Quote for the Day: Christians must lean on the cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey. They must have the passion of Christ deeply embedded in their minds and hearts, because only from it can they derive peace, grace, and truth. Saint Anthony of Padua
Quote from the book, "101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer"
New day, new Video! This is a look at my office. I figured nothing could be more inspiring than looking at my clutter to make you appreciate your own. It will just sort of put everything into perspective for you.
I don't know why the code doesn't seem to make its way through email... so here is the link for you if you are reading this via JoyNotes. [2:40] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlTlpizSsNc
and [8:12 seconds] of my Mom - which is way too long for anyone I'm sure... but hey, I'm just learning this stuff! My mom is 90 years old and doing pretty good, I think!
This project is placed under the patronage
of the Blessed Mother.
Tehilim Psalms
Debra R. Kolodny
Silver Spring, Maryland
At seven a.m. on Thursday, I got a call from Susie, my father’s wife. She blurted out, “I don’t think Sid is going to make it.”
”What?!” I responded, panic settling in. “What do you mean?”
“The surgery went all wrong,” she said. “The doctors don’t know if he’s going to make it. They really don’t know. I bet they didn’t want me to call you yet. It hasn’t been twenty-four hours.”
Of old you established the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They shall perish, but you remain...
your are the same, and your years have no end.
The concept of eternity baffles our mind. We cannot comprehend a God whose "years have no end." However, there is much joy and satisfaction in the thought that we, too, will live forever with him in the unimaginable bliss of heaven. "Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love him" (1 Cor 2:9).
This truth makes our lot in life more bearable. Jesus himself made us a solemn promise: "The heavens and the earth will pass away but my words will not pass." (Mt 24:35)
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.
Dads and Delivery
It was with great interest that I recently read Feeling Her Pain, a Washington Post article about some men’s ambivalent feelings about being present in the delivery room at the births of their children.
In a recent Coffee Talk, someone asked me to share some of my birth stories, and while it’s not at all my style to blog intimate details about labor and delivery, this does offer me an opportunity to share about this popular topic. And I feel I can speak to the “dad being there/dad not being there” topic because I have experienced both.
Visit Janet's Blog to see pictures to go with this text.
On a personal note…
Repairing roads
Why bother about sleeping? Underneath the window, the Council has come to dig up and repair a road that seemed okay to me less than three hours ago.
The first vehicle was fascinating. It sucked up the tarmac as though it were a starving beast, spewing out the road surface into the truck immediately ahead (and successfully dodging a tree in the process).
Then a second contraption, this time with a large bucket affair to the fore, scraped up any tarmac that had missed its massive predecessor.
From today's readings:
“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.... Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.... And I consecrate Myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth.”
Truth Twisters
Paul’s exhortation to the presbyters of Ephesus was for them to “Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers...” (Acts 20:28). Notice that, as is regularly emphasized throughout scripture, moral watchfulness begins with self, before being extended to include guidance of others. And Paul emphasizes commitment to the full truth of the faith, warning against the wolves that will come forward “perverting the truth.”
If we are to commit ourselves to the full truth of our faith, we need, first of all, to know the Truth. Wolves are able to lead disciples astray, not so much because they lie outright, but because they “pervert the truth,” that is, they say something that has elements of truth, but the truth is twisted. This is seen, for instance, among pro-abortion forces who couch their advocacy in language of “pro-choice” and “pro-privacy.” In themselves, “choice” and “privacy” are indeed values to be defended, but never at the cost of another’s life!
Whenever the Church’s teaching is spurned, it is almost always on the basis of a “twisted truth.” Paul’s exhortation reminds us to take the time and effort to pursue the fulness of truth, first for ourselves and the matters of our own lives, and then to aid others in the quest for the untwisted truth.