Sunday, November 30, 2008

Meditation with Catherine Doherty III


"How could you be afraid of anything but sin? Sin alone has the power to bring real death. It, but nothing else, has to be feared with a great fear."


**********************

Reflection

Much of the worlds problems we face today is due to the fact that we have become either a fearless people or a foolish people, for we no longer fear sin. If anything the word sin has almost been struck from the English language.

Think about it when was the last time your Priest, or Pastor spoke of the dangers to your immortal soul if you are living a sinful lifestyle or harbouring heretical thoughts which are in direct opposition to The Teachings of The Catholic Church?

We fear a loss of worldly goods over and above any mortal sin which may seperate our souls from God for good through our own sinful choices.

God does not move. We do.

We must ask ourselves where have we placed our Treasure? In the loving Hands of our loving Heavenly Father thereby securing our eternal Salvation or a financial institute which will keep us in the temporal luxuries we think we have earned.

So many of us care more about our bodily comfort than our souls end.

In the end are we a foolish people or a fearless people? What do YOU think?

Reflection Written by

Marie

Achieve Your Dreams


~Life is what happens while you are making other plans.~

~A person of words and not deeds is like a garden full of weeds.~

~The key to happiness and success is to have a dream.~

~All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today.~

~You always pass failure on the way to success.~

~You have to wake up in order for your dreams to come true.~

~Don't let lack of praise nip you in the bud.~

~The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just that little extra.~

~Count your age by your friends, Count your life by smiles.~

~Stand for something or you'll fall for anything.~

~If you don't lie down no one can walk on you.~

~Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes.~

~Happiness is the journey not the destination.~

~To succeed do the best you can, where you are, with what you have.~

Friday, November 28, 2008

Miracle of the Rosary-A Personal Story


When my mother was dying of cancer she would spend hours laying in her bed staring in rapture at a picture of Our Lady. It was a normal picture of our Lady and I could not understand what my mother stared at with such intensity and adoration.


Oneday I decided to go in and ask her, why she continued to stare with such love at a mere picture? Her response was to smile at me and say, 'oh but if you only knew her, how beautiful she is, how beautiful...' I again looked at the painting and could not see what my mother was seeing.

Every night before my mother went to sleep she would always wrap her Rosary around her hand. Until one night when she could not find her Rosary, my mother was most upset as my father and I upended her bedside table. We emptied out the draws, no Rosary. I looked into my mothers pillow case still no Rosary, I also felt around her body in the bed and again no Rosary. Finally I got a torch and on my hands and knees I looked under her bed only to be disappointed, no Rosary.

My mothers Rosary seemed to have disappeared!

I offered my mother my own Rosary but my mother said no, she wanted her own, so with a sad smile we retired for the night. I lay awake for a long while because I knew what a comfort the Rosary was for my mother and then when I could hear her sleeping I also went to sleep.

The next morning I was awoken very early as my mother yelled for me. Thinking she was in immense pain I jumped up and ran into her room only to find my mother sitting up and holding out her hand. Wrapped around my mothers hand was her Rosary...The Rosary that neither my father or myself could find only the night before.

My mother then looked at the picture of Our Lady and said, 'oh, I knew you would find it for me... beautiful Lady, thankyou.'

Months later when my mother lay in hospital dying I made sure her Rosary was wrapped around her hand.

And again...

Thankyou beautiful Lady, thankyou.

Written by Marie

Prayer for World Peace


Lord, we pray for the power to be gentle;

the strength to be forgiving;

the patience to be understanding;

and the endurance to accept the consequences

of holding to what we believe to be right.


May we put our trust in the power of good to overcome evil

and the power of love to overcome hatred.


We pray for the vision to see and the faith to believe

in a world emancipated from violence,

a new world where fear shall no longer lead men to commit injustice,

nor selfishness make them bring suffering to others.


Help us to devote our whole life and thought and energy

to the task of making peace,

praying always for the inspiration and the power

to fulfill the destiny for which we and all men were created.


Anon


Amen!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

HAPPY THANKSGIVING To Our American Friends

With love from Marie & Ginny xoxoxooxo

Book Meme


The Rules:
Pass this on to 5 blogging friends. Open the closest book to you, not your favorite or most intellectual book, but the book closest to you at the moment, to page 56. Write the 5th sentence, as well as two to five sentences following that.

'A Daughters Love Thomas & Margaret More.'

