I Thank God for 2014 and look forward to 2015!

Scar Tissue

     

      "Everyone should be quick to listen,slow to speak and slow to become angry"

                  James 1:19

I was angry and frustrated with my son about his unwillingness to help me.i felt betrayed by his lack of gratitude and indifference to all the things I do for him. I knew I had taught him better than that. I see him treat others great and have had many proud moments observing those traits, but at that moment I needed his help. 

   I really lost it. I was yelling and saying things that should have never come into my mind, much less paraded out of my mouth. When I realized I had gone to far,I felt very embarrassed by my outburst. I was very repentant for all the things I said to him in my rage. 

   We talked 20 minutes or so later. Both of us became emotional, expressed more clearly how we felt, apologized for bad behavior and words that were said.we emphasized our love for each other. In the future, I will pay more attention to what I say, because harsh words can leave a mark.

     "People who fly into rage always             make a bad landing"

       Will Rodgers

As the family goes, so goes the nation....

“The economic, social and cultural transformations taking place in our world are having an enormous effect on how people look upon marriage and the family. As a result many couples are unsure of the meaning of their relationship, and this causes them much turmoil and suffering. On the other hand, many other couples are stronger because, having overcome modern pressures, they exercise more fully that special love and responsibility of the marriage covenant which make them see children as God’s special gift to the and to society. As the family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the whole world in which we live.” (Pope St. John Paul II, Homily in Perth, Australia, November 30, 1986)

Confession for Dummies

This video on confession can really help someone who has not gone to confession in a while. He is Waiting!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=773920366016790

Zechariah's tablet - "John is his name"

When Elizabeth gave birth to a son,family and friends expected for his name to Zecahariah,after his father. But Zechariah , unable to speak wrote on a tablet , that the child's name would be John. For Zechariah's obedience, God allowed him to regain his voice and proclaimed the coming of the Lord. You can read all about it in Luke 1:57-80

The Chi-Rho

Merry Christmas! The apostle John bears witness to the coming of the Light of the World, the only Son of God, briefly re telling some of the history we have learned through the Jesse Tree. the Chi-Rho monogram is a combination of the first two letters of the Greek word of Christos, Christ. The introduction of St. John's Gospel , verses 1-34 wil take you through John' testimony. 

The lowly Manger

Christ Jesus is born and laid in a lowly manger, depicted on tuesday the 23rds ornament. Shepaeds are instructed by Angels to witness the miracle of this child's birth, to show homage and spread the news. Read the story of Jesus's birth in Luke 2;1-15

The Candle

The three Magi look for Jesus,guided by the light of a Star, shining brightly above his birthplace. They prostrate themselves before the manger and do not turn the child and his parents over to King Herod. The white candle on Monday the 22nd's ornament symbolizes Christ; the glow recalls the halo of light signifying divinity and power. You will find the story in Matthew 2;1-12

Higher Qualities

“Lord, you have been our refuge through all generations. Before the mountains were born, the earth and the world brought forth, from eternity to eternity you are God.” (Psalm 90:1-2).

From eternity to eternity… Christmas Day fast approaches in just a few days. Still for many people there are many things left undone that shout for our attention. The question for us is twofold: “What things and how will we respond?”

The decorations, the gift-buying and wrapping, the house cleaning and cooking—these might all be calling out and pressing in. And these are not bad things, as long as they do not become the primary focus of the holiday and rob us of peace. But, there are other things that need our attention.

Before there was creation, God is. He is constant and in Him there can be no change. He is our rock. His love for us and our faith in Him—His gift to us—is the one sure thing in our life.

Made in His image and likeness, let us take time in the remaining days of Advent to make sure that our higher, inner qualities are getting our attention… prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance; love, compassion, fidelity, honor, integrity, dependability, kindness, piety, humility, purity, chastity, courage, and gratefulness.

Integrated Catholic Life

A conversation with God.

