Grandma's little guy!

Ok, so sorry about this big picture of me, but wanted to share my pride and joy! He is ALWAYS smiling!

The Loretta Young Show

A good, clean show on a very snowy day!

LORETTA YOUNG SHOW 3 & 2 PLEASE 30 mins Loretta Young portrays, “Sister Ann”, a nun who brightens the lives of patients in a Catholic hospital at Christmastime.
Sun 12/21/08 6:30 PM ET & 3:30 PM PT
Tue 12/23/08 11:00 AM ET & 8 AM PT
Fri 12/26/08 2:30 AM ET & (Thu) 11:30 PM PT
Sat 12/27/08 2:30 PM ET & 11:30 AM PT

Catholic Carnival is up!

Catholic Carnival 203: Waiting In Joyful Hope

Salve Regina: Hail Holy Queen in Latin

We sing this at the end of our monthly Carmelite meeting - still trying to learn it!

Liturgy Of The Hours

While reciting the Intercessions of the Morning Prayer this jumped out at me...

~~You are nearer to us than we to ourselves~~

Just ponder that one a moment! Have a wonderful day!

First Sunday of Advent and Lectio Divina

First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 30, 2008, Lectio Divina

We must speak to and see God amidst the thunder and the hurricane; we must see him in the bush, amidst the fire and thorns.
~~St. Pio~~

A Desire To Make Rosaries

I have, for many, many years had a desire to make Rosaries. I have procrastinated because I just didn't know where to begin. If anyone has a great tutorial or can help me get started I would so appreciate the help!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for as my father finally comes home from his surgery two weeks ago. It has been a long haul for him but he is now doing very well....Praise God.

Wishing all of my friends and family a very blessed Thanksgiving Day!

Lectio Divina for Sunday November 23

Lectio Divina

Bishop prays for Obama's Conversion of Heart

I'm never quite sure how much of an article is proper to post but I thought this was important enough to share...

EWTN

Bishop Prays for Obama’s Conversion, Calls on Catholics to Integrate Faith and Politics

FARGO, North Dakota, NOV. 17, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The next months will require tireless work from Catholics in order to preserve the fundamental right to life, and from priests to make Church teaching known, says a U.S. prelate.

Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo affirmed this in a column written for the November issue of New Earth, his diocesan newspaper.

He congratulated president-elect Barack Obama, and assured him of prayers for "the conversion of his heart and mind to recognize the dignity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death and the truth that no government has the right to legalize abortion."

Observing Obama's voting record and his public support of the Freedom of Choice Act, the prelate asserted that the president-elect opposes the position of the Catholic Church. He added: "On a purely political level, he even disagrees with the majority of Americans, who at least want some limits on abortion.

"The Church, and most especially bishops and priests, will need to make the teaching of the Church known to every Catholic."

Clear teaching

Bishop Aquila wrote about letters he received expressing a desire for more outspoken and clear teaching on abortion. He stated, "Catholics need to promote the Gospel of Life and understand, as Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessors have made definitive and clear, that the question of the moral legality of abortion is non-negotiable. It is always and everywhere wrong, and this moral truth must be enshrined in law in every civil society."

He addressed the misunderstandings that he encountered regarding a Catholic's role faced to abortion. "Abortion is an intrinsic evil," he explained, "which means that in no circumstance is it permitted nor may it ever be supported, even as a means to a good end."

The prelate reiterated the message of other U.S. bishops, on the central and primary importance of the issue of human life among the many other political issues to be weighed in the balance.

Faith in politics

The bishop addressed the misunderstanding about the relationship between the Church and the state, and more particularly, how each Catholic is called to live his faith in daily life and political decisions. He lamented the removal of "religious and moral values from the public square," observing that "some Catholics in the separation of their faith from decisions in the political order abandon God and embrace secular atheism."

"Abandoning the truth," he continued, "is directly opposed both to our ideals as Christians and to the founding principles of our country as seen in the Declaration of Independence which acknowledges the ‘laws of nature's God' and ‘the Creator.'"

The prelate quoted from the nation's first president, George Washington: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports."