"In fact, at this very meeting in May 1516, John More had heard Wolsey briefing Henry and his councillors at length, and in graphic detail, about some of his more ambitious proposals for streamlining the legal system to make it more 'equal' and 'equitable' to litigants whether rich or poor, a Utopian scheme that surely must have stgruck a resounding chord.
By writing Utopia, which he published later that year, Thomas More showed that he wanted to reshape society and his world. His work as an undersherrif and as a civic intermediary with Wolsey and the King's Council had set him firmly on this path."

(Ok I cheated but the ONLY books by me are the CCC, The Bible and a dictionary!lol)

I now pass this meme to:





God bless & Good luck!

Marie xoxoox

Monday, November 24, 2008

When It's Time To Let Go....


"There comes a point in your life when you realize

who matters,

who never did,

who won't anymore...

and who always will.

So, don't worry about people from your past,

there's a reason why they didn't make it to your future."


***********************

So much of our unhappiness is rooted in our inability to let go, instead we cling and become demanding to our families and our friends.

What causes us to be like this?

Insecurity.

What happens to water if it lay alone where no wind or earth can disturb it's peaceful surface?

It stagnates and becomes noxious.

When we try and stop change and growth we are choosing to stagnate, why then are so many surprised when others wish to move on, to live life with all its joys, pains and hardships?

What makes us think that everything must stay the same?

Life is meant to be challenging and more so if you are a devout lover of God and follow the dictates of your Church.

How many of our Great Saints and Martyrs died snug and warm in their beds?

And the Greatest of all women who have ever lived and graced this earth with her glorious presence, Our Lady. Did Our Lady cling to Jesus and demand he stay home with her where she could protect Him, her son and her God?

Rather Mary followed her Son even though at times she did not understand fully the meaning of His Life, she let Him go....

We are also called to let go even if that letting go is painful to us, was it not even more painful for the Mother of God?

Do we think ourselves greater than God's Delight, that is Mary? That the shadow of suffering and loss must never darken our own lives as if we were somehow better than Our Lady and the Saints in Heaven.

Our lives are made of up sunshine and shadow, we can either learn to dance in the shadows or wail in the dark.

Reflection written by Marie

Quote Thanks Jean

The Psalm Of Life


What the heart of the young man said to the psalmist

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream!--

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.


Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

Dust thou art, to dust returnest,

Was not spoken of the soul.


Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us farther than to-day.


Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.


In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!


Trust no future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act,--act in the living present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!


Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;


Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.


Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labor and to wait.


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Thursday, November 20, 2008

A Small Break-God bless


I shall be taking a few days break but will be back by Tuesday(Monday in America). God bless you all and I shall miss you, but I will be back(who said that? LOL).


Peace and much love to all


Marie xoxoox PS: Do watch the Youtube. It is hysterical lol.

Some Fun With Your Family LOL


No matter how many times I watch this scene it cracks me up and I have never been able to say the riddle because of my constant giggling. Watch the video with your family and see if YOU can say the riddle correctly.
Let me know how many get it right FIRST time? Get your children involved too.
Wishing you great fun!
Marie lol

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Meditation with Catherine Doherty II


"God offers us risk, danger and a strange insecurity that leads to perfect security. His security begins when we start loving God with our whole heart, our whole mind, our whole soul and our neighbor as ourselves. I speak of this so often but it is the only message that can never be overstressed. We must clothe the skeletons of our lives with the flesh of his love, or we shall perish."


***************

Reflection

We spend copious amounts of money on material things that promises to make us happy. We also spend copious hours getting ready to face the outside world, yet how many hours do we spend with God?

Are we comfortable with God? Or do we shuffle about, twitch and tweak our clothes and finally take a peek at our watch in order to be finished with our allotted time with God? Do you long for Mass or do you long for it be over?

In order to fully love God we must also love those around us and not just the people we deem 'worthy'. On the face of things do we deserve Jesus being Crucified in our place? When we can answer this question we realise that we are also in and of ourselves unworthy of God's Love. Yet God loves us enough to have His Beloved Son die in our place.

Christ was wounded for loves sake, are we equally prepared to bear this smaller wound when our love is rejected by others? Christ did not come to us and teach us how to love safely, He teaches us to love dangerously, for Love sake alone.

The fiery love of God's holocaust is not for the fainthearted or the lukewarm, it is for the warrior spirit who loves fiercely, yet tenderly. Who speaks the Truth without apology, yet also with gentleness, who loves unto folly for Christ's sake.

At the end it will not be your love for God that will be measured but your love for your neighbor and also, your enemy.

Do you love safely or do you risk all for Love sake alone?

Reflection Written by Marie

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Royal Beauty Contest-Something Lighter






























1: Queen Rania of Jordan


2: Princess Mary of Denmark

3: Princess Caroline of Hanover

4: Princess Letizia of Spain

5: Princess Mathilde of Belgium

6: Princess Maxima of Holland

7: Princess Madeleine of Sweden

8: Princess Beatrice of England

For some lightheartedness. Vote for who you think is the most beautiful Royal of today. The winner will be the one who has the most votes.

