Sunday, April 19, 2009
Quotes
The heavens declare God's glory and the magnificence of what made them! Each day is a miracle; each new sky fills with beauty! Their testimony speaks to the whole world and reaches to the ends of the earth. In them is a path for the sun, who steps forth handsome as a bridegroom and rejoices like an athlete as he runs. He starts at one end of the heavens and circles to the other end, and nothing can hide from his heat.
A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.
A sunbeam bouncing off a drop of dew, The gleam in a child's eye, The twinkle of a particularly bright star, The tear-stained cheek of a mother praying for her children, And the ripple formed by a droplet of rain in a puddle, All of these combine to form the Glitter in the Eyes of God.
~~ The Glitter in God's Eyes, James W. King
God's love for us is proclaimed with each sunrise.
Better to turn your eyes to Jesus than look down your nose at the weaknesses of others.
When you speak, always remember that God is one of your hearers.
We may wonder, whom can I love and serve? Where is the face of God to whom I can pray? The answer is simple: That naked one. That lonely one. That unwanted one who is my brother and my sister. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
~~ Mother Teresa
We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with Him at this very moment. But being happy with Him now means: Loving as He loves, Helping as He helps, Giving as He gives, Serving as He serves, Rescuing as He rescues, Being with Him 24 hours a day, Touching Him in even His distressing disguises.
~~ Mother Teresa
The fruit of silence is prayer, The fruit of prayer is faith, The fruit of faith is love, and The fruit of love is silence.
~~ Mother Teresa
The fingers of God touch your life when you touch a friend.
I concerned myself to remember God, to seek Him, to know Him and to love Him. When I had come to the end I saw that He had remembered me before I had remembered Him, that he had sought me before I had sought Him, that His knowledge of me had preceded my knowledge of Him, and that His love for me had existed before my love for Him.
Can I neglect to pray while there is one who needs the help my prayer can bring?
God is never in a hurry but he is always on time.
God wants performance not promises.
The face of a newborn child is as close as we come to seeing the face of God in this life!
God's ultimate purpose is birth. He is not content until he brings his Son to birth in each and every one of us.
God is so big He can cover the whole world with His love, and so small He can curl up inside your heart.
A friend will strengthen you with his prayers, bless you with his love, and encourage you with his hope.
Posted by Ginny at 7:14 PM |
Labels: everyday living, quotes, reflecting
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Happy Easter!!
Awaken us to your presence,
Open to us the gate of glory,
Show us the path of life,
Help us to know you are
with us now and always.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Still He Walked
He could hear the crowds screaming "crucify" "crucify"... He could hear the hatred in their voices, These were his chosen people. He loved them, And they were going to crucify him. He was beaten, bleeding and weakened... his heart was broken, But still He walked.
He could see the crowd as he came from the palace. He knew each of the faces so well. He had created them. He knew every smile, laugh, and shed tear, But now they were contorted with rage and anger...his heart broke, But still He walked.
Was he scared? You and I would have been. So his humanness would have mandated that he was. He felt alone. His disciples had left, denied, and even betrayed him. He searched the crowd for a loving face and he saw very few. Then he turned his eyes to the only one that mattered. And he knew that he would never be alone. He looked back at the crowd, at the people who were spitting at him, throwing rocks at him and mocking him and he knew that because of him, they would never be alone. So for them, He walked.
The sounds of the hammer striking the spikes echoed through the crowd. The sounds of his cries echoed even louder, the cheers of the crowd, as his hands and feet were nailed to the cross, intensified with each blow. Loudest of all was the still small voice inside his heart that whispered "I am with you, my son," And God's heart broke. He had let his son walk.
Jesus could have asked God to end his suffering, but instead he asked God to forgive. Not to forgive him, but to forgive the ones who were persecuting him. As he hung on that cross, dying an unimaginable death, he looked out and saw, not only the faces in the crowd, but also, the face of every person yet to be, and his heart filled with love. As his body was dying, his heart was alive. Alive with the limitless, unconditional love he feels for each of us. That is why He walked.
When I forget how much My God loves me, I remember his walk.
When I wonder if I can be forgiven, I remember his walk.
When I need reminded of how to live like Christ, I think of his walk.
And to show him how much I love him, I wake up each morning, turn my eyes to him, And I walk.
-- Author Unknown
Posted by Ginny at 7:41 PM |
Labels: easter, Holy Week, reflection
He Washed My Feet
There was both a heaviness and a holiness
hanging in the air.
We couldn't explain the mood.
