Celebrating a birthday...

Today, I'm celebrating my mother's birthday...
the most significant celebration is the gift of LIFE!!!

Will you join me in my song?
will you be part of this joy?
In turn, I will pray for your mother, too...

A mother's birthday...
how precious the gift of my mother's birth.
The day she was born
all the birds were singing
the sun was shining brightly
the day was warm and inviting...

Please keep my mother close to your Sacred Heart, Lord

Forgive and Forget

Part of the forgiveness process is being able to forget. If you continue to struggle with a particular incident, just take it to prayer and ask God to give you the grace to forgive as he forgives.
— from Marriage 911

Test of Fire...Are you ready?

Test of Fire...Election 2012 

Novena Prayer to Saint Gianna

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of her death
Special Novena - April 19-28

Lord God,
Through your Son Jesus Christ
You have destroyed death
And have made us the People of Life.

We thank you for the example of the saints
Whose lives reflect your own holiness
And the profound dignity of human life.

Thank you in particular for the example
of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla.
She is truly a saint for our times,
Whom you called from this world just 50 years ago.
Thank you for her example of being a loving wife,
A devoted mother, a caring physician, and a
woman of Catholic action.

Thank you for the crowning act of her life,
By which she sacrificed her life for that of her child.
May her example inspire all of us
To lay down our lives for one another,
Especially for our unborn brothers and sisters,
And hence to both discover and proclaim
The very meaning of love.

We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
http://www.priestsforlife.org/novenas/saint-gianna.htm

Life before birth - you are a miracle

Did you know that during week one of your life before birth your mother's womb turned from a calm scene into a show of amazing growth and development over the next nine months.

Always remember, you are a miracle!!!

Life After 40 is an educational program highlighting weekly fetal development facts during 40 weeks of pregnancy.

A video and more information is available at http://rtl.org/40/ 

Abandon Yourself to Him

Do good insofar as it is good in itself and insofar as it gives glory and pleasure to God.

— from Padre Pio's Spiritual Direction for Every Day

Are you a "lukewarm" soul...?

9th day of the Divine Mercy novena...
Pray, pray, pray...
Tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday...
there is hope for us all - if only we believe in God's Great Gift of Divine Mercy.

Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself.
I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart.
In the fire of Your pure love let these tepid souls, who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power...

Take courage...do not be afraid!

Jesus said..."Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid!" Alleluia! (Mk 6:50)

Though this daily walk seems arduous and most difficult at times...
We are reassured by Jesus (himself having suffered in human flesh)
that he is no stranger to our walk.

We must never fear to approach him in our daily struggles...
Jesus need not sympathize with our weaknesses,
because he has already walked this way for us...
He has already been through our most painful times, and then some...

So, what are we waiting for?
This is the time of hope.
This is the time when we can (and must) turn ourselves over to our Beloved...
Let Jesus dispose of us as he well pleases.
God will do great things in us...if only we believe!

We are truly blessed...

All of us (human beings) yearn for life "to the full".
We are truly blessed because we have been given food from heaven.
Yes! the food from heaven and the water "of life" is poured out at the Easter sacraments of
Baptism and Holy Eucharist.
What blessed and favored souls are we! ...that God our Father should send His only Son Jesus...
to leave us these precious gifts of life for the constant/daily nourishing of our souls...

Join me in praying always that we come to know Christ (better and more profoundly...)
through these signs of His redemptive presence in our midst. Aleluya! Aleluia!! Alleluia!!!

The Hour of Great Mercy...

From the diary of a young Polish nun, a special devotion began spreading throughout the world in the 1930s. The message is nothing new, but is a reminder of what the Church has always taught through scripture and tradition: that God is merciful and forgiving and that we, too, must show mercy and forgiveness. But in the Divine Mercy devotion, the message takes on a powerful new focus, calling people to a deeper understanding that God’s love is unlimited and available to everyone — especially the greatest sinners.

The message of mercy is that God loves us — all of us — no matter how great our sins. He wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy.

Daily remembrance of the Divine Mercy at the hour of Christ's death… As often as you hear the clock strike the third hour immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it, invoke it's omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners, for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul. In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world - mercy triumphed over justice.

a powerful prayer...

the Chaplet of Mercy is a powerful prayer...most especially in these days (prayed as a novena - for nine consecutive days) before Mercy Sunday (coming up this week!)

Today is the fifth day of the novena - when we bring to God's infinite Mercy those souls who have separated themselves from the Church...God knows how to bring these "lost sheep" back into his fold.

Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who have separated themselves from Your Church. Draw them by Your Light into the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to glorify the generosity of Your mercy...

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon these souls, separated from Your Son's Church, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces by obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in His Most Compassionate Heart. Bring it about that they also may glorify Your great mercy for endless ages. Amen. 

Stay Calm...

Remember never to become distressed
by any adverse thing that happens, knowing that distress
is an impediment to the Holy Spirit.

— from Padre Pio's Spiritual Direction for Every Day

Stay Calm...Live tranquil lives...
giving our cares and worries to the Good Shepherd...

I feel alive and free...

I feel alive and free to be all that I am called to be...thanks to the gift of my beloved Jesus.

I raise my hands
in worship and praise
to the One who gives us the HOPE
in His resurrection...

I wish to be one with my beloved every moment of my life from this day forward. Amen!

He is risen! ¡Resucitó!

The Vigil continues...Awaiting the New Light...

On Holy Saturday we, the Church, wait at the Lord's tomb, meditating on his suffering and death. The altar is left bare, and the sacrifice of the Mass is not celebrated. Only after the solemn vigil during the night, held in anticipation of the resurrection, does the Easter celebration begin, with a spirit of JOY and thanksgiving - that overflows into the following period of fifty days.

As the Holy Triduum begins...

We pray, pray, pray...
we pray for LOVE to enter our heart

we pray for COURAGE to walk in the LIGHT

we pray for FAITH to deepen our belief...

May God give us what we need to be true followers of His Son these days, and may we always walk in His ways, unafraid...

Amen.

Am I ready to bear patiently...?

The more I am willing to accept my trials and tribulations as consolations... (though this makes no sense to those who do not yet know the great love of God for them...)

...the more sweetly I will be able to receive the graces at Easter. It is only in my willingness to surrender myself totally...and completely...to the will of God in my life (especially during these holiest days ahead...) that I will find JOY at the resurrection of my Beloved Lord of lords and King of kings...

All I ask is this: Abba, Father, please fill my heart with Your Love...and this is enough for me. For with the infinite Love in my heart, I will have the graces necessary to bear all things in Your sweet Son's name, Jesus! Amen!

Hosanna! the King has come!!!

This day is Palm Sunday.
We celebrate with shouts of joy and praise...

The King has come!
Jesus is the King...the Messiah...
Jesus arrives on a donkey
to shouts of joy and songs of praise!

Are you singing and praising God today?
Are you preparing the place in your heart?
The place in your heart for the King of kings?

I invite you to join me in shouts of joy and praise...
Today, together, let us sing to the King of kings:
Hosanna! The King has come!!!