Here’s a way that you could learn to sense God's voice. Try to start a little conversation with Him right now by asking  a question. It doesn’t have to be a solemn prayer. Have a little fun! Remember the wide-eyed curiosity you had when you were a child? You felt there was so much about the world you didn’t know. You didn’t have any problem approaching your parents with a question. Well, there’s so much about God that you don't know.

So ask him a question, and then listen for his gentle voice. Remember it may feel just like one of your own thoughts. Here’s one to get you started … 

“Lord, how much do you love me?”

Peace be with you !

Before Paul's conversion he was a real "tough guy", the "ISUS" of the day, a "Pharisee of Pharisees" (his words). We first meet him self righteously smiling over the stoning site of Steven the Apostle.  

 After his conversion he tells us that we have peace if we have repented and put our trust in God; “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1).  We were once enemies of God but through Jesus’ atoning work at Calvary, the hostility between us and God is placed on Jesus so it won’t have to be placed on us but only because “Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6b) and we have been freed “from the wrath of God” (Rom 5:9c). Because of Jesus “we have now received reconciliation” (Rom 5:11b).  That’s why it’s called the good news.

John 20:18 “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

After Jesus’ death at Calvary, the disciples were likely thinking that they might be next and perhaps this is why Jesus told them after His resurrection “Peace be with you.”  This peace is peace of mind because they may have finally understood that even death could not separate them from God.   When the Roman church which was undergoing severe persecution Paul wrote “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:38-39).  Even death couldn’t separate a Christ-follower from God.  Every believer has access to this peace of mind if they would only realize it.

Second Thessalonians 3:16 “Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.”

     You may have different or better Bible verses about peace than I have written about but the essential fact is if you have settled the hostility between you and God…the hostility that our sins had separated us from a holy God…then you can have peace of mind.  Your mind can be stayed on the fact that the removal God’s wrath is completed in Christ.  It’s an often overlooked fact that Jesus suffered and died for the ungodly but the Father also suffered.  What father would not be in agony to see their only son die an agonizing death for which He didn’t deserve?  You can have the peace of God if you repent and turn from your sins, if you humble yourself and see what your sin did to Christ, then confess them  and place your trust in the One Who took your punishment.  He is your Master of whom you obey; either Jesus Christ or the Devil. He is either your Savior now or your Judge after death.  It is your choice. I pray you make the right choice today if you haven’t done so already for no one is guaranteed a tomorrow. 

May God grant you peace this Advent!

Thoughts on Today's Reading.

We come together to listen, to receive the Advent message, the promise of the Gospel. One is coming who will save us, redeem us, and make a way to heaven for us. We receive it as individuals, yes, but also as a community of persons. There’s great power in stepping out of our solitude, in rejecting the notion of isolation and entering into the bigger picture, finding our role in the contours of human history.

         Assemble and listen.—GENESIS 49:2

Link to 1st Reading http://www.usccb.org/bible/genesis/49:2

Link to Psalms http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/72:1

Link to 2nd Reading http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/1:1

The Clock is Ticking

          Grandma made us playdo😃

Lord, remind me always how brief my time on earth is, that my days are numbered - how fleeting my life is.

Remember being ten and dreaming about being a teenager? It seemed it would never arrive. But thirteen came and went and then you dreamed  of turning sixteen and having your drivers license. That came and whooshed right by too.

     As we age, the clock's hands seem to hasten their paces as if they're in a rush to get somewhere,dragging us along. One day we look up and wonder where the years have gone.

     A flip side view is the antidote. We can use our days in such a way as to turn that whoosh into a warmth, that feeling of loss into a legacy of love. This, of course is something we can not put off any longer. After all, the clock is ticking.

" the future is something that everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, who ever he is." 

C.S. Lewis

Catholics Come Home

http://youtu.be/Z_E6Lw09z2Y

The Watchtower

The ornament today shows a watchtower,reminding us that the prophet Habakkuk stood upon an allegorical watchtower,waiting for the anointed one the Lord would send to end violence and the wickedness. Find details that help us understand the church's desire for us to experience waiting during advent in Habakkuk 1:2-2:1;3:16-19

Tears!