Based in these ideals of the founding fathers, as well as the teachings of the Church, Bishop Aquila called on Catholics to live out their faith: "Being faithful to the call and mission given to us by God can never be limited to Sunday worship, but requires the surrender of our complete and entire lives.

"If we are faithful Catholics, everything we do will be influenced by our relationship with God, his truth, his love and his constant inspiration. If we withhold the beauty and truths about human life from our nation's laws, we diminish our society."

Blessed Françoise d’Amboise

You have various afflictions which constitute your cross. Bear them willingly to the very end, when you will finally yield your soul to God. Give Him praise and thanks for calling you to His service. Scorn no-one, for it is God’s will that you love each one of your neighbors as you do those of your own community. Strive to curb all unruly instincts within you. To this end try one remedy today and another tomorrow, so that gradually you will subdue your unruly impulses, and when the Lord sees your good will and your perseverance, He will give you the support of His grace, enabling you to sustain to the end the burdens of religious life. Through His love nothing will be too difficult for you to bear.”

Obama: Fear and The Security Force

For your discernment......

Obama: Fear and The Security Force

Prayers for my Dad

My father had hip surgery yesterday. Everything seemed to go fine but he developed some complications late last night and was moved to Intensive Care. I would so appreciate prayers for him...his name is Richard. Thank you.

Economy, e c o n o m y!

Whatever! Time to pick ourselves up by the (whatever) and realize that while things may be tougher...they are in NO WAY as tough as so many countries have it. Good grief....a good portion of the world doesn't have a toilet to flush or clean water to drink. Why not look at this as an opportunity to live a little lighter on the earth and take time to count your blessings.

I'm cold this morning. I have an old, drafty house but instead of turning the heat up I just built a fire in the woodstove. Don't have wood? Can't afford it? Look on craigslist for free wood. You might have to work at getting it but a little hard work won't hurt anyone. Don't have a fireplace or woodstove? Start looking for ways to keep the heat in. Put blankets under drafty doors and add a sweater or sweatshirt to your wardrobe, hats and toasty warm slippers and socks. Drink hot/warm water...always helps me warm up! Maybe your drapery isn't insulated enough....use quilts on the windows to keep the cold out and the heat in - making sure you open them if the sun is shining!

And last but by no means least....thank our Heavenly Father for the home you are in that keeps out the elements and gives shelter to your family. And if you have trouble finding gratitude...use the computer to look at where and how people live in other countries....I think you will find something to be grateful for.

Daily Meditation

I love these meditations.....

Man's Purpose on Earth

CHRIST:

MY CHILD, the highest goal of your life is union with Me in Heaven. Let your intentions throughout the day be guided by this truth. In all things be sure to stay on the path which leads to Heaven. Do not become too deeply interested in the passing desires and brief enjoyments of this earthly life.

2. I have given you everything that you are and everything you have. All things come to you from Me, the Supreme Good. Whatever comes, accept it, use it, enjoy it, as I wish and as much as I wish.

3. If you think only of satisfying yourself, without considering My approval, your mind becomes confused and your will becomes weak. Mistakes and sins will rob you of peace on earth and of unending happiness in Heaven. In all things, therefore, keep your eyes on Me.

4. Happy are those who desire only what I want, trying steadily to do My Will. Such people do not let themselves become completely absorbed by their daily activities. They frequently offer their activities to Me. They see the brevity of human contentment on earth.

5. Examine your motives in your daily words and actions. Find out how you may please Me more, and avoid everything which may draw you away from Me.

THINK: I was created for eternal happiness with God in Heaven. Everything else must take second place in my life, because if I lost Heaven, I will be losing everything. The sure guide to Heaven is God's holy Will. If I follow it in my daily life, every moment on earth will be a sure step toward the perfect happiness which my heart craves.

PRAY:
My God and loving Father, grant me the wisdom to think, speak and act each day as You want me to. May I never be such a fool as to disagree with Your supreme goodness and wisdom. Nothing on earth can bring me any lasting happiness. Therefore, let me never sin for the sake of anything. I want to live for the perfect happiness for which You created me. Amen.

