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I had a thought during Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament this morning I can only attribute to our Lord.
Imagine, everything you can imagine, every thought coming to into existence, taking physical shape in exile, then imagine having the will, the strength. power to living with the created ideas and the right to control every thought. Not just having the ability to control everything you can imagine into existence, but being it. That is God. “And the Word was made flesh.”
One second there is nothing, the next a thought, the next creation. Will, existence, control. The Holy Trinity of “Being Still” that has always been. Just be, still.
Peg Pondering Again 