The Lord speaks to Jeremiah whiles he is in exile ,describing his grief as an endless 

Fountain of tears regarding the return of his people to worshipping Idols. Read more about Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:4-10,2:4-13,7:1-15 and 8:22-9:1-11

Chillin with the Lord , Advent Sunday #3

The Lord has blessed me with the talent of playing music and I so enjoy the folks I play and sing with. 😄🎸feeling awesome! 

“Be not anxious about what you have, but about what you are.”  (Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor of the Church)

A Hot Ember

Isaiah feels he is unworthy to reveal the living God to the people of Israel. He sees angels around the throne of God and one of them takes s hot ember, like the one depicted on Today's ornament and touches it to Isaiah's lips.he is able to go forth,forgiven of his sins, to deliver the Word of God. Read about this and Isaiah's prophesies about the Messiah in Isaiah 1:10-20; 6:1-13,9:1-7

The Tent

Friday the 12th , the feast day of our Lady of Guadalupe, the ornament symbolizes the tents that were left behind  and empty by King Hezekish's enemies after he put his trust in the Lord. Through his faithfulness his people were saved and his enemies destroyed. Read about it in 2 Kings 18:1-18; 19 :32-37

The Stone Alter

Thursday's ornament depicts the stone alter Elijah built,consecrated by God with fire, showing people the true light of God. You can read about this in 1 Kings 17:1-16,18 : 17-46

The Shepherds Crook

David was first a shepherd of livestock, but when God called him to lead the nation of Israel, he became a shepherd of people to help them what God wanted them to be. Wednesday December 8ths ornament symbolizes Jesus as the good shepherd who will lay down his life for other. Read 1 Samuel 16,17 and 2 Samuel 7:1-17

The Crown

The symbol of the Jesse Tree to illustrate Samuels story is the crown. Samuel, son of Elksnah,was repeatedly called by God. When at last he heard the Lord's call, he adhered to it without fail and proclaimed the coming of Christ the King who would have dominion over all earthly kings. Read about Samuel in 1 Samuel 3 1-21,7 1-8:22,9:15-10:9

The Pitcher

God chose to reveal his power to Gideon, who came from a poor family,by letting his army of 300 men defeat more than 100,000 at Midian. Gideon followed the Lord's instruction to have his men approach the town with their torches hidden in pitchers. The people of Midian were so startled when the pitchers were broken and the soldiers made themselves known, that many began fighting amongst themselves. The pitcher ornament reminds us of how Gideon became an unlikely leader and judge, helping his people cast aside false gods and obey God's true laws. Read judges 7 for more details.

The Trumpet

"As the horns blew,the people began to shout"

December 7th we hang an ornament depicting a trumpet on our Jesse Tree.According to Gods instructions to Joshua, the walls around the besieged city of Jericho crumbled at the trumpets of the Ram horns blown by holy men and the spoils were left for the Israelites. Read the story Joshua and the fall of Jericho in Joshua1:1-11,6:1-20.

The Ten Commandments

God delivered the Commandments on stone tablets and carried them down Mt Sinai to his people. December six's ornament depicts the Ten Commandments. You can read about them and Moses in Exodus 19:1-20:26

2nd Sunday of Advent 2014

“But according to his promise
we await new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.
Therefore, beloved, since you await these things,
be eager to be found without spot or blemish before him, at peace,” (2 Peter 3:13-14).[1]

Today we celebrate the Second Sunday of Advent. In today’s readings at Mass, we are reminded of two holy preparations; the preparation of the coming of Christ at Christmas and the preparation of the coming of our Lord on the last day. Both are highlighted in the second week, encouraging us to recognize the life that is to come. We are called to ‘stand upright’ in thoughts and deeds while we wait and as St. Paul suggests, have patient courage to live in harmony with one another. As we light today’s candle on the Advent wreath, may the love of the season fill our hearts, minds, and homes as we prepare the way. [2]

Written by Sarah Ciotti
Reviewed by Fr. Hugh Feiss, OSB, STD
[1] Excerpts from the Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights reserved. 