It was sacred, yet sorrowful.
Gathered around that table
eating that solemn, holy meal
seemed to us the most important meal
we had ever sat down to eat.
We were dwelling in the heart of MYSTERY.
Though dark the night,
Hope felt right---
as if something evil
was about to be conquered.
And then suddenly
the One-Who-Loved startled us all.
He got up from the table
and put on an apron.
Can you imagine how we felt?
JESUS IN AN APRON!
Tenderness encircled us
as He bowed before us.
He knelt and said,
"I choose to wash your feet
because I love you."
Jesus in an apron, kneeling.
I couldn't believe my eyes.
I was embarrassed
until His eyes met mine.
I sensed my value then.
He touched my feet.
He held them in His strong, brown hands.
He washed them.
I can still feel the water.
I can still feel the touch of His hands.
I can still see the look in His eyes.
Then He handed me the towel
and said,
"As I have done,
so you must do."
Learn to bow.
Learn to kneel.
Let your tenderness encircle
everyone you meet.
Wash their feet--
not because you have to--
but because you want to.
It seems I've stood two thousand years
holding that towel in my hands.
"As I have done, so must you do,"
keeps echoing in my heart.
"There are so many feet to wash,"
I keep saying.
"No."
I hear God's voice
resounding through the years.
"There are only My feet.
What you do for them,
you do for Me."
Anon
Posted by Ginny at 7:40 PM |
Labels: Holy Thursday, washing of the feet
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Happy Saint Joseph's Day - What A Man!
Saint Joseph was a just man, a tireless worker, the upright guardian of those entrusted to his care. May he always guard, protect and enlighten families. Pope John Paul II
Saint Joseph was an ordinary sort of man on whom God relied to do great things. He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, in each and every event that went to make up his life. Saint Josemaria Escriva
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Hand Of God
May the new day bring you blessings,
as the light comes filtering through.
May your sunrise be as lovely,
as a morning draped in dew.
May the wind blow forth a promise,
sending sweet bouquets your way.
May life seem a little brighter,
as you rise to greet the day.
May the daybreak render pleasure,
as the birds begin to sing
May the distant roll of thunder,
bring forth a touch of Spring.
May the mist embrace the stillness,
like a fire fly in the night.
May an angel walk beside you,
to hold you in the light.
May the rain caress your body
and life drops flood your soul.
May His Spirit come upon you,
to cleanse and make you whole.
May the showers come so softly,
running gently through your hair.
May you touch the living water
and know that He is there.
May the freshness bring you new life,
pushing through the tender sod.
May you pause to pick a flower
and brush the hand of God.
Anon
Posted by Ginny at 5:51 PM |
Labels: blessings, everyday living
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Dear God
I want to thank You for what you have already done.
I am not going to wait until I see results or receive rewards;
I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until I feel better or things look better; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until people say they are sorry or until they stop talking about me;
I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until the pain in my body disappears; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until my financial situation improves; I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until the children are asleep and the house is quiet;
I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until I get promoted at work or until I get the job;
I am going to thank you right now.
I am not going to wait until I understand every experience in my life that has caused me pain or grief; I am thanking you right now.
I am not going to wait until the journey gets easier
or the challenges are removed;
I am thanking you right now.
I am thanking you because I am alive.
I am thanking you because I made it through the day's difficulties.
I am thanking you because I have walked around the obstacles.
I am thanking you because I have the ability and the opportunity to do more and do better.
I'm thanking you because FATHER, YOU haven't given up on me.
Posted by Ginny at 5:08 PM |
Labels: everyday living, God, gratitude, prayer
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
No cowards in the Kingdom by Fr Noel Connolly
Posted by Marie at 3:09 AM |
Labels: catholic, lent, reflection, spirituality
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Freedom from Illusion By Jeff Mirus
Written by Jeff Mirus
Posted by Marie at 9:32 PM |
Labels: catholic, dante, lent, reflection, spirituality
St. Therese of Lisieux Quote
Posted by Marie at 9:30 PM |
Labels: catholic, lent, quote, spirituality, st therese
Monday, March 2, 2009
Charity Where to Begin?
If you listen to many Heads of Goverment the world is on the brink of collapse and we all may as well give up and lock our doors and hearts.
I don't believe Governments solve problems in fact and in many cases they are the problem.
But I do believe in people.
I believe in the strength and courage of the American people. I believe in the grit and determination of the British people. I believe in the doggedness and generosity of the Australian people. I believe in the goodness of ALL people in all lands, no matter where you are.