Sweet, Sweet Baby!

In all the turmoil of the last few days...just had to take time to look at this sweet face...my grandson...

We Must Trust

'Let us then trust ourselves entirely to God and His Providence and leave Him complete power to order our lives, turning to Him lovingly in every need and awaiting His help without anxiety. Leave everything to Him and He will provide us with everything, at the time and in the place and in the manner best suited. He will lead us on our way to that happiness and peace of mind for which we are destined in this life as a foretaste of the everlasting happiness we have been promised.'

~from the book...Trustful Surrender To Divine Providence~

As we watch and wait for the election outcome, let us trust in Divine Providence.

Lectio Divina for Sunday, Nov. 2

Lectio Divina

Just Tell Us The Truth...

All Saints and All Souls

For many years I've had our Lord nudging me to pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory (and I've been forgetting), and especially for those that have no one to pray for them. There are many wonderful prayers to offer for our loved ones that have gone before us.......two of my favorites....

Prayer for the Most Abandoned Souls

Have mercy, we beseech you, Lord God, through the precious Passion of your only begotten Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ; have mercy on those souls that have no intercessor to you to have them in remembrance, which have neither hope nor comfort in their torments, but only for that they be framed after your image and likeness and ensigned with the sign of faith, which either by negligence of them that be living or by long process of time are forgotten by their friends and posterity.

Spare them, Lord, and defend your creation; neither despise the work of your hands, but extend your right hand to them and deliver them from duress of their pains and bring them into the company of the celestial citizens through your exceeding great mercies which are most excellent above all your works.

Who lives and reigns in unity with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great

Eternal Father, I offer thee the most precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all the Masses being said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, those in the Universal Church, in my home and within my family. Amen.

St. Teresa of Avila interceding for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

Stir Up Your Mighty Power Lord

But my people did not heed my voice
and Israel would not obey,
so I left them in their stubbornness of heart
to follow their own designs.
~Psalm 81: 11-13~

Stir up your mighty power, Lord; come to our aid.

God is calling us, inviting us to listen and obey Him.

Eleventh Hour Election Alert Part One

Please watch...it is very important.

Eleventh Hour Election Alert Part Two

Eleventh Hour Election Alert Part Three

A sign of the economic struggle?

I watched the news this morning....(BIG MISTAKE), and women are harvesting their eggs for money saying the economy struggles are making this an attractive way to earn income. There are lots of ways to earn or save money...this is just so sad to me!

ABC News - Harvesting Eggs

Start your Rosary Novena today!

Call for a Rosary Novena
By Fr. John Corapi
www.fathercorapi.com

Among the most important titles we have in the Catholic Church for the Blessed Virgin Mary are Our Lady of Victory and Our Lady of the Rosary. These titles can be traced back to one of the most decisive times in the history of the world and Christendom. The Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 (date of feast of Our Lady of Rosary), 1571. This proved to be the most crucial battle for the Christian forces against the radical Muslim navy of Turkey. Pope Pius V led a procession around St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City praying the Rosary. He showed true pastoral leadership in recognizing the danger posed to Christendom by the radical Muslim forces, and in using the means necessary to defeat it. Spiritual battles require spiritual weapons, and this more than anything was a battle that had its origins in the spiritual order—a true battle between good and evil.

Today we have a similar spiritual battle in progress—a battle between the forces of good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies, life and death. If we do not soon stop the genocide of abortion in the United States, we shall run the course of all those that prove by their actions that they are enemies of God—total collapse, economic, social, and national. The moral demise of a nation results in the ultimate demise of a nation. God is not a disinterested spectator to the affairs of man. Life begins at conception.
This is an unalterable formal teaching of the Catholic Church. If you do not accept this you are a heretic in plain English. A single abortion is homicide. The more than 48,000,000 abortions since Roe v. Wade in the United States constitute genocide by definition. The group singled out for death—unwanted, unborn children.

No other issue, not all other issues taken together, can constitute a proportionate reason for voting for candidates that intend to preserve and defend this holocaust of innocent human life that is abortion.