[2] Adrian Nocent, OSB, The Liturgical Year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany (Collegeville, MN: The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., 1977), 119-137. 

Preparing the way of the Lord

 

Sunday, December 7, 2014
Second Sunday of Advent
Isaiah 40:1-5,9-11
Psalm 85:9-14
2 Peter 3:8-14

Mark 1:1-8

 

Advent, A Time to Prepare the Way for the Coming of the Lord 

 
He will prepare your way. (Mark 1:2)
 
Clearly, John the Baptist was a mighty man of God. He was an ambassador called to prepare the way of the Lord by pointing the people to Jesus.
 
How did John fulfill his calling? By his witness and by his words. His witness was that of a detached, ascetic man who dressed in rough clothes and lived in the wilderness. And backing up his witness were his words—words that cut people to the heart and moved them to examine their lives. Because of John’s witness and his words, people from all over Judea came to see him. And once they saw and heard, many repented of their sins and turned back to God (Mark 1:5).
 
We often think of John the Baptist as a fire-and-brimstone kind of person. And he was to some degree. But fire and brimstone without love and mercy don’t do justice to the message of Christ. John was also humble and compassionate. He was concerned for the people around him, so much so that he attracted disciples who committed themselves to following him and learning from him.
 
Like John, we all have a part to play in God’s plan. We are called to be Jesus’ messengers and to bear heavenly fruit by the witness of our lives and by the words we speak. So as Christmas draws near, let’s set our hearts on preparing the way for Jesus. As John called the people of his day, let’s repent and go to Confession. Let’s also tell our families that we need to go to Confession and get right with the Lord—not in a threatening or self-righteous way but as loving ambassadors of God who care about our families.
 
Peter’s letter tells us that Jesus will come again. It says that he will usher in “new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:13). It will be glorious. Until he comes, let’s try our best to be Christ’s ambassadors, through “holiness and devotion” (3:11).
 
“Lord, help me to be like John, a living, loving ambassador for your kingdom.”
 
(Many thanks to The Word Among Us (www.wau.org) for allowing us to use meditations from their monthly devotional magazine. Used with permission. The Word Among Us Mass Edition contains all the Mass readings and prayers, and a meditation for each of the daily and Sunday Masses.)   

Sunday, December 7, 2014
 
Questions for Reflection/Discussion 
 

1. In the beginning of the first reading, we hear these words, “Comfort. Comfort my people, says your God” (Isaiah 40:1). How would you describe the “comfort” God is offering his people? In what ways do these words reflect the Lord’s great love and mercy toward his suffering people, Israel? How was this “comfort,” which was foretold by John the Baptist, fulfilled in Jesus Christ?
    
2. The responsorial psalm speaks of the close relationship between kindness and truth and between justice and peace saying that “Kindness and truth shall meet” and “justice and peace shall kiss.”Many papal teaching have been focused on charity and justice as the way to “peace.” As we reflect on the coming of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, during this Advent Season, what specifically can you do to help restore justice and peace within your family, or among family members -- for example, in any relationships that have gone sour?
    
3. The second reading exhorts us to live holy lives with these words: “What sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God” (2 Peter 3:11-12).Why do you think the author believed that our living holy lives would cause a hastening of the coming of Christ?
    
4. The Gospel reading speaks of preparing the way of the Lord.What can you do this Advent to help your family, your friends and neighbors, or your co-workers prepare to receive Christ in a deeper way during this grace-filled season?
    