But how can we help when the problems are so enormous?
You do so one step at at time.
Charity doesnt always mean a giving of money, if anything money is the easy option. A giving of your time is of more value than money.
In most countries there are nursing homes for the aged. Perhaps it is time to consider spending an hour or two a week visiting the aged in their hospital beds? Maybe you could organize a Rosary prayer group or any other form of prayer which can include singing, have you thought of this?
When you give to charity either monetarily or with your time. It is not about making you feel good it IS about making the person you visit feel special and unique.
If you belong to a prayer group, bible study or mothers group perhaps you could contribute a certain amount of money and buy good quality books for schools that do not get enough funding.
Don't always wait for the 'government' to do something. If you see a school that is in disrepair where noone cares, DO something about it yourself. Get your friends involved and your Parish if possible.
Many people are good and generous at heart and want to help in a beneficial way. If this is YOU then explore your community and see where you can help and then do it.
Remember many of our greatest Saints began their work in their own communities.
We cannot help everyone but that should never be an excuse to help noone.
Written by Marie
Posted by Marie at 8:34 PM |
Labels: catholic, charity, lent, reflection, society, spirituality
Friday, February 27, 2009
Lenten Reflection with St. Therese of Lisieux
"Since it had been necessary for Christ to suffer so that he would enter through that into glory, you must also drink from his same chalice if you want to have a place at his side."
++++++++++++++++
Many times when I have spoken to people who are suffering in one form or another and they are complaining that God is punishing them. My first question to them is this; what have you been praying for? There answer is always "to be closer to God."
I then ask them if they know how this is achieved and they have different responses, some say through prayer, attending daily Mass, praying the Rosary three times a day and the list goes on. No one mentions suffering.
When I tell them that the only way to become closer to God is through the Cross which means suffering they look at me askance.
Do we really believe that we are so holy, so pure that God does not need to purify and discipline us?
Do we believe that we can legally murder the unborn, euthanize the ill and elderly, legalize prostitution and narcotics(in some countries) and demand that homosexual couples marry in the name of civil rights and think that God is not going to call an accounting?
We are living in the days of a new Sodom and Gomorrah and just like the people of those towns we think there will be no reckoning for the continued abuses of society. And so we dance and make merry with no thought for tomorrow.
God calls us to make reparation for all the evils that are now taking place in the world, but are we ready for it?
Are YOU ready?
Are you ready to suffer for those who spit in God's face? Who ignore His Commandments? For people who on one day can march to save the Whales (& other wildlife) and the next day march to kill the unborn?
The only way to Christ is through the Cross. There are no short cuts.
Are YOU ready to answer God's call?
Reflection Written by Marie
Posted by Marie at 10:10 PM |
Labels: catholic, lent, meditation, reflection, st therese
A PRAYER FOR LENT
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
What is Lent Really About?
How does this affect God? I don't think it affects God at all. What can we give to God who is sufficient unto Himself?
Lent is about purification and a time to reflect and ask within ourselves the hard questions. Lent is also a time of inner surgery, where we find and search deep within our souls and personality to see where have we offended God. Where have we failed to do His Will? Where have we wounded Him and in so doing wounded ourselves and others?
Where have we walked away from God and what opportunities to do good did we overlook or fail to act on even though we knew it would benefit another?
Then there are the other questions we need to ask. What have we placed before God, where have we been inattentive to His Will. And most importantly how much time do we spend with God, alone.
These weeks of Lent are our time 'spent in the desert' as we seek God's guidance and weed out our weaknesses and those things which seperate us from His Divine Love.
In order for God to work fully within our souls we need Him to purify us from all that which holds us to the world. It is time to weed out selfishness, laziness, unkindness, impatience, anger, pride. This is a momentous task, for me at least especially as I fall into many of the above categories.
Once we confront these lesser qualities within ourselves and through the Sacrament of Penance only then can God fill the empty vessels of our souls with His Divine Love so that we too arise, renewed and filled with joy.
Rather than give something up, give of yourself to those in your community who are hungry, tired, lonely, sick, deprived and unloved.
What is our most precious commodity? The thing we prize most of all?
Our time.
Amen, Amen my God, breatheth in me the dew of thy Grace which bringeth me to the well spring of they Awesome Love, which overcometh my timid soul, and fills it with all good things, so that I may boast, here in lay my strength. I am nothing and God is ALL.
Written by Marie
Ash Wednesday Prayer
Posted by Marie at 10:08 PM |
Labels: ash wednesday, catholic, faith, lent
Monday, February 23, 2009
Marriage Is Hell
That's what Hollywood will have you think.