I strongly urge every one of you to make a Novena and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory between October 27th and Election Day, November 4th. Pray that God’s will be done and the most innocent and utterly vulnerable of our brothers and sisters will be protected from this barbaric and grossly sinful blight on society that is abortion. No woman, and no man, has the right to choose to murder an innocent human being.

May God grant us the wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and counsel to form our conscience in accordance with authentic Catholic teaching, and then vote that well‐formed Catholic conscience.

Please copy, email, link and distribute this article freely.
God Bless You
Fr. John Corapi
www.fathercorapi.com

Lectio Divina

Lectio Divina for today, October 26, 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time...

Lectio Divina

Judge Not

Meditation from Minute Meditations, J. E. Moffatt, S.J.

The thought of the coming judgment is well calculated to awaken fear even in the stoutest heart. To think of standing all alone before a Judge whose searching gaze can probe with infinite exactness the hiddenmost recesses of our soul, and there detect even the slightest flaw or stain, is not a matter to be set aside lightly. To have each thought and word and work that we must own as ours weighed in the scales of God's unerring justice and know that on their worth will hang our fate for all eternity, cannot but be sobering even to the most fickle-minded.

Yes, naturally we dread the coming judgment and, for most mortals, that fear is not without foundation. But our fear need not be without hope; for He in whose hands the judgment rests has shown us a way by which we may make that dreaded day a day to be joyfully awaited. "Judge not," He tells us, "and you shall not be judged." It is the promise of Him who cannot be deceived and never will deceive us.

Judge not! Is it asking too much? Is the demand too great, that we refrain from probing the secret recesses of our neighbor's soul that none but God and he can ever penetrate?

Judge not! We demand it of others in our own regard even when our conscience smarts beneath the undeniable evidence of ugly guilt. We want the kindly esteem of our fellow men even when we know our utter unworthiness. Then, why not give as much to others? And besides, it is the price of exemption from God's judgment!

O Divine Light, be my Light!

This definitely gave me pause for thought today...especially with the upcoming election. I have my fears and I'm afraid that I'm sometimes not charitable in my opinion of candidates. So while I have to make the right decisions and can share my reasons, I need to hold my tongue and be chartiable in my speech.

Into Great Silence

INTO GREAT SILENCE 3 hrs

Step into the riveting silence of Philip Groning's stunning new documentary on the spirituality of Carthusian monks. Filmed without narration and very little dialogue at the Monastery of the Grand Chartreuse in France, Mr. Groning captures the brimming vitality of monastic life and the overpowering sound of God. (U.S. airing only)

EWTN
Sun 10/26/08 9:00 PM ET & 6 PM PT
Thu 10/30/08 2:30 PM ET & 11:30 AM PT

A wonderful chance to see this film - sit back and enjoy the quiet.

Getting to the Truth of Obamacide

.Barbara at Praying for Grace has kindly allowed me to copy her post...


"Thirty-five years after the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade, it's never been more important to protect a woman's right to choose. Last year, the Supreme Court decided by a vote of 5-4 to uphold the Federal Abortion Ban, and in doing so undermined an important principle of Roe v. Wade: that we must always protect women's health. With one more vacancy on the Supreme Court, we could be looking at a majority hostile to a women's fundamental right to choose for the first time since Roe v. Wade. The next president may be asked to nominate that Supreme Court justice. That is what is at stake in this election." -- Barack Obama

The Holy Water Font

A beautiful story about a Nun, a little boy and a Holy Water Font at A Nun's Life.

Novena to Our Lady of Victory

Father John Corapi is urging everyone to pray a Rosary Novena between October 27 and Election Day, November 4. This Novena is on behalf of our most vulnerable citizens...the unborn. This may truly be the most important election, but unless we protect innocent life it won't really matter who is elected as God will not be happy with the continued slaughter of innocent blood.

Catholic Carnival is up!

Catholic Carnival 195 is here!

Carmelite Books On-line

A great resource of books you can read online...

http://www.ctocds.com/books/index.htm

Pondering His Goodness

Is the title of my new blog.