5. In the Gospel, St. John the Baptist also proclaims the need for repentance and forgiveness of sins.Make a commitment to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation this Advent and Christmas season. What are some ways that you and your family can prepare for it, so that you and they will experience more deeply the Lord’s forgiveness of sins?
                                                                                                              
6. The meditation reminds us that “Like John, we all have a part to play in God’s plan.” It then goes on to challenge us with these words: “We are called to be Jesus’ messengers and to bear heavenly fruit by the witness of our lives and by the words we speak. So as Christmas draws near, let’s set our hearts on preparing the way for Jesus.” What are some steps you can take to respond to this challenge to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus?

 
       7. Take some time now to pray for the grace to be “Jesus’ messengers” and 
           “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20), especially during this Advent
            Season of grace. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting 
            point.
 
.
 [The discussion questions were created by Maurice Blumberg, a director of partner relations for The Word Among Us Partners, (http://www.waupartners.org/), a ministry of The Word Among Us (www.wau.org) to the Military, Prisoners, and women with crisis pregnancies or who have had abortions. Maurice was also the founding Executive Director of the National Fellowship of Catholic Men (http://www.nfcmusa.org/), for which he is currently a Trustee. He can be contacted at (Enable Javascript to see the email address) mblumberg@wau.org or (Enable Javascript to see the email address) mblumberg@aol.com.]
 
  The Coastal Georgia Catholic© ...a blog by Randy Rarden 

Catholic Almanac

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Straightening what is bent.

Advent is a time of joyful anticipation. For someone even bigger than Santa Claus is coming to town.

The human race has been waiting a long time for his next and final visit. Actually, it waited a long time for the first visit. Things had gone awry quite early in the history of the human race. We went from Paradise to misery in the blink of an eye, but found there was no way to get back into the garden. Only God could turn things around, but he was a long time coming. There had to be some groundwork laid first—a slow, gradual preparation of the human race to get it ready for the historic encounter with its Savior. There were some ideas about God and his plan that had to be gotten across to the people. Moses was entrusted with the lion share of that job. But besides this doctrinal, intellectual preparation, there had to be spiritual and moral preparation as well.  Calling the people of God to repentance and holiness was the specialty of the prophets, and given the magnitude of their job, there were many of them.

General George Patton once said of his soldiers, “Every young man needs a good pat on the back from time to time—sometimes high and sometimes low.” Israel was young, and God spoke to them both stern and comforting words through the prophets. Isaiah 40, for example, begins with comfort. It proclaims that captivity is over, that God is coming to the rescue, coming with power as a shepherd to feed his flock.

Yet it goes on to say that a road in the desert must be prepared for this coming. Valleys must be filled in. Mountains must be leveled. Crooked ways made straight. This is a massive undertaking, to tell the truth.

Actually, it would be easier if all we had to do was literally dynamite some mountainside. But the last and greatest of the prophets, John the Baptist, helps us understand the true meaning of Isaiah’s words. The prep work needs to be done in us, not in sand and gravel.

For the Messiah, the good shepherd to come, the way must be leveled and straightened. The heights blocking his approach were mountains of pride. The sin of pride exalts itself higher than God, erecting a barrier against him. It is characterized by know-it-all-ness and smug self-sufficiency. The tower of Babel is a great example of pride’s futile loftiness. But how about the valleys that must be filled in? Philosophers and theologians define evil is as the privation of good, the lack of something that ought to be there. Lack of faith is a sin. Lack of prayerfulness is a sin.  Lack of charity is a sin. These are all sins of omission, and these gaping holes need to be filled in to make a highway for our God.

In his fabulous space trilogy, C.S. Lewis calls Satan “the Bent One.” Because the nature of the deceiver is to take great blessings from God and twist them, misdirect them, so that they become curses. With a little twist, abundance becomes greed, marital love becomes lust, and piety becomes self-righteous hypocrisy. In Advent, these crooked ways must be made straight.

