Quote for the Day: To pray is nothing more involved than to open the door; giving Jesus access to our needs and permitting Him to exercise His own power in dealing with them. Ole Kristian O. Hallesby
Quote from the book, "101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer"
A nice quiet Sunday - beautiful weather. The first truly nice day of Spring of the Year! Well, maybe the second.. last Sunday was nice too. I was to able to bring my Mom over after Mass today. We had a nice time. Doing nothing. Just enjoying the day. Truly wonderful.
Last Sunday and this one I filmed some bits and pieces of my Mom. If you want to see you can go here. It's nothing fancy. I haven't really learned how to edit anything... so all the blips and upsy daisy shots of the camera when I lost control for a bit are all right there in technicolor.
I am continuing to read Anthony Steven's book, "Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To" and it is wonderful. I have decided I can risk praying that second prayer... asking God to let me be of service to someone else. I guess He is not going to have me jump off the bridge to save someone or at least I hope not. I'm not too good a swimmer.
The book is actually very powerful. I am getting a lot out of it.
Then to make life more interesting... I started reading Anthony's second book at the same time! Actually it "his" first.. but I got it second. It's called, "A Travel Guide to Heaven." Totally good. Totally.
OH! I wanted to ask a favor please. If you have read any of my other books and liked them (don't respond if you didn't) would you mind writing me a few sentences that I could use as endorsement on my web site? To encourage someone who has never heard of them before .. to maybe take the risk of buying one! Please include your name (first will do) and your location...(city, state, country). Thank you so much!
I will post them on the Presale Page and hopefully also use them in other book promotions. You could email them to me at 1srpat@calledbyjoy.com
Blessings of Peace and All Good, Sister Patricia
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Joy from Meditation
Rejoice in Me by Msgr. David E. Rosage
Glory to God
Psalm 72:18-19
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous deeds.
And blessed forever be his glorious name;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.
The love we feel for one another, the joy which fills our heart, the excitement of living each new day all reflect the glory of God. Eyes to see, ears to hear, hands to touch, all remind us of him "who alone does wondrous deeds." Let us join the whole world in giving him the glory.
We give glory to God in these inspired words: "To him whose power now at work in us can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine—to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, world without end. Amen." (Eph 3:20-21)
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.
Light My Fire
We have reached the end of our winter wood provisions. If you can believe that.
I am freezing.
My husband tells me that 68 degrees Fahrenheit is temperate for most people, even if it is rainy and raw.
The liar.
I want climate control. I want warmth. I want fire. I want a crazy caveman to cater to my whims. Give me fire.
“Let’s burn the furniture,” I begged my husband this evening before bed.
“It’s quite comfortable in here,” he replied.
Have I mentioned that he’s a liar?
Joy from Rome
Greetings from London with Sister Janet Fearns, FMDM
Visit Janet's Blog to see pictures to go with this text.
On a personal note…
Cans Festival
Standing at a bus stop one day, I was distracted by a painting on a nearby wall. I did not agree with the theme, but I had to admit to myself that the image of an irate husband and his anxious wife looking out of a window whilst the dishevelled lover dangled by his fingertips from the window ledge, was extraordinarily well drawn. Who on earth had spent the time necessary to paint such a scene, in such an inconvenient location and without being caught?
Unknown to me at the time, I had just spotted a piece of work of the famous and never-seen artist, Banksy.
This weekend, graffiti artists from several countries and, yes, Banksy himself, (or herself??) have exercised their skills on the walls of a short tunnel near Waterloo Station. Cans of spray paint have given birth to the name ‘Cans Festival’ (with no apologies to Cannes!)
Graffiti can be unsightly, but it can also be beautiful.
It was amazing to see a lengthening line of people waiting to see the graffiti for themselves. Some of them would never dream of visiting an art gallery, and yet, there they were, standing patiently and happily for their turn to enter the tunnel. There must have been thousands of photographs taken of images that would otherwise perhaps been dismissed in a different context.
Everybody, in the right context, is an artist capable of creating something beautiful for others to enjoy.
Each and every one of us is God’s own work of art.
That is definitely worth celebrating!
God bless,
Sr. Janet
Joy from Church
Spiritual Blessings from Father Rory Pitstick
A Virtual Retreat
Reflections following the Daily Liturgical cycle
From today's readings:
“Paul entered the synagogue, and for three months debated boldly with persuasive arguments about the Kingdom of God.... Sing to God, chant praise to His name; whose name is the LORD.... In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world!”
He Has Conquered!
Chapters 13,14,15, and 16 of the Gospel of St. John recount the Lord’s Farewell Discourse spoken to His disciples during the Last Supper. So many words of our Lord are recorded there: words about humble service; words about the commandment to love one another; words about the way, the truth, and the life; words about the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth; words of comfort and promise; words of confident assurance, all concluding with Jesus saying, “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world!”
What does it mean that the Lord has conquered the world? Amazingly enough, these words were spoken before Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Easter, of course, confirmed that Jesus was clearly the victor over sin and death, but it was on Holy Thursday when Jesus was already assuring His apostles that He had conquered the world!
It’s obvious that Jesus was not speaking of a military conquest. But we certainly shouldn’t think of His triumph as something less than a military victory - rather, it was much more! For every military conquest is subject to eventual displacement in history by some future conquest - every land that the mighty Romans once subjugated, for instance, has since their time seen new battles, with new victors and new vanquished peoples.
In contrast, the Lord’s conquest is complete, definitive, and eternal. Yet how can that claim be made, since the world as a whole clearly does not fully recognize God’s dominion? God’s will is done completely in Heaven, but on Earth, in accordance with divine decree, the probation of human free will continues to be played out in the great drama of history, because that is the whole purpose of history - for each person created by God to exercise free will in the loving choice of embracing the Lord of all!