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June 5,
2008

Pachelbel

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Thoughts from Sister Patricia




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To send this card: Saint Boniface

To read the Full Joynotes June 4

Quote for the Day:


Be wise, my soul, and trust in God alone,
cling to him alone, and cast all your cares on him alone.


St. Robert Bellarmine

Quote from the book, "101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer"


Note: If you have not been getting JoyNotes messages and you are using either AOL or Bellsouth and a few others.... they have updated their Spam Controls and JoyNotes is apparently a victim. I will leave this message up for a while.. because a lot of folks are wondering. Also for many people on these systems.. it doesn't work for me to email you back.. because my emails are blocked. So if you have another email address you might want to subscribe on that one.

My brother John came over today and took a truck load of things that we were holding from my mom's last move. Nice to have him do that.. and still sort of sad to see how step by step my mom loses her connection to this world. It happens though. I remember this with my grandmother too. We all have to let go... let go... let go.... till there is nothing to stop us from stepping freely into God's heaven.

Surprisingly I find I am still in the midst of holding on to a whole lot of stuff! I would say that means I must have a long time left for this world.. but then the image comes to mind of a house I went through that was for sale. It was so eery. Because everything in the house was still there. The lady who had been living there must have died very suddenly and unexpectedly.. there was still food in the refrigerator, clothes in all the drawers, her pictures and knick knacks on the wall. It was such a weird feeling as if her presence was still very much there. So that's a case of putting to mind that we know not the day or the hour.

On a more comforting note... I want to share with you from a book I am reading, called, "Dreams, God's forgotten Language" by John Sanford who is a Episcopal priest and a Jungian analyst (something to do with psychology.. thats all I know about that.).

"This dream occurred on December nine, nineteen hundred and forty-four. Our baby had died suddenly on November twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and forty-two, at the age of four months. In my dream (I was asleep) I saw a young woman of about thirty grasping the hand of a small boy, just learning to walk. I knew instantly that the boy was ours although both figures faced away from me. I noticed his sturdy little legs particularly. They were running freely and happily up a gentle slope of greensward dotted with flowers?the color of these latter were indescribable?they were not of this world.

The young woman wore a loose dress of indeterminate color, with a girdle at the waist. I felt very close to her, I thought that she was someone very near to me.

I awakened my husband to tell him of my dream because it was so vivid, and I got such great comfort from it. I said, "I believe that was my grandmother with our baby, because I felt so very close to her and he is all right because she is taking care of him." I felt very happy. My husband noted the time?one-thirty A.M.

The next morning I received a telegram that my mother had died at one-thirty A.M. Having had that dream, I went through the funeral with never a thought of grief. I have never greived for my mother or baby since."


Isn't that neat? I love that. I shared it with the sisters tonight at supper.

Well getting close to night prayer better pick up the tempo here!

Blessings of Peace and All Good,
Sister Patricia and all the Sisters

P.S. For those of you who ordered books through my web site... I didn't order enough for Auntie's bookstore so we are waiting for the second truck shipment to arrive. Sometime on Friday between noon and four... which means they probably won't be in the mail till Monday.

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101 Inspirational Stories
of the Power of Prayer

http://101prayer.com


More things
are wrought by Prayer
than this world dreams of—

ALFRED LORD TENNYSON

Through Thorns, The Roses Bloomed
Lillian J. DeOliveira
East Providence, Rhode Island

When I was twenty-three years old, I married a very kind and loving man. We talked and laughed and had fun together, but unknown to me, he was an alcoholic. I found this out three weeks into our marriage when I realized that after work he would routinely go to the bar, come home drunk, and cause trouble. This happened every night, and I wondered how I got myself into this. I kept thinking he would change, but he never did. He was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. When he was sober, he was the nicest guy in the world, but when he was drunk, he was horrible.

I felt like I couldn't divorce him because I had made a vow to God that I would be there for my husband, for better or worse. I resolved to myself that I had to do my best and live with it.

After many years, we had four children. I struggled to meet our financial needs, keep food on the table, and heat in the house as my husband wouldn't allow me to work. With him drinking and coming home at two or three in the morning yelling and throwing things around, life in our home was a nightmare that affected not only me, but the kids as well.

My oldest daughter got married when she was nineteen years old, and my son started using drugs when he was eighteen. I was extremely worried about my two younger daughters who were only ten and five years old.

To read the whole story, Continue

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/monasticmoments/archives/140463.asp

From the book 101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer
Joy from Meditation
Rejoice in Me
by Msgr. David E. Rosage

Sanctifying Suffering

Psalm 34:7
When the afflicted man called out, the Lord heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.


Suffering and sorrow is the lot of every one of us. We may not understand the reason for it. We may even rebel against it. Such a reaction is only human.

When we ask the Lord's help in our affliction, we can more easily bear our cross. We will also experience great peace. We may even recognize it as a giant step toward our salvation.

