Blog Post 2/16/2022 – Pray Psalm 67 in Gratitude

 

 

 

 

Pray Psalm 67 in Gratitude

 

 

 

 

 

 

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and may your face shed its upon us.

So, your way be known upon the earth and all the nations learn your saving help.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and exult for you rule the world with justice.

With fairness you rule the peoples, you guide the nations on earth.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its fruit for God, our God, has blessed us.

May God bless us still give us his blessing till the ends of the earth revere him.”

 

God is beyond our comprehension, but not beyond our faith.  Today thank God for the gift of Faith the Lord bestowed upon you at your Baptism.  Then, remember, God calls you each day “Let all who thirst come; let all who desire it, drink from the life-giving water.” (Revelation 22:17) 

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales lift our prayers to the Lord.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

Blog Post 2/15/2022 – Faith

Faith

Remember in the Gospel when Jesus spoke after Lazarus died, He said, “Lazarus, come out” and Lazarus is raised from the dead.  The Raising of Lazarus from the dead reminds us that our life here has significance because it gives meaning to our life in the hereafter.

Life doesn’t end with death it is CHANGED!  We move from the land of the dying (where we are) to the land of the living (the goal of our journey).

 

William Barclay wrote, “(the) …very essence of faith (is to) believe what Jesus says is true.”  (vol 1, p.175)  And Rabbi Harold Kushner said, “Religion is not primarily a set of beliefs, a collection of prayers or a series of rituals.  Religion is first and foremost a way of seeing.  It can’t change facts about the world we live in, but it can change the way we see those facts, and that in itself can often make a difference.”  (Who Needs God)

 

St. Francis de Sales in his Treatise on the Love of God wrote, “What is the prize if not Jesus Christ? How can you take hold of Him if you don’t follow Him.”

(Sermon in a Sentence, vol.2, p.86)

 

May each of us see with the eyes of faith and live the faith our eyes see.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 2/14/2022 - Morning Prayer

 

 

Morning Prayer [Adopted from Monday Week IV]

Lord, my God let Your splendor be upon me, that I may live in Your radiance.  You are beyond time a thousand years, a single day, it is all one.  To You dear God.  O Lord, … You are without beginning or end ….  Remind me of the shortness of my life that I may gain wisdom of heart….

 This morning, fill me with Your love and I shall exult and rejoice all day. If it, please You give me joy to balance my sorrow.  [Psalm 90]

“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach). For if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Faith in the heart leads to justification, confession on the lips to salvation.”  [Romans 10:8b-10]

 

This day is given to you by God, what are you going to give God?

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

Blog Post 2/13/2022 – The 1st Commandment

 

 

The 1^st Commandment

 

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.

 

It is written: ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’"  

[Catechism of the Catholic Church]

 

Thomas a' Kempis wrote, "Nothing is sweeter than love; nothing stronger, nothing higher, nothing more generous, nothing more pleasant, nothing fuller or better in Heaven or on earth; for love proceeds from God and cannot rest but in God above all things created."

[Imitation of Christ, p. 87]

 

Jesus told us to love God and love our neighbor, so let’s do that today.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

Blog Post – 2/12/2022 – An umbrella and an oboe, you need both

An umbrella and an oboe, you need both

 

Orchestras traditionally tune their instruments to the oboe.

Jesus is the oboe of our lives.  So, we must tune our lives to Jesus & His Word and His Sacrament.

 

There is a story about a Midwestern town that was experiencing a bad drought. Crops were dying, and the livelihood of the farm town was threatened. A local pastor decided to hold a prayer service and asked all the townsfolk to come.

They were instructed to bring with them symbols of their faith that God would deliver them …. there was … one small girl …. [who] came to the front and slowly opened her symbol of faith ... a brightly colored umbrella.  She knew what it meant to expect something from God!  [Sermons.com]

 

Jesus is the oboe of our lives.  So, we must tune our lives to Jesus, His Word and His Sacrament and bring the open umbrella of our faith.

 

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 2/11/2022 – Reflecting on the Word, the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit

 

 

 Reflecting on the Word, the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Prophet Jeremiah said, “When I found your words, I devoured them; they became my joy and the happiness of my heart, Because I bore your name, O Lord, God of hosts.”  [Jeremiah 15:16]

 

 

Christ showed us the human face of God and we are sustained in God’s grace through the Risen Lord.  Bishop Terry Steib (Bishop of Memphis) in his pastoral letter in March  2009 wrote, “Our Catholic faith does not emerge from an idea.  It is not primarily a philosophy of life …not primarily a code to live by.  Our faith rests on a real historical person – Jesus of Nazareth – who literally embodied God for us.” (Origins, April 23, 2009)

Jesus of Nazareth is the VINE of LIFE!  If we abide in THE WORD, in THE EUCHARIST, and in THE HOLY SPIRIT – we will be branches properly pruned & we will produce much fruit.

We will be branches not only attached the vine but branches deeply in love with the vine.

 

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.

 

 

 

Blog Post 2/10/2022 – A Few Thoughts on Living Jesus

 

A Few Thoughts on Living Jesus

 

"Look straight in front of you and not at those dangers you see in the distance.  As you say, to you they look like armies, but they are only willow branches; and while you are looking at them you may take a false step.  Think only of living today well."

 

"(God) asks for your heart.  Give it such as it is ....  Are we not aware that everything that is remitted into His divine hands is converted to good ? (St. Francis de Sales)

 

Today is a gift from God, how will you offer it back to the Lord?  Allow God's love to permeate your life and your actions, and you and the world will be better for it.

 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help, pray for us.

St. Francis de Sales, pray for us.

May God Be Praised and your day be Blessed.