Why do so many films portray marriages as two seperate savages sharing the same house?
Wives are portrayed as brittle, hysterical and bored. While the men are seething volcanoes of disconent. This portrayal of marriage has been going on for years in film and I am getting tired of it.
From 'American Beauty' and 'Little Children' to the new film 'Revolutionary Road,' these films make the great jump that marriages don't work and that most married people are miserable and walk around with painted on smiles.
The real message that is missing in these films is the search for authentic happiness and it is not to be found through someone else. In other words if you are discontented, unhappy and unfulfilled don't think another person can fix the void within yourself. In other words YOU are in charge of how happy you wish to be and that is the truth of it.
One other thing that is missing from these hollywood productions is the spiritual element to marriage. In these films there is none and perhaps that is why these marriages are doomed. The actors portray empty, one dimensional characters whose main focus is to highlight what is wrong in their marriage rather than what is going right, with the emphasis being on self fulfillment to the detriment of everyone else.
Does Hollywood have it right? Are most married people miserable malcontents who feel deprived rather than privileged?
My own belief is that this is merely another way for Hollywood to marginalise the Institution of Marriage itself and I wonder what impact these films make on teenagers?
Isn't it time for those who DO enjoy a wonderful married life to speak up or as the case maybe to blog up and tell the world that though most marriages take a lot of work, it is worth it in the end and the blessings far outweigh the minuses.
Lisa has written an excellent piece on the joys of a large family. Please do read it. Click here.
What do YOU think?
Written by Marie
Thursday, February 19, 2009
What I've Learned...
A tree can look beautiful, have lovely spreading branches but be hollow and rotten on the inside.
Delinquency and bad behavior are rewarded.
Get a child hooked and you have a customer for life. Get the children to believe what you want them to believe and they will support any and everything you put forward.
If I’m against rap music, I’m racist. If I’m against abortion, I’m anti-woman and not progressive. If I don’t support President Obama, I’m not for change, racist and can’t see outside the box.
Gone are the good old days of living within ones means, working hard for what one wants to accomplish and taking the moral highroad. Here are the days of entitlement.
I don’t need to take responsibility for anything I do. Why take responsibility when I can blame someone else.
Sometimes the best solution is to do nothing, less is more. Sometimes the body needs medication and sometimes the best course of action is to do nothing and let the body cleanse itself.
Change does not start from the bottom or the top, it starts on the inside.
DO as I say but not as I DO.
People don’t understand what freedom really is. If my freedom infringes on another’s is that freedom?
Greed and irresponsibility are the root cause of many of our problems.
Getting everything you want is not always a good thing.
When you play with the devil you are playing with fire and you are going to smell like smoke.
The law is always on the side of the criminals.
The people in charge are clueless.
We treat the addict with disgust but what about the pushers and the suppliers?
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Importance Of A Correct Email Address
A couple from Alaska derided to go to Florida for a long weekend to thaw out during one particularly icy winter Because both had jobs, they had difficulty coordinating their travel schedules.It was decided that the husband would fly to Florida on a Thursday and the wife would follow him the next day. On arriving as planned the husband checked into the hotel.There he opened up his laptop and sent his wife an email .However he accidentally left off one letter in her email address and sent the email without even realizing his error.
A widow had just returned from her husband's funeral service.He was a minister of many years and had been "called home to glory" following a heart attack.The widow checked her email expecting messages from relatives and friends. Upon reading the first message, she fainted and fell to the floor. The widow's son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor and saw on the computer screen which read:
To:My Loving Wife
From: Your Departed Husband
Subject: I've Arrived
I've just arrived and have been checked in. I see that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow.Looking forward to seeing you then.Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.
P.S. Sure is hot down here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Ginny at 7:06 PM |
Labels: joke humour
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Waiting For Cake With Icing
I don’t know if people realize how difficult it is to be celibate and single in a sex-crazed society. Almost everyone who is privy to this information thinks that something has gone horribly wrong with me, some think I hate men, or I’m hurt and afraid or just downright cold.
Why it is so hard for people to understand or believe that I have decided to look for something more than a casual, fake relationship. How many people are in "relationships" and still feel incredibly lonely? You know in your heart that this isn’t who or what you are looking for, but you just don’t want to be alone, sleep alone and want to have someone to show off to the world.