The last of the prophets, John the Baptist, lived his message. The mountains of pride had been leveled in him, the way cleared. He pointed not to himself, but to him whose sandal strap, he says, he is not fit to untie. He was as excited as anyone about Him who was to come. For John knew what He was bringing. “I have baptized you in water; He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.” The messiah was coming to utterly immerse us in the power and wisdom of God in order to make us new people, able to be like God, able to do new and great things.

This is, without a doubt, worth preparing for.

 Reflection on the Mass readings for the Second Sunday of Advent (Year B) — Isaiah 40:1-5, 9-11; Psalms 85:9-10, 11-12, 13-14; Second Peter 3:8-14; Mark 1:1-8. This series for reflections on the coming Sunday Readings usually appears on Saturday.

The Lamb

Today's (Friday) ornament is the lamb, which symbolizes Gods instruction to Moses and Aaron to slaughter a year old Lamb for each member of Israel,smearing the blood to mark every doorpost,thus beginning the tradition of Passover and marking the exodus of the Israelites out of slavery. The whole Passover story is found in Exodus 12:1-14:31.

The Burning Bush

Thursday's ornament is the burning bush which symbolizes the life of Moses. Raised as an Egyptian by the Pharoah's daughter,witness's Gods word in  in the "Burning Bush". Read the story of Moses in Exodus 2:1-4:20.

A sack of grain

Wednesdays ornament is a sack of grain, symbolizing through Joseph's faith in God's providence he has enough food to feed all who are hungry in times of famine,with sacks of grain bursting at the seams. Read the story of Joseph's life in Genesis chapters 37 to 50

St. Sebastion Church set on fire in Delhi.

The mysterious fire on Monday morning reduced to ashes St Sebastian’s Church in Dilshad Garden on the eastern extreme of  India’s national  capital.

The news about the fire brought hundreds of people to the church. The crowd stood on the road before the church building and prayed for peace and communal harmony. Later they marched to the local police station and staged a sit-in to protest police’s alleged slackness in dealing with the case.

The fire seemed to have occurred between 5:30 am and 6:30 am during the guard change. The fire brigade came around 7:45 and doused the fire.

The arson attack on Saint Sebastian church in Delhi must be condemned in the strongest possible terms and  I  am completely shocked and deeply saddened at this arson attacks said Card. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai.

Archbishop Couto said the arson in St Sebastian’s church was condemnable not just because it was an act of sacrilege and hate against the community and its faith, but that it could happen in the national Capital which is just recovering from a series of communal incidents. Also distressing is the sense of police impunity. Long hours were lost, and possible evidence destroyed, before the police finally came.

Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara, who visited the church, said he suspected sabotage. The Syro-Malabar prelate said he had conducted Holy Communion and Confirmation for 17 children on Sunday. The archbishop also said it was quite evident that the fire was not natural. “All Christian communities are aggrieved over this incident,” he added.

The complex borders on a Hindu temple and is guarded during the night, but the guard did not notice any suspicious movement. Parish leaders denounce local police who took ten hours to arrive on site to collect clues for investigation. "We had to organize a protest in the street - said Father. Kojikhal - to convince the police to send an investigation team".

The fire destroyed the altar, the sacristy and the entire choir of Saint Sebastian's. "The fire started early in the morning of December 1 - said Fr. Mathew Kojickal, chancellor of the Archdiocese of New Delhi - in different parts of the church. We found the cans of kerosene. It is arson".

The church was opened on December 30, 2001, by then Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi. It belongs to Delhi Latin rite archdiocese but also serves as worship place for the Syro-Malabar Catholics living in and around Dilshad Garden, one of the largest residential areas in Delhi.

Jacob's Ladder

After his dream,Jacob awoke and exclaimed,"Truly ,the Lord is in this spot,although I did not know it!" The miraculous ladder in his dream reunited the earth with the Devine. You can read about the dramatic story of Jacob's life and faith in Genesis 27:41-28:22

The Ram

Today's ornament is the Ram provided to Abraham in place of his son Isaac. You can read about Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19