Have fun!

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Taking Off Our Masks


To a certain extent we all wear masks. Some of us wish to be perceived as 'nice and charming' while others long to be admired for their 'strength of character' and still more long to be congratulated for their 'intelligence and toughness' there are very few who can truly see themselves with a ruthless eye.


We do not wish to recognise the fact that we are vulnerable and open to hurt and that the opinion of others does matter to each of us. Very few can view themselves with the objectiveness that is needed in order to be fully whole to ourselves and to each other.

It takes a ruthless honesty and a savage courage that can stare at our own weaknesses and vulnerabilities and also our potential to sin and harm others as well as ourselves. Until we can do this we will remain disconnected from ourselves and those we love and remain in emotional isolation.

It is only through God that we are transformed into 'little christ's' and it is only through God that we become the promise of who we were meant to be.

This has nothing to do with the 'self esteem express' but is in fact self forgetfulness.

Authentic self esteem is to see ourselves as we are; imperfect faulty human beings who understand that any good thing we do has it's Source in the Triune Spirit. Nothing is ours. It is all Gift. We hope that God may turn our imperfections to His Greater Glory despite our resistance to the Divine Physician as He moulds us so that we become reflections of His Divine Person.

You are not perfect for a reason. If you were perfect then you would have no need of God the Source of all Love. This is not to state that we should revel in our imperfections but rather that God can turn a humble and contrite heart into one that reflects His own Divine Heart.

Rejoice therefore and live lives that reflect the inner joy that springs from being so well loved without deserving it, nor without ever being able to return it in equal measure.

Remember love will cost you all you have got. Spare nothing. Give all. Your Reward awaits you...

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17)

Written by Marie.

Laughter Is The Best Medicine LOL


Sunday, November 9, 2008

Meditation with Catherine Doherty I


"His call is revolutionary, there is no denying it. If we Christians implemented it, it would change the world in a few months. The gospel is radical, and Christ indeed is the radix, the root from which spring all things. His commandments mean risk, great risk. They imply a lack of that security to which most men cling so tightly."


***************

Reflection

Do we really know Christ or have we packaged Him to suit our image of what He should be? When we follow an image of Christ we fail to see the radical message He left us to embrace. To love without thought of self to give without asking the cost and to love fearlessly with an intensity that scorches our souls without burning it.

Many of us have created a 'comfortable Christ' who must change to suit us rather than have Christ change us to reflect Him. We do not wish to be changed we have become like the friends of Job all to willing to speak FOR God without ever knowing Him.

Are we comfortable with the Christ who called the Pharisees hypocrites and vipers and upended the money tables? Do we recognise the Pharisee within ourselves that merely 'mouths' their faith without teeth. Are we willing to upset the status quo or do we choose instead to follow the crowd in order to be 'agreeable' to just about everyone. Was Christ ever agreeable to the Pharisees? Or did our Lord speak the unvarnished Truth to these men chained by the law rather than embrace the radical love that Jesus was bringing to the world.

Are you a comfortable Christian? Or are you willing to risk all in order to gain everything.

Reflection written by Marie

The Gods of the Copybook Headings


AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,

I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.

Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.


We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn

That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:

But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,

So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.


We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,

Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,

But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come

be had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.


With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,

They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;

They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;

So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.


When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.

They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.

But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "Stick to the Devil you know."


On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life

(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)

Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."


In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,

By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;

But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don't work you die."


Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew

And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true

That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four

And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.


As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man

There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.

That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,

And the burnt Fool's bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;


And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins

When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,

As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,

The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!


R. Kipling

Friday, November 7, 2008

Standing Up For Sarah Palin


The new sport in Washington these days is not watching the President Elect, no. The new sport is how to destroy Sarah Palin while keeping the Republican Party on life support.


This unedifying display is the worst case of political cannibalism I have seen in decades. Hannibal Lector himself would fair better than Governor Sarah Palin at the moment.

Why are members of John McCains campaign 'team' now bent on destroying this remarkable woman? Why are many Republicans silent including John McCain himself?

Because they fear her.

Sarah Palin is a polarizing force who promises to bring change to Washington. The problem is noone wants this change including the GOP. They also have vested interests and they know that Governor Palin is made of stern stuff who will not follow in their wake but lead them to a new landscape.

A landscape where they will no longer be serving themselves but serving their country. Where vested interests will be bypassed for the best interests of the majority of American citizens.