To the sorrowing, Jesus promised eternal consolation: "Blest too are the sorrowing; they shall be consoled." (Mt 5:4)

Joy in Eating!
Healthy Eating from Barbara George

Elder Care Diet Tips
Your resource for hints on nutrition and health;
a place to learn and a place to share!

Visit Barb's Blog to leave comments and find more great tips.



Joy from Home
A Smile from Home - Danielle Bean

Today's Thought

Visit Danielle's Blog to see
pictures and links to go with this text.


No Nonsense


Danny is talking a lot these days. He gives us new words and bits of phrases strung together many times a day now.

He asks for a “jink” when he’s thirsty, admires the “hoosies” at the barn, and begs to play “bayball” every afternoon at the ballfield.

But his favorite word, still by a long shot, is a big, bold “NO.” He likes the power of this simple word so much in fact, that he even says it when he means “yes.” He just uses a softer “no” in place of an affirmative word.

His mother, the sucker, usually plays along.

“Would you like more lunch?” I asked him today.

“No,” he said gently as he handed me his bowl for a refill. And I refilled it.

“Would you like a cookie?” I asked afterwards.

“No,” he said softly. And I gave him one.

When he woke up from his nap today, I heard him spewing paragraphs from his bed. At the end of each complicated “sentence,” came my name followed by a long and forceful “Nooooooo!”

I know he’s playing me for a fool with this bossy businesss, but for now I am a willing fool. I can’t remember all the details of most of my older kids learning to speak and assert themselves, but I am fully present here today. I am seeing a tiny will develop, a personality unfold. I am watching as my son begins, bit by bit, to reveal himself to us and show us what has been hidden all this time without words. He is beginning to show us who he is.

Right here, watching that, is a privileged place.

Joy from Rome
Greetings from London with Sister Janet Fearns, FMDM

Pause for Prayer

Visit Janet's Blog to see pictures to go with this text.

On a personal note…


Beating Retreat

102_2370.JPG Beating Retreat’ is a custom that is hundreds of years old and dates back to the days of the walled towns where, for protection, the gates were closed at dusk. However, lest there be any enemy in the vicinity, the local garrison would give a show of strength, marching around the city walls, playing martial music. Then, having created the correct impression, the soldiers would retreat within the protective walls.

Nowadays, the massed bands of the six regiments of Guards, on two evenings during the first week of June, Beat Retreat at Horseguards Parade in a wonderful hour of music and military drill. I counted two hundred infantry and, I think, the same number of Household Cavalry, with their magnificent plumes and gleaming armour.

My plan had been to stand, free of charge, in the cordoned area reserved for the ticketless, but God had other plans. A sergeant-major marched towards us. Some of the complimentary tickets were unused: would we like to have one?

Sitting in the front row, enjoying a wonderful evening, surrounded by the flags of all the Commonwealth countries, listening to the bandsmen playing ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ was a unique experience.

We talk about the Will of God, often as though it is a burden to be borne…but what about the times when the Will of God is for a treat? Do we remember to say thank you?

Do we count our blessings as readily as our woes?

God bless,
Sr. Janet

Joy from Church
Spiritual Blessings from Father Rory Pitstick

A Virtual Retreat
Reflections following the Daily Liturgical cycle

Visit Fr. Rory's Blog

Thursday

2 Tm 2: 8-15
Ps 24(25): 4-5ab.
8-9. 10 and 14
Mk 12: 28-34


Daily Readings
Jun 5 Thu: Boniface, bp, mt M


From today's readings: “If we have died with Him we shall also live with Him; if we persevere we shall also reign with Him; but if we deny Him He will deny us.... Teach me Your ways, O Lord..... To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.... ”

The Word of Truth without Deviation


Some parts of Paul’s letters are very basic: “Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David: such is my Gospel....” Clearly, Paul was always Christ-centered; true, at times he seems to go off on a tangent, but we can assume he was addressing or preempting misconceptions among the communities to which he wrote.

On the other hand, although he never tires of repeating the core message of the Gospel, he does not shy away from plumbing the depths of the philosophical and moral implications of Christian life, always succeeding in “imparting the word of truth without deviation,” as he urges Timothy to do as well.

Here then, is the lesson for you and me: our Christian discipleship must be centered on the person of Jesus Christ, risen from the dead! That is to say, Christianity means following Christ, so our faith is more than just a philosophical system or moral code. There’s an unfortunate tendency to reduce Christianity to a convenient vehicle for secular humanism, because of some overlapping values. But such an attitude is a betrayal of our faith, and selling it way short! On the other hand, another temptation to avoid is spiritualizing or compartmentalizing our faith, thereby divorcing it from “real world” application. Rather, awareness of the risen person of Jesus Christ (and His teachings) is meant to be reflected in our daily lives, thereby living the Word of Truth without deviation!


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