Sitting back I really can understand why so many people live like they do accepting a watered down version of what love should be. Love has been commercialized. To show someone you love them means that you have to spend an arm and a leg. What is termed 'romantic music' are mostly songs about sex, how to seduce a woman and how to get away with unfaithfulness, its no wonder why love is treated the way it is. Sex has become so casual that it has lost its meaning and its reason for being. Unfaithfulness is seen as multitasking, everyone does it.
I understand that there is much more to a "relationship" than the physical and sexual aspects, maybe that’s what so many just don’t get. I do get lonely, but it sure does beat beating myself up over something that lacks foundation with somebody who is equally unfulfilled. I don’t believe in there being a Mr. Perfect, I believe that there is the perfect man for me and I believe God will let me know. When asked about my lifestyle I get the pitying looks, "It doesn’t work that way and if you are not careful you will end up sad and alone." Then there is the "everyone cheats so just accept that that’s the way it is." Or the saddest of them all "there is no such thing as true love, its all nonsense."
So if I go by what everyone tells me, I should ‘be with’ someone which means living in sin even though I may know in my heart that this particular man is not the one I love, there is the pressure to simply 'be with' someone. What is society saying to me, that to live with anyone is better than living alone? Is it because some people think time is running out? 25 and the clock is against me, imagine that!
The first couple years may be okay because of the ‘novelty’ of it all, have a child when the time is right. But because the relationship was not built on the right foundation, my partner would start being unfaithful not only because that’s just the way it is but because I look ‘tired’ after having a child. By the time the child is enrolled in school, I’ll be tired of begging my partner to notice me and the emptiness will be harder to ignore, so I’ll probably start having affairs or maybe I’ll just spend my days trying to fix everything that is wrong with me so he will love me. Maybe we will split up or maybe we will stay together for the sake of the children.
This way of life may work in soap operas but not in real life. Society teaches us what happens to many single parent households and that is not something I want for myself or for any child that God may bless me with. I want more. I deserve more.
Misery does love company. What an awful fate. The majority of people encouraging me jump on the boat are living the life I have outlined above. I don’t want to end up alone but why would I want that?
I don’t think I’m perfect, I treat people as I would like to be treated. I consider each guy that comes into my life not only as my potential spouse but as someone else’s. Maybe someone is doing the same for me. Call me the eternal optimist, but I don’t want the batter, I want the cake with icing.
Posted by Ginny at 9:52 PM |
Labels: food for thought, true love
Prayers For The Crash Victims of Flight 3407
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
What Is Love?
When we claim that it's love
that we have for someone,
are we correct?
Something to ponder upon.....
Are your palms sweaty,
is your heart racing and
is your voice caught within your chest?
It isn't love, it's LIKE
You can't keep your eyes or hands
off them, am i right?
It isn't love, it's LUST
Are you proud and eager
to show them off?
It isn't love, it's LUCK
Do you want them because you know they're there?
It isn't love, it's LONELINESS
Are you there because it's what everyone wants?
It isn't love, it's LOYALTY
Are you there because they
kissed you, or held your hand?
It isn't love, it's LOW CONFIDENCE
Do you stay for their confessions
of love, because you don't
want to hurt them?
It isn't love, it's PITY
Do you belong to them because
their sight makes your heart
skip a beat?
It isn't love, it's INFATUATION
Do you pardon their faults
because you care about them?
It isn't love, it's FRIENDSHIP
Do you tell them every day
they are the only one you think of?
It isn't love, it's a LIE
Are you willing to give all of your favorite thing for their sake?
It isn't love, it's CHARITY
************** LOVE **************
Does your heart ache and break
when they're sad?
then it's LOVE
Do you cry for their pain, even
when they're strong?
then it's LOVE
Do their eyes see your true heart,
and touch your soul so deeply it hurts?
then it's LOVE
Do you stay because a blinding,
incomprehensible mix of pain
and relation pulls you close
and holds you there?
then it's LOVE
Do you accept their faults
because they're a part of who they are?
then it's LOVE
Are you attracted to others, but stay
with them faithfully without regret?
then it's LOVE
Would you allow them to leave you
not because they want to
but because they have to?
then it's LOVE
Would you give them you're heart,
your life, your death?
then it's LOVE
**************** ? ****************
Now, if love is painful,
and tortures us so,
why do we love?
Why is it all we search for in life?
This pain, this agony?
Why is it all we long for?
This torture, this powerful death of self
************ why? *************
The answer is so simple cause it's...
LOVE.
"It is such an addiction that even people who don't have love,
wish to experience it and share it!"
Anon
Posted by Ginny at 9:33 PM |
Labels: love, reflection