St. Basil the Great said,
"The bread you store up belongs to the hungry;
the cloak that lies in your chest belongs to the naked;
the gold you have hidden in the ground belongs to the poor."
Think about how you can help the poor.
May God Be Praised.
Bishop Barron offers us this insight on John’s Gospel and the Holy Spirit’s role as witness to Jesus. “When the Advocate comes whom, I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.” The essence of our Christian faith is based on the Paschal Mystery—the suffering, dying, and rising of Jesus—and Pentecost.
As Pentecost approaches pray for the Holy Spirit to guide you and enlighten you.
May God Be Praised.
In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us to love God and love our neighbor. Eric Hoffer, the longshoreman philosopher said, “It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor.”
Choose to love God and your neighbor, and the world will be better for it and you will be a better person.
May God Be Praised.
“I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living. Hope in him, hold firm and take heart. Hope in the Lord!” [Psalm 27]
In the Lord we find our Hope, Trusting in God’s Love we make our leap of Faith.
May God Be Praised.
Today we remember & celebrate Mothers: “Loving God, as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children, so You watch over Your Church; bless all women who encourage and love. May their example of faith and encouragement shine forth each day. Grant them the respect and profound love they deserve for sharing their glimpse of Your Divine Goodness.”
Prayers today to God
Almighty for the Blessed Mother, for my mother, my wife, my daughter, my
daughters-in-law and all the mothers in the world that God may grant them the
grace to see their wonderful vocations as mothers and the gift they are to
their children. Read this peom and thank God for your Mom.
Child, Though I Take Your Hand
Child, though I take your hand
and walk in the snow;
though we follow the track of the mouse together,
though we try to unlock together the mystery
of the printed word, and slowly discover
why two and three make five
always, in an uncertain world –
child, though I am meant to teach you
much,
what is it, in the end,
except that together we are
meant to be children
of the same Father
and I must unlearn
all the adult structure
and the cumbering years
and you must teach me
to look at the earth and the heaven
with your fresh wonder.
[No One Can Stem the Tide, by Jane Tyson Clement]
May God Be Blessed!
A monk found a precious stone put it in his travel bag. A short time later, the monk met a traveler, who … asked the monk if he would share some of his provisions.
When the monk opened his bag, the traveler saw the precious jewel and asked the monk if he could have it; the monk gave it to him. The traveler departed quickly, overjoyed with his new possession.
A few days later, he came back, found the monk and returned the jewel to him. He asked: "Please give me something more valuable, more precious than this jewel. Please give me that which enabled you to give me this precious stone!"
[Sermons.com James W. Moore, Some Things Are Too Good Not To Be True, Dimensions, p. 101]
Today take a few minutes, in silence, to reflect on what is precious in your life ?
May God Be Praised
In Psalm 85 we pray, “Mercy and faithfulness have met; justice and peace have embraced. Faithfulness shall spring from the earth and justice look down from heaven.” In a Psalm Prayer, we say,
St. Padre Pio offers us this insight, "Pray, hope and don't worry. Anxiety doesn't help at all. Our Merciful Lord will listen to your prayer." And, St. Francis de Sales wrote,
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.”
Seek the Peace God offers you.
May God Be Praised.
Jesus suffered and died to teach us that this life is not the end all and be all. We are here on earth, spiritual beings discovering God’s Love, God’s Call and God’s Hope to be with Him in eternity. The Word of God came to live among us to show us the Way to everlasting life. Jesus’ life demonstrates the real purpose of our life, to be with God.
So let each one of us follow the Way of the Lord as closely as we can and to best of our ability. Let us give our will and our soul to God with humble and contrite hearts. When we cross over to the great abyss the Word of God, Come to Me good and faithful servant, our life will be saturated with joy, heavenly joy. Amen. [Dcn. George Kelly]
May God Be Praised.
Each step toward the Lord brings you closer to Eternal Love. Each step is temporal until you step into Eternity, where your steps aren’t counted, and your steps are not one at a time. God’s love opens eternity’s steps, and you are walking in love with Love itself. You walk no longer in God’s shadow, you walk in His Light and His steps.
May God Be Praised.
“I believe in one God,
the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and
invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus
Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from
true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all
things were made.
For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy
Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the
living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” Amen.
The Easter Season offers us the opportunity to focus on God alone, receive God’s grace and shine His Light in our lives and through our lives.