Sarah Palin promises change but both Republican Party & the Democrats want to stay the same.

This woman galvanized a people who were longing for change and for straight talk. With Sarah Palin one didn't need to read past the 'spin' this is a woman of remarkable character who says it how it is and the majority of Americans loved it.

Sarah Palin is as polarizing as Barack Obama but unlike the President Elect, Governor Palin has substance and credibility. Sarah also has charisma and an ability to reach out and connect with ordinary Americans.

This is why many fat cat politicians fear her, including her own Party.

President Elect Obama is all talk when it comes to 'change' but with Governor Palin she meant real change and not the small change which President Obama will bring.

In the words of Machiavelli:

"A return to first principles in a republic is sometimes caused by the simple virtues of one man. His good example has such an influence that the good men strive to imitate him, and the wicked are ashamed to lead a life so contrary to his example."

Sarah Palin is a power to be reckoned with, and her enemies know this, hence their need to destroy her, she represents to them everything they lack and is a reminder of their own inner corruption.

But a warning for those who voted for Barack Obama...

"Men are so simple and so much inclined to obey immediate needs that a deceiver will never lack victims for his deceptions." Niccolo Machiavelli

If Sarah Palin is ever elected President then Washington will never be the same again, and that will be a good thing.

What do YOU think about the attacks on Sarah Palin?

Written by Marie

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Premio Dardos Award


Thankyou Esther for this Award both Ginny and I feel grateful indeed. God bless you and your lovely blog.

Here are my choices

















9: Lisa


10: Cathy


11: Susie


12: Jackie


13: Ebeth




15: Cy

You all have such wonderful blogs. God bless you and the work you put into your blogs.

With love
Marie & Ginny

Monday, November 3, 2008

A PRAYER FOR AMERICAN ELECTION


O God, we acknowledge You today as Lord,

Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.


We thank You for the privilege

Of being able to organize ourselves politically

And of knowing that political loyalty

Does not have to mean disloyalty to You.


We thank You for Your law,

Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged

And recognized as higher than any human law.


We thank You for the opportunity that this election year puts before us,

To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote,

But to influence countless others to vote,

And to vote correctly.


Lord, we pray that Your people may be awakened.

Let them realize that while politics is not their salvation,

Their response to You requires that they be politically active.


Awaken Your people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world

But rather a community of faith renewing the world.


Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to You in prayer

Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;

That the same eyes that read Your Word

Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot,

And that they do not cease to be Christians

When they enter the voting booth.


Awaken Your people to a commitment to justice,

To the sanctity of marriage and the family,

To the dignity of each individual human life,

And to the truth that human rights begin when Human Lives Begin,

And not one moment later.


Lord, we rejoice today

That we are citizens of Your kingdom.


May that make us all the more committed

To being faithful citizens on earth.


We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord.


Amen.


Fr. Frank Pavone

Saturday, November 1, 2008

SELFish Voting Or SelfLESS voting


As Americans prepare to enter the ballot box they need to ask the question am I voting for selfish reasons or selfless reasons? In other words is it a case of ME first in a ME first generation.


We live in a time where the question is not "ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Instead the mantra of today is 'what's in it for me.'

Before you vote ask yourself which candidate will be the one who will do their best to protect the most vulnerable citizens in America, the unborn?

Is it Senator John McCain who is Pro-Life or Senator Obama who is Pro-Death?

Then ask the next question who is the most qualified to protect American security within your own borders and overseas?

Is it Senator McCain who believes in Military strength to defeat your enemies or is it Senator Obama who wishes to cut military spending at a time of war?

The next question to ask is this, what happens if a vacancy were to occur and a new Supreme Court Judge needed to be nominated. Who would be most likely to appoint a Pro-Life Surpreme Court Judge?

Would it be Senator McCain who is Pro-Life or Senator Obama who is Pro-Abortion?

When it comes to the economy ask yourself who has fought against big spending Government and who promises to stop the fiscal policies that have devastated the Amerian economy?

Will it be Senator John McCain who has spent his entire career trying to stop pork barrel spending or Senator Obama who spent nearly one BILLION dollars in his 3 short Senatorial years?

As for character ask yourself which man has been tested during his life time and during that test embraced and believes that America is a Great Nation?

Is it Senator McCain who gave his blood, sweat and tears in defense of America and it's freedoms or Senator Obama, who thinks America isn't great yet?

Voting is important and so are the reasons for your vote. The worst thing a voter can do is to think in terms of 'who is going to look after my own self interests, who is going to give me MORE.'

Before you cast your vote ask yourself 'am I voting in the interest of my country or in SELF interest?'
Written by Marie