May God Be Praised.
A Child’s TRUST in God’s love and caring is demonstrated profoundly in the reception of a child’s 1st Holy Communion. Jesus taught us, Do not be afraid! He wants us to TRUST Him and to TRUST our Heavenly Father. TRUST is fundamental to loving God, loving others and loving ourselves.
What kind of TRUST does God ask from us?
In a traditional flying trapeze act, flyers mount a narrow board and take off on the fly bar. The flyer must wait for a call from the catcher to make sure they leave at the correct time. If leave too early or too late, the catcher will not be close enough to the flyer to make the catch. The flyer must have complete trust in the catcher. The flyer is often perceived as the star of the show, but the real star is the catcher. The flyer must do nothing and allow the catcher to do everything. [The Flyer and Catcher by Kaizen on December 19, 2013]
To be a disciple of Jesus requires one to completely trust our catcher, our Heavenly Father, with all our heart. We are not supposed to catch God but allow God to catch us, by giving our our hearts and wills – without fear, trusting in Jesus our spiritual catcher. We are flyers asked by God to TRUST and PREPARE!
Dear God,
During my life You and I have been through births, deaths, marriages, Baptisms, Confirmations, 1st Holy Communions, successes, failures, times of war, times of peace, sickness, health, good times and difficult times. I know You first loved me, and I responded by loving You and I pray that I choose to love You every day.
Sometimes You answered my prayers with a yes, sometimes with a no, sometimes with a not yet and sometimes no answer at all. But I believe that each of Your answers is the best for me. Loving You, TRUSTING You gives me the HOPE and the ENERGY to PREPARE to meet You and spend eternity with You.
I pray that my children, my daughters-in-law, my son-in-law and their children [my grandchildren)] come to know You, Love You, Trust You and Hope in Your Promises so that their lives are a Preparation to meet You in eternity.
In Love, Trust and Hope
Deacon George
May God Be Praised.
God grant us the Grace to offer up our hardships and crosses to You, bless them and make Good come from them.
Maybe this story can help us, The Starfish A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to a starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement. She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? I am helping this Starfish.
Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!” After reflecting for a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man & said, “Well, I made a difference to that one!” [Adapted from 'The Star Thrower' by Loren C. Eiseley]
May God Be Praised.
It is what we do with our suffering that helps us grow or stumble on our road here on earth. Pray part of Psalm 18 slowly, “I love you, Lord, my strength, my rock, my fortress, my savior. My God is the rock where I take refuge; my shield, my mighty help, my stronghold.”
St. Francis de Sales offers us this insight, “Let God gather what He has planted in His garden, He takes nothing out of season.” In God’s season, we find our ultimate hope, the land of the living.
de Sales, also, taught us, “Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life with fear; rather look upon them with strong hope that, as they arise, God, whose child you are, will deliver you from them.” Begin each day TRUSTING in God, live each moment in that TRUST, and allow TRUSTING God’s WILL to DIRECT your life - then you will live as a child of God. Easy to write, easy to say, but very hard to live.
St. Francis de Sales said, “Let nothing disturb you; Let nothing frighten you. All things are passing. God never changes. Patience obtains all things. Nothing is wanting to him who possesses God. Go alone suffices.”
I hope these insights help us to remember to pray for the strength to follow God’s will, not to change God’s mind, to pray for the strength to accept what comes your way as from the hand of God.
May God Be Praised.
Go to Mary with your needs, your concerns and your requests, she is waiting for you.
May God Be Blessed.
Christ made known to us the life that lasts forever, He feeds us with the Word of life and the Bread of life. Jesus gives us the Grace to be faithful in listening to His Voice, may we be faithful to Him by our holiness of life.
May we accept both the sadness and the joy that enter our lives as part of our journey to the Lord whose Resurrection brings us Grace for the journey.
So today we pray Lord, Your resurrection bring us Your grace may we humbly accept that glorious gift and allow it to permeate our lives.
May God Be Praised.
“The Church believes that Christ died and rose for all and can give man light and strength through his Spirit to fulfill his highest calling; his is the only name under heaven in which men can be saved. So too the Church believes that the center and goal of all human history is found in her Lord and Master.” [From the pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world of the Second Vatican Council]
Reflect of the place Jesus has in your heart, your soul, your daily life.
May God Be Praised.
